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Clark St (2, 3)
Court St-Borough Hall (2, 3, 4, 5, M, R, W)
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so, i knew that mama o was going to be in town this week, but for some godforsaken reason, i failed to note that she'd be in saturday night ... and not to sound TOO 90201 about it, but i was a bit bummed because my friend was throwing a party that i'd been looking forward to for the past week. ALSO, after working 21321321 hours + doing saturday morning consumer research in the dirty jerz, i was looking for SOME kind of social outlet that weekend ... that didn't involve early-bird specials and multiple church visits. uh huh, i get it - imma brat.
anywho, after picking up mama o from LGA, we quickly stashed her stuff in hermano's apartment (hallelujah! better him than me!) and decided to go to latern for some quick, albeit nice grub.
right as the appies - chicken/shrimp shumai and coconut shrimp (kinda blah) - come to the table, mama o gets this really excited look on her face, pulls something rectangular out of her bag and hands me a book entitled, "the ABCs of choosing a good husband" all while saying, "i really hope you enjoy this, aimee."
she looked so damn proud of herself, i couldn't even muster up the strength to offer-up some kinda sarcastic retort - SO UNLIKE ME. all i could stutter was, "gee, ma ... thanks" whereas hermano looked like he about to choke on a dumpling.
the rest of dinner was pretty uneventful, much like the food itself, with mama o grilling me about my job (yes, we eat lunch at our desks), my love life (no, no - that gay man you met was NOT my boyfriend) and my apartment (yes, i REALLY live alone and yes, there are other people on the street when i walk home from the subway). there was green curry (didn't try it, but it was veggie-filled), shrimp with asparagus (meh) and my massaman seafood (the best of the bunch). although there was more than enough, we stayed true to our yellow roots and just ate the meat. no need - or want - to bring doggie bags home.
and there goes a rockin' saturday night. jealy?
on a side note, i did crack into my new hubby-finding guide and, apparently, i do everything wrong ... as in WRRRROOONNNG. at least that's what my super-duper christian friend, steve woods, says.
The tofu green curry ($10) here is quite delicious, and that's pretty much all that needs to be true in order for me to love a Thai restaurant; fortunately, there is much more at Lantern to enjoy. The curry has a wonderful flavor, slightly sweet, a hint of lime, and a little bit of heat. I say "little" because even when I asked the good people at Lantern to make my curry extremely spicy (complete with dramatic hand gestures, I'm sure) they fail to do so. Still, the dish is very much above average, and a little chili paste goes a long way. Lantern does their vegetables very well, which is key; perfectly crisp, not overcooked at all, really just wonderful. And did I mention the portion is massive? Always two meals.
The virgin rolls ($7) are a great choice for an appetizer. They're stuffed with baby spinach, celery, alfalfa sprouts, tofu, and avocado, and served with a very tasty brown honey-citrus sauce. Delicious, but also very light. Goes well (what doesn't?) with a bottle of their Pinot Noir ($32). And the mango mojitos? Yes, I know they're $9 but they are fabulous.
Also, Lanten has great deals for their lunch special. Just $8 for an entree and appetizer. Just don't get the hot and sour soup. It's terrible.
The staff is decent, could be a bit more attentive, but are nice people and answer all of my boring vegan questions. Overall a solid spot in Brooklyn Heights for Thai.
Why is this place getting bad reviews? :( I really liked it here. I came here about a year ago as a surprise dinner with a friend. The servers were attentive, but not obsessive. They were very helpful in pushing two tables together for us because we ordered a lot of food for us both. The environment is very sensual (lol?). It's very dark, but it's so pretty. It is decorated very nicely.
The food was really good here too. We had the papaya salad. I REALLYYYYY loved that appetizer. It was so good! We also had the pineapple fried rice, which is served in half a pineapple. That was good too! The roasted pineapple duck was ok. It was a bit bland in the curry and it was kinda fatty. It was pretty decent though. :) I was really full with all of this food! I was about to pass out at the restaurant due to food coma, but because I'm so food obsessed - I demanded dessert! lol When my friend said we would share a green tea ice cream, people should've seen my face with shock and perplexion then go back to a smile and "ok!" when I was really thinking, "What is this guy thinking?! I want my OWN green tea ice cream!" To say the least, the green tea ice cream was really good and I've tried a lot of green tea ice cream before. :)
I am not downgrading because of the food, the food continues to be decent even though I always get Chicken Pad Thai (real adventurous). I am downgrading because of the obsessive service. I like good service and I feel I deserve it, or at least someone does. I hate inattentive service, it drives me insane. Between good service and inattentive service lies OBSESSION.
We sat down and within twenty seconds (no exaggeration), the waitress asked if we were ready. Um, no, the menu has not even moved an inch. Thirty more seconds pass, "You want a drink?" Uh, yes, but it has been less than a minute I am still putting my jacket over the chair.
Drinks come, waitress hovers. We quickly decide on our order for fear we were being mildly stalked. Food comes in like five minutes which normally is appreciated, but not when you have only been in the restaurant for 10 minutes. I feel like there should have been a bus load of tourists waiting to take over the restaurant, but there wasn't.
YES, everything is OK, I promise. Please give me five minutes of uninterrupted conversation. Food portion is complete, dessert menu appears within seconds as if it was hiding under the plate. The place was not full, why are you in such a rush Ms. Waitress Lady?
Next thing I know I am paying and then I am given two credit cards to sign, neither of which belonged to me. And finally, the excessive speed of work fails and results in a distraction of small proportion. They brought the correct card and I am sure we were out of this place in under an hour, but it felt like twenty minutes due to the pressure.
The only thing the waitress could have done to speed it along even more would have been to stand behind me and whisper subliminal messages like, "You want to eat faster," "You must finish now." Come to think of it, maybe that happened.
All in all, the food was still good though and you can't rush me when I get delivery!
This is better than decent Thai food. My first visit I met a bunch of old friends at the restaurant… Read more »
I got the shrimp Tom Yum soup, and beef Pad Se We.
The Tom Yum soup was alright, the soup could've been seasoned better. Personally, I would've liked it if it had more lemongrass in it, but it was still decent.
The Pad Se we was decent, also. The beef could've been seasoned better, and overall dish would've been better had then been a bit more sauce and seasoning.
Overall, it was decent. I'll probably be doing delivery again since it's the only Thai place in the area.
Located in the great neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. This Montague Street restaurant is rather clean and offers a relaxing atmosphere for dining. The service was fast, but almost bordered on bothering. You could barely finish an item of food and a server would be on top of your table trying to remove the plate. It almost seemed as if they were in a hurry to get you out of there so they could turn the table over for the next patron (they weren't that busy and definitely weren't full).
The food was very tasty and filling. For lunch, they offer a prix fixe for $8, which included one appetizer and an entree. I wet my taste buds with a wonderful chicken and shrimp dumpling appetizer before receiving my main entree, which was the drunken noodles with beef. Both dishes were fantastic.
If you find yourself in the neighborhood, give this Thai restaurant a try. Enjoy!
Lantern in Brooklyn has by FAR the WORST service in all of New York.
The wait staff is pushy to the point of being aggressive and hovers over you making your dining experience very uncomfortable. The manager is rude, disrespectful and glares at you.
I cannot say much about the food because we only had time to order appetizers before we felt so disrespected by the wait staff and manager that we left.
When we complained to the manager he actually started fighting with us, what a waste! We will NEVER be back.
After this horrible experience we went to Ghang Thai on Court street where we had a wonderful experience so much better than Lantern.
I have never had a bad experience at this restaurant or from ordering delivery. The food is okay. I have had tastier Thai food elsewhere, but this is the only Thai restaurant in the neighborhood and the only one that will deliver to me. A few restaurants in Cobble Hill used to deliver, but I guess they stopped.
Delivery is always super fast. The food gets served fast too so I assumed everything is just pre-cooked and heated.
The Thai iced tea can be too sweet sometimes.
I'm not extremely picky when it comes to thai food but this place really isn't too hot.
Try to stay away from the Pad Thais as they cook it with a tomato base and it tastes really unauthentic. The Thai ice tea is also a bit too sugared up so not too crazed about it.
Pad See Ew...hit or miss.. I've gotten good ones and ive gotten bad ones with rotten tofu. it was a take out so i had to throw the entire dish out.
NOTE:
They can get pretty stingy when you order take out. Portions are so tiny even a small girl like me are often hungry afterwards
8 dollar lunch specials are worth the shot from time to time.
This place was quite a disappointment. We had the virgin rolls and crispy spring rolls as appetizers which were good. but that's about the only positive thing I have to say.
We sat outside for dinner, our waiter came to take our order about 2 minutes after seating, which was great, because we were starving. BUT.. when we asked him a question about an item on the menu he couldn't answer, he left to find us an answer and disappeared for 20 minutes without finishing our order. I had to physically get up and find a waiter to tell him that we were ready to order, and then it took another 5-6 minutes for another waiter to come out.
We ordered pad thai and green curry chicken with rice. The worst pad thai EVER. It was served in a flavorless crepe, which was really strange. The green curry was nothing special, and did not taste like any other green curry I've ever had, in fact, the curry and pad thai tasted pretty much exactly the same. And neither tasted like what they were supposed to be. The thai tea was not topped with cream, way too sugary and pretty gross.
Bad Food, Bad Service. Never coming here again.
*Warning: I am a vegetarian
I had to take care of some business in Brooklyn Heights, after which my friend recommended that we stop by this "amazing" Thai place.
I am not a huge Thai food fan, but I obliged.
It was a pretty day, so we sat outside. In terms of decor -- this place is really pretty inside.
Food - I ordered the veg. dumplings and virgin rolls and veg. fried rice. The dumplings were REALLY tasty. The virgin rolls were disgusting...and the rice was okay. My friend, on the other hand, ordered Coconut Shrimp and a Mango Salad. He loved both.
Dessert - I ordered the Banana Lampai. OMGGGGG I loved it! (2 Stars for JUST the dessert)
Service - It was okay. I don't remember the waiter saying one word tho. But, I got my water and everything else on time and right.
After a morning walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, we found ourselves famished and on Montague St. After weighing the dining options around us, we were persuaded to try Lantern based on the their $8 lunch special. For $8 you get an appetizer and an entrée. I tried out the dumplings which have a nice spicy kick to them and the Pad See Ew.
Overall, the ambiance was really cute, the food was good (not mind blowing, but good) and affordable. The service could use a little help. Bringing the drinks out before the food? Or perhaps offering refills?
We left full and happy and ready to make the journey back across the bridge.
Based on the reviews I didn't want to like this place, but it's pretty good. for a $8 lunch special they really give a lot. Stay away from every thing except the curries--fresh veggies, good amount of chicken and the flavors are there. Take out and go to the promenade for a great view of the city.
From this place, I am beginning to notice that take out packaging is so much better in New York. Better plastic quality containers, all bagged in paper and plastic. But on the other side, I guess that's more for the landfill.
I went on a date here the atmosphere was nice but the food was terrible!
My friend and I had spring rolls and vegetable dumplings as appetizers. Both were tasty. I got the drunken noodles, which weren't bad. My friend didn't like her pad thai, but I thought it was pretty decent. Thai mojito was pretty good.
Their service kinda sucked. The waitresses were kinda bitchy and kept returning to our table what felt like every minute to try to take our order. Give me a few minutes, damn....
Decor is pretty nice inside. We sat outside on a warm day, which was nice.
The food is decent, i go during the day time when it is not crowded
The staff can be a bit more attentive and to the customer,
the atmosphere is nice and relaxing
The drinks are just OK nothing special.
I wholly regret spending $8.92 on a lunch special here, which is way too much for thai lunch anyways...
The woman taking orders was extremely rude and angry (um...okay...it's really messed up of me to be giving you business...uhh). They were going to charge me $2 extra for brown rice so I said hell no and stuck with white. My garlic chicken came in a tiny container and spring rolls were so doused in sauce that they were limp. I basically spent the rest of the day kicking myself for not going to Sea on Livingston and getting their $5.95 lunch special.
Never going back here. Not worth it. Don't bother.
A fiending Thai foodie shouldn't have to try so hard to like this place. Given Lantern's monopoly on the Thai food business on the Montague strip, I really wanted to love it. The takeout pad kee mao was bland bland bland. Chicken and shrimp fritters stale. After getting a busy signal for 30 minutes, they first ignored me, then were rude (worse than indifferent) when I finally ordered in person instead. While waiting, I dialed their number just to see if they would pick up. Busy signal, but no one was actually on the phone! What gives? They don't bother to pick up? Well, neither will I. Phuket? Yeah. Phuk it.
I'm bumping my rating up to a 3.0 for the dine-in experience. I still maintain that the portions… Read more »
Not bad!
Things I liked:
1. Allowed my family and my boyfriend's family to continue the tradition of eating some type of Asian food on Christmas Eve.
2. The drunken noodles with shrimp were just the right level of spicy. Didn't need to gulp water, but had a nice little kick.
3. The mango and sticky rice dessert was good! I don't know how authentic this recipe was since it had some type of maple syrup-ish sauce on top, but it tasted good.
4. I thought the pad thai was good. Snagged a few bites from the boyfriend and the noodles were moist & pretty flavorful. Can't comment on the chicken because I didn't taste any!
Things I didn't like:
1. The waiters were a tiny bit out of it..forgot the boyfriend's thai iced tea and then kind of forgot my dessert for a bit. Not bad, just a little bit out of it..
2. My shrimp still had the tail part on..really..? Just clean it for me! No one wants to chew bits of food and then return the ends to their plate at a restaurant.
Overall, I'd go back. Also, some guy had a lychee cocktail. I'm getting that next time! Looked tasty..
Not great. Because of bad service and bad food.
Decor/ambiance was great (a little dark) and the place was clean and chic looking.
First impressions: From the look I expected great and innovative food. But it was your regular thai restaurant menu with average prices. I was impressed with the beer prices for the imports, pretty cheap.
Service: No greeting by a waiter, didn't ask if we wanted drinks. Eventually she showed up, didn't say hello, made some sort of noise and nodded at my friend to order. Was kind of rude. We ordered and she rushed away. During the service she also touched my fork, which is a no no and rushed plates off our table when we were barely done with them.
Constant flow of water - which i hate, total waste of energy.
Food: I had the masaman curry...more like the mas-o-bland curry. Portion was normal but clearly missing some spices. Tasted watery. Potatoes were also cooked too much to be in a curry. Bottom of the pot maybe? My friend's food was normal but as he said, "didn't taste very thai."
There are better asian/thai places in the area & they are cheaper. I don't think i'll be going back.
Usually I wouldn't give any stars for bad service....but this experience was ridiculous. I went with my wife to this restaurant after having recieved a $5 off coupon at my apartment. When they refused to honor it (apparently it was for take out only...not specified on the coupon) we, politely, told them that they really should or else they would loose our business (and that they should honor other peoples too!) They manager then came out, leaned over and told us to leave and never come back.
I know you probably think there are two sides to this story....but really, we were not causing a scene or being rude. The way they behaved was totally uncalled for.
wow. I cannot believe how many bad reviews there are! We had an amazingly delicious meal at Lantern tonite. Granted, the service was pretty horrible. But, fuck 'em, we left a measly 10% tip. In general, I was really surprised how good it was. Everything was a warm bath of perfect flavor & spice. The atmosphere was perfect, aside from the hunk of wood that broke off my chair.
But still, the food was great! We got the Birds Nest thingie & the Kee Mao. Kee Mao being the Thai test entree. A standard that if you f up, you don't get a 2nd chance. But it killed. The Birds Nest was a massively solid nest of noodles, swimming in a delicious sauce.
Wow, what restaurant did we go to?
They got our drunken noodle just right, and the lychee teas were delicious. Eating outside in warm weather is a joy with the nice street view, though the table was a bit rickety, and the service was prompt and friendly.
The decor was unique and I needed to ask where the bathroom was, but otherwise, definitely would go back.
yummy cocktails, street side seating perfect for people watching, and managable portion that won't leave you feeling grossly obese after dinner.
Don't bother. Old and bland is the food.
Great for lunch takeout during the day -
got their lunch special $8 for an entree and an appetizer -
Chli basil chicken and spring rolls for me.
Very tasty, walked in and it took about 10 minutes.
The whole place was packed so if I were in a rush,
I wouldn't say this was a good option.
Staff was friendly but the woman behind the bar kept pouring
drinks and water for the servers to take to the tables -
I was sitting at the bar waiting and she didn't offer me
a glass of water, even though she kept filling up glasses
a couple inches infront of my face. It was very busy, but ....
come on! One offer, one glass of water would have been very nice.
Great deal for lunch! Tasty drinks! Cute decor!
...but good god, some poor service here. Servers hardly speak, and when they do, it's when they argue with one another. Got my entree before my appetizer and didn't get a glass of water til I was almost done with my meal.
For dinner, I would opt out of Lantern and take the 15-20 minute stroll to Joya.
I actually didn't have horrible service here, but it could have been more attentive and just well, as if they weren't sleepwalking. Maybe the bussers should be the waiters for a bit considering they always haul ass a lot more than the the rest of the staff.
I didn't care much for the pad thai here, it kind of felt obnoxious to eat, I'm not sure why. but I enjoyed the crab dumplings for the appetizer it was creamy and maybe could have used a bit more flavor, a little salt would have gone a long way. My pad see ew was ok; I feel like a lot of places really end up with dry and not so tasty noodles, which could be from the dish sitting somewhere for too long. I think I'd rather get a drink here than anything else; sit by the small bar or outside and feel the bit of breeze and feel I guess "cool" because I'm at a Thai place. The long table of meet your neighbors deal isn't really that fun; I feel like the only place that should happen are at pubs and beer gardens. When drinking is involved.
The other anecdote is that I really had to do the 2 and there was only one bathroom operating. I get very nervous because I feel bad that I'm taking up so many minutes. And when I get apprehensive, I bottle the "emotions" in. Until next bathroom.
Other than the table, I do enjoy the decor, although I'm not sure how pleasant it really feels along the quaint nature of Montague, it's a bit less inviting, but that's probably why I'd rather just drink, after a few martinis I wouldn't care about the lit waterfalls.
The first thing that got me about this place was that it was cute and quaint. They had great brunch specials starting at $8. I'm not sure if they have a weekday lunch menu, but I don't think the yellow curry I got was worth the $10. My husband had the eggs benedict and didn't complain but he rarely does. Our server only came to our table once. I suppose the wait staff could be a bit more attentive and a bit more friendly, and they could have put a bit more flavor (flavor, not spice) in the curry. I'd probably go again but there are so many places on Montague that I'd try something else before going again.
I am really patting myself on the back here for being a non-grudge-holder, as the last time I tried to order delivery from Lantern they were all, "we're too busy tonight to deliver to DUMBO" and I'm all, "it's like a 2-second bike ride DOWNHILL" but they would not be swayed, and I ended up ordering from Rice, which I like less and less each time I eat it.
I was angry and sad and swore I'd boycott Lantern, but the reality is that they're the only Thai I like that delivers to my apt, and oh, I just can't stay mad long. It's not how I roll.
So tonight apparently things were a little bit slower because they had no problem crossing the BK Heights/DUMBO divide. I'd ordered summer rolls and Rama chicken, which get one star and four point two stars respectively. Normally I like summer rolls very much, but these...Did. Not. Like. They were like 80% lettuce and the dipping sauce wasn't sweet like it's supposed to be. Or at least how I want it to be.
Rama chicken would have gotten 5 stars except that it was cold when it arrived, and yes it's about negative 42 degrees outside, but still. Get one of those insulated cases the pizza guys get, ok? The technology exists not to have this problem. Once I'd re-heated it, though, YOWSA! That is some tasty peanut sauce, and tasty chicken and spinach swimming in peanut sauce. Could not stop shoveling into mouth.
So Lantern, consider yourself on probation. Nice work on the Rama. Please learn to make better summer rolls, though, and don't ever pull that too-busy-to-deliver-to-DUMBO bullshit again, ok? xoxo
Ok so maybe 1 star is a little harsh, but the food had better be damn good for $19/dish. And this place sucks. I have had better thai for $7/dish, many, many times. In fact, the only time I have been less satisfied with thai food was when I went to the manhattan Lantern.
I am pretty sure that they cook all the food ahead of time and just heat it up, and this is why it sucks so hard. So you will probably get your food fast, but the chicken will be dry, your dumplings will be half super hot, half freezing, the noodles will be all squashed together. Bleh.
I just didn't think it was worth what I paid.
The food didn't look very tasty, what I ordered wasn't all that, and the waitstaff seemed like they really didn't care.
But, if you're in a hurry and you tell them that when you order, they will keep you on time. Small concession in my book but worth mentioning.
Had dinner outdoor with bf after work... was greeted at the door and was led to a table outside... quick service with the water/drinks... bf had the Great Siam Sangria - lots of fresh fruits and great amount of sweet/alcohol... while I had the Phuket Sunrise and was just as good with a great balance of tartness/sweetness/alcohol... for appetizer... we had the Thai Shumai... it was ok... and "the daily special" roti with special sauce... it was from a supermarket frozen packaged roti (I know... I bought it and made it once myself!!! taste EXACTLY the same but cost me only $1.99 as compare to $6) bf had the Thai Garden Salad... it had slices of fried tofu, fresh crisp mix greens and a great peanut sauce... I had the Tom Yum... had better... lack flavor... but it does have a nice kick! For entree... bf had the Pad Thai... tasted pretty good... nice flavor, noodles are the right texture.... I had the "daily special" grilled sea bass with shrimp paste garlic sauce with asparagus... it was tasty! The fish was moist, perfectly cooked along with the asparagus... the portion was enough for another meal! We were being ridiculous and had dessert!!!! I had the mango with sticky rice... it was at the right consistency, the texture of the rice was perfect, it wasn't overly sweet.... bf had the banana lampai... it was definitely more tasty than mine... which I ended up having his :-)
Overall... we will go back, though it is a little over priced and there are some misses... but it does serve it's purpose when the "Thai craving" hits!
I love it here. Great food and they serve super fast. The bathrooms are cute and the wait staff are very nice. Mmm love the Honey Duck, and their desserts? Delicious! Prices are moderate too. Definitely great for a date.
I had a dickens of a time getting in here. One of my coworkers had to help me find the door handle on the outside (embarrassing) and then I had a bit of a tussle getting through the door-blanket things.
Once inside, we did enjoy our meal. It was a slow night, so apparently that was a good thing given some of the service horrors others have reported.
I have second Tom C., the place was rather pleasing to look at.
Everyone was satisfied and the desserts were yummy.
My biggest complaint would probably be that hard chairs and a hard cement floor make for an extremely grating combination.
i had brunch there today. The service was great, fast and friendly. I had the eggs benedict which were fantastic, until after I had already finished I looked closer at the remaining breakfast potatoes to find what appeared to be a pube, or small curly hair. I doubt I will ever go back even though the food was good.
that hair was a spoiler.
It's rather quite dark and the only source of light are the lanterns from above. So it was nearly impossible to read the menu without squinting your eyes. The bathroom is very cute with the tiolet and sink all in one. Thai cuisine with an American flair to appeal to Westerners. Their Thai ice tea is refreshing to cool off.
Excellent curry and other dishes, so I like this place a lot. But as others have commented, there's some sort of disconnect between the staff and customers. Manager must not be reading Yelp as the spotty service doesn't seem to improve.
Service was ok. Food was ok. Prices were high. That's about it.
Nice atmosphere, good food, reasonable prices. Their roasted duck and avocado hand roll special appetizer was excellent, as was the Pad See Ew. Service was just alright (they brought our food to the wrong table, and then brought us a dessert menu after we already had our check) -- overall very good experience and would go back.
Sunset Menu for Fall 2009
Neighborhood: West Village
Lunch Special
Neighborhood: Stuyvesant Town
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Vegetarian
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Diners
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Vegan
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Delis
When I started my new job, my biggest worry was...…
