Oh boy oh boy oh boy

I wanted to do a dumb title for this post too, something like Oh-lea! or Ole-yea! But I wouldn't want to put y'all through that again.

Last weekend on our way back from the beach, we took the puppies to dinner in the neighborhood, we were thinking Olea, but a glance at the prices on the menu made us shy away. (We dined again at Sushi D, and had pretty much the same thing as before). This Sunday however, we were out on the troll for new brunch, and since we pass by Olea pretty much every single day on our way to the park, we finally caved. And are we glad of that!!

Olea has easily the best brunch we have had in CH/FG. I would even put them in the top 3 spots for dining, based solely on the brunch. The food was overall super fresh, and really filling. The setting is beautiful. Even though we ate outside (puppy you know), we did go in for hand washing and the restaurant is so cooling and relaxing (exposed beam ceiling, white plaster walls) you really do feel like you are in the Mediterranean - definitely not on a street corner in Brooklyn.

G-pup went for the Parmesan French Toast, which was a savory French toast with peas, avgolemono sauces (hollandaise) and, I think, pea shoots. The flavor was one of rich, lemony springtime (I love peas, but don't eat them nearly enough). I went for the big plate - Turkish Breakfast. I loved it, simply loved it. I rarely eat eggs anymore (vegan of convenience) but do splurge on brunch. The eggs were so completely mixed with cilantro that they looked like guacamole (yes that appeals to me). I also got on my heaping plate of delicious food, some zesty eggplant, some fattoush (a Mediterranean bread salad) some tzatziki (yogurt) and hot pita bread. It was such a wonderful combination of flavors, zesty, cooling, hearty, refreshing. The food tasted as though they were using quality ingredients too, if you know what I mean (like if you go to a cheap place it all tastes a bit flavorless because it comes from factory farms). The flavor of each ingredient really stood out, and it blended beautifully with the others. At the same time.

In the continuing take out nights (down to one, two was just too many) we had a fun Red Bamboo dinner of Salt and Pepper Chicken with honey mustard (think tinier crispier nuggets). [Does anyone remember the advert about nuggets where they go on about 'parts is parts, pieces parts'?] Barbecue 'Beef' with some kind of glaze I can't remember and Sizzling Tofu with Teriyaki sauce. A previous take out consisted of Chicken 'n Fries, and Coconut Salmon. I consider Red Bamboo food more 'fun' than 'delicious.' Don't get me wrong, it's good, just not great. It is definitely better when you can eat on their large patio, listening to the live jazz music and drinking their fun and delicious drinks. We also ordered in from Fulton Thai (I think the only place other than Mojito's that will deliver to us), and their food seems to be getting better.

The CSA continues to grace us with a large bounty, especially with 8 ears of corn (we are running out of things to do with it!). Quite honestly the corn is so delicious I tend to nibble on the raw pieces while cooking. We did oven roasted corn, with a salsa that I made from all the tomatoes we have accumulated. I did corn patties, and something else which for the life of me I can't remember. G-pups parents are coming in town soon and they love our sweet American corn, so they should be in heaven with all of this!

Olea
171 Lafayette Avenue
(718)643-7003
Hours: Sun-Thu 10am-4:30pm, 5pm-11pm
Fri & Sat 10am-4:30pm, 5pm-12am
All major credit cards accepted

Other reviews: Go Brooklyn, New York Magazine, Citysearch, Chowhound, Chowhound Again, And Chowhound Again