Beasties in Brooklyn

Caught the Beastie Boys playing the McCarren Park Pool in Williamsburg last night. Very cool show, very cool location - a super old, long abandoned public pool, now drained and turned into a concert venue. I've always been more fascinated with the Beastie Boys as a concept than an actual fan of their music (they seem to occupy a thoroughly unique pop cultural non-category), but they were great live. Really good. Glad I went. And surprisingly, it was the first time they'd ever played Brooklyn. Needless to say, they closed with No Sleep Till Brooklyn, which was obviously pretty sweet.

But the highlight of the night was a little old school Polish joint we ducked into for dinner before the show. I seriously gotta track down the name of this place, but it was on Bedford Avenue, probably around North 10th Street or so, West side of the street. Nondescript, for the most part. Small tables. Menu posted on the wall. But, man: for $6.95 I got a monstrous Polish kielbasa platter, with choice of potato (mashed, with bacon!) and two sides (hot sauerkraut, cucumber salad). Mix in some choice brown mustard, and it was a heavenly experience. We also split a side of above average potato pancakes and two ice cold 16 oz Polish beers recommended by the chipper, non-hipster waitress. My friend had a similar ginormous chicken cutlet platter. The tab? Thirty bucks. Once again, NYC is the best place in the world.

And while I'm on the subject, let me reiterate my longstanding belief that Williamsburg gets a bad rap. I lived there for 8 months once, and while I'm much too lazy to live in Brooklyn, there was a lot about the hood I really liked. Incredible cheap food, great bars, the ability to park a car on the street with no hassled. And the super annoying hipsters everyone (rightfully) hates have long moved passed the Bedford stop. That scene is old hat to the avant hip. And it's certainly no more annoying than the Lower East Side. Actually, it's about ten times less annoying.