Rawstar Café
687 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY (Btwn St. Marks Ave & Prospect Pl)
(718) 975-0304

 

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Good things, they say, come in small packages. For proof of this claim, look no further than Rawstar Café, a shoebox-sized gem of a place on Washington Avenue in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Bamboo, an imitation thatched grass roof, and the lilting strains of reggae as you enter signal an island connection. Sure enough, the chef, Mawule Jobe-Simon, is a native of Trinidad. The West Indies influence is present in several of the dishes, all of which tend to be boldly spiced.
To ensure maximum nutritional value, the menu promises that no temperature higher than 95°F is applied in the preparation of the food. You’d never guess this from tasting the spinach cheese puffs or the sundried tomato ravioli that two of us started our meal with. Both were first-rate. The third person in my group ordered the hummus (listed among the side dishes) as a first course and thought it was good as any he had eaten in a Middle Eastern restaurant; the chickpea dip was smooth but with plenty of body and not overly blended.
Appetizers that I plan to try on my next visit include the cashew cheese and flaxseed crackers, broccoli and cheese cannellini, the chipotle hand roll, and falafel, which come with either tahini or cashew sauce. There is also a tempting 5 bean soup, which I’m eager to sample, and several fabulous-looking salads that I saw coming out the kitchen. I am particularly intrigued by the one made with kale and pears!
Dishes are artfully presented, but service is ultra-casual, which perhaps was the reason that not everybody at my table was served at the same time. This is a minor quibble I’m willing to overlook after tasting the veggie pizza, a pie-shaped wedge of deliciously grainy crust topped with a cheese-like spread, crunchy peppers, and tomatoes. Another winner was the pasta in a pesto sauce made from pistachio as well as pine nuts. The curried tempeh delivers a jolt of strong curry flavor from lots of raw ginger, but its Indian-inspired tamarind sauce helps mitigate some of the heat. The dish comes with two sides. My companion opted for curried plantains, which were one of the best things I sampled during this visit, and the bok choy. All the entrée portions were large and filling, and as an added bonus all dishes are gluten-free.
Other main courses to be considered on future forays to Rawstar include nut loaf, garlic-stuffed mushroom, lasagna, spinach pie with spicy ginger sauce, and stuffed bell pepper. A woman at a nearby that we struck up a conservation with was enjoying the napa sandwich, wrapped in leaves of audibly crunchy napa cabbage.
Don’t miss the fresh juices (I found the cane juice with pineapple to be especially refreshing), and by all means save room for dessert. The banana coconut cream pie was amazing, creamy and rich under a blizzard of coconut shavings. The tropical berry pie could have been a tad sweeter for my tastes, but on balance was also good. The fruit parfait makes for a light and agreeable finish after two hefty courses.
It is worth noting that Rawstar has a weekend brunch Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 pm. Choose from quinoa porridge with dried fruits, banana pancakes (which I’m told taste amazingly like the cooked version), or coconut bread with avocado medley, among other dishes.
One of the people I dined with at Rawstar lives in the East Village across the river. In his opinion, Rawstar was at least on a par with—and in the case of several dishes surpassed—his local raw food restaurant of choice, Quintessence. The prices at Rawstar are lower, which is another huge plus. No main course costs more than $13, appetizers run from $6 to $6.50, and desserts are in the $6 to $7 range.
Estimated Cost Per Person for Three Courses: $19 - $26