You are walking down the street and suddenly feel an unsettling growl coming from your gut... you're hungry. You can eat at the nearby Mickey D's, but the thought of eating meat with the consistency of cardboard for the hundredth time makes your stomach cry. If only there was a restaurant nearby that sold homestyle food, would give you the stamina to outrun the Brooklyn College squirrels, give you the glow of a thousand suns, and get you that A plus on your next exam... Don't fool yourself! A place like that doesn't exist, but the restaurant Bake and Things on Flatbush Ave gets pretty darn close.
What is Bake and Things?
Bake and Things is a west Indian restaurant, local to the Flatbush area, that specializes in different types of rotis and doubles. The food here is rooted in a rich cultural background, and so the authenticity of the food is guaranteed. According to Christopher George, a Bake and Things regular, "people who live in Flatbush go there to get a taste of home in the mornings." With clientele from the ages of sixteen to sixty, this diverse venue has a little something for everyone to enjoy.
So what's on the Menu?
This restaurant boasts a wide selection of options that include a whole variety of seafood, bakes, and curries. However the most popular food items on the menu are the doubles and the rotis. A double is a street food that hails from Trinidad and Tobago. This breakfast sandwich is made of two baras, which are fried flat breads that are kneaded with turmeric to give it a distinct yellow tinge. The filling between the baras is Channa curry, or chickpea curry. This mouthwatering concoction is a medley of garlic, onion, curry powder, and cumin that will leave you wishing for more bite after bite. The condiments offered to go with the doubles are pepper sauce ( holla to my spice fanatics out there), tamarind sauce, and mango pickle. The doubles are so popular that they tend to run out by 2pm, so buy yours quickly!
The rotis are formidable competitors to the double's popularity. This dish comes with a huge roti, a curry of your choosing, and a side. A popular choice amongst the regulars is boneless chicken roti or veggie roti with potatoes, and spinach and pumpkin on the side.
Worth it?
This one of a kind eating venue gives you what a chain restaurant never could: a feeling of love put into the food. A single bite will make you understand the commitment and time the Bake and Things staff puts into its product. Combine this aspect with the fact that doubles are a dollar fifty, the hearty rotis are around six dollars, and the rest of the menu doesn't stray from the two to ten dollars range, and I can wholeheartedly conclude that this place is worth it! So the next time you're in the Flatbush area, head on over to Bake and Things!