Madiba Restaurant Makes Brooklyn Look Smart

Madiba Restaurant

195 Dekalb Avenue

Brooklyn, New York 11205

718 855 9190

www.madibarestaurant.com

Number of Diners in Party: 4

Size of Coupon: $50

Entrée cost: $16.50-$24

Highly Recommended

For a quick safari to a fantasy South Africa that is friendly, welcoming, hip, funky, earnest and sophisticated, dine at Madiba South African restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. This restaurant shows off the smart, urbane yet utterly non-Manhattan scene that thrives in the Brooklyn Academy of Music area and acts as a perfect complement to that institution’s highbrow but offbeat fare.

In warm weather, the patio scene is lively. Inside, the bar has a handful of seats and a few low tables attracting its own crowd of friendly regulars for knockout mojitos. It doubles as a purveyor of South African staples such as Crosse and Blackwell Custard Powder as well as Brooklyn’s own Crop to Cup coffee. The two-story-high dining room is painted in vivid primary colors. A large portrait of Nelson Mandela gazes approvingly at the multicultural crowd of diners feasting on elegant, delicious and responsible cooking. Appetizers include Durban Samosas, flaky triangles filled with vegetables. Soup of the day is charmingly called Soup of the Moment. All seafood is sea-harvested and the restaurant offers a daily line-caught fish special. The Lorenzo Marcos Prawns Peri-peri ($22), described as pan-fried Mozambique-style prawns, were spicy and succulent whole split prawns served atop flavorful yellow rice and with excellent greens. Meat at the restaurant is cooked on the “Backyard Braai,” Braai being the South African version of BBQ and a popular South African pastime. T-bone steak ($24) arrives moist and tender with a good, flavorful char and a choice of sauces: mushroom, garlic butter and Monkey Gland. Thankfully, Monkey Gland sauce is not made from monkeys at all but is the traditional South African BBQ sauce made with red wine, apricots, tomato, onion and chutney. For vegetarians there is a daily vegetable platter special that changes according to the season and market availability. The restaurant also servs several curries which include Durban Bunny Chow, hollowed-out bread served with a choice of vegetable, lamb, organic chicken or seafood curry.

Madiba offers a $25 and a $50 coupon. Entrees are priced at $16.50-$24, making the $25 coupon is best for two diners and the $50 coupon is best for parties of four or more.

What are these Coupons and Groupons?

In this blog, I will frequently refer to Restaurant.com coupons and Groupons. This blog is not a promotion for either of these companies. I'm just a fan of these discount programs and think I might be able to provide a service by reviewing restaurants and service providers that participate in them.

Here's how Restaurant.com works -- technically, you buy a $10 restaurant-specific coupon that will give you $25 off a $35 purchase at that restaurant. But there are almost always discounts that range from 60% off to, occasionally, 90% off. Once you sign up you'll receive emails giving you the discount code for the current offer. When I see that coupons are 90% off that's when I pick up a whole bunch. They are good for one year from the date of purchase. Sometimes I overbuy and have coupons that expire unused, but certainly the savings outweigh the cost of unused certificates. In some sad cases, restaurants go out of business or stop participating in the program before the coupons expire, and in that case customer service promptly provides a refund. Some restaurants have $50, $75 or $100 coupons, requiring a larger minimum purchase and which are better for a larger crowd.

Groupon.com is a daily discount email that offers discounts on a variety of local products and experiences. These range from restaurants to adult education classes to professionally published photo books. For example, yesterday after the Dance Parade in New York's East Village, my two friends and I used Groupons to get $7 worth of Asian-Italian fusion dumplings for $3 and last weekend my boyfriend and I went to a $25 class on homemade pizza making and wine pairings for $12.50 per person. A whole group of us enjoyed a sunset harbor sail on a classic wooden boat, that included an open bar, for half price last year.

Les Sans Culottes

Les Sans Culottes

1085 Second Avenue (at 57^th Street)

New York, NY 10022

Coupon value: $25

Number of People in Party: 2

Final bill: $55

Highly Recommended

Lovers of charcuterie and artfully presented crudités must make a visit to this charming classic French restaurant. It bills itself as “the revolutionary French restaurant” -- the name, which literally means "without knee-breeches" and was a term used to refer to French revolutionaries. Inside, it feels like you've stepped into a roadside tavern in 1788. I have a fetish for vintage textiles, and coveted the wall covering, a vintage fabric printed with 18^th Century ladies and gentlemen.

The restaurant offers three prix fixe menus priced at $25, $32 and $35, all with several selections and including dessert. The meal begins with an enormous basket of whole raw vegetable and a massively impressive array of classic French smoked sausages, along with a ceramic pot of homemade pate, cornichons, bread and cold butter. Additional appetizers such as Coquille saint Jacques are available for those ambitious diners, our party was sufficiently challenged by this display. Chicken Cordon Blue was tender, with an oozing center. The Tilapia Almandine was moist and flavorful and pleased a diner with a restricted diet. The Roasted Chicken with Garlic Sauce was earthy and satisfying. There is excellent Cotes due Rhone by the glass and for dessert there is a choice of chocolate mousse or caramel flan included in the prix fixes, and a few other selections such as tarte tatin or crème brulee are also offered.

The service is excellent, and those who anticipate snobby French waiters will be disappointed.

Les Sans Culottes is a great value without the coupon but is a fantastic deal with the coupon, especially if there are two people in your party. Portions are large and we all brought home doggy bags that heated up most deliciously the next day. Les Sans Culottes only offers the $25 coupon, which is most understandable given the already low prices and generous portions. Reservations accepted.

Texas Pepper Works Candy Crisp Deli Toppers

The beauty of a truly transformative condiment is that with one twist of the lid or bottle top an everyday burger or humble turkey sandwich is elevated to new and exotic heights. Condiments, so wonderfully shelf-stable, sit patiently in the back of our pantries and refrigerators waiting for the moment when we need a splash of inspiration. Every culture has its defining condiment, in America we are hopelessly linked with ketchup in the eyes of the world, despite the word’s possible Chinese origins. Sweet-piquant banana peppers as jarred by Texas Pepper Works in their Candy Crisp Deli Toppers are an entirely unique and absolutely addictive addition to the condiment category that. like the tricycle on the label, turns an average sandwich into a thrillingly novel experience. I tried them at the Fancy Food Show in New York and have found a wide range of uses for them. I love sliders but now see them as incomplete without a few palate-popping rings piled on top. The peppers wake up turkey or cheese sandwiches and revitalize the hors d’oeuvre standby of cream cheese topped with pepper jelly. The banana peppers have a nice, mellow heat that complements deli meats without really reaching spicy hot levels.

Texas Pepper Works uses family recipes and the spirit of fun to celebrate the lesser-known German, Scotch, Irish and Creole roots of Texas culture.

Cream Cheese and Candy Crisp Deli Toppers Dip

Ingredients:

1 8 oz block Cream Cheese, left at room temperature 1 hor or until softened

6 oz Texas Pepper Works Deli Toppers

Club crackers or Bugles

Directions:

Unwrap cream cheese, place on serving plate. Top with Deli Toppers and the glaze from the jar. Surround with crackers or Bugles. Serve. Seriously it will get eaten and fast.

Welcome to my Blog!

I like things that are yummy and I like saving money. this blog is dedicated to passing along my reviews of restaurants that offer coupons on Restaurant.com, Groupons from Groupon.com and Atlantic city buffets. I'll also review the odd restaurant where I pay full price, often these are pizza places. I'm hoping boyfriend Joe will drop in from time to time as he is the real pizza and ice cream expert in this household, which contains the two of us and four emerald Toucanets. They just eat fruit and have their own Twitter page at twitter.com/littlegbirdies for those of you out there interested in what small green birds have to say about the world. Please leave comments so I know you were here!

Thanks,

Elizabeth