Free Williamsburg

The Williamsburg Brooklyn-based culture guide to New York and beyond.

Ichiran

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The popular Japanese ramen chain makes its debut in Brooklyn. Ichiran encourages “low-interaction dining” in its 30, single-seat booths so patrons can concentrate on the flavor of the ramen dishes without too much chit-chat. A few tables are available as well, if you are not dining alone. The ramen is great but prepare to wait, since the lines are typically huge.

Featured Reviews

  • Ichiran’s signature tonktotsu ramen bowl costs $18.90. This may seem steep, but keep in mind that this is a no-tip establishment. There are seven different customizable categories, such as spiciness, richness, and noodle texture.

    The only other dishes available on the menu are a pork belly appetizer, a matcha tofu dessert, and a small selection of Japanese beers. If you find yourself with too much broth at the end of your noodles you can opt for the “Kae-Dama,” or noodle refill, at a half ($2.90) or full ($3.90) portion.

  • After nine years of plans and rumors, popular Japanese ramen chain Ichiran has finally opened its first US location in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and in addition to its specialty tonkotsu (pork) broth and handmade noodles, it’s also known for “low-interaction dining” — i.e. eating a meal without interacting with a single other person, not even your waiter.

  • In its “flavor concentration booths,” you can eat without the tedium of chatting to a companion, being welcomed by a host or even thanking a waiter. Arrivals are greeted by a lighted panel indicating which booths are available. Each diner is enclosed in a narrow space like a library carrel, in perfect solitude. Orders are taken and delivered by unseen servers. This sensory and social deprivation, the theory goes, allows for full savoring of the broth (pork bone only), the noodles (thin, not curly) and the toppings. It also encourages eating ramen in the Japanese manner — quickly, so the noodles do not overcook, and loudly, with slurping — without the worry of splashing or distracting a neighbor.

  • The restaurant, which has 61 worldwide locations, prides itself on serving just one type of soup: pork-bone-broth tonkotsu, which you have the option to order and eat without saying a word… Although the restaurant only serves one type of soup, Ichiran’s ramen is as customizable as it gets: you can adjust the strength of the dashi, the richness of the broth, the amount of garlic in the soup, whether or not it’s served with pork, the level of spiciness, the texture of the noodles, and add any extra toppings. All of this is done without speaking to a single person.

Getting There

King Noodle

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A fun, Southeast Asian noodle joint with a kitschy, tropical design and Tikki-style cocktails. Following mixed reviews when they first opened, the owners switched up the design making it slightly more tasteful and paying more attention to the food. Oddball dishes still remain like Mapo Tofu Chili Cheese Fries (pork chili, tofu, cheese and scallions) and Spam Fried Rice but more standard fare like a Whole Fried Fish and Green Curry Noodles are also in the mix. A fun place to take a group for a tasty, low-key meal.

Featured Reviews

  • After two years in Bushwick, the owners of King Noodles decided it was to time to revamp their restaurant in 2015. The swirly, psychedelic interior was swapped out for wood paneling and upholstered booths, though the disco ball and mirrored wall remain, giving the place a quirky ’80s-basement vibe. Menu-wise, the kitchen has shed its kitschy touches — so long, Doritos-topped kimchee carbonara — and taken on a more straightforward Southeast Asian focus, with gentler prices and bigger entrée portions. 

  • King Noodle’s MO is all about hyper-Americanized Chinese food, while combining unique ingredients to develop delicious and slightly avant-garde eats. Leave it to the crew that gave us Dorito kimchee carbonara to come up with mapo tofu chili cheese fries, which feature mouth-tingling Szechuan peppercorns, tofu, scallions, and good ol’ American cheese.

Getting There

Le Garage

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The dining room, like the food, puts on few airs. And we mean that in a good way. The menu is French and the food is simple, traditional and, well, delicious. Stand-outs include the chicken for two and the braised pork shoulder in milk with roasted fennel and chestnut.

Featured Reviews

  • The food is French fancy-casual, with an airiness befitting Bushwick; that is, there is space between tables. (“I feel like I’m out of town,” chirped a recent patron, having arrived from distant Williamsburg.) The chicken for two is an ode to bird and butter. Presented before it’s carved, the dish is a sculpture to behold under the massive skylight—you might pause a moment before digging in. But chicken this crispy and juicy, served alongside lemongrass-sweet-potato purée, has a way of disappearing fast. The foie gras and steak satisfy, but it’s the sea bass that surprises, its skin like lattice, heaped with lightly charred ramps. Try it after the fried panisse: falafel batons of ineffable daintiness. The confit charlotte potatoes, stuffed with hazelnuts and snails, show the kitchen’s skill at keeping classic French ingredients on the delicate side of robust. Dessert’s a mille-feuille deconstructed, because who can bother with fussy layers when fluffy lemon custard’s involved? But nothing beats the simple chocolate cake: the menu’s exquisite last word.

  • [The] menu is full of familiar and unexpected pleasures: a simple starter of radishes and sesame salt sits side-by-side an elegant plate of homemade foie gras, served here with baby beets and winter radish.Everything on the menu is meant for sharing and encourages diners to mix and match. For heartier fare, you really must try the braised pork shoulder in milk with roasted fennel and chestnut. A classic French dish, the tough cut of meat is roasted then slow cooked in milk until it is achingly tender.

Getting There

Lucy’s Vietnamese Kitchen

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They only serve Pho and Banh Mi, but simplicity is a beautiful thing at Lucy’s. Their pho comes in a mushroom broth, but meat eaters can always add brisket or chicken. We recommend the latter. The place is tiny, with one long table, perfect for communal slurping. Chicken thigh, smoked brisket and tofu Banh Mi are available.

Featured Reviews

  • The broth is as crystalline as consommé, with long leaves of bok choy still on the stalk and bobbing thimbles of green onion. It’s lovely in its pristine state, but even better besmirched by brisket. The meat is rubbed with salt and pepper, smoked for 14 hours over mesquite and apple wood, and carved and seared to order. It lands in the bowl with dark fringes, the bark just shy of scorched, and its juices leach into the pho along with a trace of smoke. 

  • Purists may balk at the notion of a vegetable-based pho that shines among the meaty regulars, but the lone offering of noodle soup at chef-owner Johnny Huynh’s Bushwick kitchen is just that. A savory, yet light broth is simmered for three hours with mushrooms, star anise, charred shallots and ginger, and built with unorthodox fixings like shiitake and bok choy. Beef is available as a topping in thick, hand-carved strips of brisket that’s been smoked for 14 hours over mesquite and applewood. Diners tuck into the piping hot bowls as well as sandwiches (pho banh mi, lemongrass chicken) at the shop’s singular red-painted, wooden communal table.

  • Believe it or not, one of the city’s best bowls of pho is… vegetarian. That’s right. Instead of the usual meats and marrow, Chef Johnny Huynh uses mushrooms, star anise, cinnamon, charred shallots, and ginger to tease out a broth that’s both hearty and light, brimming with fresh rice noodles, shiitakes, and bok choy. Hardcore carnivores, fear not. You have the option to add tender slabs of smoked beef brisket, which add yet another layer of flavor to this already complex noodle soup.

Getting There

Mominette

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A classic French bistro with all of the standards — Steak Frites, Burger, Nicoise Salad, Mussels — done consistently well. The dining room is warm and inviting, as a French Bistro should be, all romantically lit by candlelight. Braised Beef Bourguignon is a standout, but if you’re feeling less meaty, the Mac and Cheese entree is delicious. Mominette is owned by the same team behind Williamsburg favorite, Le Barricou.

Featured Reviews

  • The owner of Sunday brunch favorite Le Barricou has opened another outpost for French cuisine in north Brooklyn. A rustic chandelier and old Parisian newspapers and posters decorate the restaurant’s dark interior, and the place is lit by candles. There’s a leafy backyard with pebbles and pétanque that you can play while you’re waiting for your entrée. Go for the recognizably French plates: escargot—served out of their shells—and the moules frites. l.

  • Mominette, which features full dinner and brunch service, doubles as a romantic bar with a full menu of Brooklyn-specific beverages concocted by their resident bartender. My favorite was the Take Me Home- a satisfying blend of Passionfruit Puree and Makers Mark, spiced with Chile de Arbol. It was the perfect beverage to sip on while peering at the candle-lit restaurant’s unique decour- from vintage chandeliers to newsprint wallpaper and bottles of Mominette’s own wine.

Getting There

Momo Sushi Shack

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If you like Williamsburg’s Bozu (we do) you’ll love this slightly more formal outpost in Bushwick. Creative sushi “bombs” and deliciously fatty izakaya in a sparse minimalist setting. Be sure to try the Spicy Scallop Hand Roll, the Heritage Pork Betty, and the Fried Chicken.

Featured Reviews

  • Organic pork belly (“Pork Betty”) arrives in a ring of bite-sized slices, tender and cooked in a soy, sake, ginger, and garlic sauce. Fried chicken emerges heavily breaded and delicious, with ponzu dipping sauce and chile oil on the side. On the sushi menu, the “bombs” reign supreme, slightly larger than a normal roll and lacking the seaweed wrap. Meanwhile, unusual combinations, like the Mc Low bomb (toro, avocado, wasabi cream) and the salmon guacamole roll (salmon, homemade guacamole) mingle with a vegetarian lineup of tofu and vegetable options.

  • The pork betty ($10) deserves to be celebrated, its name carved into stone structures and sung from rooftops. Slices of pork belly bobbed in a sake-and-soy sauce mixture, each slice boasting a polka dot of wasabi cream and a burst of pure porcine flavor, a holy union of bacon and umami. We would have drunk the dregs.

  • Understated but “definitely not a shack”, this Bushwick Japanese “go-to” serves “interesting, delicious” small plates and “unconventional” sushi (including lots of veggie options); its wooden communal tables “fill up fast” at prime times, so regulars “get there early.”

Getting There

Montana’s Trail House

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A casual place to get a drink, relax and have some of the best comfort food in the neighborhood. It’s also great for brunch, especially if you’re craving baked eggs. Though the “Appalachian East coast country food” theme is a bit heavy-handed, Montana’s Trail House has quickly established itself as a go-to joint for locals with great food and friendly vibes. Don’t miss the fried chicken.

Featured Reviews

  • The state of Montana seems to be referenced in the joint’s moniker, it actually represents the given name of owner Montana Masback, former bartender at the Last Chance Saloon. A Bushwick bistro opened by a dive bartender? Here anything can happen….We loved the brisket braised in root beer ($23), and never asked if the braising liquid was organic or not. The thick slabs flopped across something called rice grits, creamy and salty. From a choice of four other entrees, we forewent the fried chicken (you can get good fried chicken anywhere in Brooklyn these days), the “barnyard” trout, and a vegetable plate, in favor of the so-called “tongue and cheek reuben” ($15). This fine sandwich features those two variety meats with house-cured sauerkraut. Apart from a certain sameness in our two entrees, we were satisfied by the quality and quantity of the food.

  • Google Montana’s Trail House and words like “Appalachian black magic” and “East Coast country” will pop up. What exactly that means and how that all plays out on a corner in Bushwick, it’s kind of hard to tell—but it works. In a gas station refitted inside and out with beautiful wood salvaged from a barn in Kentucky and plenty of pieces of old Americana, owner Montana Masback has transformed the space and divided it into two dining rooms: the Roost, a tiny wedge of a corner room, welcomes you up front, and the Tack Room around the corner houses the bar, a bookcase with a secret door to an outside patio, complete with two-tops and seats covered with green and red vinyl, and hanging rusty antiques. Throw in some young, model-esque servers and tattooed bartenders, a playlist of soul and country, plus vintage wallpaper, and you’ve got some trail-house fun.

  • A creative selection of reasonably priced cocktails starts at $10. The waiters are diner-style friendly, but not always knowledgeable. The locavore menu reads like a scene from “Portlandia” (“barnyard trout” and “kale slaw”), while the late-night bar snacks include fried pickles and corn dogs.y.”

Getting There

Ops

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A wood-baked pizza spot featuring pizzas with sourdough crust. They also have a great wine selection. As with any pizza place, we recommend trying the Margherita Pizza – theirs is simple and delicious. They also have a selection of small dishes (cheese plates, salads, antipasta) that change with the season.

Featured Reviews

  • Ops is a pizza spot in Bushwick, and it’s an excellent neighborhood hang. The pizza itself is good, but we were more impressed with the feeling of the place. Come by yourself for a solo meal at the bar, or bring some friends for fuel before a night out in Bushwick bars

  • Wood-fired pies with a sourdough crust are joined by a few simple openers (cheeses, salad and antipasti) at this Bushwick pizzeria, which also offers seasonal cocktails and a “Bud and amaro” combo. The converted garage space is welcoming with brick walls, tiled floors and marble-topped tables, and there’s no tipping.

  • The space at 346 Himrod Street is a former car garage that now offers seating for 45 guests. Its centerpiece is a mosaic-tiled oven that will be firing pizzas such as The Pops which comes with tomato, mozzarella, guanciale, and Pecorino. In addition to pizza, the team is serving menu options like braised lentils with toast, and caponata with bitter greens. Fadem and Tribouilloy will be splitting cooking duty, with Fadem’s focus solely on pizza and Tribouilloy running the rest of the menu

  • Ops, as the new spot is called, is helmed by Mike Fadem (who previously worked at Roman’s and Estela), Marie Tribouilloy (Buvette, the Pines), and Gavin Compton, who owns Variety Coffee next door. Fitting the team’s collective background, the vibe is casual; tips won’t be accepted; the room, a former garage, is agreeably rustic; the cocktails are seasonal; and the menu emphasizes shared plates, antipasti, and a rotating list of wood-baked sourdough pizza in varieties like the Pops (tomatoes, mozzarella, guanciale, onions, Pecorino), and the Rojo (mortadella, peppers, Crescenza cheese).

Getting There

Roberta’s

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Roberta’s is the iconic restaurant in Bushwick that put the neighborhood on the map as an essential foodie destination. Anthony Bourdain is a fan (of course) and the New York Times call Roberta’s “one of the more extraordinary restaurants in the United States.” We agree. Start with a brick oven pizza to share — we prefer any that include their house-made spicy honey — but be sure to try one of their always-changing, seasonal entrees. The waits are tremendous, so get on the list early. Thankfully, they have a large bar where you can enjoy a craft beer or frozen cocktail while you wait.

Featured Reviews

  • What more can we say about this razor-wire resort that hasn’t already been said? New Brooklyn pizzeria. Rooftop farmer. Erstwhile beekeeper. Bread bakery. Internet radio station. The place is a hillbilly-hipster juggernaut. Never mind that the Clintons ate here. Alice Waters kicked in cash to help grow the garden. And Michel Bras came by one night to tuck into the fried chicken. It takes about 12 conversations with ten eccentrically clothed individual waiters to finally get one of them to bring you your Mini Famous Original pizza while seated at the outdoor tiki bar on a weekday afternoon, but when it finally arrives, it’s a very good Mini Famous Original pizza, and you’re practically ecstatic.

  • One of the more extraordinary restaurants in the United States… For the last two years, though, and increasingly over the last 12 months, the pizzas have been joined by the more-formal fare that a gas stove and huge ambition can create: delicate salads of foraged greens and home-grown flowers, cured meats of great complexity, painterly pasta dishes, aged roasted meats…

    These are extremely beautiful plates of food, artfully designed. The cuttlefish, in particular, would not look out of place on a starched tablecloth at Per Se. They are delicate of flavor, free of excess fats or salts, as pure an expression of new American cuisine as you are likely to find anywhere. It is shocking, and wonderful, to eat them in this cinder-block garage space six stops into Brooklyn on the L, a ratty old ski lodge built for bums interested in food rather than powder.

Getting There

Sandobe

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A fusion of Japanese sushi and Korean food with karaoke rooms in the back. The menu is a bit overwhelming with Sushi Sets, Ramen and Udon, Teriyaki dishes and more, but the food will not disappoint. Many of the dishes are shareable, such as the Korean Fried Chicken and Kimchi Pancakes. Specialty rolls are named after celebrities; Taylor Swift (Shrimp, Tuna, and King Crab) and the Kanye West (Salmon, Avocado, and King Crab). Wash it all down with some sake or a Japanese craft beer — Yona Yona Pale Ale, Aooni IPA, Wednesday Cat White Ale, Tokyo Black Porter, Samurai Barley Ale and Japanese Golden Kolsh are all available. The dining room is large and has a series of simple, elegant wood tables, perfect for groups. Three karaoke rooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Featured Reviews

  • Sandobe is a Korean and Japanese hybrid that is currently open for lunch, dinner, and karaoke. The Bushwick restaurant is offering appetizers items like a seafood pancake ($14), Korean fried chicken ($12), miso ramen ($13), and kimchi pork fried rice ($11). There’s poke on the menu, too. The karaoke rooms are available by the hour, and can fit up to 30 guests.

Getting There