Petite Crevette
“It's quiet and intimate and also near other cute bars (both in red hook and Carroll gardens) that you can bring a date to after.”
“True to its name, this place is very petite, but add to that charming, delicious, non-pretentious, BYOB, what more can I ask for?”
“We also shared the cioppino – again perfect seafood (loved the lobster) and a sauce that made me go back with my spoon until I had every drop.”
Petite Crevette
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Petite Crevette is cute, cozy, and eclectic with all the random trinkets placed all around the dining area. When you walk in, the open kitchen and fresh fish on display is immediately to your right. We were led into the 2nd room through the corridor since the first was full. The service was wonderful, the staff was friendly and attentive. The food was delicious, flavorful, and most importantly, very fresh, and with a $5 corkage fee, what could not be more perfect?? Here's what we ordered:
– Cioppino: A big bowl of seafood is the key to my heart and stomach. The cioppino came as a perfect steaming aromatic bowl and filled to the brim with half lobster, mussels, shrimp, and scallops. Everything, really, EVERYTHING was cooked perfectly. The lobster was buttery, the scallops still had a spring to them, and the shrimp was just so so that they weren't tough but still cooked. The broth was delicious and went great with the bread or by the spoonful. Lightly squeeze a lemon and it'll add a level of brightness to the entire dish!
– Thai curry with sea bass: My boyfriend ordered this one and it came with so much fish that it had to be more than just one filet. The curry was just spiced just enough to lend some heat but without overpowering the subtle sweetness of the sea bass. The fish was also cooked perfectly. The fish fell apart in flakes and was not the least bit tough or overcooked. It was garnished with string beans and some potato on the bottom to add some bulk for a well rounded dish. He loved it and so did I!
Petite Crevette is a little bit of a walk from the F/G train on Carrol St but since the weather wasn't cold for a December evening and we were lucky to not have a long wait, I'd say the distance wasn't bad at all. Date night perfect.
Petite Crevette is a small, adorable, tucked-away-next-to-the-highway French seafood restaurant in Carroll Gardens.
Its BYOB. Yes!
Cash only.
Romantic cozy spot. Looks like someone's living room turned to a restaurant.
The night we dined, the owner was our waiter.
My husband ordered the branzino, which was cooked so the flesh was tender, flakey, well seasoned. The buttery potatoes that arrived with the branzino were addictive and creamy. He didn't want to share.
My cioppino was rich medley of tomatoes, wine and briny seafood juices. The half lobster was so satisfying.
We left extremely happy and our stomachs were content.
I can't wait to return to try more of their menu.
Came here on a Friday night over July 4th weekend, hoping to avoid a wait since the place is pretty small. Luckily we were sat right away at a cozy table near a window. The atmosphere is really unique and cozy, almost like you are in someones house- it has character!
Our waitress was wonderful! I think her name was Sarah. She was very attentive and helped us order to best experience everything Crevette had to offer. We started with the fresh local mozzarella and tomato salad for two and each had the Cioppino. There is SO much seafood in this dish, including an entire lobster tail. I literally could not finish it all. The broth is amazing and perfect for dipping your bread in. Sooo good!
Lastly and arguably most importantly…….it is BYOB with a $5 corking fee.
Finally got to eat at this local French bistro. Wanted to go when it was on Atlantic Avenue years ago. I have been to La Bouillabaise which started the French bistro trend in Cobble Hill and parent restaurant to the original Petit Crevette but moved away before I got to try it. It's now in a tiny venue which was formerly a flower shop on Hicks Street overlooking the BQE. You squeeze pass the few front tables and minuscule kitchen when you enter. The adjacent dining area is bigger but not by much and eclectically decorated with all kinds of tchotchke. It's a proverbial feast for the eyes. The feast for the stomach began with an entree of 2 fried soft shelled crabs shared as a starter. Can't go wrong with perfectly fried crustaceans. Had to ask for more aioli that made our appetizer more luscious. The grilled sea bass, veggies and mash were a pescaterian's dream comfort food. My lone lobster cake (appetizer made to be my entree) was exactly what I hoped it to be with chunks of lobster throughout served a small side of mesclun and more of my beloved aioli. Because our seafood dinner was controlled in portion, we decided to indulge in a second dessert instead of just sharing one as we usually do. Good thing we did as the desserts were also petit but worth every calorie. The flourless chocolate cake was more like a thick mousse than the usual dense chocolate bricks flourless cakes can be. My sour cherry tart in a shortbread crust was a buttery tease and a great ending to a flawless fish dinner. Glad Petit Crevette stuck around long enough in the neighborhood for me to have the pleasure of becoming one of their patrons. Bring cash, that's all they accept although there is an ATM right outside the front door. It's BYOB which is probably how it keeps its prices low. Corkage fee is $5. This is how most restaurants should be.
Yay! I LOVED this place!
Came here on a Tuesday evening in the summer. The place is small and intimate, perfect date spot! BYOB which is awesome, and there's no corkage fee. Appeared to be only one waitress handling the place but she does a great job. Food comes out fast but I never felt rushed.
My dinner was DELICIOUS! Had the seared scallops and mashed potatoes. Portion sizes were good, the food was very fairly priced, and everything was we ate was delicious! I didn't love the seafood bisque I had to start, but that's mainly because I'm not a huge fan of veggies and the soup was overloaded with them.
For my 100th review it only seem fitting to tip my hat to Neil and his phenomenal restaurant, Petite Crevette. I swear I wrote this review on Yelp 6 years ago but it seems to have vanished into thin air (or maybe it is just my memory going), so here we go again…I think:
In a city where it is surprisingly difficult to get a straight forward fresh piece of properly cooked fish (that isn't drowned in sauces and other trendy distractions) Petite Crevette is a welcome oasis. Tucked in the tiniest space you could imagine (in a tiny old flower shop) and practically overhanging the BQE, going to Petite used to feel like you had journeyed to the end of the earth (back when the Carroll Gardens West / Columbia Waterfront district just had a few restaurants and PokPok and Brooklyn Bridge Park didn't exist). Personally I love the atmosphere with is mismatched (slightly uncomfortable and sardined together) furniture, old strange remnants of the flowerhop that used to be there, and the creepiest nude figurine watching you while you eat.
While surely you have heard the stories about Neil being difficult and throwing lobsters at people, I think he is awesome. Just like the restaurant, he has true character you won't forget. I love how he is not there to impress you with service or kiss your ass, but rather he just wants to serve whatever he thinks he can get as the best fish each day. You don't go here for Daniel level services (although I have to say the staff is always great). You also don't go here in a rush or asking for substitutions. Petite has a small menu that hasn't changed one bit in the 12 years I have been going here. Keep in mind this place just has one stove with 4 burners and Neil cooks it at his own pace and your food will come when your food comes. Luckily if you are hungry they have awesome fresh bread and a olive oil dipping sauce that it incredibly addictive to tide you over.
One thing that has changed over the years is that we rarely see Neil doing the cooking these days (maybe it is just when we come or maybe it is just that he has to juggle both the restaurant and bar next door). I do have to say that we used to feel things were always over salted but that hasn't been an issue for years.
If we get appetizers, we typically split an order of mussels which is very filling (especially after you drown their awesome bread in the sauce). If I am feeling gluttonous I go for the corn and crab chowder which is excellent or sometimes the tuna tartare.
While they always push the Cioppino, it is the one dish we have never thought was amazing. Instead we often go for the mustard crusted salmon, which may sound boring but is insanely good and always cooked to perfection (I must have had 100 times). It is an absolute bargain at $20 (it used to only be $15). The tuna burger and salmon burgers are both phenomenal as well (which come with fries cooked to perfection), although the price of the tuna burger recently shot up from $14 to $21 making it too hard for me to pick over the salmon (Neil explained the price hike is due to the current demand for tuna). Occasionally we mix things up with whatever the fresh fish of the day is….and when he says it is fresh, it really is fresh off the boat. Typically this is a whole fish, so expect to do some work picking out the meat.
Of course one of the best things about Petite is that it is BYOB (with reasonable $5 corkage fee that if you go there enough they may just waive). I don't know of any other place where you can get this quality of food and bring your own wine. While, yes it is annoying that it is cash only, the pricing is so reasonable that you won't care (plus, this is the only place where I think the owner is so fair with the pricing that he shouldn't get screwed with credit card fees). By the way, the BYOB factor makes this one of the best places to treat friends to. Nothing like not having to pay restaurant pricing for booze.
Petite is definitely one of my favorite restaurants anywhere and seriously one of the reason we left Manhattan over a decade ago. It's not for everyone, which is part of the reason we love it so much.
Petite Crevette is a cozy little French Bistrol on the far side of Carroll Gardens. They specialize in French seafood. We came on a rainy day and walked into a dark atmosphere little candle lit shop with the kitchen outside and seating inside. There was a young French man at a table reading his novel excitedly waiting for his date.
You get the feel that the restaurant was an attempt at bringing the French way of relaxing and taking a break and reading a book and talking about art an philosophy to past the time.
That is to way Petite Crevette succeeds in giving me the taste of French Cuisine as well as the context in which the food should be enjoyed.
We ordered a Branzino and Cioppino and waited dipping out bread into a home made olive oil infusion with red bell peppers. We watched the young man with what I could only imagine to be deep blue eyes chat about philosophy with the young blond american girl who met up with him. We observed the old family in the back celebrating another milestone in life, maybe a graduation? maybe an engagement for the young members?
What bliss it was to step out of the rainy night and indoors and have great food and genuinely watch people not be busy and taking life in one syllable at a time.
We dined for dinner at Petite Crevette. There is a lovely space in the inside with plenty of seating. We ordered the red snapper and the salmon. The seafood dishes were amazing and very fresh. The vegetables were simple but delicious and well seasoned. We also enjoyed that it was a byob with a $5 corking fee.