Lulu & Po

So out all the places in the Fort Green area the got 4.5 stars. This place is okay it’s nothing great, they have an regular American new menu with the burger, chicken, fish, and pork chops. I’m not really thrilled. I honestly don’t know why this place receive 4.5 stars. There is nothing inventive with this menu. Also THERE are NO SUBSTITUTIONS, so don’t ask. Whatever is on the menu is what you get. I won’t be visiting here it has nothing to do with the food, it’s just an meh place to me. Le sigh! cause I really wanted something great to eat. After being stuck in the house because of this snow storm. Quddos to the bartender she is on fire. Also the best thing on here is the Burger and the fires, and the Brussels Sprouts. Also the waiter is awesome.

I had high hopes for Lulu & Po, but everything was just average or slightly less than average — for the pricing, service, food, décor, space, cocktails.

I really wanted to like this place, but the food was a little more ho-​hum than I was expecting. Maybe an off night? Otherwise, great ambiance and decent cocktails.

This place was average. Wasn’t thrilled by the food, but it wasn’t terrible. It’s a cute spot, just wish I liked it better.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical when I walked in to Lulu & Po and it was somewhat empty at 9 pm on a Saturday night. I was also thrown by the wood paneling on the walls. But the food more than made up for any initial concerns — and I don’t even like small plates. We ordered the bone marrow tacos, lamb belly, braised escarole, Brussels sprouts, fries, pizza dough and the special that night, fried sardines (by we, I mean my boyfriend ordered that and I looked away — I’m not quite there yet with sardines). This was a fair amount of food and we probably could have skipped on one of the dishes, but everything was so fantastic I’m glad we didn’t. The Brussels sprouts were amazing — fried and savory. We discussed whether or not they were better than Martha’s, which are the gold standard of fried sprouts in my opinion. We couldn’t reach an agreement on that but in any case, 5 stars. The lamb belly was small and perfectly cooked, but the bone marrow tacos probably stole the show. Though I also really loved the escarole — and the fries! My boyfriend is a tougher critic than me and all he could say as we cleaned our plates was «5-​stars.» I also appreciated that they actually put real ginger in their Moscow mules — that and the classic 90s/​early ‘00s play list added a nice touch.

I am so in love with the creamy, refreshing, sweet and sour sauce that came with the octopus. Please keep that on the menu! The beef tongue was very unique. I think I would enjoy that in a taco very very much… with some Mexican cheese, lime juice, hot sauce and some radishes. I believe there were some fried capers and sea salt thrown on top which was very unique. The after-​dinner drinks were great. I really enjoyed this place and would highly recommend!

Um. One word, Chicken. Probably the most succulent, juicy, flavorful chicken breast I’ve ever eaten. The trout was also superb. Mushrooms tasted like braised lamb and the octopus was stellar. Not a single bad thing to say about this place. Thanks for being in my neighborhood!

What a quaint and sexy little dinner spot. Great for a date. Cocktails are great (try the Moscow Mule) and the wait staff are so fun and friendly! Best of all, the food is inventive, fresh and absolutely delicious! Veggie lovers come on down. I will definitely be back.

This place is a true Fort Greene favorite – the space is small and tasteful, with an open kitchen and an attentive staff that make for an intimate vibe, absent in so many newer Brooklyn restaurants that feel like reclaimed wood cookie-​cutters.
The menu is short but well rounded, I highly recommend the lentils with Israeli couscous and crème fraichê. The servers are well versed on the wine and cocktail offerings and their old fashioned is exceptionally good. As a side note, my boyfriend is vegetarian and the staff consistently and without complaint offer their suggestions for meatless substitutions, which is rare treatment that we so appreciate.

Stopped back in and a few key things have changed. CC’s are accepted and probably have been for a while now (a major gripe), and the menu seemed more streamlined/​consolidated since my last visit. Wine and cocktails were reasonably priced as well. Staff was warm, friendly, and accommodating. Nicely done.

This place is sick. You’ll want to bring all your out of town friends here. It’s cozy. The staff are great. They’ve got some really good wines to choose from. But it’s really all about the food. I came for the bone marrow tacos (because duh), but that octopus was the best I’ve ever had. And the sauce that comes with it, I think it was cilantro-​jalapeño-​lime, was the sort of thing top chef judges lose their minds over.
I wish I lived closer, or that it was open for lunch, but it’s worth planning part of my Clinton Hill /​Fort Greene outings to include stopping in here.

1 for service, 2.5−4 for food, 3.5 for atmosphere.
Lulu and Po had been on our go to list for quite some time but our timing always seemed to be off when we were in the area as either it was too crowded or we weren’t hungry at the time. We used to love Abistro in this spot and were excited for this new option.
Tonight the planets aligned and several tables were free as we were walking by. They literally shoehorn you into this place and we were squeezed in next to another couple.
The waitress seemed nice enough but little did we know that our first encounter with her would be the only encounter until we begged for the check. She quickly rattled off that people normally order 4 – 7 dishes and so not being starving we ordered Caesar salad, the burger (since so many people rave about it) WITH fries, and the chicken. We were going to get the lamb tatare but figured we would see how the other dishes were first.
Thinks started off well with the salad, which was solid and very tasty. After the salad the fries suddenly appeared by themselves so we waited about 5 minutes for the burger, but nothing. We tried to flag the waitress but despite the place really not being that busy she was impossible to get. We gave in and slowly ate the fries, but then 15 minutes had passed and as much as I love fries, short of at 2am at a dive bar it is a bit odd to serve fries and not bring out the burger your ordered.
After over 15 minutes of our fries getting cold the burger arrived. Like the salad it wasn’t delivered by our waitress and no one asked how our food was or more importantly offer clean plates for the very juicy burger (which we clearly indicated we would be splitting). Instead we had put the burger in the dressing soaked plates from the salad.
Of course not 30 seconds after getting the burger the chicken arrives. So now we have cold fries, a burger, chicken, and the salad dish from 30 minutes earlier on a tiny table. The timing is just horrible in this place. Even if you ignore the fries sitting out for over 15 minutes, if someone orders all these dishes at once, wouldn’t you serve the chicken (which is clearly going to be blander than burger) first? Alternately why not just bring everything all at once.
Okay, so getting back to the food, the burger is very good, but incredibly juicy and messy, which is fine when you have plenty of napkins, but not with one paper napkin and an invisible waitress (I am still sticky hours later).
The chicken was super salty and just plain bland after the burger. They had some sort of pepper «salsa» on top that definitely helped but it just was nothing memorable and seemed like something I could have made at home.
Getting back to the waitress, it was almost comical how much she was ignoring us as we desperately tried to get our check to put this dinner behind us. Even once we got the check she didn’t ask how the meal was. Oh wait, at one point she did come to the table and I thought it was because she noticed we need napkins and plates or perhaps a second drink, but instead she said she needed to push our incredibly tight table even closer to the wall.
Amazing how a neighborhood place that has character could have such disinterested service that makes you never want to come back.

Updated Review:
I finally went back to Lulu & Po this weekend and was, yet again, disappointed due to the 1) Octopus and the 2) Edgy and Snobby environment (this was new to me).
We ordered the Caesar Salad and the Octopus. The Caesar Salad was overdressed, *but* the anchovy on top was admittedly tasty.
Now on to the Octopus, the reason we came. Half of it was overcooked and half was well-​cooked (and boy, was that side yummy). You can do the butter knife test for yourself to figure this out. If you can’t pass a butter knife through, it’s overcooked. Now of course, I was disappointed that the thick side was overcooked and told my spouse, «ugh, it’s rubbery again». The server overheard me, took it back to the cook and then came back and indicated that the cook cut through it and said «he doesn’t think he can cook it any better». I asked if it was the same cook as when they had originally open, I was told, «Yes» (to my surprise).
So I guess that means I won’t be coming back. But I WILL head to Taverna Kyclades in Astoria in 2 weeks for their **perfectly** cooked Octopus.
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Previous Review — 3 Stars:
I lived on Carlton when Lulu & Po opened in 2012 and frequented often at that time.
I can still remember the delicious heirloom carrots with yogurt sauce and cumin and the octopus with cilantro jalapeño sauce. My favorite octopus dish in NY is at Taverna Kyclades in Astoria, Queens. I remember thinking that Lulu & Po’s octopus was easily #2 best octopus that I had tried in the city. It was juicy and succulent.
Lulu & Po was my *spot* that summer.
After moving deeper into Clinton Hill, I was unable to visit as often. So in 2014, I was so excited to come back for the octopus. I was so disappointed because it was completely overcooked and rubbery. Although I realize it may have been a bad cook/​fluke — I have not been back.
Having said that — I reserve the right to change my rating if I go back and enjoy the octopus again (But I am SO discouraged due to my last visit. I had told the server that the octopus was off. They took the octopus back and did who knows what to it — came back and it was still bad).

Despite an awkward welcoming, our experience at Lulu and Po’s was deeply enjoyable, service included. The cilantro jalapeño sauce that accompanies the Spanish octopus was divine – we wanted to take home a jar of it. The bone marrow tacos, nearly presented as components for the customer to assemble, were richly flavorful. One special we ordered, ramps, didn’t meet the standard established by the other dishes though it was still quite good. Our steak, however, also a special, was a knockout – quality meat, perfectly prepared. The chocolate pot de crème was a dessert never to be forgotten – I’m delighting in it again as I write this review.
The only threat to Lulu and Po’s star allocation was the background music, a confused mash of noise. With food so extraordinary though, you could have a recording of nails on a chalkboard and it wouldn’t distract too much.

This is what New York is all about, this restaurant is a hidden gem in my book. Very cozy and well designed restaurant, that was worth the trip. (I drove from NJ.)
My brother and I had the following courses to share in this order:
— pizza dough, ricotta, olive oil, olive purée (In my opinion this should be a covert item and given to the guests when they arrive, but I will gladly come back and pay for it. just a suggestion.)
— lamb belly, harissa, greek yogurt
— bone marrow tacos, parsley salad, grilled tortillas
— hamburger, caramelized onions, goat cheese (My brother and I had ordered one, and then by the time we finished we just looked at each other and said lets ask for another one!)
To drink I had the Narragansett beer that was served in a chilled glass, my favorite!
Items start to add up but overall it wasn’t very expensive, I would say $$ just because the plates are on the smaller side if you do decide to share.
I will come back in the near future without a doubt!

Great tiny place in Brooklyn. I was there with one other person and ordered 3 small plates: Bone marrow tacos, pizza dough with ricotta and the lamb belly. All three were good, although the lamb belly was the clear favorite. The meat itself was tender, balancing well against the perfectly crisped skin on top. The marrow tacos came with very nice corn tortillas and a tart parsley, caper salad which balanced the «fattyness» of the marrow well. The pizza dough was good, while the ricotta and tapenade spread that comes with it was even better.
The true star of the meal, however, was the hamburger. We first ordered one to share, later ordering another because it was so good. This was truly one of the best hamburgers I have ever had. The two parties are perfectly cooked and incredibly juicy. The goat cheese and caramelized onions pair perfectly with the meat, and the traditional no-​fuss bun gives a home cooked touch. the attached photo does not do it justice. Trust me, it’s marvelous.
Lulu & Po is definitely worth the visit.

So worth the trip on a snow day! Delish!!!
Love their menu, very friendly service. Nice wine selection. Limited sitting, hurry up!

AMAZZZZING. Stop in last night for some bites with two friends. I think we walked in just in time before the evening rush (at about 6:15pm-6:30pm on a Sunday night)
Service was great, our server was super sweet and attentive and made great recommendations.
One of my friends had already been to Lulu & Po but we tried a few things she hadn’t tried in the past.
We had:
spanish octopus, grilled, cilantro jalapeño sauce (we kept the sauce to dip our fries in)
pizza dough, ricotta, olive oil, olive purée
laganelle, butternut squash, almonds, browned butter (everything you want trust me)
french fries, house cut, aioli x2
chicken, upstate NY firehouse marinade
burnt scallion fish, fried capers, aioli, lemon
I CANNOT TELL YOU WHICH ONE WAS MY FAVORITE because they were all absolutely delicious.
You will not be disappointed, I can’t wait to go back!

Incompetent service: we made a reservation, they lost it but told us to head over in 10 minutes regardless, we came in, and then they told us they found our reservation but it would be another 30 minutes. Quite frustrating.
To cap it off, we asked them as dinner ended if we had to rush to order dessert. Half an hour after a firm ‘no’, they came to us apologizing for having run out of all but one dessert.
Oh, and the coffee was tepid.
Folks get your act together.

I love finding little neighborhood gems. This is another cute, chill spot to have dinner with your friend or date night. The place is not big. The kitchen, bar, and seats are all open and visible by standing at the front door. It gives off the warm cozy vibe without being stuffy.
The food is served like American tapas. It’s nothing extravagant but yet it’s tasty and hits the spot. Bone marrow tacos were served with plain tortillas but it balances the savory taste of the bone marrow. The burnt scallion trout was buttery and meaty with nice touch of the burnt scallion on top. Pizza dough was very simple yet made well. Heirloom Tomato Salad was very fresh tasting although I believe this dish was a daily special.
They have very good drinks as well — creative cocktails, decent list of wines, flavored sodas, and traditional bar drinks. I had the Moscow Mule which was strong but refreshing. Their homemade flavored sodas are creative. I liked the Lavender soda which was also light and fresh.
Overall, I had a great experience at Lulu & Po. The ambiance was relaxed and the food was good. Waitress was also nice and helpful in helping us choose our dishes.