Homunculus

@}1)$6%*, Brooklyn

I have a secret that I can no longer keep…Are you ready?

The best eats in New York City are undisclosed to the public eye. I’m talking no advertising, no number, no signage, and no listing. Word of mouth prevails entry into such eateries and even then, it’s best to know somebody that knows somebody who can guarantee entry.

Upon hearing of such a place called Homunculus in Brooklyn, I had to go immediately. I suggested the place to my foodie group, who loved and jumped at the idea. In fact, the idea was so popular, our group requested 2 seatings because Homunculus could only accommodate a limited amount of people at a time.

Friday night one month later, DeeScreenWriter and I joined my foodie friends at Homunculus in Brooklyn for the first seating. Picture this: 9 people gathered around 2 tables for a 6-course pre-fixe meal out of an industrial loft.

We were started off with bread and butter followed closely by a cup of soup.

The next appetizer was something I was not privy to eat as it contained meat. As the only rebel in the group, the chefs quickly scrambled to accommodate my vegetarian diet. I was given a plate of various cheeses instead, which I was quite pleased with.

Following that appetizer, we were each given a palate cleanser, then served goat cheese and asparagus soufflés.

My main course consisted of sautéed mushrooms and a celery puree; everyone else had the puree with some type of meat.

After the main course, we were served a salad topped with walnuts and a unique pesto dressing.

Dessert was a flourless chocolate mousse cake with ice cream.

One word: FANTASTIC. SUPERB. SPLENDID. Pick and choose which dish I refer to; they were all great. My favorites were the chocolate cake and the salad; the pesto dressing was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. I do not recall what was in the soup but only that it was delicious. The celery puree was also very good and unique.

At the end, we were served complimentary coffees, courtesy of one of the cooks who is/was a former barista at Cafe Grumpy.

2 words kept coming up over the course of the meal: butter and chemistry. The chefs told us butter was the key ingredient to their food; and they worked endlessly to achieve the perfect chemical balance when deciding on different courses.

If you are looking for a true New York experience, this is it. Kudos to the chefs of the “Brooklyn Eat-Easy” for going out of their way to cater to my needs.

For those that are wondering, the word “Homunculus” refers to the tiny person inside our brain. Because this place is so secret, I am unable to disclose the exact location and address. I will say it is in a warehouse like building several blocks from the subway. For now, they only do dinner on Friday evenings, and I know they are booked at least one month in advance.

If you are interested, message me and I shall email you a flyer with all the information.

DAMAGE ~ 40 (set pre-fixe price) (CASH ONLY) (BYOB)
VERDICT: Go

Sticky Rice

85 Orchard St

A Thai eatery in Manhattan that’s BYOB…Where do I sign up?

I hit up a Lower East Side Thai eatery called Sticky Rice Friday evening in celebration of its BYOB policy and reasonable prices.

To begin, I ordered 2 appetizers: vegetarian dumplings and fried tofu, each served with their own sauces. For the main dish, I ordered a low-carb vegetarian pad thai on special (more on this later) along with sides of sticky rice and corn on the cob to compliment the meal.

The vegetarian dumplings were delish, the sauces pairing nicely. However, the fried tofu was not. I questioned if they came from the same kitchen or whether the server thought we ordered dry bread because that’s what it tasted like.

Did you know you can have pad thai without noodles? You can when it’s low-carb. I was shocked and slightly disappointed when my dish arrived sans rice noodles. Now that I think of it, the menu tricked me. Nowhere was there any mention of pad thai without the signature ingredient. This is when you say, “Umm, hello? Low-carb? What did you expect?”

Whatever. The items listed in the description—egg, tofu, mushrooms, asparagus—were too good to pass up. The lesson learned here is ask before ordering.

Overall, the food was good, especially the corn on the cob. My companion brought a bottle of Riesling, which paired nicely with everything.

Sticky Rice is worth checking out, if nothing else but for the prices. $41 for everything we ordered felt like a crime. Make sure you bring a bottle when the menu fools you like it did me.

By the way, they serve green rice.


DAMAGE ~41
VERDICT: Go, but beware of menu.