Downtown Brooklyn » Eating & Dining

Eating & Dining

Due to the fact that Brooklyn is a melting pot of different cultures, there is no shortage in options and varieties when it comes to food.

For this project, we took the liberty to go to certain places to personally test out what they had to offer, some of these places were:

Ganso Ramen ($$)

A hidden place in Downtown Brooklyn that serves up Japanese cuisine and traditional comfort food in the form of delicious noodles along other delicacies. They pride themselves in providing authentic Japanese food by sourcing top ingredients from suppliers from New York to Japan.

: It is a rather small storefront that is easily swallowed by the tall buildings surrounding it.

: Quirky and fun chalkboards lined one of the walls that had fun and unique trivia. This one in particular had facts about ramen

: Another one of the chalkboards, this one in particular contained fun facts and information about Japanese drinks and alcohol (since that’s what they also sell in the restaurant).

: The decor of the restaurant was overall very modern and “hip”. By on of their walls they had posters of old Japanese movies that might have been released around the late 1990’s.

: Left: Tori Shio Ramen. Right: Ganso Shoyu Ramen.

Hear the ambience sounds that you might listen to if you ever find yourself at Ganso. (Sadly my recorder couldn’t pick up the slurping sounds of the noodles.)

Review: I’m not kidding when I mentioned that this was a hidden place. The storefront itself was rather small and unimposing as it sits among the shadows of the tall buildings surrounding it. If it wasn’t for Google Maps I surely would have not found it. Upon entering we were quickly seated at one of its wooden tables by the glass wall window. The overall decor is mostly composed of wooden furniture and brick walls from which hung upon it Japanese movie posters and quirky chalkboards with colorful doodles that provided easy entertainment to the wandering eye. The menu was ok that it had various types of appetizers and ramen options to choose from with different types of broth, noodles, accompanying dishes alongside with any meat and vegetables that you could add onto your bowl of ramen at your own choosing. My friend and I ordered different bowls of ramen to experience what Ganso had to offer; we also ordered an appetizer of Sizzling Gyoza (pan fried dumplings).

The food came rather quickly in approximately 10-13 minutes after placing our order. The Sizzling Gyoza came first with a warm aroma and an appealing sizzling sound of hot oil dancing around the pan as they sat on top of a hot skillet dish. They were fried perfectly until the dumpling wrapper had a nice brown and crunchy texture to it. The filling was made of well seasoned pork with garlic and chives which was still juicy when you bit into the gyoza. The taste of the gyoza brought back memories from my childhood of when I was little and my mom made her own homemade dumplings of the same filling. After finishing the gyoza, our ramen bowls soon arrived to our excitement. I had ordered the Tori Shio (Japanese sea salt chicken broth, Tokyo noodles, crispy chicken chashu, half an egg, scallions) and my friend ordered the Ganso Shoyu (their signature Tokyo-style, deep soy sauce-chicken broth, Tokyo noodles, roasted pork belly chashu, half an egg, scallions). The noodles were chewy and had a bite to them (characteristics of a good noodle). Both of the broths had a savory, clean, taste as both of them well seasoned, not too salty or oily (which I appreciate), mine was of a miso base and the other was of a meat based broth. The eggs were perfectly cooked and meats were tender and fatty as per the characteristics of traditional Japanese ramen.

Overall, although the food is a tad bit overpriced and nothing stood out as being particularly extraordinary and out of this world, the ramen dishes were enjoyable and gives the eater a feeling of comfort. But what I like to mention is that with the addition of this restaurant in the neighborhood, it expands the variety of options of the area since it is the only Japanese restaurant that serves ramen noodles and other Japanese comfort food.

Directions: 25 Bond St Brooklyn, NY 11201 between Livingston St & Fulton St

Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill.

Come and experience Japanese comfort food by hopping on the:

A/ C / G train to Hoyt- Schermerhorn Sts

2/ 3 train to Hoyt St.

B/ D/ N/ Q/ R train to DeKalb Av

4/ 5 trains to Nevins St

F train to Jay St Metro Tech

For more information about Ganso Ramen, check out their website: http://gansonyc.com/ .

Junior’s Restaurant ($$)

By the corner of Flatbush and Dekalb Av in Downtown Brooklyn sits the original Junior’s establishment that first opened its doors in the 1950’s. Since then, it has expanded outside of its corner in Brooklyn to set roots down in Times Square, Manhattan; the Fox Tower Hotel at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut; and, most recently, in Boca Raton, Florida. With a huge menu offering a wide variety of comfort foods and dessert options, Junior’s is most famously known for serving up the “World’s Most Fabulous Cheesecake”.

: Junior’s first establishment in Downtown Brooklyn on Flatbush and DeKalb Av.

: Junior’s Menu

: Junior’s famous Cheesecake

: Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake

: Some old newspaper article pieces featuring the restaurant alongside some pictures.

: Brooklyn memorabilia along

: A cheesecake remake of Junior’s in a glass case that’s found by the front of the dining area.

The typical sounds that you would hear in a slow day while at Junior’s.

Review: When we got to the restaurant the place was rather empty for a Friday afternoon but regardless of that the service was just spectacular. We were waited by a wonderful employee who was nice, friendly and always served us with a smile. He was also very diligent about our needs and wants.

Not in a particularly hungry mood, and indecisive about what to order from the extensive menu, we decided to just order from the desert portion of the menu because I was dying to know what the hype was about surrounding their cheesecake. Megane decided to order the Chocolate Fudge Layer cake.

Both slices of cake were rather large and had a pleasant weight to them (which I appreciated, get your money’s worth you know). The Chocolate Fudge cake was rich in texture, moist and creamy. It had a satisfyingly rich chocolate flavor that wasn’t too overpowering and artificial like some cakes that I have tried before. Then I tried the cheesecake and finally understood its hype. Similarly like the Chocolate Fudge cake, it was very rich, creamy and smooth in texture. It wasn’t too overly sweet and I could taste a hint of the cream cheese flavor in it. It had a cake base to it instead of the traditional graham cracker crust which I found to be surprising. Certainly a meal within itself because of its density and thickness, I would certainly come back again in the future to eat it again.

Fun Facts:

Junior’s became so well known for their cheesecake that in March 1999, former NYC mayor Guiliani dedicated the corner of Flatbush Avenue EXT and Dekalb as Cheesecake Corner and Harry Rosen Way in honor of its founder, Harry Rosen.

In 2014, the media reported that the owner of Junior’s turned down a $45 million bid on the Junior’s building.

On October 2013, President Barack Obama and Mayoral Candidate Bill DeBlasio visited Junior’s while in Brooklyn. There, President Obama purchased an Original Cheesecake and a Strawberry Cheesecake to eat on Air Force One.

A fire broke out during a hot summer Sunday on August 17,1981 were the roof and the top floor of Junior’s burned down. As the firefighters tried o put out the fire with their hoses, onlookers chanted “Save the cheesecake, save the cheesecake!”

In the 2008 Sex and the City’s movie, the location of Carrie and Big’s wedding brunch was filmed at Junior’s.

Directions: 386 Flatbush Ave Ext Brooklyn, NY 11238

You can get your cheesecake by taking the:

B/ D/ N/ Q/ R train to DeKalb Av

2/ 3/ 4/ 5 train to Nevins St

A/ C / G train to Hoyt- Schermerhorn Sts

For more information about Junior’s, check out their website: https://www.juniorscheesecake.com/ .

Snowdays Cafe ($)

A recently opened store in the area of Downtown Brooklyn in Flatbush Ave. They specialize in serving up a Taiwanese influenced shaved ice cream and other desserts in, get this, the color blue (don’t worry, they have other colors too). Recently featured in social media sites like Business Insider and BuzzFeed, we knew that we had to try this out.

: Entrance from Flatbush Av.

: “Yeti Food”: Yetitracks shaved ice cream, bananas, waffle cones, and blueberry puree.

: Just the friendly neighborhood Yeti to keep you company.

: Like the Yeti, I too, had to take a picture of my shaved snow.

While at Snowdays, I heard the sounds of pop music, the traffic coming from Flatbush Av., the conversations that the customers were having, and of the blender like noise that their snow shredder machine made.

Review: The decor of the store was made up of walls painted with a sky blue color, hanging light bulbs and wood furniture/features. Along the walls you can see their white yeti mascot hanging around, making it a nice and fun “Instagrammable” background for the many young people who come into the store.

Shaved ice is a popular dessert in Taiwan. Usually made up of a block of flavored ice (typically water or coconut milk based), it is then shaved into thin sheets of ice and topped with several toppings and sauces. What makes Snowdays different is that instead of using a water or coconut milk base, they use an ice cream base, which gives their shaved ice a quite smooth and creamy texture. Their menu is made up of a variety of different flavors like their signature blue “Yetitracks” and other more normal flavors like matcha, sweet milk, NY cheesecake, black sesame, and coconut (a vegan option). Customers have the option to either make their own creations or to choose from the menu of pre-made combinations. They also have a variety of toppings that can please anyone who comes in. And since this local was a cafe, they also had things to eat such as pastries like french bread toast and matcha brownies.

Since I was curious about the “blue flavor” I ordered “Yeti food” from the pre-made combinations menu. In it, it had the “Yetitrack” (blueberries and oreo cookie) shaved ice cream, bananas, waffle cones, and blueberry puree. The store itself was half full and it seemed as if it was not currently busy. There was a dad with his small daughter enjoying their shaved snow by the windows and a group of high school students who were clustered in a table that was covered with homework. The service was very nice and I got my ice cream in less than 5 minutes. I wandered to the back of the store to where you could sit down in the warmth of the sun and enjoy the breeze that was coming in from the open window. The texture of the shaved ice was very novel for me. The way that the machine shredded the ice cream was so fine that as I was scooping up the shaved ice, it came out looking like how a spoonful of freshly fallen snow would look like. And since it was so fine it easily melted into my mouth as I ate it. The shaved snow did not have that grainy texture that is a characteristic of what one would expect to find with other deserts of its kind (e.g. shaved ice/snowcones). The flavor of the blue ice cream was very light and it tasted like your typical cookies and cream ice cream, but it wasn’t overly, nor artificially, sweet as some ice creams are. The combination with the blueberry puree combined with the ice cream to give it a nice flavor that I would describe as an earthy flavor. And the addition of the waffle cones gave it not only a nice presentation aspect to it but it added a fun texture to the ice cream.

Still curious about Snowdays? Here are some videos from when they got featured by Insider:

Directions: 214 Flatbush Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217 between Dean St & Bergen St Park Slope, Prospect Heights.

Hang out with the friendly Yeti and get your Instagrammable picture by taking the:

2/ 3/ 4 train to Bergen St.

B/ Q/ D/ N/ R train to Atlantic Av.

For more information about Snowdays, check out their website: http://www.snowdaysnyc.com/ .

Bon Appetit!

Nothing calls your attention? Don’t feel limited to these places while looking for a place to eat while in Downtown Brooklyn. For more options of where to go, here some alternatives:

Eating & Dining

Due to the fact that Brooklyn is a melting pot of different cultures, there is no shortage in options and varieties when it comes to food.

For this project, we took the liberty to go to certain places to personally test out what they had to offer, some of these places were:

Ganso Ramen ($$)

A hidden place in Downtown Brooklyn that serves up Japanese cuisine and traditional comfort food in the form of delicious noodles along other delicacies. They pride themselves in providing authentic Japanese food by sourcing top ingredients from suppliers from New York to Japan.

Hear the ambience sounds that you might listen to if you ever find yourself at Ganso. (Sadly my recorder couldn’t pick up the slurping sounds of the noodles.)

Directions: 25 Bond St Brooklyn, NY 11201 between Livingston St & Fulton St

Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill.

Come and experience Japanese comfort food by hopping on the:

A/ C / G train to Hoyt- Schermerhorn Sts

2/ 3 train to Hoyt St.

B/ D/ N/ Q/ R train to DeKalb Av

4/ 5 trains to Nevins St

F train to Jay St Metro Tech

For more information about Ganso Ramen, check out their website: http://gansonyc.com/ .

Junior’s Restaurant ($$)

The typical sounds that you would hear in a slow day while at Junior’s.

Review: When we got to the restaurant the place was rather empty for a Friday afternoon but regardless of that the service was just spectacular. We were waited by a wonderful employee who was nice, friendly and always served us with a smile. He was also very diligent about our needs and wants.

Not in a particularly hungry mood, and indecisive about what to order from the extensive menu, we decided to just order from the desert portion of the menu because I was dying to know what the hype was about surrounding their cheesecake. Megane decided to order the Chocolate Fudge Layer cake.

Fun Facts:

Junior’s became so well known for their cheesecake that in March 1999, former NYC mayor Guiliani dedicated the corner of Flatbush Avenue EXT and Dekalb as Cheesecake Corner and Harry Rosen Way in honor of its founder, Harry Rosen.

In 2014, the media reported that the owner of Junior’s turned down a $45 million bid on the Junior’s building.

On October 2013, President Barack Obama and Mayoral Candidate Bill DeBlasio visited Junior’s while in Brooklyn. There, President Obama purchased an Original Cheesecake and a Strawberry Cheesecake to eat on Air Force One.

A fire broke out during a hot summer Sunday on August 17,1981 were the roof and the top floor of Junior’s burned down. As the firefighters tried o put out the fire with their hoses, onlookers chanted “Save the cheesecake, save the cheesecake!”

In the 2008 Sex and the City’s movie, the location of Carrie and Big’s wedding brunch was filmed at Junior’s.

Directions: 386 Flatbush Ave Ext Brooklyn, NY 11238

You can get your cheesecake by taking the:

B/ D/ N/ Q/ R train to DeKalb Av

2/ 3/ 4/ 5 train to Nevins St

A/ C / G train to Hoyt- Schermerhorn Sts

For more information about Junior’s, check out their website: https://www.juniorscheesecake.com/ .

Snowdays Cafe ($)

While at Snowdays, I heard the sounds of pop music, the traffic coming from Flatbush Av., the conversations that the customers were having, and of the blender like noise that their snow shredder machine made.

Still curious about Snowdays? Here are some videos from when they got featured by Insider:

Directions: 214 Flatbush Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217 between Dean St & Bergen St Park Slope, Prospect Heights.

Hang out with the friendly Yeti and get your Instagrammable picture by taking the:

2/ 3/ 4 train to Bergen St.

B/ Q/ D/ N/ R train to Atlantic Av.

For more information about Snowdays, check out their website: http://www.snowdaysnyc.com/ .

Bon Appetit!

Nothing calls your attention? Don’t feel limited to these places while looking for a place to eat while in Downtown Brooklyn. For more options of where to go, here some alternatives: