Review: Purple Yam

Purple Yam on Cortelyou between Rugby & Argyle in Ditmas Park.

Banana rum:

Purple Yam

I am unbelievably excited for Purple Yam (or ube as Filipinos know it) to finally open. I had my first taste last night and was not disappointed. It may be the only Filipino restaurant in all of Brooklyn with the exception of Umi Nom which I have yet to try and seems to be more Thai-leaning. Purple Yam, like Cendrillon before it, is also Pan-Asian but they use traditional Filipino flavors in most dishes and use them quite well. Everything was familiar yet very new to me. Rather than organize their menu by the typical salad, entree, etc., they have categories such as “the pig.” My kind of place.

We started with the tocino sliders above (photo by flatbushnelson) and Korean meatballs. The sliders were served in a homemade ube pandesal—that takes 2 days to make—with pickled persimmon. And the Korean meatballs came in a canoe-like ube pocket with pickled carrots, cucumber and kimchi on the side. It was what my dining companion described as a “deconstructed banh mi.”

To drink we had kalamansi soju (another example of mixing Filipino & Korean flavors) and classic San Miguel. I haven't seen that beer since I last went to the Philippines. The coolest thing my dad has ever owned was an old San Miguel t-shirt from maybe the 70s that he wore until it was threadbare.

Next was the beef tapa salad—probably my favorite dish of the night. A salad?! Yes... It was a simply dressed salad, light on greens and heavy on the meat—intense, flavorful, amazing, meat. We also had the pancit which came in a deep bowl with a bit of broth and topped with slices of some kind of sausage. It was pretty tasty but I prefer a more traditional, broth-less pancit. Although I must say that it was better than most of the pancit I’ve had in a restaurants which always fall short compared to my mom’s.

Another reason to be grateful that PY has opened 4 blocks away (besides the fact that there are no decent Asian restaurants Ditmas Park) is the dessert. I have gone to far ends of Queens with a little cooler to find my favorite ube ice cream & bring it back home. The purple yam ice cream I had last night was better than any store bought version I’ve had. And it’s no wonder, as chef Romy later informed me that they make their own ice cream there. We also had the macapuno ice cream on top of buko pie—coconut heaven. I’m told that they also serve one of my favorites, bibinka—a coconut rice cake with a texture similar to mochi—during brunch.

I can’t believe that this wonderful restaurant used to be just another 99¢ store. PY is a great addition to the neighborhood and I’m sure I’ll be there quite often.

Porktoberfest!

My favorite Brooklyn bar Sycamore has live music & BBQ every Saturday this month to celebrate Oktoberfest. This Saturday (10/17), Tom Kearny of The Farm will spit roast a whole 100 lb pig—pasture-raised of course—in Sycamore’s backyard. $25 gets you pig parts, sides and 2 beers.

Review: NYC ICY

NYC ICY on Church just off Coney Island Ave in Ditmas Park.

Mango basil icy:

Review: NYC ICY

NYC ICY on Church just off Coney Island Ave in Ditmas Park.

Peach Icy:

Review: The Farm on Adderly

Brunch at The Farm on Cortelyou and Stratford in Ditmas Park.

Side of bacon:

A Bacon Filled Weekend

Friday night I had dinner at the Redhead in the East Village. I've heard good things about the food but really... I went for the bacon peanut brittle. It has a spiciness that overpowers the bacon flavor but overall I still say it's a great combination. Every thing’s better with bacon, right? Including the bacon cheese burger I ordered.

Several hours and several bars later, I ended up at the Double Down Saloon for their infamous bacon martini which did in fact come with a slim jim stirrer. Although I very much enjoyed it, I believe this was the drink that did me in. I don’t quite recall the rest of the night... 

With a massive hang over, I woke up Saturday afternoon and made my way over to The Farm on Adderly. Not even a huge side of bacon could get me out of my zombie-like state (damn you, Double Down!). What better way to deal with a bacon martini hang over than with more and more bacon? After a nice walk from Ditmas Park to Windsor Terrace, I stopped in at Hot Diggity Dog for a bacon and cheese dog. Finally I felt somewhat human again. Thanks to Lieh for taking the hot dog pics and for putting up with my pamphagous appetite for bacon!

Sunday should have been my day to rest but there was the Great Greenpoint Mac-Off which I was sure would involve bacon at some point. Unfortunately the 1st of 4 places ran out of their mac & cheese with bacon and the rest didn't include bacon. Stupid Greenpoint... 

Still hungry and disappointed, I headed over to the Smoke Joint in Fort Greene for something to satisfy my pork craving. There was no bacon here but I have never, ever had a hot dog as amazing as their black angus dog topped with pulled pork. Last month I had high hopes for the bacon wrapped, deep fried Chang Dog at PDT. What a let down... but the bacon was not a fault—Crif Dogs are really awful! Guess bacon doesn’t make everything better.