Source: sfstation.com
Sheepshead Bites wishes all of our readers a happy, healthy New Year.
According to the Chinese zodiac, Year of the Snake 2013 will be a year for “steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create.”
How are you celebrating the Chinese New Year? Support your local businesses, and pick up some dim sum on Avenue U!
I’ll just come out and say it: I love Chop Stix. My girlfriend and I first tried their delicious food at A Taste of Sheepshead Bay event this past October, and their broccoli and chicken dish was easily one of the most memorable and satisfying bites we had that night. In light of that experience, it actually came as no surprise to me that Chop Stix made the New York Daily News’ list of the city’s best General Tso’s Chicken.
Chop Stix, located at 3790 Nostrand Avenue, is run by Chef George Wong and the Daily News tried to get at Wong’s secrets, but he wasn’t biting:
According to Wong, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, the secret to his General Tso’s chicken is the fresh snow peas, peppers, broccoli, baby corn and watercress he uses to accompany the dish. But it’s the sauce that is the most impressive. Wong won’t reveal what’s in it but admits that he lets it ferment for at least a week so “the ingredients mix in harmony.”
Keep your secrets, Mr. Wong, but keep serving up some of the best Asian cuisine in all of Brooklyn.
A new Chinese gift shop has opened at 1250 Avenue U.
The Chinese Court of Jingdezhen Ceramics Exhibition Factory Outlet primarily offers ceramic pieces, but also has framed art prints, jewelry, swords and other pretty, little knickknacks.
The location was previously an H & R Block.
I hear you get a significant discount if you can say their full name five times fast without mistake.
P.S. – I didn’t really hear that. But feel free to try.
The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) After School Program at P.S. 153 in Homecrest is putting on a “Spring Showcase” that they hope will make you feel like jumping out of your seat and dancing, to celebrate the love of spring.
The show, May 6 at 4 p.m. inside the P.S, 153 auditorium (1970 Homecrest Avenue at Avenue T), will feature students and staff performing ditties such as The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love,” Train’s “Hey Soul Sister,” as well as Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up” (performed by students only) to show appreciation to the parents who have brought their children to the afterschool program.
For more, call (718) 627-6373.
And now for something completely different...
Welcome back to The Bite, Sheepshead Bites’ weekly column where we explore the foodstuffs of Sheepshead Bay. Each week we check out a different offering from one of the many restaurants, delis, food carts, bakeries, butchers, fish mongers, or grocers in our neighborhood. If it’s edible, we’ll take a bite.
Take a moment to re-read that last line of The Bite’s intro blurb. “If it’s edible, we’ll take a bite.” When Robert and I conceived of The Bite, it wasn’t to be just prepared foods served at restaurants and cafes, but also bottled and canned goods and other assorted comestibles unique to the area’s ethnic grocers. So, with more than a dozen great reviews of traditional foods under our belt, I began harassing Robert to try something a little more… fringe. On a visit to New York Mart yesterday, I told him that if he wanted to keep his job he’d eat and review whatever I bought him. To warm him up to the idea, I said I’d eat it, too. Below is his writeup. My thoughts are in parenthesis. – Ned.
Find out what we thought about the canned roasted eel we purchased from New York Mart.
Welcome back to The Bite, Sheepshead Bites’ weekly column where we explore the foodstuffs of Sheepshead Bay. Each week we check out a different offering from one of the many restaurants, delis, food carts, bakeries, butchers, fish mongers, or grocers in our neighborhood. If it’s edible, we’ll take a bite.
Avenue U west of Ocean Avenue has a reputation among the foodies of NYC as being Brooklyn’s “Mini China Town.” Only Sunset Park’s “China Town” surpasses our neighborhood in size, but I believe our restaurants and markets are much better. Maybe I’m biased?
Stroll along the avenue and you’ll find Chinese bakeries, markets, stores and restaurants. Many of the store signs are in Chinese, leaving this guilo wondering what wonders await inside.
Today I followed my nose and stepped into L & U Cafe for a quick bite – a Cha Siu Baau or BBQ Pork Bun. Hmm, did someone say BBQ?
Two Asian eateries were closed recently by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for unsanitary conditions, one of which received a staggering 105 violation points.
New Star Seafood Restaurant at 1217-1221 Avenue U was closed after a laundry list of violations was issued in at least 15 areas. Just a sampling of the complaints includes evidence of mice and roaches, food was not protected from potential contamination, hot food was not held at adequate temperatures, food preparation surfaces were not cleaned, and handwashing areas even lacked soap. Workers were even scolded in the DOH report for their personal cleanliness, with the inspector observing soiled garments and lack of hair restraints.
The restaurant was shut down on Friday, October 15, but a sign in the door (placed next to the DOH sign) said they were closed for renovation and would be reopened yesterday. As of today they are still closed.
Meanwhile, Yoshinoya Sushi at 1741 Sheepshead Bay Road (off of Shore Parkway) was closed yesterday for mice, rats and roaches, as well as improper storage of cold food items. They accumulated 45 points, largely for critical violations.
Kings Bay YM-YWHA is throwing a Moon Festival Celebration in their Chinese Social Adult Day Care program. The event kicks off Wednesday, September 22, at 9:00 a.m. in the Kings Bay Y located at 3495 Nostrand Avenue (between Avenue U and Avenue V).
The Moon Festival, called Zhongqiu Jie (中秋節) in Chinese, is one of the most important traditional holidays for the Chinese. It is also known as the mid-autumn festival, because according to the Chinese calendar, the moon is said to be the fullest and roundest on this day. It is celebrated by eating moon cakes outside with the full moon in the sky and by carrying brightly lit lanterns.
The Social Adult Day Care program is celebrating with traditional food, moon cakes, gifts for members and a karaoke competition. The celebration will last until 11:45 a.m.
A reader sent us this photo and a note saying Century Mart of Avenue U, located at 2309 Avenue U, appears to be closed for good. The Asian food market has served the neighborhood for several years, and there didn’t seem to be any advance notice about its closure. We tried calling the business’s number, but found it was disconnected.
In the window of the store is a sign advertising commercial lofts for rent on the second and third floors of the building, but no information about the ground-level business. Could it be temporary? Keep an eye on this space and let us know if you see any changes.
There aren’t words to describe the video above. It was filmed yesterday at the Seaport Buffet at Loehmann’s Seaport Plaza (2027 Emmons Avenue), and it’s the number one reason I hate going to buffets in Brooklyn.
I went with a friend of mine from New Jersey. I spent a good 25 minutes prior to going to the buffet explaining the tong takedown that occurs when crab legs hit the table. You see, I needed to explain it because in New Jersey they don’t do this. They don’t do it in Pennsylvania, either. Or any other state in which I’ve been to a buffet. You go to buffets there and people take just a couple at a time, and there’s always some left in the tray. It’s called civility, and it’s enough to make a fat Brooklyn boy cry.
And so I explained it. In detail. He geared up, excited to see it. To him, it sounded like a gladiator match for the morbidly obese. But I warned him my words didn’t do it justice, which he couldn’t imagine. And so we arrived, and we went for our first plates of appetizers and just then the woman came out with the steaming tray of critter limbs.
I made him watch. I counted to fifteen. The crabs were gone, and so was my friend’s appetite.
Yes, it’s like this all over Brooklyn. But the Seaport Buffet is the most competitive of all the places I’ve been to, and it’s disgusting. People even take the tongs back to their seats (watch the guy in the top right). They trample children. They leave nothing for no one.
What the hell is wrong with these people?
