Restaurant Weak! Sparse food deals in BK again

And just like that, it’s Restaurant Week season and Brooklyn gets the shaft yet again. Granted, we have Dine in Brooklyn in the spring, but it doesn’t compete with the myriad $24.07 lunches and $35 dinners that “official” Restaurant Week offers. Out of the 300 or so participating restaurants this year, only three (count ‘em) are in Brooklyn and, unfortunately, the selection doesn’t seem to have changed much from the winter version. Here’s a run down of this year’s slim list:

All Restaurant Week meals are prix fixe: $24.07 for lunch and $35 for dinner.

River Café
Everyone says that you must, must, MUST go here for a romantic dinner at some point in your life, but you can kiss those plans goodbye as the Restaurant Week deal is once again lunch only. Sure the view is still pretty sweet, but it just ain’t the same when it’s light out. On the brighter side of things, with lunch apps normally in the high teens and entrees in the mid twenties, you’re getting a pretty good deal with the three-course prix fixe, and the lunch here is generally well received. The crispy duck breast — served on a bed of polenta with an apricot barbecue sauce — sounds particularly tasty.

Benchmark
Despite its popular Tuesday fried chicken dinners, this restaurant has troublingly mixed reviews on many a foodie forum, making this more of a questionable choice. That said, the dinner menu does look very enticing, especially the Pastrami Spiced Crabcake. Meat overload? Bonus: It looks like you can get the most bang for your buck here, as the apps hover in the low teens, but the entrees (especially the steak) hover around $30.

Greenhouse Café
This restaurant offers a dinner prix-fixe year round that is ten bucks cheaper than the Restaurant Week deal and — on a more important note — has almost all the same dishes. To get the best deal you’d have to get the fancier lobster and steak dishes, but with mostly negative reviews on the Interwebs, it just doesn’t seem worthwhile. A reader’s previous comment about the place, where she mentions the creepy owner and decidedly “meh” waterfront view, is the nail in the coffin.

The prix fixe deals officially end on the 24th, though NYCGO almost always extends the promotion last minute (Restaurant Month?), so you may have a little more time to make up your mind. Just avoid the “grilled chicken breast,” pick a place with an enticing menu, and you’re on your way to a tasty — and heavily discounted — good time.

Follow Thomas: @versayce.