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“The General Greene”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Brooklyn	Cheap Eats	Good

ing to all that glass and wood and not much to absorb any of it, the acoustics are terrible at the General.

But that’s all I can really say to dissuade you from going to the General Greene, and even that should not deter you. Go early or go on a less crowded night (a Tuesday, perhaps) and you’ll do just fine. You’ll be able to hear each other as you kvell about the peppery, tangy buttermilk dressing that coats an iceberg wedge, with hunks of bacon and lumps of ripe blue cheese secreted in the nooks and crannies of that fine cold wedge ($8). You’ll be able to discern the moans over the small spicy little patties of lamb that adorn a juicy watermelon, arugula and goat cheese salad ($9).

And you won’t really care about the sound levels once the pork meatballs arrive, the dish that comes as close to earth moving as that ham and gruyere bread pudding. These plump and juicy mini meatballs are secreted inside a French onion soup bowl, swimming in a sweet and smoky tomato sauce that’s capped off with a bubbly quilt of cheese ($9). Pierce the cheese with your fork and a veil of steam will rise up, bringing with it the aroma of a fresh pizza hot from the oven. Then, with the cheese melting onto your fork you’ll stab a meatball and spoon some sauce on top for the perfect bite of meatball, cheese, and sauce. After Craig, Harvey and I were through with the meatballs, we mopped up the extra sauce with the slices of grilled bread that wisely accompany the dish. Heaven.  

Now, to play devil’s advocate to my gushing review here, I suppose there were a few dishes that didn’t wow me. The crispy chicken with a salad of fennel, sweet corn and tarragon ($10), which has garnered a sort of cult following, didn’t really impress me. The meat, while moist, was rather bland, and the skin not especially crispy or well seasoned. I was disappointed. I also wasn’t happy with the cheddar-topped burger for one reason and one reason only, and it’s the same reason that I had problems with Ryan’s burger at Resto: the bun. That beef is juicy and so well salted and peppered that ketchup would be an insult, but that bun—a dry, fall-apart white bread round that might have come from a bottom shelf at A&P—is just inexcusable. With all the care that’s given all these ingredients and dishes, this is awful. He used the same bun at Resto and here too it doesn’t stand up to ... [more, click below]

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Posted: September 5, 2008

Other restaurants in Brooklyn :
+ Chickenbone Cafe-- Closed   + Pier 116-- Closed   + Chestnut   + Lunch at Peter Luger's   + 360   + Palo Santo   + The Good Fork   + Porchetta-- Closed Now   + Bocca Lupo   + Flatbush Farm   + DuMont Burger   + Dressler   + Farm on Adderley   + The Grocery   + Saul   + Black Mountain Wine House   + The General Greene   + Char No. 4   + James   + Chestnut   + No. 7   + Vinegar Hill House   + Motorino   + Buttermilk Channel   + Buttermilk Channel   + Vutera   + Watty & Meg    + Prime Meats   + Aqualis Grill   + Jack the Horse Tavern   + Roman's   + Fatty 'Cue   + Thistle Hill Tavern   + Broken English   + Trix, by Dara Pollak   + An Ode to New Orleans in Williamsburg: Maison Premiere, By Dara Pollak   + Brooklyn Wok Shop by Dara Pollak   + Arthur on Smith   + La Vara   + Gran Electrica   + Pok Pok Ny   + Ganso    + Reynard   

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