Saturday Night Nosh: old favorites at Quarter Bar and Hope & Anchor

Full disclosure:I have eaten at the Hope & Anchor diner in Red Hook many a time, spanning meals from brunch to dinner. But I I feel like this warrants a post because really, I am always up for going there and I am seldom ever disappointed when it comes to my meal. Last night was no exception with one added bonus: Karaoke.

Jes, Sarah B. and I (all former waitresses and one current barrista/beermonger extraordinaire) met up around 9:30 at one of our old haunts, Quarter Bar (20th street & 5th ave). This bar is also one of my consistent favorites. The semi-rustic ambiance of dark unfinished wood and an ever growing collection of found treasures (stuffed pheasant, anyone?) is perfectly complemented by dim ambery light and a selection of plain good music. I went in there intending to get one of their incredibly good Hot Toddies, but ended up ordering one of their specialty drinks, a Rosarita--a rosemary-infused marguerita served up high in a slightly modified martini glass. Delicious delicious delicious. Sarah B. had ordered the same and Jes ordered two rounds of her new favorite old-man drink, a two-bits (pyrotechinal bonus: they light an orange peel on fire).

After calling around to various car services (remember, be safe kids), our good friends at Express 11 broke everyone's record and showed up in literally 3 minutes to bring us to the Hope & Anchor diner on Wolcott and Van Brundt. We could hear the dim warblings of karaoke night as we stepped out of the cab. As we elbowed our way through the slightly older yet drunky-fun crowd, we immediately asked if the kitchen was still open. Even though they were abut to close, they quickly took our food orders at the bar. Now normally, I am livid when I am rushed--but since we had all been their before, we settled on some old favorites before tucking into a corner table where we had front row seats what would prove to be some of the most purely entertaining karaoke performances I have ever witnessed. They were all there--the guy who sang exclusevely from the Billy Joel song catalogue, the good old favorites of total eclipse of the heart and Livin on a Prayer. But this guy stole the show and my heart for his high kicks his hi octane dance performance on the bar while staying perfectly on pitch. ku-dos.

Jes ordered their turkey burger--a perfectly-sized portion that comes with cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato and onions in an assemble-yourself spread. It was served with a lightly-dressed green salad (no iceberg) and shoestring fries. Although Jes had requested the fries well-done, they were not so much--but considering that we were served PERIOD, this was really a non-issue. As always, the meal was incredibly satisfying.

I ordered the hot wings appetizer--a generous portion of segmented wings appropriately served with stalks of celery and bleu cheese dressing. I should disclose at this point that I am a hot wing connoisseur and have some very strong opinions in this area. This being said, these hot wings are probably the best I've had in all of NYC/Brooklyn. They were perfectly fried and not drippy with sauce, cooked completely through with no signs of rubberiness. The dressing on the side was served in a small dish--the PERFECT amount--and was clearly house made. My wing-craving was fully satisfied.

Sarah B. ordered the lamb burger--a marinated lamb patty served on olive toast with roasted red pepper and copious amounts of feta cheese. Sarah is a full on fan of this burger hands down. She was quick to praise the Hope & Anchor for squeezing our order in at the last minute and performing karaoke like total pros. Full disclosure: Sarah is a seasoned bartender/barrista/superwoman with high standards and a very discerning palette, and her opinion (in my humble opinion) carry significant weight. Her only criticism was the beer situation...

"The only thing I was disappointed by was the beer recommendation, but we all know I am especially finicky about this area. I ordered an Avery IPA which is a very dry, light, almost citrusy IPA, and because they were of out he recommended me that I didn't like at all because it was much too sweet and dark (amber/red?), and I think he suggested it just because it's also from Denver, but I can't remember what it was called..."

In all, very high marks. And I would have to agree. I always look for an excuse to go to the H&A because it's always a win-win situation. Not only is it chock-full of character, it's completely un-pretentious and is all about good food, good beer and a good time. BEST PART: it's a destination, so making the long journey makes everything taste that much better... especially with a beer.

Carrol Gardens Classic Diner

The Eater Schmeater team found themselves a little drunk and feelin' hungry after the Crooked Still and Sweetback Sisters show at The Bell House. This is an account of where their dinner craving led them.

We were actually searching for a place with food and drinks, but by thte time we got to the diner, no one ordered anything alcoholic...in fact, the whole party except for Matt went for water only.

Cole slaw and pickles were served before the meal as some kind of appetizer-- a strange move, but it produced no complaints and it was only moments before everything on all three plates was gone. The pickles were fresh and cucumber-y. The slaw bland but edible, Matt thought a little suagr would do it right and everyone thought it needed more salt.

Matt had a bacon cheesebuger with fries-- a great choice for anyone who's not looking for a life-changing burger. All the sandwhiches came with the assemble your-own option, allowing you to find your perfect combo of lettuce, tomatoes and onions. So even though a freakin' head of the lettuce was provided, no one had to indelicately rip apart their burger to fix it. Matt's chocolate shake was thick and delicious, but everyone else thought it tasted too heavily of chocolate syrup.

Alex got a chicken salad sandwich which was slightly bland, but not drenched in mayo which made it more pleasant than some. The bread was perfectly toasted and you can't ask for much more than that with a diner sandwhich.

Jess, a fellow New Englander-turned-Brooklynite chose a cheesburger with Swiss. Both Alex and Jess picked waffle fries and they loved them! On the con side, Jess asked for a medium rare prep on the burger, and she got medium-well and she wasn't the biggest fan of how they melt cheese on both sides of the burger. All in all, Jess was pleased with the meal.

Sarah chose a late-night breakfast option-- two eggs over easy with sausage. The eggs were great, but the sausage was downright delicious. Perhaps a little too pink in the middle (inciting a quickly abandonned conversation about how worms get into your body), but really delicious all the same. Moist and well seasoned, plump and perfect!

Sarah B., a visiting friend from our Northampton, MA days, choose corn beef hash with two eggs over easy. The corn beef, by all accounts, was delicious. Both Sarahs had dishes that came with home fries. Unfortunately, the "home fries" that were promised turned out to be a potato hash was undercooked and seasoned only with raw bell pepper (HUGE chunks) and onions. It pretty much ruined both the breakfast plates, but our Sarahs are troopers so they didn't complain too loudly. They simply draped their napkins on their plates to avoid staring at their unfinished meals.

As for the decor of this 24 hour diner, it's as classic as the name suggests. Bad art adorns the walls. A sporting event of one kind or another was playing on the large TV just over our heads. The lighting was violently flourescent, though, and as we sobered a bit, it became a little unbearable.

A quick note to our fellow diners: babies shouldn't be eating diner food at midnight. That is all.

You can check out the diner for yourself here.