Not Even Paella-Stuffed Egg Rolls Are Forbidden at Verboten
Papas Bravas Poutine
Still feeling sore over the steady Meatpacking Districtilization of Brooklyn’s after-hours scene, and the shutter of beloved indie music hubs such as Spike Hill, Goodbye Blue Monday, 285 Kent, Public Assembly and Death by Audio? We’ll venture that Verboten probably isn’t for you. But if your tastes tend towards electronica, karaoke, orange soda cocktails and paella egg rolls, then you’ll probably get a kick out of the thumping, multi-purpose venue.
Just like those aforementioned egg rolls, Verboten has basically crammed everything but the kitchen sink into a 10,000-square foot former metal shop in Williamsburg, which alternately (and often concurrently) operates as a dance club, karaoke lounge, cabaret, bar, and leisurely weekend brunch spot. And they’ve just added a dimly lighted dining room, ringed with elevated, high-backed banquettes, into the mix, serving small plates that play on their theme of supremely decadent self-indulgence.
Which means that, for the most part, there’s nary a vegetable to be found on the menu, unless you count the potatoes in the bowl of cheese-smothered Papas Bravas Poutine. Deep-fried wonton wrappers are wrapped around flecks of rice and hunks of chorizo, deposited cutely in wax Chinese takeout envelopes, and accompanied by tubs of pinkish cream dipping sauce (which tastes something like shrimp bisque). And dripping “Carnivore” Sliders are made with a blend of bacon and sirloin, covered in cheddar, and placed on mini pretzel buns soaked through with liquid bone marrow.
Add in one or two supremely saccharine concoctions (Belvedere vodka and hibiscus soda? Cane rum, ginger beer AND molasses?) and they might want to consider making it “verboten” to get on the dance floor afterwards.
54 N 11th Street, Williamsburg
