Nha Toi

In another installment in my quest to find the perfect Brooklyn made banh mi sandwich: Nha Toi. This restaurant, whose name means "my house", offers up both traditional and unique takes on the classic banh mi sandwich, as well as a wide variety of summer rolls. Some of the more creative sandwich choices include the Seared Basa Fish , and the "Pho."(which fills the sandwich with the classic Vietnamese soup ingredients: Thai basil, cilantro, cucumber, bean sprouts, and beef short rib) I decided to order from Nha Toi after reading Time Out New York's 100 best things to eat and drink, which mentioned Nha Toi's Braised Beef sandwich.
I originally planned to go into the restaurant, but the downpour of rain encouraged me to order in. The man on the phone was exceptionally nice and helpful; I ordered the Braised Beef sandwich ($7), but then couldn't decide which of the summer rolls to try. He walked me through all of their most popular ones, encouraging me to try the Beef and Kimchee Roll ($4).
My order arrived quickly, easily in under a half hour. I was surprised at how big the sandwich was!

Combined with the summer rolls, I definitely had enough for two meals for only $11. I started with the Beef and Kimchee summer rolls, which were absolutely amazing. The beef was tangy and salty-which paired well with the spiciness of the kimchee. The vegetables provided the perfect crisp and freshness to balance out the heaviness of the other flavors. The dipping sauces were also amazing-although I couldn't tell you what type they were!

I moved on to my sandwich, which was still pipping hot and fresh. The bread was a little soggy-but that's to be expected when ordering a sandwich like this for delivery. The beef was well cooked, but a little too salty for my liking. Otherwise, I enjoyed the smoky flavors of the beef, and the vegetable/meat ratio.

All in all, I was really happy with my experience with Nha Toi. The summer rolls were definitely the star of the meal, but the sandwich was also quite good. I wouldn't say my search is over, but this is definitely a safe bet if I find myself craving banh mi in the future.

Address: 160 Havemeyer St. Brooklyn, NY 11211
Phone: 718-599-1820
Average Price: $3-4 for summer rolls, $6-8 for sandwich
Grade: B+

Warma Cafe

I've been on quite the brunch kick lately in case anyone hasn't noticed. This weekend though, things were a little different. My roommate hurt her foot pretty badly, so we decided to order in instead of going out like we usually do. We settled on Warma Cafe because of it's affordability, and because it had both French Toast with sausage ($4.50 for french toast,$3 for sausage.) and Huevos Rancheros($6) on the menu-the two dishes we were craving. I first tried calling in the order at 12:30-only to be hung up on twice by mistake. I waited another 10 minutes to call back, and finally got someone. I placed the order and was told it would be 30 minutes before we got it. 45 minutes later, I called back to check on its status. The woman on the phone was beyond rude to me, even though I was very polite, and actually hung up the phone without answering me. We waited another 30 minutes, and the food still hadn't come. I called back again and asked about the status of the food again, and the women told me that the delivery man was just leaving, but not before SHE TOLD ME NOT TO CALL BACK TO CHECK AGAIN BECAUSE SHE WAS TOO BUSY! After waiting an hour and 15 minutes when I was told it would only be 30, I think it is totally reasonable to call to check on the food twice, especially since I was so polite. Thankfully, the food arrived about ten minutes later, putting our wait time at about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Ridiculous, especially considering the proximity of the place to my apartment. All of that aside though, the food was actually really good. The tortillas on my huevos rancheros were clearly freshly made, as was the salsa. The salsa was amazing- seasoned with just the right amount of onion.

The eggs even tasted better than eggs normally do, I think they must have cooked them in grease from the bacon or sausage (which is bad for vegetarians, but good for me!) My only complaint was that the refried beans were really dried out around the edges- I actually thought it was bread when I first saw it because of the texture. My hashbrowns that came with them weren't anything special, but I don't have any complaints.

My roommates french toast was moist and really delicious- although pretty basic. The sausage wasn't anything great; it was moist but under seasoned.

All in all, our "breakfast" was amazing, but the poor service REALLY detracted from the experience. I would only eat there again if I actually went into the restaurant-but even then I would be skeptical about the wait time. A dilemma!
Address: 442 Lorimer St Brooklyn, NY 11206
Phone: (718) 963-2003
Average Price: $5.50 for Breakfast/Brunch
Grade: A for food, F for service

Dante's on Hope St. (Brooklyn)

Being a southerner, I was super excited to try Dante's, a restaurant with the slogan "southern cookin' in the heart of Brooklyn." I initially based my decision to try their brunch on the fact that they had cheese grits-something I have been sorely missing these past few months. We walked into Dante's around 1:00pm, and were the only other group there. There were at least 5 waitresses mingling around the bar area, but it still somehow took us over 5 minutes to be seated. The decor/music of the restaurant was pretty funny. It was an odd mix of 70's soul music, 80's style graffiti art,renaissance style ceiling murals, and... Transformers 2 playing on big screen tv's. Definitely strange. We sat down, and everyone started looking over the menu. It took over 5 minutes for a waitress to take our drink order, and another five for her to bring the drinks out. Usually I understand, having been a waitress myself, but this place was entirely empty at this point. Looking at the menu, I immediately noticed some options that were different from your typical brunch fare. The ones that jumped out at me the most were the Eggs Sardou ($10 for two poached eggs on an English muffin with a ragout of artichoke hearts) and Cajun Crab Benedict ($15 for two poached eggs on English muffins with Dante's hand done lump crab cakes and smoked chili hollandaise sauce). Both looked amazing-but the Cajun Crab Benedict was a little out of my price range, and I wasn't really in the mood for artichoke. I decided to go with the regular eggs benedict, or the "eggs benny d" as Dante's calls them. My friends went with the biscuits and gravy, ($6) the pancakes with sausage, and an omlette with spinach,mushroom, and onion ($9). It took our food about 15 minutes to arrive, and it all looked really great on the plate! I was really hungry by this point, and dug right into the cheese grits.

Right from the get go, I was super dissapointed. The grits were cold, way overcooked, and the cheese flavor wasn't strong enough. I switched to the eggs benedict, which despite looking and smelling delicious were actually disgusting. The eggs tasted like they had been cooked in a soapy pan, as did the sauce. The Canadian bacon was cold and flavorless, and the english muffin tasted like it had been microwaved rather than toasted. Gross! I ate as much as I could, and then decided to try my friends meals. The biscuits and gravy were decent, but I felt like the biscuit was a little to dry and the gravy wasn't thick enough for my taste.

The pancakes were fluffy and sweet, and the sausages were juicy and perfectly seasoned.

What really stood out though was the omlette. It was literally stuffed to the brim with spinach, mushroom, and onion, all of which were perfectly cooked! The home fries on the side were also really good; they were nicely seasoned and perfectly crispy.


While my dish was absolutely awful, all of my friends dishes were at least decent. Even with that in mind, I personally wouldn't go back again. If they couldn't pull off basic eggs benedict, I don't have much faith for their other dishes that looked delicious- but more complicated.
Address:153 Roebling St. Brooklyn, NY 11211
Phone Number:(718) 599-1945‎
Average Price: $9
Grade: C-

Curry Heaven

Curry Heaven is a new (and welcomed) addition to Williamsburg. The area offers few options for Indian cuisine, all of which are over-priced and poor quality. Still, they manage to stay in business because there frankly weren't any better options-until now. Opening only 3 weeks ago, Curry Heaven is the only all organic Indian restaurant in NYC. Their menu is not online yet, so I opted to to order there and wait. The menu has all of your basic Indian fare with an unusual amount of seafood options, ranging from the more typical fish curry to lobster tikka masala, something I have never seen on an Indian menu. The owners will make anything you want though, so even if you don't see it on the menu, just ask and they will be more than happy to accommodate you! I ordered the chicken curry(7.99) and a mango lassi(2.99), which took less than 10 minutes for them to prepare. While I waited the owner brought me a complimentary basket of Paratha with two dipping sauces that I didn't see on the menu. Super nice of him! I took my food home with me, and was surprised at the large portion size of every single thing I ordered when I opened up the bag.



The mango lassi in particular was huge-they had filled up a whole soup container with it! It was so fresh that I honestly think they may have pureed the mango in the back while I waited-amazing! The chicken curry was decent, but I was hoping it would have had a little bit more spice in it. I'm sure if I had asked they would have been able to do that though, so I don't fault the restaraunt. Otherwise, the flavors were all powerful and amazing-and the chicken was tender and juicy. I have to go back and try more of the entrees, but I was overall very pleased with my experience at Curry Heaven.
Address: 513 Grand St. Brooklyn, NY 11211
Phone: 718-388-3021
Typical Entree Price: $7 for Vegetarian, $9 for Meat
Grade: B