Mile End

Mile End in Boerum Hill serves Jewish delicatessen fare through a Montreal lens. Which means you'll be getting thinner, chewier bagels (imported from up north), and Montreal-style cured brisket that's fattier than corned beef and moister than pastrami. But there's more than just meat at this 20-seat slither of a space. During the day, try the chicken salad topped with chicken skin or the smoked mackerel, or come at night for a gut bomb of a dinner. Think ridiculously delicious shmaltzed radishes, a kind of Franken-matzoh ball soup served in a large pot to the whole table, tongue, veal terrine, cholent, and all kinds of traditional Jewish dishes kicked up a notch or two.
• 97A Hoyt St, +1 718 852 7510, mileendbrooklyn.com, mains $12-$17

Roberta's

What began as an under-the-radar pizzeria in Brooklyn with no liquor licence and no real menu to speak of has grown, in the last three years, into a veritable gourmet juggernaut beloved by food obsessives. First and foremost, Roberta's is a pizzeria, and an excellent one at that. But it also serves an evolved, inventive menu of plates – braised tripe, duck tagliatelle, sweetbreads with taleggio, pork chops – and a little-publicised tasting menu reserved for those who call ahead. Add to that an off-site rooftop farm, a catering arm, and an in-house radio station and one gets a sense of the culinary cool that surrounds this place. Worth the detour, but beware – the weekends bring crowds.
• 261 Moore St, +1 718 417 1118, robertaspizza.com, mains $7-19

Beer Table

Ostensibly a great hangout for beer lovers due to their wide and eclectic ever-changing selection of brews, Beer Table is actually a wonderful spot for a meal. They of course serve upmarket, beer-friendly bar snacks – pickled eggs, fresh radishes with butter, caramelised onions and ricotta on toast – but they also have a seasonal, three-course dinner menu and an excellent artisanal cheese list. The offerings, which include weekend brunch, are especially ambitious given the size of the 40sq ft kitchen, and are about as affordable as it gets in this neighbourhood. Which is great, because those specialty imported microbrews can get costly.
• 427 7th Ave, + 1 718 965 1196, beertable.com, three courses for $25

Fette Sau

Built out of an old auto body garage in what was once an ugly stretch of Williamsburg, Fette Sau is a barbecue and beer mecca for the neighbourhood, and a total hipster magnet. They serve all manner of smoked meats from good quality local farms. Best are their sausages, ribs, burnt end baked beans and pulled pork, but do go ahead and try some more adventures offerings like Wagyu beef cheeks and pig tails. The restaurant is affordable, but don't expect any coddling – diners must wait in line, cafeteria style, to order and then angle for one of the many communal tables, both in and outside.
• 354 Metropolitan Ave, +1 718 963 3404, fettesaubbq.com, mains $8-20

Motorino

This is about as close to Neopolitan pizza perfection as one can find in New York. Motorino, located just steps from the L-train in Williamsburg, has a fiery pizza oven and is constantly packed with the young and beautiful residents of the neighbourhood. They serve some meats and cheeses, a respectable salad and a wonderful grilled mortadella, but, really, this is a place for the pizza. Get the masterly white brussels sprout pizza with pancetta, the satisfyingly spicy soppressata piccante, or the straight-up classic margherita. The demand was so great among Manhattanites that the Belgian chef and owner Mathieu Palombino has opened a branch across the water in the East Village.
• 319 Graham Ave, +1 718 599 8899, motorinopizza.com, mains $9-16

Pacificana

Those who are willing to tread outside of Manhattan's Chinatown to sample top notch Chinese food should head out to Borough Park, the Chinatown of Brooklyn, to visit dim sum and seafood palace Pacificana, at four years old a relatively new establishment. The monstrous place gets packed during peak dim sum hours on the weekends, but you should go at peak times anyway to witness the hustle and bustle. The dumplings, shrimp rolls, buns, congee, and just about anything from the carts can be recommended. And for those who go during regular service, spring for a giant king crab if available. After presenting the beast to the table, the chef will break it down into multiple dishes, ending with a custard served inside the body.
• 813 55th St, +1 718 871 2880, sunset-park.com/mall/Pacificana, mains $9.95-28.95

Peter Luger

For one of the city's best steaks in an unforgettable setting, try the historic Peter Luger steakhouse in Williamsburg. Now more than 120 years old, Luger takes up a large building in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge and has served everyone from Alfred Hitchcock and James Cagney to Robert De Niro and Jerry Seinfeld. The restaurant includes a bar and two dining rooms with old wood floors, chandeliers, exposed beams and plenty of original accents. But the main reason to visit is the excellent steak. And for those who want to experience Peter Luger but can't drop the cash, go in for their weekday burger, a superb specimen.
• 178 Broadway, +1 718 387 7400, peterluger.com, mains $14.95-31.95

Prime Meats

Prime Meats' two chefs, Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli, are known for their incredibly cosy and very popular Italian neighbourhood spots, Frankies. So it was curious to see them parlay their talent and popularity into this German/American steakhouse. A little more upmarket and swanky than their rustic spots, Prime Meats looks like a turn-of-the-century saloon – both in its decor and in the look of the mustachioed staff – and serves a knockout menu of premium steaks and chops alongside Germanic meats and cheeses, homemade pretzels, addictive spaetzle, and a selection of fish and salads. You'll want to take a date there, take your family there, get married there, and move in, all at once.
• 465 Court St, +1 718 254 0327, frankspm.com, mains $10-27

Vinegar Hill House

You'd be hard pressed to find a more outright charming restaurant in New York than Vinegar Hill House. For one, it's tucked into the quiet, almost hidden Vinegar Hill neighborhood, a 10-minute walk from Dumbo and most public transportation. Walking those twisty, empty cobblestone streets is like stepping into another time, another place, most definitely another city. But then the restaurant itself amplifies the experience with its cosy, old-time ambiance, wooden floors and distressed wallpaper, plus a back bar made out of a re-purposed old organ. As for the food, it's hard to go wrong but the red wattle country chop is a cult favorite. The restaurant is also great for brunch.
• 72 Hudson Ave, +1 718 522 1018, vinegarhillhouse.com, mains $16-25

Good Fork

Red Hook is a neighborhood that many New Yorkers can't help falling in love with. Isolated from the rest of Brooklyn by a lack of reasonable underground transport and surrounded on most sides by water, there's a kind of wild west feeling out there. And in this environment, several well-loved neighborhood businesses have been able to thrive. There's a brewery (Sixpoint), a bakery (Baked), a great bar (Sunny's), and the Good Fork, a superb restaurant serving American food with some Asian accents. Their burger is wonderful, as in their kimchi strudel with shitake, their "Korean style" steak and eggs, their roast chicken and their homemade pasta.
• 391 Van Brunt St, +1 718 643 6636, goodfork.com, mains $13-24