Enjoy a Quintessential New York Egg Cream at Brooklyn Farmacy.

A Soda Fountain "Jerk" Delivers an Egg Cream
to a Customer at Brooklyn Farmacy

This past weekend I finally had the opportunity to try out some of the wonderful dessert and drink concoctions cooked up by the apothecarists at Brooklyn Farmacy, a retro-style soda fountain shoppe in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. Okay, so they're not actually apothecarists, but this sweet shoppe is in fact housed in an old pharmacy, and you can see reminders of ye olde pharmacy with every step, from the tiled floors, to displays containing typewriters and an old stamp machine, dated prescriptions, and empty bottles that once contained healing herbs and remedies for customers. (My dining companion and I even found a book full of black-and-white photographs from the mid 1900s!). Once you get tired of walking around the nostalgia that lives in this place, grab a board game in the back, take a seat and call over a "jerk" to begin your order.

The menu, which includes a wide variety of shakes, malteds, sundaes, egg creams, floats and even some small bites, such as soup, grilled cheese and empanadas, is updated every season or so, and there are also daily specials and events. Every Saturday, donuts are "imported" from Greenpoint, Brooklyn's very own Peter Pan Bakery. On Sundays, stop in for some "sticky buns" from Park Slope's Trois Pommes Patisserie.

Moxie Float

This particular weekend, the Farmacy was running a special on "Moxie" soda floats. Moxie, as our jerk informed us, was one of the first carbonated drinks to be considered a "soft" drink, rather than a "hard" drink, because it did not contain any drugs/medicine. (Yes, pharmacists and apothecarists really did use soda to concoct their medicinal remedies!). As I have often learned from dining out around NYC, if there is a special on the menu, it's usually good. So, we opted for a Moxie float. We also ordered a Peanut Butter Cup Sundae and a chocolate egg cream, to round out the meal.

Peanut Butter Cup Sundae

Quintessential Egg Cream

Our main ice cream dessert, the Peanut Butter "Cup" Sundae, made with real, creamy, peanut butter and shaved chocolate pieces, plus the unique addition of coffee-flavored ice cream and, of course, whipped cream was decadent and delectable, and, quite literally, good until the very last drop. We especially enjoyed the accompanying personal mug of hot fudge that we were given to pour on top of the sundae as we devoured it (and devour we did!).

Finally, while the Moxie soda alone (we had to try some in the bottle) had a bit of a medicinal aftertaste, despite it not having any "drugs" (although it does contain gentian root...), when topped with a full, rich scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream, this float was pleasing to the palate.

As an added bonus, Japanese travel television show, "Niji Iro Jean," happened to be filming at Farmacy when we arrived, as part of Jean's "Insider's Guide to Brooklyn" episode (sample video: Jean in Amsterdam). This show, which films on-location in cities around the world, showcasing "insider" tourism highlights, was demonstrating to Japanese fans how an egg cream is made, as this tasty treat is apparently not available in Japan. The plus for WGINY was that after some takes, overseas location manager, "Keith," had untouched egg creams ready and waiting to be consumed. We were more than willing to oblige.

Although we could not try everything on the menu, it was hard to stay away from ordering more goodies, such as shakes made from cherry blossoms or hibiscus flowers, so a return trip may be in order.

Brooklyn Farmacy is located at 513 Henry Street on the corner of Sackett Street, in Brooklyn.