It's Not Too Late! To Try a New Place to Eat In Williamsburg

Walking to get the B Train I saw this sign outside a fish store on Grand Street, I guess Ms. Catherine has a shop upstairs. It's not too late! for some reason this struck me as very funny.

Also in my wanderings about the city, Brooklyn this time, I came across this awesome mural in south Williamsburg, after a light lunch at Diner.

Something tells me the artist is not a smoker. Speaking of not too late, I continue to discover all sorts of places I need to eat in Williamsburg, there were three that I walked by this time that I am definitely going to try out: Mercat Negre which is a huge groovy room with a fun tapas menu and lots of oddly named quirky cocktails (Sticky Icky is my favorite, can you guess why it is a concoction of Tequila, Mezcal, Cointreau, Pomegranate and Fresh Lime).

Fatty Cue has been all the buzz for a while now and if you go to their website they link to the rave NYT review. What I liked about the place is it's south of the bridge location, it's faux seedy, cozy, vibe. The low ceiling makes me feel like I'm in a speaking easy from the 1930s with bohemians and sailors only now it's grungy hipsters boys with beards and their arty girlfriends. As you would expect from the owners of Fatty Crab the menu is infused with the flavors of South East Asia (Vietnam mostly) and his filled with lots of fatty options to indulge in: Dragon Pullman Toast with a side of master fat to start Heritage Pork Ribs done with smoked fish/palm syrup, Indonesian long pepper or if you go on Sunday can order Whole Pig a platter of mixed parts Pineapple Curry, Thai Basil and Bao. I feel fatter just writing about it! And can't wait to go and indulge.

Chai is a very beautiful little Thai place at Barry and N6th. The owners also have a place in midtown. Having traveled extensively in Thailand and South East Asia I find most Thai food here to be disappointing, but am always game to give a new place a try, so I'll report back after I've sampled the fare here at Chai.

It's not too late! To take the train or walk across the Williamsburg Bridge and explore the ever changing food and drink scene across the East River.

One of the things I most enjoy about living on the east side of the Lower East Side is how easy it is to get to Williamsburg, in some ways I think they are very similar neighborhoods: young, evolving and most importantly local food focused. If you don't live in NY and are interested in good food that reflects the region it is from these are the two places you would want to spend most of your time. Which come to think of it is probably why every new building they put up on the Lower East Side seems to be a hotel. When will the first hip hotel open in Williamsburg? Can't be far off. Any venture capitalists reading this want to go in on opening the first hotel in Williamsburg - give me a shout!