Blogs : Outer Boroughs Digest

Brooklyn's Two Freshest Pizza Joints

The opening of Ignazio’s Pizza in DUMBO marks a homecoming of sorts, as chef-owner Louis Termini is a Brooklyn guy who made his name in Hartford, Connecticut, at Luna Pizza. Fans of his Sicilian pie wonder what took him so long to come back. lambretta76 was blown away by this pizza, which is assembled “grandma” style (or upside down, with fresh mozzarella under plum tomato sauce), and judges it far better than comparable pies at Pipitone or House of Pizza and Calzone.

Others enjoy the white pie (fresh mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, parsley, garlic, oregano) and two unusual specialty pizzas: one with bacon, avocado, and tomato; and another with fried shrimp, bacon, roasted peppers, and garlic. yummymonkey loves the meatball appetizer (with tomato sauce, basil, and pecorino) but is sticking with nearby Fascati for pizza.

Chowhounds are split over this place, as they tend to be over every pizzeria in New York. NYJewboy complains of rubbery, flavorless cheese, an uninspiring crust that is soggy at the middle, and sauce that lacked “cultivation.” In all, he sniffs, it’s “pretty forgettable.” Nearly all agree, though, that Ignazio’s mops the floor with the tourist-choked Grimaldi’s around the corner.

Brooklyn pizza trackers couldn’t be blamed if they’d forgotten all about Anselmo’s in Red Hook, which originally announced it would open last July. Construction delays scotched those plans, but the place finally opened in late March.

“It was absolutely, positively worth waiting for! Simple, straightforward and delicious,” declares peacenow17, who recommends the classic with only tomato sauce, as well as the pizza bianco with pesto.

One selling point here is a coal-fired oven, a relative rarity prized by pizza cognoscenti for the crispness and smokiness it can impart (clean-air rules ban new ones, but old ones are grandfathered in). At Anselmo’s, shindiganna reports, the result is a crisp, thin, slightly chewy crust with just the right amount of char. She also loves the creamy, fresh mozzarella and bright, almost lemony tomato sauce.

In dissent (and you knew it was coming), some have complained of unevenly baked crusts—sometimes soggy, other times burned black—though more recent reports don’t mention this. oolah rates Anselmo’s quite good overall, “MUCH better than your average corner joint,” but prefers Lucali in Carroll Gardens, which is a real hound darling. “I’ll go back,” she adds, “but only because it’s so hard to get into Lucali’s these days.”

Ignazio’s Pizza [DUMBO]
4 Water Street (near Old Fulton Street), Brooklyn
718-522-2100

Anselmo’s [Red Hook]
354 Van Brunt Street (at Sullivan Street), Brooklyn
718-313-0169

Board Links: Ignazio’s Pizza
Anselmo’s Pizza in Red Hook
Anselmo’s Red Hook: Perfect, Simple, Fresh Pizza…

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Tagged with: outer boroughs, restaurants and bars, ignazio's pizza, anselmo's, lucali, pizza, pizzeria, italian, brooklyn

South Asian Flavors on One Aromatic Block

Chowhounds can’t stop talking about Southern Spice, a recent Indian find in Flushing. As the name suggests, the menu skews southern; the owner’s from Chennai and also runs Madras Cafe in Manhattan. But dishes from all over India are winning raves.

“Good God, this place is amazing,” declares NYJewboy, who singles out a deep, rich, and gingery chana masala that blew away the version at his former favorite, Chola. bruce3404, who found no better food on two trips to India, loves the Punjabi-style dal makhani.

Among the southern dishes, chapa pulusu (kingfish curry), Chennai shrimp, and Hyderabad-style chicken dhum biryani are standouts, as well as kodi rasam, an alluring, peppery chicken soup (“I believe I could eat that three times a day,” bruce says).

Across the street from Southern Spice, Polecat reminds us, is another hound-worthy destination, the Sri Lankan restaurant Bownie. Try the fish curry or cheap, spicy kulti roti (flatbread mashed with vegetables and meat). “It’s one of the most overlooked joints on this board,” he adds. “The interior has all the charm of a car service vestibule. But I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of my favorite eateries in the whole city.”

Southern Spice [Flushing]
143-06 45th Avenue (between Bowne and Smart streets), Flushing, Queens
718-349-3586

Bownie [Flushing]
143-05 45th Avenue (between Bowne and Smart streets), Flushing, Queens
718-463-8621

Board Links: Great Indian Queens
Southern Spice Buffet

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Tagged with: outer boroughs, restaurants and bars, southern spice, bownie, indian, sri lankan, sri lanka

In Flushing, Hunan's Greatest Hits

Hunanese chow—rustic, robust, and rare in New York—has surfaced in Flushing at four-month-old Hunan House, and hounds love just about everything they’ve tried there.

Joe MacBu, diving in headfirst, went for the mashed-pepper fish head, which everyone else also seemed to be ordering. It was stellar, he says: tender steamed meat on big chunks of hacked-up skull, covered with chopped pickled chiles, and served in ruddy broth. Mashed peppers with tofu (thin-sliced smoked bean curd crowned with warm chopped chiles) “just rocked,” raves PAL. Shell-on shrimp is another winner, nicely cooked and seasoned with a cumin-chile paste, 2slices reports.

Pan, who discerns an Indian masala-like complexity in this kitchen’s spicing, recommends cumin-scented Hunan-style sliced fish, lamb with chile sauce, and tree fungus in vinegar sauce. Other highlights from the long list of hound-endorsed dishes include shredded duck with ginger; stir-fried smoky pork with leeks; green vegetable (kong xin cai, or water spinach) in spicy sauce; cold tongue and tripe marinated in garlic and ginger; and cold, spicy, crunchy pickled cabbage.

“Fantastic,” sums up buttertart, who finds Hunan House well worth the trek from Brooklyn. “I can’t recommend this place highly enough.”

Hunan House [Flushing]
137-40 Northern Boulevard (between Main and Union streets), Flushing, Queens
718-353-1808

Board Link: Hunan in North Flushing

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Tagged with: outer boroughs, restaurants and bars, hunan house, flushing

Four-Star Congee, Korean Style

If you think you know rice porridge from visiting Chinese jook joints, think again. The Korean version at Bonjuk is thicker and more risottolike, but just as satisfying, E Eto says.

He recommends the samgetang (chicken with ginseng) and oyster-and-mushroom versions, both served with accompaniments that might include kimchee, pickled radish, spicy seafood sauce, or soy-simmered pork, plus a refreshing, vinegary cold radish soup. ZenFoodist goes for the pleasingly sweet pumpkin porridge. Other choices include abalone, sesame, adzuki bean, mixed seafood, and octopus with kimchee. Many hounds think of congee, if they think of it at all, as bland comfort food meant to fortify sick people; at Bonjuk, E Eto promises, “it’s more than soothing, it makes for a great meal.”

Bonjuk [Flushing]
152-26 Northern Boulevard (between Murray and 153rd streets), Flushing, Queens
718-939-5868

Board Link: Bon Juk, Flushing

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Tagged with: outer boroughs, restaurants and bars, bonjuk, bon juk, congee, jook, rice porridge, chinese, korean

Spectacular Pizza, Off the Menu

There’s no white pie with spinach on the menu at Rosa’s Pizza. You have to ask for it. And you really must. This is one delicious pizza, David A. Goldfarb reports, loaded with spinach, ricotta, fresh mozzarella, and sautéed garlic.

Rosa’s Pizza [Maspeth]
55-26 69th Street (between 55th and Grand avenues), Maspeth, Queens
718-446-5910

Board Link: Rosa’s Pizza in Maspeth

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Tagged with: outer boroughs, restaurants and bars, rosa's pizza, white pizza, pizza