e a t e r y R O W

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND

284 Van Brunt Street

Brooklyn, NY 11231

(646) 326-7650

Like any blue-blooded American, I like... nay love, lobster. But it's neither the easiest nor cheapest food to find. So lobster was for special occasions and restaurants that made you wear a tie to sit down. But now, thanks in large part to the sudden popularity of Luke's Lobster, this crustacean is having a renaissance. The Red Hook Lobster Pound, in Red Hook (and Washington, DC) is expanding this market with a food truck roaming the city (something that is also enjoying a renaissance).

I found myself in Red Hook the other day with nothing to do and all by myself. I wanted some lunch and remembered that Red Hook Lobster Pound had just started following my Twitter ravings. Naturally, I wandered over.

There are no seats at the Red Hook Lobster Pound, but there are a couple of benches outside. I was reminded of my visit to Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies. But Van Brunt Street is a deserted place and I was able to straddle the bench to use as a makeshift table. You can order a lobster or shrimp roll and they'll serve it Maine Style or Connecticut Style. I opted for the Maine Style Lobster Roll. A buttered, toasted bun, lettuce, paprika, scallion and a giant amount of lightly mayoed lobster. I got through half of one bite before all the synapses in my brain lit up and "holy shit" emerged from what little room there was left in my mouth. This was a damn good roll, my friends. Luke's has competition in the taste department if not in the convenient-to-get-to department.

SCHNITZEL & THINGS
723 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
(212) 905-0000

Schnitzel & Things. It used to be a truck, now it has a brick and mortar location, too, on Third Avenue. As a lover of schnitzels, I was excited to try this new lunch location. It exists where Kushi Q used to, before Kushi Q moved to CitiGroup Center, which is incidentally right where I work now. And so I did walk downtown to 45th Street. A bit of a schlep, but I had read good things on Midtown Lunch, who, I'll say up front, liked it more than I did.

Schnitzel & Things offers two basic types of dishes (and don't expect to eat either with an uber stein of brau.... have some iced tea): schnitzel platters and schnitzel sandwiches. Pork, chicken, cod, eggplant and veal are the varieties offered. If you get the platter, then you can mix and match your schnitzels, and get a side. If you get the sandwich, then you just get a sandwich. I, for the record, chose the sandwich option. Mostly this was because I wanted to save time and couldn't really do a whole lunch "meal". There is also a bratwurst and a burger.

I chose three sandwiches over the course of my visits. The Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich, the Pork Schnitzel Sandwich, and their odd-man-out, a Grilled Ginger Chicken Sandwich. You can choose from a small variety of free toppings from behind a Subway-esque glass window, and then choose from a small variety of extra-cost toppings and sauces. No horseradish was available, which I find shocking. The ginger chicken sandwich was the best of the bunch. It was moist and surprisingly flavorful. The pork schnitzel and the chicken schnitzel tasted identically. I challenge anyone to be able to tell them apart. I liked them in the sandwich, but feel that the thickness of the bun muted the flavor. The shop should put the schnitzels on a thinner bread. Or offer a choice of breads. I'd choose a cranberry walnut. Anyway, this way you could taste the meat rather than just get a hint of its existence.

Service was brisk, cold and disinterested, despite their being only a modest line.

Sandwiches and a drink should run you about $12. They were good, but not great. I'd go back and try the platters, and would recommend the ginger chicken to everyone. But would I go stand on line here for a half hour? No.