North Brooklyn Restaurant Reviews (Part V)

(Just over the Williamsburg Bridge, await many exciting dining destinations. Hint: including Cafe Drake)

Juliette (135 North 5th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211, 718/388-9222)
Wild Ginger (212 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211, 718/218-8828)
Lomzynianka (646 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222, 718/389-9439)

The Bistro Mania of New York in the 90s is officially over, with the vigorous proliferation of semi-casual French restaurants now merely a weekly reality. Skip Billyburg's Fado on Driggs Avenue (aging badly with an ever increasing laziness to the limited menu) and head staright to Juliette. A restaurant with a pedigree (the kitchen is manned by former chefs at Tartine and Savoy - two of our favorites), loads of open space and panache by the magnum, a friendly welcome awaits you at the door by a well-trained and courteous staff. Manhattans ($10 each) at the bar were especially potent and a reasonably priced wine list allowed us a lovely Cotes du Rhone bottle for a mere $25. A starter of Pate Facon Maison ($7) was acceptable, but alas of the "country" variety, i.e. made from pork livers, and too gritty for our personal tastes. Nice sides though included cornichons, buttered croutons and apple chutney (did they swipe the recipe from Cafe Drake?). Far better was an appetizer of Escargots ($7) where the snails were allowed to shine in a light sauce not overpowered by heaps of garlic. Praiseworthy mains included Spicy Chicken with Fries and Guacomole ($16), an old Tartine standby; Duck Magret ($22) of lucious rare sliced breast with showstopping potato gratin and braised endive sharing the plate and a mild Steak Tartare ($18) heaped with fries, toast points and salad (underdressed unfortunately). Good unpretentious food, superb table service and chic bathrooms - are we in Williamsburg anymore?

You'd be forgiven for writing off Williamsburg's Wild Ginger at first glance, with its glaring boldfaced subtitle of Vegan Cuisine, but unlike Bliss Restaurant across the avenue (think cardboard waffles, undercooked brown rice and crunchy steamed vegetables and you have an accurately grim idea of the slop on offer), Wild Ginger actually makes an effort to season its food with great care and intelligence. At least two entrees sampled were stellar: Smoked Seitan Teriyaki with Sugar Snap Peas ($12) shows off the best qualities of both the wheat-based meat substitute and the crisp Spring vegetable, while Basil Soy Protein with Asparagus and Zucchini ($12) is pleasantly pungent with herbs and spice. All main dishes come with brown rice (nicely prepared) and a lovely house salad. Starters are predictable unfortunately, although a large dish of Cold Green Tea Noodles in Sesame Sauce($6) presents a slight twist on that favorite standby. A dessert menu is needlessly ascetic (if anyone is old enough to remember the heyday of West Village macrobiotic restaurants in the 1980s, they'll recall the endless array of scrumptious tofu cheesecakes, coffee rice puddings and more) with few appetizing choices; our Black Sesame Soy Ice Cream ($3) was visually arresting but dull in taste, a rather disappointing end to an otherwise satisfying lunch.

Deft hands in the tiny kitchen of Lomzynianka keep ever-tricky blintzes ($4.00) light and airy, and homemade boiled or fried perogis ($4.95) fresh and delicate. A sliver of a dining room festooned with deer head trophies and kitschy wallpaper, and expertly lit by small table lamps, may seem out-of-place among Greenpoint's Polish restaurant scene, given largely to a Communist-era decor, but Lomzynianka is special in many respects. The two most expensive entrees on the menu - at $7 each - are also the largest and tastiest: the Hungarian Pancake consists of a marvel of a frisbee-sized latke folded over salty, tender beef goulash, crowned with sour cream and paprika; the Polish Platter fills the hungriest of diners with bigos (slow-cooked sauerkraut with vegetables and roast pork), polski kelbasa, stuffed cabbage and a choice of perogis (potato, meat and cheese). Incredibly all of this is preceeded by complimentary selections of at least four salads, a mix of sweet vinegared red cabbage, two types of sauerkraut and lightly pickled tomatoes and cucumbers. For those with a taste for organ meats, try the Tongue with Horseradish Sauce ($5), its creamy blanket of sauce emboldened by the freshly grated root a smart counterpoint to the pleasant chalkiness of the meat beneath.