Forgive me for I have eaten the plums in the icebox 🌸
And made a cake with it. Plus, the long awaited review of Bonnie’s.
Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we drink various beverages and eat at a popular restaurant in Williamsburg. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
x.o. cheung fun (with cured pork, bean sprouts + chives) at Bonnie’s
398 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
There are two ways to get a table at Bonnie’s, the much-hyped Cantonese restaurant in Brooklyn. You can either diligently refresh Resy, in hopes of snagging a table two weeks in advance (good luck getting a spot after 5PM, and forget the hopes of a weekend meal). Or, you could, like my partner and I did, stumble in the door about half an hour before the kitchen closes spontaneously on a Saturday night, and sit at the bar, where you’ll find yourself at the best party you’ve ever been to in Williamsburg (to be fair, I have never been to a good party in Williamsburg). Everything at Bonnie’s feels hauntingly familiar, yet a little fluorescent – like the well-spaced dining room, which later registered to me as trying to come off as an old school diner. Take, for example, the x.o. cheung fun – which were not just the usual steamed, rolled rice blankets of dimsum lore, but more like a chow fun. Each little squiggle of rice roll was crisped on the outside, possibly fried. The whole thing was delicious, in a way that dual-texture, greasy, salty food is late at night, but when I opened the box of leftovers the next day, in the pale natural light of my alley-facing apartment, it felt all a little overwhelming.
Iced honey lemon tea at Bonnie’s
398 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
I feel like I’m still trying to process how I feel about the (distractingly hyped) food at Bonnie’s, but what I am certain about is the atmosphere: The vibes are spectacular. They are so good that you can have a mocktail and have a great time. In fact, I think the main reason I like Bonnie’s instead of hating for her being popular is because there are not one, but two *excellent* mocktails on the menu. For me, the ultimate test of a bar program, as well as fostering an inclusive environment, is how well they can put together a non-alcoholic drink. You might think it’s easier, but it’s actually much harder to mix a good, well-balanced drink without liquor, because you lack the flavor complexity (and convenient alcohol judgment buffer). It’s very easy to make everything all-too-sweet, and barely drinkable. The iced honey lemon tea really deserves a fancier name than that – it’s not an iced tea you’d sip on your grandma’s porch. Served in a rocks glass, and garnished with a slice of dehydrated orange, it’s smooth, spicy, and not-too-sweet. You really feel like you’re sipping on an old-fashioned, without the old-fashioned hangover.
Guava and creme pie at McDonalds
Available at some McDonald’s.
I have a favorite McDonald’s in New York and it is my secret sanctuary. I’m not going to tell you exactly which one, because I fear being stalked, (or worse yet, disrupted when I’m having a breakdown). But a freshly renovated McDonald’s can provide a free seat and AC when you’re having a stressful day, all for the cost of a Diet Coke (which is what I usually get) or a Vanilla Iced Coffee. Unlike a fancy coffee shop, you will never have to fight a hipster with a laptop for a seat at the table. Also, apparently you can now get guava creme (not cream, because that would imply real dairy product) pie there. It’s no pastelito from Porto’s – it’s got that thin, Pop-Tart-y crust of McDonald’s un-fried pies, instead of a buttery puff pastry. And we will never know what the “creme” is made of.
Lurisia - Il Nostro Chinotto - Italian Sparkling Juice Beverage at Eataly
This is what the bottle looks like.
Do you love the taste of amaro? Do you wish that you could drink it at all times of day? Look no further than this chinotto flavored soda from Italian brand Lurisa. Apparently, chinotto, or the myrtle-leaved orange tree’s fruits, is a prominent ingredient in amari (as well as Campari!), and that’s what this soda tastes like to me – a bittersweet, complex herbal liquor, minus the sting. The fact that it’s dark and complex is what makes this beverage feel like a real treat. It forces you to sip slowly, maybe just half a bottle at a time, poured over plenty of ice.
The famous Marian Burros plum cake, made with cherry plums at home
Recipe; recipe without paywall
Tis’ the season to make plum cake. Not just any plum cake – the One and Only plum cake from Marian Burros. Don’t let the simplicity of this recipe fool you. All you need is flour, sugar, butter and eggs plus plums, but it bakes up to so much more than the sum of its parts. The key is to use SOUR tart plums – I had a box of “cherry plums” from Trader Joes, and the smaller quantity of sugar (you can even go down to half a cup if you dare). The result is a beautifully caramelized cake, with sweet-tart pockets of cooked plum.
Have a good weekend,
Soph
P.S. In an attempt to make it more accessible to support my writing, yearly subscriptions are now $30! If you sign up for a subscription to Five Things I Ate, you are supporting my writing and cooking cost directly, and will have full access to all long form recipe archives. Your support is much appreciated.