Category Archives: Restaurants & Food Courts

Asmau Restaurant

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Another stop along our Bronx West African food crawl captained by Dave Cook from eatingintranslation.com some months ago was Asmau Restaurant at 1460A Boston Rd in Foxhurst. They serve up some fine Ghanaian food and we were keen to sample whatever they had to offer that day. In no particular order, that afternoon’s indulgences included:

[1] Egusi soup, always tasty, thickened with crushed melon seeds and served here with chicken.

[2] Peanut butter sauce (or peanut soup) with beef.

[3] Tomato sauce with chicken and beef.

[4] All of the above are incomplete without some kind of fufu; that’s what turns these sauces, soups and stews into a meal. As with all West African doughy starches, you pinch off a bit, dip it into the delectable soup or sauce, and enjoy – really hands-on cuisine! From the bottom moving clockwise, here are omo tuo, banku and corn fufu. Omo tuo is made from rice cooked with more than the usual amount of water; that technique produces softer grains which are then pounded and shaped into a ball. It works particularly well with peanut stew or soup. Banku is a fermented variety made from cassava sometimes blended with corn; we paired it with the egusi soup. The corn fufu worked well coupled with the tomato sauce with chicken and beef.

[5] Black eyed peas and plantains, no explanation needed, but so good!

[6] Chicken soup with vegetables.

I admit to being a major fan of West African food; it differs from nation to nation so if you haven’t tried any yet, there’s plenty to keep you busy in every borough of New York City. Keep following my posts to see more!
 
 

Bravo African Restaurant

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Some months ago, a group of us led by the redoubtable Dave Cook of eatingintranslation.com fame joined in a West African food crawl through the Bronx stopping at Bravo African Restaurant, 1473 Westchester Ave in Soundview, for these two Senegalese dishes.

[1] The first, Ceebu Yapp (you might see thiebou yapp), literally rice with meat, in this case grilled lamb, is a classic dish served here with an oniony gravy over a bed of broken rice, all the better to drink up the juices. Was it a coincidence that the three most colorful items on the platter, green bell pepper, yellow corn, and red scotch bonnet just happen to match the colors of the 🇸🇳 Senegalese flag?

[2] So many names for this hearty West African staple: Mafé (or maafe or maffe) is peanut (or peanut butter or groundnut) stew (or soup depending upon its viscosity) otherwise known as sauce d’arachide, tigadèguèna or domoda (depending upon your whereabouts). Its tomato base was underpinned with beef, carrots and potatoes and, to my palate, bore a striking resemblance to another West African favorite, palm nut soup, but peanutty for sure. The spice level can vary from one recipe to the next, but by any name it’s always a crowd pleaser!
 
 

Legend Chicken

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Instagram Post 2/25/2019

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Seems like I always discover tremendous treats in the teeniest mini-malls when I visit Flushing; Legend Chicken, tucked away in stall number 2 (of only 4!) at 135-15 40th Road in Queens, is a notable case in point. They obviously take pride in offering cage-free, hormone-free, halal-certified poultry, but the fact that all their Taiwanese street food is truly delicious and cooked to order is what won me over. Three examples:

[1] Leg Cutlet prevailed over Legend Pops and Legend Chicken in the “which one should we get” deliberation. Tasty – and there’s always a Next Time to try the others.

[2] Blood Rice Cakes. Don’t be shy, you might like ’em. You won’t know until you try.

[3] Hashbrowns. Your comfort zone reward for trying the blood rice cakes 😉.

There are additional chicken variations on the surprisingly extensive menu along with specialties like Taiwanese sausages, taro and turnip cakes, Venetian tofu and a few items I had to ask about: amid avian accessories like gizzards, necks and hearts, spades made the cut. Nope, not card suits. Turns out those are tails, aka the Pope’s nose, aka the part that goes over the fence last. The real deal.
 
 

Hometown Bar-B-Que

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Having to shop at IKEA in Red Hook, Brooklyn is always a good excuse to take a side trip to Hometown, the top notch Bar-B-Que restaurant at 454 Van Brunt St. The sound system treated us to a superbly curated mix of oldies that harmonized with the cold beer I was clutching and made the long wait tolerable: plenty of time to peruse the menu. Gotta get the pastrami bacon, gotta get the lamb belly, gotta get the brisket. Lip-smackin’ good. In other words, the Real Thing.

Speaking of side trips, our sides were coleslaw, potato salad, mac & cheese, cornbread, and collard greens. Yum. More of the Real Thing.

Problem was, I had too much time to study the menu. Korean sticky ribs? Vietnamese hot wings? Did somebody say ethnic food?

That day, I learned my lesson to never stray: you don’t order seafood at an upscale steak house and you don’t order ethnic food at a rustic locale called Hometown. Want mouthwatering fulfillment? You want the Real Thing.

Over the sound system as we were leaving, Marvin and Tammi broke into their Top 10 hit from 1968.
 
 

Mango Mango Dessert

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With a name like Mango Mango Dessert, you know what you’re getting yourself into before you even enter. This chain of franchised Hong Kong style dessert and ice cream shops features a multitude of mango desserts of course, but do check the menu for other specialties like mille crepes (the popular thousand layer treat) as well as coconut, durian and other tropical goodies. Four of us descended upon the 136-28 39th Ave location in Flushing and sprung for the Mango Combos A and B.

[1] Combo A included (left to right): special mango juice, sago (tapioca) and pomelo with mango ice cream, three mango mochis, and snow white juice (coconut) with mango and black rice.

[2] Combo B comprised a pair of mango pancakes, mango juice and glutinous rice balls with ice cream, and snow white and mango juice with sago and pomelo with ice cream.

You got a jones for mango? You know where to go, man.
 
 

Japan Village – Hachi

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Instagram Post 2/22/2019

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In the beginning, there was a popular well-stocked market in Little Tokyo in the East Village accessible only by elevator, the darling of anyone in search of authentic Japanese ingredients and prepared food. That market, Sunrise Mart, begat Japan Village in Sunset Park (fitting) where cuisine from the Land of the Rising Sun (stretch) now reigns supreme in the Japanese answer to Eataly.

Three metaphors later, I can tell you that Japan Village at 934 3rd Ave in Brooklyn is good – and it’s only going to get better. The food hall that occupies one side of the expanse is home to a variety of vendors, each offering a different category of Japanese comestibles including sushi, onigiri, tempura, rice bowls, ramen, udon and soba, baked goods, bentos, and more. The other side houses a new Sunrise Mart, the genesis of this world.

Hachi, the stall that vends street food like takoyaki (octopus balls) and yakisoba (stir fried wheat noodles) also offers two kinds of okonomiyaki, a shredded cabbage pancake whose name means “your preference” (okonomi) and “grilled” (yaki): the original, with pork; and seafood, with octopus, shrimp, and scallops, our preference. We opted for the add-on scallions and mozzarella. Don’t ask. (The white squiggle is Kewpie mayo, BTW, not mozz.) It was topped with animated bonito flakes that looked like tiny pink flags flapping in the rising steam as if to wave goodbye to my diet. Seriously though, I thought it was perfectly delicious.
 
 

Ali’s Trinidad Roti Shop

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Instagram Post 2/19/2019

 
Highlights from our Caribbean Crawl along Nostrand Ave in Brooklyn. The storied Ali’s Trinidad Roti Shop at 1267 Fulton St, Brooklyn was next on the list.

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Here’s Oxtail Stew Roti, certainly good, but I wish we had thought to procure a sauce (25 cents extra) or two to kick things up a bit; the customary long line precluded our making an attempt to rectify the oversight.


Aloo Pie (Ali’s spelling of choice is alou; aloo is the Hindi word for potato). I’ve seen these slit open at the top with a dumpling-like consistency (the way to go as far as I’m concerned) and sealed up the seam like an empanada (hey, it takes all kinds). Savory chutney inside kept the potato company. Tasty for sure.
 
 

A&A Bake & Doubles & Roti Shop

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Instagram Post 2/18/2019

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Highlights from our Caribbean Crawl along Nostrand Ave in Brooklyn. This stop was the new location of A&A Bake & Doubles & Roti Shop at 1337 Fulton St just off Nostrand Ave in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

[1] The goat roti was rich and savory, absolutely delicious. Note that this type of roti, known as dhalpuri, comprises two layers of dough rolled out together with seasoned ground yellow split peas (dhal) sandwiched between. Floppy and supple, it’s a security blanket swaddling its treasure.

[2] A closer view of the dhal filling.

[3] There’s a good reason why this Trinidadian shop is known as “The Doubles King”. Doubles are quintessential Trini street food, and one doubles is a perfect snack. (See what I did there, grammarians?) Curried chickpeas are sandwiched between a pair of fried flatbreads (baras) and they meld to become a wonderfully messy, squishy treat, but it’s the condiments and chutneys that separate the king from the commoners and as far as I’m concerned, A&A rules.
 
 

Taverna Kos

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With the nouveau communal aura of a private club at long last turned public, Taverna Kos, the restaurant wing of the Pancoan Society Hippocrates, has opened its doors to the hoi polloi. Entering at 41-19 23rd Ave in Astoria, Queens, we found the atmosphere as casual and comfortable as an old sandal, an adumbration of homestyle Greek cuisine.

[1] Octopus (χταπόδι). Perfectly tender and utterly delectable. One of two top notch appetizers, the other being…

[2] Loukaniko (λουκάνικο), the amazing sausage that’s often overlooked unless you’re among the cognoscenti or Greek. Excellent, with that all-important char, beefy and spicy; I tasted leeks, Greek oregano, and whole coriander seed. That lemon isn’t there just for show; give it a squeeze.

[3] We also ordered Pikilia (ποικιλία) which means a variety of choices, in this case a trio of dips: spicy feta with persuasive overtones of olive oil; skordalia (σκορδαλιά), often overwhelmed by garlic but which here had an unimpeachable balance between that and the puréed potatoes; and a demure tzatziki, barely herby and scarcely garlicky.

[4] Kalamari. We voted between fried and grilled. We ordered fried. I lost.

[5] Saganaki (σαγανάκι) is a luscious appetizer of fried kefalograviera, a deliciously intense Greek sheep’s cheese, melty and gooey, often set aflame before serving and sometimes topped with an egg. This rendition wasn’t up to snuff; maybe it had been away from the fire too long.
 
 

Yu Sheng/Lo Hei Prosperity Toss

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A self-professed equal opportunity celebrant, I relish the prospect of participating in international holiday traditions and Chinese Lunar New Year abounds in them. I was delighted to take part in one such ceremony recently, Lo Hei, also known as Prosperity Toss, which got its start in southern China and migrated to Singapore and Malaysia.

It entails an elaborate ritual involving particular foods selected for their cultural symbolism, the most important being fish in the form of a Cantonese raw fish salad. The Chinese word for fish, yu (魚), is a homophone of the word for abundance; Yu Sheng (literally fresh fish and the name of the dish) stands in for increasing abundance.

Shredded raw vegetables and seasonings, each with its own meaning based on appearance or name, are added one by one with appropriate phrases corresponding to each; good luck, wealth, eternal youth and the like appear in turn.

It climaxes with all participants tossing their ingredients in the air, the higher the more propitious, and chanting “Lo Hei” (pick it up) along with auspicious phrases for a bountiful New Year. Of course, the activity is more like vigorously tossing a salad where no ingredients are actually lost in the process: it’s the symbolism that counts.

Components:
Fish; Vegetables; Seasonings

The finished plate, dressed and tossed.

At Shun Deck Restaurant, 2332 86th Street, Brooklyn, all parts of the fish are used and are served in several courses. Very sustainable.

Skin; Fried bones (plenty of meat on these); Fish heads, collars, and tails. (Congee, rice gruel also made from the fish, is not pictured.)

恭喜發財! 新年快乐!