"Game" On

Restaurant Name: Henry's End

Location: 44 Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights, New York

Website: http://www.henrysend.com/

Price Range: Apps: $13 and under; Entrees: $20-40; Desserts: $8.50

JCL Rating: 9/10
JCL's Choice: Elk chop; stuffed quail; pomegranate lacquered duck; mixed game grill


Henry's End has got to be one of the best places I have ever dined in.  When we first walked in, we were greeted warmly by the servers. We even had a choice of which table we want to settle in since it was not busy at the time of our arrival (around 6PM). The ambiance was really mellow and comfortable. The lighting was very dim with a candle on each table. It was not a big place, maybe around 50 seats at most. As we were seated, menus were handed to us. Water followed shortly. We came to this restaurant with anticipation of trying the kangaroo dish, but according to the waiter they do not have it until maybe next month.


As disappointing as it was, we stayed. We looked at the other wild game menu items. We spent quiet some time examining the menu and deciding who gets what. As we read the menu, many questions came up regarding the dishes. Our server was there whenever we had any questions. And he answered everything thoroughly. He was extremely professional and knowledgeable. He can explain every dish from the cooking method to the sauces and sides. 

After a long debate we finally decided to order. Bread and butter were brought to our table immediately after the orders were taken. The bread basket consisted of white bread with raisins, bread stick, and whole wheat bread with poppy seed. The bread was very soft and the bread stick was hard and crunchy. So we started our meal with one appetizer, the buffalo ribs ravioli. It was topped with grated Parmesan cheese. The sauce must have been a demi glaze (liquid gold as we call it since it is so precious).  The waiter warned us that it only comes with 3 pieces as appetizers and suggested to us if we wanted one more since we have four people. The buffalo was tender and it was a perfect match with the demi glaze. The buffalo tasted like veal though. The pasta dough was not that great. It was a bit too thick and tough. Only down side of this dish.

As for entree, Eddie and I had the mixed game grill. This dish consisted of an elk chop, a piece of wild boar belly, and rabbit sausage. The presentation was really nice and elegant. The elk chop was "banging." It was cooked to rare. It was crusted with herbs, bread crumbs and Dijon mustard. The meat was extremely tender. The mustard and the meat was completely flawless. The wild boar belly was amazing. It was sprinkled by crushed pistachio and raisin. The fat melted in my mouth and the meat was cooked to perfection. Tastes very similar to regular pork. As for the rabbit sausage, it was good. But in comparison to the elk chop and boar belly, it was off. The fennel was overpowering the rabbit meat. So all I basically tasted was the fennel. With two such incredible meats, it makes the rabbit taste below par. 

Next up is the quail stuffed with andouille (grainy smoked pork sausage. For this dish's purpose it was grounded) and spinach with mushroom wild rice as the side that Frankie got. This dish comes with two stuffed quails. The andouille has a slight spice from the cayenne pepper which balanced out the semi sweet mushroom wild rice. The quail was tender and juicy. Eating the quail with the stuffing was marvelous. This dish is the perfect example of how each item on the dish relates to each other. This is cuisine to the finest. The flavor profile was perfect.

As for Sean, he had the pomegranate lacquered duck. Food lacquered gives the food a shine. The duck itself was probably roasted for the crunchy skin. This half of a duck was completely boneless. It was cooked to perfection. Really tender. The sauce was almost like a citrus gastrique (combine sugar, wine vinegar, citrus juice and zest. Reduce until thick). Orange flavor to be exact. A citrus gastrique's sweetness is one of the best sauces for duck to balance out the gamy flavor. A bite with the pomegranate's burst of juice was fantastic. This dish was excellent!

Go ahead and count the layers. Haha

After our entree plates were cleared, they handed us the dessert menu. A simple menu with dessert wine list. All the desserts are $8.50. I had the 21 layer crepe with a cream custard inside. Damn, that was some fantastic crepe. A bite of the crepe with the raspberry sauce is heaven. The fluffy custard with 21 different layers just splits in your mouth. 

Sean had the mud pie. I assume the name came from the components which is coffee and chocolate ice cream. Underneath the ice cream is an oreo cookie crust laid on top of a hot fudge espresso sauce. The chocolate and coffee ice cream was a wonderful combination. The crust added a nice crunch to the bite. The sauce was well balanced, not too sweet and a hit of coffee flavor. 

Eddie ordered the chocolate confusion. The name is indeed a good name for this dessert. Why is that? Well this dessert is both hot and cold. The cold vanilla ice cream was placed on top of the hot fudge chocolate brownie. A bite of hot and cold in your mouth, confusing combination, no? But that contrast was what really sells.

Crappy quality due to the dim lighting and flash

As for Frankie, he had the Persian lime pie. It taste... just like a regular lime pie. It was not bad, but it definitely was not that great. The presentation was interesting though. It was in a pudding bowl with a huge rosette of whipped cream on top. This was probably the worse dessert out of the four.

Each entree comes with string beans and rice. Except for Frankie's since he got the wild rice

Henry's End. People, if you have a big desire for great cuisine and fine dining service, this place is a must visit! This restaurant has been open for over 37 years and is still standing. The surrounding restaurants were empty, except for this restaurant and this sushi restaurant call Iron Chef House. That tells a lot. After the meal my curiosity came in. I asked the server who the chef was and found out that there are two main chefs. The one cooking tonight was Rob. The menu was designed by the Executive chef, Mark. I have yet to research more on these chefs. This menu was truly top notch cuisine with utmost complexity. It definitely takes a great chef to come up with this type of menu. I WILL DEFINITELY GO BACK, MAYBE IN A MONTH, TO TRY THE KANGAROO!!!!

Forks and Knives

Restaurant Name: Ignazio's Pizzeria

Location: 4 Water St, Brooklyn, NY, 11201

Website: http://ignaziospizza.com/

Price Range: $30-40

JCL Rating: 7.5/10

JCL's Choice: Shrimp w/ smoked bacon white pizza

As we were wandering around looking for the restaurants in Red Hook, we came across this fancy looking pizza place. Ignazio's was the name. On the door, "cash only" was posted. This was the first time I have been into a pizza restaurant. No, this is not your average Papa John's or Domino's or any other pizzeria. This is a Pizza "restaurant." As you walk in, soothing music is playing. The interior design of this place is very old fashion European layout. Old paintings and the chairs reminded me of the 1900s. 

As we were seated, menus were given to us instantly. But it took a few moment before the waitress asked if we wanted anything to drink. The menu comes with a wine list. A pizza place with wine list, not a common experience. They also have a bar. The menu consisted of some appetizers, five types of pizzas. They are: The Pizza (not sure what so special about this, but it might be what they are best for), white (pizza with no tomato sauce), Sicilian (square pizza), and calzone (pizza pie folded in half) and specialty pizza. You will be able to add toppings on the first four pizzas. Specialty pizzas comes with toppings already. We ordered the specialty pizza, shrimp with applewood-smoked bacon and roasted red peppers.

The service here is very slow and laid back. For once, slow service is a good thing. Why? Well there is a beautiful view when you look outside. And the atmosphere here is just so relaxing. Oh, one more thing, the people here were eating pizza with forks and knives. Very interesting sight, a funny one too. 

It took a good twenty to thirty minutes before our pizza arrived. Why did it took so long for a pizza to come? Well, this pizza is 100% freshly baked a la minute (prepared to the order). They were prepping the pizza right next to the bar. 

The aroma from the pizza was amazing. I love the smoky smell. Anyways, since we are in this "fine dining pizzeria," we should follow their customs right? And here we are, using knives and forks to eat pizza. The first bite was incredible. The pie dough was very thin. The smokiness of the bacon, the freshness of the shrimp, a hint of garlic with the mozzarella cheese, together is heaven. The true potentials of each ingredient was brought to the maximum here. From the texture, you can tell that the mozzarella cheese was freshly pulled. Then my friend pointed out the fact that there was no tomato sauce. I didn't notice that at all because the pizza was moist enough without the sauce. That was when we realized it was a white pizza.


Man, was this the best pizza I ever had (no i haven't tried Artichoke yet). It was indeed expensive for a medium pizza pie, but it was big enough to fill three of us. So I say it was worth the experience and the food quality was great. I would definitely recommend this to anyone and I would definitely come back to try their other varieties.