To Try

Cheap Mexican in Sunset Park

Carmelita Deli

Carmelita in Sunset Park is the latest grocery-plus-taqueria to appear on hound radar. At the back of the shop, a tiny kitchen turns out a superior chorizo torta, among other things. DistrictSelectman loves the $1.50 tacos with authentic fixings: a sprinkling of onion and cilantro, grilled cebollitas, radishes, pickled jalapeños, and standout condiments like smoky salsa rojo and salsa verde, chunky with avocado. “The food is terrific and cheap, and sinfully good,” he says.

Carmelita

780 Fourth Avenue, between 26th and 27th streets

Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Los Tres Potrillos

1004 Fourth Avenue, at 39th Street
Sunset Park, Brooklyn

718-788-8484

Circus Fruits

Driving around South Brooklyn one night, my boyfriend and I came across Circus Fruits, a 24 hour supermarket overflowing with fresh produce lining three sides of the store exterior. After some googling, we found that this supermarket specializes in fresh produce, dairy, meat, cheeses and other specialty Italian items at wholesale prices.

After looking at their weekly specials, I don’t think a better deal can be found in the tri-state area.

Circus Fruits

5916 Ft. Hamilton Parkway

Brooklyn, NY 11219

Grand Sichuan House

From NYMag.com:

Incongruously located behind Bay Ridge’s Century 21, Grand Sichuan House serves up trademark peppercorns and chiles in a compact interior with butcher paper-lined tables, bold-patterned lamp shades, and red-and-gold paper lanterns. There’s no reason to delve into the American-Chinese classics that dominate the take out menu; instead, look to the picture menu for authenticity. Start with tongue-searing dan dan noodles, a cold appetizer that looks like an innocent pile of thick wheat noodles until the pool of crimson chile oil at the bottom of the small bowl gets mixed in. The spicy yet familiar pasta is the perfect gateway to funkier items like tongue, tripe and jellyfish prepared in the same style. Slices of fresh pork, essentially uncured bacon, are stir-fried with garlic chives until the oniony greens turn sweet and an irresistible smokiness permeates the simple dish. Chong Qing chicken looks like nothing more than a plate of glossy dried chiles, the crispy sugar cube-sized chunks of meat are buried inside waiting to be plucked out with chopsticks. Despite the intimating quantity of red hot pods, the overall effect isn’t painfully fiery; it’s the barely perceptible Sichuan peppercorns that pack a tingly wallop. — Krista Garcia

Recommended Dishes

Dan dan noodle, $3.95; fresh sliced pork with garlic chives, $9.95; dry sautéed string bean with minced pork, $8.50; chong qing spicy chicken, $11.95

Grand Sichuan House

8701 Fifth Ave, near 87th Street

Hours:

Mon-Thu, 11am-10:30pm

Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm

Sun, noon-10pm

Pomme de Terre

From NYMag.com:

When the Farm on Adderley opened in the culinary wasteland of Ditmas Park in 2006, the neighborhood rejoiced. Things are looking even brighter on the food front now that the Farm’s owners, Gary Jonas and his wife, Allison, have teamed up with Brooklyn gastropreneur Jim Mamary on their second venture, an unassuming French bistro named Pomme de Terre. The unswervingly Gallic menu, designed by Farm on Adderley chef Tom Kearney, sticks to standards like duck confit, skate in brown butter, tarte Tatin, and a croque monsieur. “Pretty straight- forward stuff,” says Kearney. Still, churning your own butter, making your own ketchup, and dry-aging your own beef speak to something a little more ambitious. And if the twice-cooked fries are as crisp and delicious as they are at the Farm, Pomme de Terre will do its name proud

Specials:

Mondays - Rabbit Papparedelle Night

Tuesdays - Crawfish Boil Night

Menu

Pomme de Terre

1301 Newkirk Avenue, corner of Argyle Road

General Greene

After ending the Le Fooding event on Friday with tasty Vanilla Bourbon ice cream from General Greene, I had to look into this restaurant further to learn more about Julie Farias. Hailing from Beer Table, Chef Farias has recently taken over the kitchen at GG and specializes in tapas style servings of hearty foods for the soul. I’d like to try some of the following dishes recommended by Serious Eats:

Chorizo Salad - $12

Salt & Pepper Ribs - $13

8 oz. Grilled Steak - $13

Salty Caramel Sundae - $7

Seasonal Fruit Cobbler - $9

Brooklyn Dim Sum

Now that fall weather has taken over, I cannot think of a better way to begin the season than to test out the dim sum scene in Brooklyn. As a recent Manhattanite, I barely went to dim sum in Chinatown but after reading the Brooklyn Paper’s dim sum guide this past summer, there was nothing I’ve wanted to eat more. Below are the recommended restaurants that I will be going to one by one.

Pacificana

813 55th Street, at 8th Avenue

Sunset Park