JOYA Restaurant Review

Ever since our epic backpacking adventure to Thailand last year, Ariel and I are always on the look out for great Thai food.  Shortly after moving to Brooklyn, we found a local spot which quickly became our go-to.  However, this past weekend we decided to venture a little further and check out JOYA in Cobble Hill, and boy am I glad we did.  Delicious, cheap, and full of veggie options, JOYA is definitely our new favorite Thai spot.  We've already been back and I expect there will be many a takeout order in the near future.

To start, we've ordered the Papaya Salad and Summer Rolls (with tofu instead of shrimp).  Both were good, but nothing too spectacular.

Mountain of papaya salad

For main dishes, our hands down favorite has been the Spicy Noodles (vegetarian version).  Wide noodles loaded pan-fried with vegetables, this dish perfectly balances both spicy and sweet, something I personally love about good Thai food. Just thinking about it makes me hungry...

Spicy Noodle mess

We have also tried both the green and red curries.  Both were good, but the red curry definitely had better flavor.  I appreciated that both curry dishes had tons of different veggies that were perfectly cooked - not raw, but also not overdone.  Also, JOYA does offer brown rice... you just have to ask for it!

Blurry green curry

We haven't tried the Mango Sticky rice, but that will change soon. =)

As far as the atmosphere, JOYA is a happening spot.  It's been crowded each time we have gone, the bar filled with folks enjoying a cocktail while waiting for a table.  I will note that the inside is pretty loud - the crowd plus the music may be overpowering for some.  For those who prefer a quieter vibe, try to get a seat out back.  While it may be a little harder to see your food (if its dark, as it was both times I visited as you can see from my pictures above), it will be much easier to enjoy conversation with your dining mates.

I will note:  JOYA, like many NYC establishments, is CASH ONLY.  Sigh.  While it won't keep me from coming back, it is a little disappointing that so many places in NYC still don't accept plastic.

Do you like Thai food?  If so, do you stick with one tried-and-true restaurant or are you always checking out new places?

Smorgasburg at Brooklyn Bridge Park

Spring is here and that means that the Sunday Smorgasburg has moved outside  to Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Since this is a 10 minute walk from my apartment, I am stoked, to say the least.  I have been every weekend since it opened, with the exception of the two weekends I was out of town, and I expect this will continue throughout the summer and fall.  Local food + insane people watching + sunshine = can't get much better.  Okay maybe if we added yoga and green juice in there... Hmmm... Seems like a business opportunity...

Anyways, here's my current top picks from the 'Burg:

- ISH Premium Horseradish - Super fresh horseradish paired with sweet and tangy ingredients like beets, citrus, ginger, and garlic.  Most people forget about horseradish as a condiment, but ISH is bound to change this.  I'm personally addicted to the beet flavor, but they are all delicious.  No idea what to do with premium horseradish? The folks at ISH got that covered: with each purchase they include a recipe guide with tons of suggestions for each flavor.

- Chickpea and Olive - Vegan sliders and sandwiches made from wholesome ingredients and a super cute logo, not much not to love about Chickpea and Olive.  I tried their Phatty Beet Slider last year when I visited NYC and fell in love so it's no wonder it's one of my top picks. And the eggplant "bacon" oh my goodness. 

- Alchemy Creamery - Vegan ice cream, holler!  Not only ice cream, but push pops and ice cream sandwiches, in crazy awesome flavors like salted peanut butter and chocolate blackberry.  And free toppings.  Bring on summer!

- Bunna Cafe - Yummy vegan Ethiopian food.  They recently opened a full restaurant in Bushwick which I'm dying to visit. 

- Barry's Tempeh - The best tempeh I've ever had. For realz.  I don't know what it is, but this stuff is so superior to any other tempeh I've tried.  I bought some at the most recent Vegan Shop Up, and I'm excited to see if I can make it taste as magical as Barry does.

I'll update this list as the summer goes on and I find more favorite vendors (which I'm sure I will).  For anyone who lives in New York, have you ever been to Smorgasburg? If so, who are your favorite vendors and products?

Eats in the New Hood

Since we've moved to Brooklyn Heights, especially when we just moved and hadn't unpacked anything, we've been exploring the local food spots.  Here's a few words on my favorite local spots thus far:

Siggy's Good Food

The first night I was in NYC we came here to eat, and immediately I was in love: the funky atmosphere (there's a sign outside that says aliens eat free) and healthy, but innovative menu (vegan and gluten free lasagna made with vegetables instead of noodles), and, of corse, the juice bar (fresh wheatgrass!!).  While not super cheap, Siggy's is definitely affordable, especially considering the quality, organic ingredients they use.  I'm obsessed with the "Live Earth" salad - a giant helping of amazingly fresh and tasty greens topped with cucumber, sprouts, avocado, and roasted red pepper.  Seriously, I've ordered this salad 4 times I think.  The juices also rock and the staff are friendly.  If you come visit me, I will most likely take you here.

Tutt Heights 

Tutt Heights is a little place that so happens to be next door to our apartment (literally, like the UPS man leaves our packages with Tutt if we aren't home).  And it just so happens to have amazing pita and babaganoush and falafel, among other things. Oh, did I mention that it is cheap?  We've also been here multiple times.  If you come visit me, Ariel will insist on taking you here to try the babaganoush.

Dellarocco's 

On New Years Eve, we decided to go out to dinner.  This was a big deal, since we both had been sick and in bed for the entire past week.  We decided to try out Dellarocco's, which is located on Montague Street, which is the main drag in Brooklyn.  We ordered a salad, roasted vegetables as an appetizer, and two pizzas.  A lot of food for two people but I wanted to try their Marinara pizza, which has no cheese (yay!). And there is no such thing as too much leftover pizza, right?  We did end up having leftover pizza, not because it wasn't delicious - it was.  The sauce was really tasty and the crust was crisp and lightly charred by the wood fire grill.  The salad and veggies were great as well.  I'm sure we will be getting pizza from here again (they deliver!).

Iron Chef House

Until last week, I hadn't had sushi since moving to NYC, which for some one who loves her nori rolls, is kinda a big deal.  Enter: Iron Chef House.  Located just a short walk from our apartment, this place was a great Yelp! find.  I was so happy to see that they had more than just your typical cucumber avocado roll for vegetarians, and the option for brown rice! Not sure what else you could ask for.  I got a vegetable sushi assortment and Ariel got some variety plate with sushi, noodles, and a few other things.  We both agreed that everything was great, and the service was good as well.  I can see many sushi take-out dinners in my future. And that comforts me.

Hanco's

While I haven't been to the Brooklyn Heights location, I've eaten at Hancos twice and have no complaints. There's not much better than a huge bowl of steaming hot (vegetarian) pho on a cold day, so you can bet I will be back here again soon.

Lantern Thai Kitchen

Having visited Thailand this past summer, Thai food has a special place in my heart.  Not only is it delicious, and generally somewhat healthy, it brings back good memories.  For those reasons, I'm glad to have found a neighborhood spot that serves good Thai.  Try the red curry with vegetables, it's the bomb.

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I've found good sushi, falafel, and wheatgrass - what else is there to look for in this world we call Brooklyn Heights? Well not much, except a yoga studio... But that is for another day and another post.  Until next time - peace and good eats!

Vegan Shop Up

When I visited New York City in July, I heard of a vegan pop up sho in Bushwick that was going to be happening the weekend I was in town.  It sounded really cool - vegan food, plus other vendors selling unique, crafty goods.  I was dissapppined that I didn't get to make it to the "shop up" that weekend.  Or the following two weekends that I visited NYC this past fall (the shop up only happend once a month so it was pretty coincidental that I happened to visit those exact weekends).  Once I moved, I was determined to check on the shop up... and the boyfriend and I did just that two weeks ago.
 

We spent most of the afternoon furniture shopping, so we were tired, frustrated, and hungry by the time we got to Pine Box Rock Shop (a vegan bar, what?!), where the shop up was held.  After a quick scan of the goods and goodies, Ariel hopped right in line for a vegan hot dog.  This was no ordinary dog - made from veggies and sunflower seeds instead of meat, or wheat, soy, etc, it was one large, yet completely wholesome dog.   It was served with all the fixins - slaw, pickles, coconut bacon - and a kale salad.  I don't know if it was because we were really hungry, but it was good, and I appreciated that it was made with sketch-free ingredients.
 

After we had refueled, we revisited the vendors and shopped for a bit.  There were all sorts of tasty things to try, and a few we liked enough to buy:

- We Vegans Chipotle Vranch - Ariel is obsessed with this spicy vegan ranch dressing.  I used to love ranch as a kid, but stopped eating it around the age of 12 - this version is definitely an improvement on the standard ranch, healthier (it's made with soymilk) and tastier (it's got a zesty kick of spices).  We've been eating with carrots, but I'm sure it's going to be amazing on sandwiches and salads.

- Right Tasty Ramp Vinaigrette - I've always been intrigued by ramps... they are all over the farmer's markets in the spring, but I have yet to buy them (fear of the unknown...).  Hopefully this tasty dressing will convince me to face my fear and try cooking with ramps myself...maybe.

- Fine and Raw Lucuma Vanilla Chocolate- We discovered Fine and Raw chocolate a few weeks ago on a different Bushwick adventure.  Their chocolate is out of this world.  I had the chance to sample a few of their flavors at the shop up (coconut, sea salt, espresso), but the Lucuma Vanilla is still my favorite.  The bar is wrapped in gold... and like gold I savor every bite of this chocolatey goodness.

I also got some vegan bourbon balls to round out my lunch (I only had a bite of Ariel's dog plus some kale salad).  These were just being sold by one of the vendors on the side, so I don't know if you can find them elsewhere, but boy were they tasty! I will need to figure out how to recreate them.

I'm so happy that I finally got to check out this event, and I hope it will continue in the future.  It's awesome to see all these vendors prospering.  Who knows, maybe someday I could be one of them!