Brooklyn, New York City – Take a trip from Manhattan across to Brooklyn, as there is more this borough can offer to complete your Big Apple experience. From the Michelin-starred restaurants in New York City, this is our take of dining options you should check out in your next trip to Brooklyn.

And yes, if you are travelling to New York any time soon, make very sure you cover the spots included in our guide on Free Activities and Things to do in the Big Apple!

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Egg
Located in Williamsburg, Egg restaurant is a popular brunch spot which specialises in egg dishes such as Chorizo & Eggs and Eggs Rothko. We like the spacious space and its centralised location in this hip district, which boasts a nice communal dining area at the back of the restaurant where you can get natural lighting. We had the Eggs Rothko on a slice of Amy’s brioche and topped with Grafton cheddar, totally delicious. Service is friendly and prices are largely reasonable by NYC standards. Its sister outlet Eggshop is located in Lower Manhattan.Where: 109 N 3rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249, United States

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Devocion Café
Touted as the only farm to table coffee roaster in the world, Devocion Café is possibly one of the most beautiful café we have stepped into and easily our favourite in the whole NYC. Out of the world, if anything. For one, the spacious space was extremely greeting, with nice natural light over its transparent glass ceiling, beautiful planted wall, brick walls and leather sofas. We can chill here forever if time permits. The coffee is no doubt the star, but grab some pastries over the counter for breakfast and you won’t regret.
Where: 69 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249, United States

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Buttermilk Channel
Located in the Carroll Gardens neighbourhood of Brooklyn, Buttermilk Channel is a very popular spot especially on weekend brunch hours. We waited for about 30 minutes despite arriving a few moments after its opening hour at 10am, but we totally enjoyed our waiting time exploring the quaint neighbourhood. The all-day dining restaurant does not have a fancy décor, so you can pretty much expect the food to be up to standard. We tried some of the highlights here such as  the pork chop waffles and French toast, both of which did not disappoint. Mark this cafe down if you are seeking good American bistro food outside of Williamsburg.
Where: 524 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231, United States

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Café Mogador
Café Mogador is akin to a café restaurant with a secret garden. The all-day dining restaurant serves up Moroccan inspired dishes in a spacious rustic setting, with a nice garden-like dining area if you are in the mood to bask in the sun. We tried the scrambled eggs and Moroccan eggs breakfast, both orders to our liking. This is one popular spot in Williamsburg especially during dinner hours.
Where: 133 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249, United States

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Mast Chocolate
Don’t miss a trip to the famous chocolate brand from Brooklyn, Mast Brothers chocolate! It is located close to Egg, where you get to purchase freshly made chocolates, order a chocolate drink or simply sign up for one of its short chocolate tour, which we did. It was fun sampling the different types of chocolate and flavours, and we ended up buying quite a number of blocks back.
Where: 111 N 3rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249, USA

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Toby’s Estate
Located in the heart of Williamsburg is the spacious Toby’s Estate Coffee. The whole high ceiling and rustic space is inviting the moment we stepped in, where finding a decent table can prove to be challenging even on weekdays with almost every coffee drinker with their Macbook and coffee. Other than its comprehensive coffee offerings, you can also catch some coffee roasting action at the back of the café.
Where: 125 N 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249, United States

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Sweet Chick
With two outlets in Williamsburg and Lower East Side in Manhattan, we visited the hip Williamsburg outlet of Sweet Chick for some fried chicken on waffle and mac & cheese. The vibe is rustic and laid back at Sweet Chick, where you can simply sit for a long time overlooking the peaceful street.
Where: 178 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002, United States

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Lilia
Lilia is probably one of the hottest new restaurant in Brooklyn right now. The casual-fun, slightly over a year old Italian restaurant is opened by Chef Missy Robbins who has held stints in various acclaimed restaurants in Chicago and NYC. Small plates concept takes centrestage here, and it was a wonderful first impression for us – we love the rustic and warehouse-like vibe, coupled with good service. Some of amazing dishes we tried are the Grilled Clams with Calabrian Chili and Breadcrumbs, and the Ricotta Gnocchi with Broccoli Pesto, Basil and Pistachios. We daresay Lilia will score a Michelin spot very soon. Even Michelle and Barack Obama are fans.
Where: 567 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222, United States

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Semilla
The One Michelin starred Semilla restaurant is located within the hip Williamsburg neighbourhood, with less than 20 seats and a focus on bringing seasonal and fresh vegetable centric dishes to the table. The ten course set menu is priced at $85, where you can expect dishes such as  Corn Broth with Squash Blossoms & Cuttlefish,  and Eggplant with Pickled Vegetables & Cherry Blossom Aioli and Roasted Lobster Mushroom with Cauliflower & Raw Vegetables. The pairing of the ingredients are playful and creative, even the dessert we had revolved around something green – Olive Oil Ice Cream with Green Tomato Granita & Basil. There is only dinner seating slots at Semilla currently.
Where: No. 5, 160 Havemeyer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211, United States

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Emily
Widely known for its pizza, we visited Emily at Clinton Hill in Brooklyn after reading rave reviews online. We arrived minutes before restaurant opens for the evening on a weekday and there was already a long queue spotted. Space is limited, and it could apparently take up to a few hours waiting time on weekends. The must try is definitely the Emmy Burger, made with Fleisher’s pasture-raised dry aged beef, Tom Cat pretzel bun, EMMY sauce, caramelized onion, Grafton cheddar, cornichon and served with a huge pile of fries. The burger was one of the best we had while in NYC but we wouldn’t call it life-changing. Comparatively, we much enjoyed the wood-fired white pizza more, where we ordered the Emily pizza topped with mozzarella, pistachios, truffle sottocenere and honey.
Where: 919 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11238, United States

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Peter Luger Steak House
The most famous steakhouse in Brooklyn and possibly the whole of New York City is undoubtedly Peter Luger Steak House. You can’t miss the huge signboard the moment you take the J line subway train from Manhattan into Williamsburg. The steakhouse is packed every night, and snagging a seat can prove to be challenging because it only accepts reservations by phone, where we had to go through three different staff when we called to get our names on the list. Service is not the best you can expect of Michelin standards and far from polished, with the occasional condescending attitude we felt during our meal. The steak is the only star for sure, literally. The portions are generous for two persons, and there is nothing not to love about the succulent medium-rare red meat.
Where: 178 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211, United States

Ranted by The Ranter