Nunu's hot chocolate (small, $4) is made with shavings of 65 percent dark chocolate — some garnish the surface — and frothed steamed milk. Think of it when you're in a mood to drink your dessert, but you want a little bitter with the sweet.
Nunu Chocolates
529 Atlantic Ave. (Third-Fourth Aves.), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
917-776-7102
www.NunuChocolates.com
This cherry lime phosphate ($3.95), like the cherry lime rickey, is a New York drink of yore. The rickey, which in some corners of the city has held its place on the menu as an effective countermeasure against spicy food, can be cloying; the lime adds tartness but, sometimes, not enough bite. The phosphate gets its edge from a dash of phosphoric acid, which you'll find in Coke and Pepsi, too. It's less sweet, so as not to distract from the full cherry flavor. That maraschino pales in more than one regard.
Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain
513 Henry St. (at Sackett St.), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-522-6260
www.BrooklynFarmacy.blogspot.com
In some obvious regards, my hoi thawt ($14) wasn't a ringer for the "broken crepe" served at Bangkok's expansive Aw Taw Gaw wet market. Pok Pok's was fresher-looking and considerably fatter, down to the individual mussel meats. Yet the hoi thawt held together, thanks to a minimal not-too-crispy batter, at least till I had at it.
I don't know what hot sauce was served with that Bangkok hoi thawt, but one wouldn't imagine that Huy Fong sriracha sauce — the ubiquitous American-made "rooster" brand found in squeeze bottles throughout New York — would have many takers in Thailand. Possibly it was the well-balanced Shark brand sriracha, made in Thailand, and served at Pok Pok, too.
Pok Pok Ny
127 Columbia St. (Norfolk-Suffolk Sts.), Brooklyn
718-923-9322
www.PokPokNy.com
There's beet in the salad and the borscht, too. This Eastern European cafe serves more than a dozen superpremium varieties made by Jane's Ice Cream of Kingston, New York, including the bespoke number seen here (small cup, $3). During recipe development, unmitigated beet proved too sweet, and as churned today, the ice cream is tweaked with dill. Next flavor on the docket: apricot orange blossom.
Previously I wrote that Karloff is the only Brooklyn business that carries Jane's. The comment below (thanks, Peter!) points out another place to find them, at least in sandwich form.
Karloff
254 Court St. (Kane-Degraw Sts.), Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
347-689-4279
www.KarloffBrooklyn.com
Durian doesn't play well with others. The spiky husk requires careful handling, to be sure, but the "king of fruits" is most notorious for the pungency of its custardlike flesh. Few shops make durian ice cream, out of concern that the scent will get into everything.
Because it's made with hefeweizen, a pale wheat beer, and not some darker, stronger brew, this whole-grain beer mustard (about 6 oz., $4) might fade in the presence of heady charcuterie. The texture, however, holds up: While not effervescent, those little mustard grains do pop-pop-pop in your mouth.
Brooklyn Cured
This day, at Brooklyn Flea, 1 Hanson Pl., Fort Greene, Brooklyn; see Twitter for other locations
917-282-2221
www.BrooklynCured.com
About the only thing missing is dessert.
I caught sight of this delivery truck only after it passed, but I can't imagine that the front-end artwork could be any more revealing than the view from the rear.
Welsh Farms
Delivery truck seen in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
Sometimes it's spelled as one word, sometimes it's chopped in two, but this is the first time I'd seen it on the street.
Tea, Earl Grey, cold.
This Israeli-staffed eatery styles it "fish and chips," but in the little pitcher, that's not tartar sauce, let alone malt vinegar.
Chop, chop.
I ended up at the freezer case, not the fridge.
Perhaps the name seemed propitious from behind the register, but when I'm phoning in an order for Chinese takeout, "Hello, long line" isn't what I want to hear. Today, they're long gone.
Long Line Restaurant
501 Atlantic Ave. (Third Ave.-Nevins St.), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
Memorial Day wasn't the time to find yourself in Boerum Hill or Carroll Gardens with a craving for whoopie pies. But when One Girl Cookies reopens on Thursday, May 29, after a three-day makeover, the Dean St. bakery will expand into a new room with indoor seating, side by side with its neighbor Bar Tabac.
Perhaps you still won't find a sidewalk table with parking for your scooter, but then again, you'll never enjoy a whoopie pie at Bar Tabac — and often, it's those little things that matter most.
Like the sign says, they don't do French.
It's the largest, busiest, and best-known of Atlantic Avenue's Middle Eastern provisioners, but sometimes I just stop in for a drink.
I'm an admirer, too.
The fellows at Stinky Bklyn had their own private stash, but it had dwindled to the point that the best they would offer was a referral. After scoring my own whoopie pie ($1.25), twin pumpkin cakes sandwiched around cream cheese frosting, I can't blame them.
One Girl Cookies
68 Dean St. (near Smith St.), Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
212-675-4996
www.OneGirlCookies.com
Come brunchtime, this amiable bistro displays a delicate touch.
Thank you!
