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“Pok Pok Ny”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	Brooklyn	Moderate	Don't Bother

Pok's was spicy and fiery, but rather muddy too, the meat overcooked and gnarly. The sticky rice that accompanied it was so sticky it might have been made with Elmer’s Glue. I could’ve shaped it into a ball and bounced it on the ground and had it right back in the palm of my hand in a neat second.

Another salad, the Neua Nom Tok ($14), was fashioned from slices of flank steak marinated in fish sauce, lime, and chiles, and tossed with lemongrass mint and cilantro. It too was over-cooked and also so over-salted I practically had to toss back an entire pitcher of water to save myself from instant dehydration. It was so bad in fact that we called our Mae Whitman doppelganger over and had to send it back. She was gracious, and handled it very nicely, immediately taking it off our bill. (Note to NOMAD, this is what you should have done about my $80 raw chicken.)

A rack of Niman Ranch baby back ribs ($16) were glazed in whiskey, soy, honey, ginger, and Thai spices. They seemed sure to turn the night around. But, no. They were so sickly sweet (they actually smelled like French toast when they arrived and made me feel like I was at the Happy Days Diner on Montague Street), I could barely stomach more than one. The texture was lovely, but that glaze was a one-note bummer—so sweet and yet so sad. No smoke, little heat, no dazzle.

Cha Cha La Vong ($14)—the Vietnamese catfish dish—was soggy and lacked any texture. The hunks of fish were supposed to have been fried with scallions, turmeric oil and dill, and they seemed like they might have been, perhaps last week, and then left to sit and grow soft and mushy. The rice noodles served with it were overcooked and added little contrast on the plate. It was all-together some Thai version of baby food. I’ll also say here that the Cha Cha La Vong at Wong is a culinary fantasy—hot, spicy, crispy, and blazing with flavor. I’ve never been to the restaurant in Hanoi where this dish was born, but I have a feeling the version served at Wong is a dish worthy of its namesake. The one at Pok Pok was just unfortunate.

Red fire water spinach ($9) was also lackluster—a generous portion of garlicky greens sitting in a puddle of liquid that looked like gray rainwater and didn’t taste all that different. Where were the chiles? I could discern not ... [more, click below]

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Posted: October 6, 2012

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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