Williamsburg Restaurant (mini)Reviews for July 2006

The retro-styled logo of the Roebling Tea Room captures the laid-pack-with-panache feel of the restaurant itself.And down this charming street sits the dificil-to-find Mojito Loco.

Roebling Tea Room (143 Roebling Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211)
Mojito Loco (102 Meserole St., Brooklyn, NY 11206)
Valdiano's (659 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222)

Occupying a vast former factory space in Central Williamsburg is one of the coziest spots for a cup of tea, coffee, draught beer or glass of vino (the choices are remarkably good - even the house white at $5 a pop). Airy and yet intimate, the fresh-scrubbed bar/cafe/restaurant offers a pleasant respite from the heavy foot traffic of Metropolitan Avenue, and seems miles away from the chaotic charmlessness of Bedford Avenue. We take a miniscule amount of umbrage with nods to certain ubiquitous design elements, namely the wall of wooden stag heads; does this overplayed leitmotif occur outside of urban sprawl? Are New Yorkers collectively craving pastoral comfort in the form of sylvan critters and pine tree references? Moving on to the food (or crawling towards it as was the recent case with our none too fleet-footed waiter), Roebling Tea Room boasts a small but selective menu of sandwiches, casseroles and salads, with reinforcements coming from a blackboard of daily specials. All sandwiches are large and satisfying in portion, sided with cornichons (thankfully in abundance for those of us liking to get our pickled on) and potato salad (nicely seasoned but the potatoes need more cooking). Lunch is the perfect time to sample a "plate" from the menu - the smoked salmon ($8) is a standout, heaped with thick slices of fish, grated beet salad and dilled sour cream sauce. The tuna salad sandwich ($7) is all about the capers (wish they used the ones preserved with salt and not brine, but oh my, we're being picky again), and comes dressed mayo-free but tart with vinegar and quality olive oil. It's all mashed between ultra-thick slices of toasted black bread, themselves slathered with superior tapenade. Delicious!

Maybe we lingered too long during the cocktail hour (and consumed too much), but Mojito Loco would seem to require a Blackberry equipped with GPS to actually locate. The first attempt was abandoned in favor of nearby Italian food, but our second search party was determined. As Octavio Fenech led us deeper into the decrepit streets of East Willimsburg, we began to doubt this particular quest, but before we could cry uncle we stumbled upon the ill-placed Latin eatery. No relief upon stepping into a poorly-ventilated box of a room distinguished primarily by a widescreen TV. The namesake beverages - ordered before closing the door behind us - turned out to be syrupy concoctions of water and mint and inexplicably priced at $9-$10 each. The good news is you can, without fear or danger, share with small children and those heavily medicated on barbituates so low is the actual alcohol content. Fried plantain chips were replinished twice as waited for our food, and the complimentary snacks are satisfying in the manner of all deep-fried starch (ask for a side of "hot sauce" for dipping, milder than a Florida breeze but fresh and homemade). The ceviche is budget-priced at $8.50 but big on flavor; loads of fish are served simply dressed with lime juice and cilantro, and the waitress supplied a spoon for the leftover marinade! Skip by all means the pork sandwich ($9) and fries - both were bland and chewy and utterly boring (though a few bonus points for the side of garlic mayo).

Residents of North Brooklyn are no strangers to the concept of the dining room behind the pizza parlour; often remarkable home cooking is served behind the front pie counter in what used to be a primarily Italian neighborhood. Greenpoint can be proud of Valdiano's and its stark main room past the to-go front section; nestled amidst fake plants and retirement home institutional furniture you can dine very well on homemade pastas, all topped with superlative sauces (the cavatelli with bolognese is good enough to write home about, even if home is Bologna). Similarly, the calamari marinara ($12) is simple bliss served al dente, the pasta and squid both cooked to perfection. Chicken dishes tend to be a bit more ordinary, and the antipasto freddo ($7.95) is an unexpected disappointment, but crazy good cappucino ($2) and an expert slice on the way out (to be heated up post-barhopping) make up for a few shortcomings.