I recently spent a long, sweltering weekend in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, visiting my daughter-and it turned into a totally fun and unexpected Japanese food crawl. In such a condensed area, there were so many Japanese restaurants, tea shops and other shops to explore.
Saturday
Kettl (Japanese Tea, Retail and Classes):
We cooled off with iced matcha lattes-perfection. Next time, I definitely want to do a tea tasting at their counter or take a class. Read here for more about their original shop that I visited with a dear friend years ago. https://thanksforthemeal.net/kettl-tea/
Lunch at Taku Sando:
All their sandwiches uses shokupan: Japanese milk bread. The tamago sando (egg-salad sandwich) was soft and simple, and the katsu sando (crispy pork cutlet on fluffy shokupan) hit just the right comfort-food note.
Note: Their sandwiches are HUGE! Read more in a previous blog post regarding Shokupan (Milk Bread)! https://thanksforthemeal.net/japanese-shokupan-milk-bread/
Shopping at 50 Norman:
Before dinner, we popped into this one-floor, all-Japanese complex-tasting pure dashi at DASHI OKUME, admiring hand-forged kitchen tools at KAMA-ASA, and lingering over BALMUDA’s sleek home gadgets.
There is also a cafe, and other Japanese vendors inside. Worth a longer, more leisurely visit.
Dinner at Rule of Thirds:
This restaurant had been on our to go list for years and I have been following them for a long time on Instagram.
We shared pressed oshizushi, yaki onigiri grilled over binchotan, and juicy tsukune (chicken meatballs).
The white sesame soft-serve surprised us with its sweet, luscious flavor, and the melonade (honeydew lemonade) with fragrant shiso tea made for a fun, unexpected combo that was very refreshing in the excessive heat and humidity.
Sunday
Matcha at Kijitora:
A more neighborly but very popular tiny tea chop, I went for an iced strawberry matcha latte, and my daughter chose mango-both sweet, vibrant, and just cold enough to cut through the heat.
They also sell homemade onigiri and other items for a light lunch.
The Japanese Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden:
We wandered shaded paths, watched koi drift under stone bridges, and let the breeze off the pond wash away the city’s noise.
It’s a gorgeous garden and I would love to go back in the spring to see the Sakura blooming.
Monday
Kettl:
It was so good we had to go twice while I visited!
This time we sat inside at their communal table and enjoyed another iced matcha latte!
Yes, we are completely obsessed with matcha!
Radio Bakery:
We snagged one of their last and duly famous lacquered triple-chocolate croissant (dark, milk, and white chocolate layers folded into buttery pastry) as well as a tomato-feta-mint focaccia that tasted like summer on a plate, as well as their ham and compound rosemary butter sandwich.
We finished off lunch with iced peach tea and a huge chunk chocolate chip cookie.
We’ve already mapped out our next Greenpoint exploration:
- Archestratus Books & Foods (for that cozy café corner)
- Acre
- Lingo
- Uzuki Soba (I would love to sign up for a future Soba Making Class!)
- Patisserie Tomoko
I can’t wait to go back!