Corner Burger

It’s Black Friday. Fork and Demitasse Spoon are doing a bit of power shopping. You simply cannot continue shopping on an empty stomach. Need food – fast – but not fast food. But where do you go? Fork suggests trying Park Slope, with three or four restaurants on every block, there’s bound to be something to agree on.

And there, calling to us, a beacon on a cold, dreary day – Corner Burger.  Burgers are always a good choice. Place looks fun. Parking spot across the street made it a fait accompli.

Corner Burger is a small place. 11 tables total.  Family owned and operated. Spotlessly clean. Funky atmosphere. Friendly staff. Great service.  Wooden tables with wooden chairs that have shiny red vinyl coverings. Music posters, album covers and photos line the walls.  Napkins, straws, forks and knives are in buckets on the table. Their motto? ‘It’s not fast food, it’s prepared food’ And well prepared it certainly is.

The menu is simple. Burgers, burgers and more burgers. You can have a beef burger, turkey burger or veggie burger.  There are 8 types of cheese and  9 toppings, either one for a nominal charge. There are also 5 different sauces.

Beyond that there are 8 signature burgers. The signature burgers do not cost more than ordering the burger and toppings separately from the burger section. It’s just giving you the combination ideas.  None of the burgers are served with fries, those are extra.

Our waiter was terrific. Very friendly. At the ready when we were ready. Sadly, there is no fresh iced tea. Only soda in cans and it is reasonably priced. There is also a beer list, and some shakes and smoothies. Nothing very extensive. Nothing exotic. Good food, good atmosphere, good drinks, good prices.

Fork and Demitasse spoon both ordered the Slope Burger. A perfectly cooked beef burger topped with cheddar cheese, crispy bacon and homemade onion rings.  There is also lettuce, tomatoes, red onion and pickles. The buns are fresh and sadly a little soft for Fork’s liking. Onion rings are a nice touch sitting on the burger. The burger was cooked perfectly and is really a nice size. The lettuce, tomatoes, and red onion were very fresh. The Slope Burgers were $9.00, 75 cents more than asking for a burger with cheese and bacon, chalk the 75 cents up to the onion rings.

The onion rings were a little odd to Fork. Batter dipped? Yes. Soggy and a strange color? Yes and yes. But that would be the only downfall at Corner Burger, and that may only be Fork’s opinion as Demitasse Spoon gobbled them all up!

We did order a basket of fries simply because you cannot have a burger without fries, at least according to the laws of Fork. One order of fries was certainly large enough for two pieces of cutlery to share. The fries were crispy, but still tender on the inside.

Corner Burger’s sides also include fired pickles, spicy curly fries, onion rings, cole slaw, mozzarella sticks and chili. THe sides range from $2.50 to $4.25.

On the specials board there was a special Thanksgiving burger – turkey burger, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy. If it hadn’t been the day after Thanksgiving, this would be a great burger to try. They also now have pulled pork sandwiches, another nice menu item.

Whether you eat in the restaurant, have it delivered or order for pick up, the burgers at Corner Burger will not disappoint! If you’re in Park Slope and have a yen for a great burger, this is definitely the spot.

Corner Burger ~ 381 5th Avenue ~ Brooklyn, NY ~ 718.360.462

 

Japonica

As you walk around New York’s Greenwich Village you can practically throw a chopstick and hit a sushi restaurant, so what makes Japonica so special?  Fork thinks it starts with the super friendly and accommodating staff and the authentic Japanese decor, but the main reason has to be the fresh and incredible sushi. The restaurant is as clean as clean can be, colorful lanterns hang everywhere.

Japonica was opened in 1978 and quickly became one of the Village’s restaurant institutions. Often very crowded, reservations are a must. The waiting area is teeny tiny and the wait can be a torment. Without a reservation, the key is to go before 6:00 pm or not long before closing.  Along with tables, you can dine at the sushi bar as well.  There is also a tatami room for parties.

Is it worth it? Absolutely. The huge and quick turnover ensures that every morsel presented to you is fresh and Japonica’s exacting standards ensure that it is of the best quality available. The menu is huge. A huge variety of both raw and cooked items. The menu is a little on the pricey side, but the bento boxes are a great value and the maki are both varied and inexpensive. On the other side of pricey is the quality, which is second to none, and the HUGE portions you are served really make this restaurant a value.

Fork, Tea Strainer and Chopstix met at Japonica for dinner. Japonica is one of Chopstix’s favorite haunts. This being Fork’s first trip to Japonica, Fork followed Chopstix’s lead for ordering.  Being a piece of cutlery that is used to 3 courses, Fork was surprised to be told that an appetizer would be SO unnecessary.

The dinners all come with a salad to start. In most of the Japanese restaurants Fork has been to the salad served with dinner is a very sad salad. Wilted iceberg lettuce and dried up bits of carrot, usually slathered in a poor rendition of a ginger dressing. Not so here. This was a very large, extremely fresh mesclun salad mix, with bright, crisp carrots. The dressing was great. Not too thick, not too much, great balance of flavors – slightly sweet, slightly savory. Wonderful beginning to our meal.

Fork and Chopstix ordered the Deluxe Sushi.  While it rings in at a whopping $35.00, the cuts of sushi are huge.  The fish is very fresh, very high quality, the type of fantastic sushi you get cravings for and spend years searching for.  There were 8 pieces of sushi, a salmon roll, a piece of tamago (egg cake) and Tobiko (flying fish caviar). By the time  Chopstix and Fork finished, we were stuffed to the gills (we love food puns, don’t you?).  Many times after finishing a sushi platter your taste buds are left not completely happy or satisfied. When you finish eating sushi at Japonica, each of your taste buds has been hit and each are totally satisfied.

Tea Strainer ordered the Dinner Bento Box. This dining experience starts off with a bowl of miso soup. Once you finish your soup, placed in front of you is a large tray laden with lots of goodies. The bento box always arrives with a small garden salad, 2 vegetable dumplings, and asparagus; then a choice between 4 items – Tea Strainer chose unagi mini donburi (BBQ eel rice bowl); and then another choice between 4 items for the ‘main’ – Tea Strainer chose sushi.  All this for only $24.50

Ah, dessert.  A culinary adventure cannot truly be had without dessert. Because we all were so stuffed, dessert needed to be something small. Mochi Green Tea ice cream was the perfect choice. Sweet, yet small. As an explanation, mochi is actually a Japanese confection made from pulverized sticky rice, this paste then surrounds green tea ice cream. Green tea ice cream is slightly sweet and has a very nice distinct flavor.

We were allowed to eat at a very slow pace, not rushed or hassled. Water glasses constantly – and quickly – filled. All the staff smile and are accommodating. After we finished eating we were sent a glass of ice cold, sweet plum wine. Perfect ending to a perfect meal.

The wine list here is great – we went through TWO bottles between three pieces of cutlery! Beer is also available. Definitely make a reservation – or go at off hours. If all else fails, they deliver! PJs, sushi and a Godzilla movie, sounds like a plan to me!

Japonica ~ 100 University Place ~ NYC, NY ~ 212.243.7752

El Coyote

It is always amazing that you can pass by a place dozens of times and never realize the hidden gem within. So is the case with El Coyote. El Coyote is located on Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, Queens. Hidden amongst car dealerships, Rite-Aids, 7-11s and karaoke bars is a very unassuming Mexican restaurant that is absolutely worth venturing into.

The atmosphere in El Coyote is warm, the staff friendly and the food fantastic. With that sort of restaurant trifecta a good time and great dining experience is practically guaranteed.

Fork and Spoon and those significant cutlery met here for dinner. Truly, as Fork and Spoon have mentioned before, we bring them along to have more dishes to try – though, really, they are pleasant enough company.

The restaurant is warm and cozy. Great colors throughout and murals painted on the walls. Good music wafting in the background, bottomless iced tea, and a staff that doesn’t hover and rush you. Perfecto!

The tortilla chips are hot and fresh, their salsa freshly made and really good, and no matter how many times you ask for more, they bring them – and with a smile! The salsa was fresh, didn’t have that bitter astringent taste to it that salsa gets that’s been sitting around for days.

The problem becomes, when you want to eat EVERYTHING on the menu, how do you narrow it down to a few choices? Fork supposes, you begin with the first thing on the menu!

Guacamole, prepared tableside.  This was probably one of the first times Fork has had guacamole prepared tableside that the person making the guacamole actually listened to how we wanted it prepared … slightly spicy and lots of lime. Most people don’t realize, lime is what makes guacamole pop. Without it, it’s really just mushed up avocado.  Brought to the table to dip into the wonderful guacamole were warm, fresh, soft corn tortillas, and more tortilla chips.  Needless to say, this was gobbled up in minutes.

Our second starter was a house special, Queso Fundido – and yes, Fork made that name up! Ooey gooey queso (cheese for you gringos out there)  with bits of spicy chorizo and tomato. The chorizo bits were slightly crispy. It is unbelievably good! Salty and smooth and rich, and GONE very quickly. Again, served with soft, warm corn tortillas for dipping. You just want to pick up the bowl and run away with it so you don’t have to share any with anyone!

Fork and Spoon decided to share the Cochinita Pibil – for you Johnny Depp fans, a bit of trivia, this is the dish he ordered everywhere he went in  Once Upon a Time in Mexico, once finished, if he liked the way it was cooked, he killed the chef.  This was wonderful, and we did not feel the need to kill the chef! Pork shoulder rubbed with achiote, then wrapped in banana leaves and slow cooked until for tender. The little tree was heart of palm, avocado and olives. The pork was beyond tender, just falling a part as we began to dig in. The spiciness of the pork was nicely balanced with a little bite of avocado or heart of palm. The paring was wonderful. Very clever and made the dish all the more appetizing.

Served along side the Cochinite Pibil was Rice & Beans. The presentation of the plates and the plating is as important here as the food itself. They get the concept that your first bite of food is visual. The rice is fresh, not stale rice that has been sitting around, the black beans well seasoned and not mushy. Oh, for more room in our stomachs!

Now, the main problem with dining with our significant cutlery is they aren’t so willing to share!

One ordered the Chinichangas. In most Mexican restaurants, you get one gigantic chimichanga, way too much extra tortilla and not enough filling. Instead, at El Coyote, you are served two smaller chimichangas. They are completely filled, not greasy in the least, and served with a good helping of guacamole and sour cream. Totally worth ordering.

The other ordered Bistec Ranchero.  Butterflied and grilled sirloin steak served with slowly cooked onions and poblano peppers with a mild guajillo sauce.  Between the poblano and guajillo peppers there was both a smokey pepper flavor and a little bit of heat. Very nice portion of sirloin. Fork and Spoon did not try the steak, but from the silence on that side of the table, it must have been good!

Ah, dessert. No matter what you eat for dinner – or how much – there is always room for dessert. It’s Spoon’s theory that dessert goes into a separate stomach and therefore always enough room.

Spoon and Fork shared a Tres Leches cake. We were very wary of ordering tres leches cake. Past experience has taught us that ‘home made’ doesn’t always mean made in this particular home. But nothing else jumped out at us from the dessert menu. I know, stinky photo, but seriously good cake! Not damp and mushy. Definitely made in-house. Baked right inside a white ramekin. As full as we were, we had no troubles gobbling this up. Not quite sure what the red syrup was on top. Not sweet enough for maraschino juice, but really very good. Light spongy cake with loads of sweetness from the – well, from the tres leches, but not the soggy mush we were expecting.

One significant cutlery ordered Fried Ice Cream. Frozen solid vanilla ice cream, dredged in crushed corn flakes, and deep fried. Good quality ice cream makes a huge difference here. The ice cream sat in a puddle of chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

And the other significant cutlery ordered a bread pudding. Fork is not usually a fan of bread pudding. Mushy is the only word that ever comes to mind when those two words are put together.  But this was pretty good. Not too wet or mushy. There was a delicious guava sauce on top which added a great deal of flavor to the bread pudding. Served on the side was vanilla ice cream.

The service in El Coyote is outstanding. They don’t care how long you take to finish your meal. They are at the ready to refill iced teas and water.  They saw Fork and Spoon taking photos of the food and would bring plates over and say, ‘this will make a beautiful picture.’ 

When our meal was done they brought over glasses of warm mulled wine for the table.

If you live in the Jackson Heights area, you definitely must try El Coyote. If you don’t want o go out because it’s too chilly, order in, they deliver!

For those of you in the Monroe, CT, area, you are in luck as well! There is an El Coyote located at 838 Main St., Monroe, CT., 203.459.4055.

El Coyote ~ 80-18 Northern Boulevard ~ Jackson Heights, NY ~ 718.651.4874