Adventures in Carroll Gardens, Part II

As I explained yesterday, I headed out to Carroll Gardens this past weekend in hopes of scoring some free hot dogs and beer…it was not meant to be.

I turned to my hand-drawn map and list of restaurants that I compiled before I left in case of an emergency such as this. Although I tried to pretend that I had an open mind, I knew where I wanted to go for dinner: Joya. I Googled terms like “cheap restaurants in Carroll Gardens,” and Joya (which is technically in the neighboring Cobble Hill) popped up several times with pretty good reviews, especially for the price (all regular dishes are under $10). After our Mexican nachos as appetizers, and our agreement to have dinner in a different cuisine, we “officially” chose Joya for dinner.

It was amazing how busy this place got on a Sunday night. We noticed it was pretty popular as we walked by after devouring the nachos (it’s just down the block), but we were far too full to eat then. Instead we wandered around the neighborhood for another hour or so and were surprised to see how packed it was. The wait was 30 minutes for two (parties of four were looking at an hour), and the bar was a little too cramped for our style. So we wandered around a bit more and returned about 20 minutes later and were promptly seated.

Per usual, we started with the Tom Yum Koong soup, a hot and sour soup with mushrooms and shrimp. For only $3.25, we were able to split a second appetizer that warmed us up just enough after spending the past one and half hours outside. The flavor of the broth (always my favorite part) was intense, but the mushroom chunks were huge and a bit too hard. We forgot there was shrimp in the soup until we got towards the bottom and found three large shrimp full of flavor.

It was hard, but I managed to stray from my standby chicken Pad Thai entree. I really went out on a limb and ordered another noodle dish…the Woon Sen, sautéed glass noodles with shrimp (chicken was another choice), mixed vegetables and egg. It was supposed to come in a garlic sauce, but instead I swapped it out for their chili basil sauce. The noodles were new for me and reminded me of angel hair pasta – very thin and delicate. The sauce was good but needed some of the red chili sauce that accompanies most Thai meals. I was told that the chicken, beef or pork versions of the meal, sans noodles, was much “saucier,” so maybe that would add more flavor. I’m happy I tried it and I’m even happier that I had leftovers for dinner the following night.

My friend ordered the Kang Kyo Whan Nuur, which is a green coconut curry sauce with sliced beef, eggplant, bamboo shoots, peppers and carrots. I tried it and thought the carrots were a bit out of place and undercooked. The sauce was absolutely delicious, as most curries are, and the rest of the vegetables and beef blended nicely. It was a great medley of flavors and came with a generous side of white rice.

In the end we paid a total of $24, including tip, and we walked away with leftovers. One important thing to note, it is cash only. But besides that minor inconvenience (and the horrible F train service this weekend), it was well worth our trip to enjoy this Thai food. The atmosphere was young, loud and dark, making it a fun place to dine, similar to Spice. I think it’s worth a trip back to Brooklyn to try new items on the menu, like the calamari appetizer which looked delicious.