Kelang is a superb addition to the Greenpoint scene.
Illustration: Naomi Otsu
Welcome to Grub Avenue’s rundown of restaurant suggestions that goals to reply the endlessly recurring query: The place ought to we go? These are the spots that our meals group thinks everybody ought to go to, for any cause (a brand new chef, the arrival of an thrilling dish, or possibly there’s a gap that’s flown too far beneath the radar). This month: We’re going low-key as a result of it’s January and the perfect eating places are the locations that really feel, greater than something, straightforward.
Kelang (Greenpoint)
Strolling into Kelang, which opened on Manhattan Avenue in early December, is cinematic. There’s a protracted row of plush pink banquettes, jade-green tables, and moody lighting saved low. This is smart: Co-owner and govt chef Chris Low is a cinematographer. However his most related credit score right here is his household restaurant Hainan Hen Home, which grew to become one among Sundown Park’s most-talked-about openings in years as individuals clamored for his dad’s char siu and poached rooster. Meals is equally dialed in on the youthful Low’s new spot: The butter roti with rooster curry demanded a second order; the char siu, lower into chunks and served with some pickled cucumbers, is as juicy as it’s in Sundown Park. An business pal stated he considers Chris’s broad rice noodles to be significantly spectacular: They’re chewy and stir-fried, they usually include smoked little clams and prawns. Think about making pork stomach a double function and order the bak kuh te, an natural soup that has pork rib and trotter with pores and skin as burnished as barbecue bark. —Chris Crowley
Gertie (Prospect Heights)
Like its target market — hip millennials — Gertie has grown up and moved from Williamsburg to Prospect Heights. The fashionable Jewish deli from husband-and-wife duo Nate Adler and Rachel Jackson brings its counter-service operation nearer, each geographically and in spirit, to their sit-down restaurant on Carlton, inheriting the large yard and beloved kale-salad sandwich from earlier tenant R&D Meals. They’ve additionally introduced over the medallion latkes served at Gertrude’s by way of a “latke bar.” I counsel their twist on the candy traditional: bitter cream and apple butter. Additionally of notice: The chocolate babka can go toe-to-toe with the juggernauts of town. —Zach Schiffman
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L’Apero by L’Appartement 4F (Brooklyn Heights)
I dwell close by, however I refuse to struggle the croissant crowds that also line up within the mornings. The true transfer, I’ve found, is to make use of the place for its quieter alternate goal: as a night snack bar. By dusk, the pastry case on the bottom ground is shut up, and up a slender flight of stairs, candles illuminate a couple of bistro tables, the place small plates and surprisingly first rate wines are served. I’ve sipped rosé with the bakery’s personal sourdough and salted French butter, and within the doldrums of January, I intend to make it an everyday cease. Plates get as giant as branzino in papillote and pork tenderloin, however I’ll most likely confine myself to lighter stuff: kabocha custard tart with macerated Pinot Auxerrois? I’m an orange-wine skeptic, however I’ll chew. —Matthew Schneier
Ziggy’s Roman Cafe (Dumbo)
Get some cacio e pepe with the children: This Italian spot comes from the husband-and-wife group of Helen Zhang and Igor Hadzismajlovic, and it’s constructed for households. There’s a literal play space upstairs for youthful diners, and that could be grounds for factors off, however the meals — like light braised artichokes and a textbook-perfect bucatini all’amatriciana, all acid, smoke, and porky funk — is superb. So are the selfmade passion-fruit sodas and, for dessert, scoops of vanilla gelato tucked into smooth brioche rolls. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m. to alleviate anybody who’s been cooped up on a chilly, snowy Saturday and desires an escape hatch. —Alan Sytsma
Vato (Park Slope)
A promised dinner service hasn’t began but, however it’s nonetheless time to go to this café for those who haven’t but already. Go early, since they have a tendency to promote out, for, sure, the well-known tortillas — tenderly textured and stuffed with taste from sourdough and butter — that may be full of saucy refried beans and cheese, a dynamically smoky rooster mole, or pork in salsa verde. The sleeper hit is cookielike churros, all crisp, fried exterior and coated in additional sugar than appears potential. They’re very good with a sip of spicy café de olla. —Tammie Teclemariam
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In the event you desire to learn in print, it’s also possible to discover this text within the December 29, 2025, difficulty of
New York Journal.
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In the event you desire to learn in print, it’s also possible to discover this text within the December 29, 2025, difficulty of
New York Journal.
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