Taste Test | Brokelyn

taste test

Mon dieu! Le Brokavore deigns to try $2.50 Canadian bagels

Nothing but a hole lot of hype, says L.B.

A $2.50 Montreal bagel from Mile End.

If hell was a bit nippy this past weekend, or airborne pigs were spotted over Prospect Park, I can offer an explanation. Which is this: Shortly after noon on Saturday, I, The Brokavore, a man devoted to thrift the way carp are devoted to swimming, walked into the Mile End on Hoyt Street in Boerum Hill, asked for a poppyseed bagel, and pried $2.50 from my cold, not-quite-dead hands. Read the rest of this entry »

And the blue ribbon goes to… the search for the best cheap beer

Picture 36One of the benefits of brokedom in BK is that we have intimate knowledge of the taste and texture of Pabst Blue Ribbon, that ubiquitous lager of dubious award-winning credentials. It is the default option at many a bar due to its bottomed-out price, and its inescapable association with those lovable, huggable hipsters (because who doesn’t want to be lumped in with this guy?).

But we know you want more out of the world than just one can. And so it’s time to break free from those blue ribbons and embrace a post PBR-era. And there are plenty of other low-cost options.

This we determined by slogging through them, one by one.  With low budgets and thirsty gullets, we set out to answer the question: when it comes to the bottom-of-the-cost-ladder beers out there, which ones are the best? Read the rest of this entry »

Who wins the better (natural) peanut butter battle?

Which one turns PB from a food of desperation to one of pure nutty joy?

One of my favorite foods (next to frosting) is natural peanut butter. I’ll eat it on stuff, in stuff, but mostly on its own, and destroy a jar of it a week. People who don’t care for natural peanut butter say it’s too goopy and not sweet. True, but only if you’re used to eating super sweet stir-free commercial swill found bodega-wide (even Serious Eats didn’t care for the purist variety). I say ground peanuts don’t need all that unhealthy stuff to make them shine. My panel of butter judgers set out to find which common natural brands are the best for the price. I even tried my hand at a homemade version to see if it’s worth the cost. Read the rest of this entry »


Mon dieu! Le Brokavore deigns to try $2.50 Canadian bagels

Nothing but a hole lot of hype, says L.B.

A $2.50 Montreal bagel from Mile End.

If hell was a bit nippy this past weekend, or airborne pigs were spotted over Prospect Park, I can offer an explanation. Which is this: Shortly after noon on Saturday, I, The Brokavore, a man devoted to thrift the way carp are devoted to swimming, walked into the Mile End on Hoyt Street in Boerum Hill, asked for a poppyseed bagel, and pried $2.50 from my cold, not-quite-dead hands. Read the rest of this entry »

And the blue ribbon goes to… the search for the best cheap beer

Picture 36One of the benefits of brokedom in BK is that we have intimate knowledge of the taste and texture of Pabst Blue Ribbon, that ubiquitous lager of dubious award-winning credentials. It is the default option at many a bar due to its bottomed-out price, and its inescapable association with those lovable, huggable hipsters (because who doesn’t want to be lumped in with this guy?).

But we know you want more out of the world than just one can. And so it’s time to break free from those blue ribbons and embrace a post PBR-era. And there are plenty of other low-cost options.

This we determined by slogging through them, one by one.  With low budgets and thirsty gullets, we set out to answer the question: when it comes to the bottom-of-the-cost-ladder beers out there, which ones are the best? Read the rest of this entry »