I had three new restaurant experiences this week. When it comes to eating out, things have never been better!

 

Let’s start with the newest:

TIME OUT MARKET (55 Water Street, Brooklyn)

It opened this past Friday, located in the same building as Dumbo House. Right on the waterfront with glorious views of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

• The Market is on the ground floor level and also on the rooftop.
• All the articles I read indicated you could take the food you purchased in the downstairs market up to the roof. NOT SO FAST. You can only take it up to the rooftop if it is packed “to go” – not if it is plated.
• And that may be because the restaurants located on the rooftop level are more upscale, e.g., Nur, David Burke. I’m reasonably sure those restaurants are also paying more for that rooftop location and do not want the “downstairs” folk taking all that prime seating upstairs.
• I also noticed (surprisingly) that the vast majority of restaurants were from Manhattan, especially from the Lower East Side. Does this signal the end of the hype around Brooklyn as a culinary hot spot? I think it might.
• All that nitpicking aside, the Time Out Market is knock-your-socks-off fabulous, definitely worth the schlepp to Dumbo from Manhattan or other parts of Brooklyn. The very best food hall I’ve been to – ever!

Highlights include:

• Fish Cheeks – I had the most divine (and spicy) coconut crab curry. Thank you, Susan Bell, for the recommendation!
• Bessou – located right next to Fish Cheeks. Their crispy rice cakes topped with spicy tuna looked beyond good as did their salmon bento (I will be back for that). Since I had already ordered the crab curry, I was full, but the sight of that food inspired me to go out in the drenching rain on Sunday to eat at Bessou’s Bleecker Street restaurant. (Review below).
• Ice & Vice Ice Cream
• Nur (upstairs, will come back for this also).

 

Read on below for my review of The Fulton (Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s fabulous new waterfront restaurant on Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport, and Bessou. Plus additional photos from Time Out Market.

 

The Fulton (Pier 17)

We had dinner here during a torrential downpour, and it was still fabulous.

 

• The restaurant is enormous, with a huge covered, outdoor patio that currently only serves drinks and a limited, raw bar menu (think seafood towers).
• The upstairs feels more intimate and features a private dining room and a raw bar.
• Views from every seat in the house are mindblowing.

 

The food, based on what we ordered, is outstanding. We started with the green and white asparagus and the bouchot mussels. For our mains, we both ordered the salmon crusted with spices served in a fragrant coconut lime infusion. For dessert, I ordered the rhubarb lychee trifle.

• Every dish was phenomenal – and very reasonably priced!

 

Service was top notch with staff coming from Dumbo House, Le Coucou, the Four Seasons, Don Angie, and other Vongerichten restaurants.

UPDATE: I did a return visit a couple of days ago, and it was even better. First, it wasn’t raining, but the service and the food were even more extraordinary if that’s possible. This Sunday they begin serving brunch – including on the outdoor patio.

 

Bessou (5 Bleecker Street)

 

This Japanese restaurant specializes in a modern spin on comfort food. I came early on Sunday night and got a seat at the chef’s counter right as they opened. By the time I left, they were booked solid.

I ordered several small dishes, including the Snap Pea Gomaae (which are grilled and come with a sesame dressing) – they turned out to be my favorite dish. I also had the Blistered Shishitos and Green Beans tossed in a house-made rayu chili oil and served with a lime miso vinaigrette. And based on what I had seen at the Time Out Market, I ordered the Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna and Salmon Ikura. For dessert, I had their ice cream sampling. I also had three glasses of wine.

 

 

The staff is excellent, and the food is good, but it is costly. With tip, it came to $140, which is a bit too spendy for me to make this a regular spot. But I will come back and perhaps order a little less food.

 

PHOTOS FROM THE TIME OUT MARKET

 

Bottom Line.

So much amazing food in NYC right now. This week I am also checking out Sister City’s newly opened restaurant Floret. I hope it’s good because located right around the corner from me on the Bowery it could quickly become my new go-to.