Category Archives: Restaurants & Food Courts

German’s Soup

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Instagram Post 9/2/2018

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In 1960, Hubert “German” Urling launched a restaurant in Georgetown, Guyana, that focused on local Guyanese dishes, but it was his singular recipe for Cowheel Soup that made the place famous. At German’s Soup, its outpost at 793 Utica Ave in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, we had a chance to taste their OG specialty (Original Guyanese, that is 😉 – second photo) along with a plate of pepperpot, Guyana’s celebrated stewed meat dish redolent of cloves, cassareep, and hot peppers.
 
 

Grain House

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My Instagram posts are often brief takes on restaurants accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here, updated almost daily, by selecting the “Instagram” category from my home page – no signup required.) But folks sometimes ask for fuller reviews and more photos, so in response, here’s a more comprehensive report on one of my favorites.

Have you heard about Grain House? It’s a remarkable Sichuan restaurant with roots in Queens and Uniondale, Long Island; they’ve recently opened a branch near Columbia University at 929 Amsterdam Avenue and I can state from firsthand experience that their food is excellent. Could this be the Upper West Side’s best kept secret? Not if I can help it!

Here are a few of the extraordinary menu items I’ve tried and want you to try too; suffice it to say they’re all great. (Click any photo to view in glorious high resolution.)


Hand Pulled Oil Splashed Noodles. Outstanding. The greens are a perfect foil for the spicy, thick, chewy noodles – an ideal combination.


Cumin Lamb. Is there anybody who doesn’t like this? It’s even got its own Instagram hashtag, #cuminlamb. And, no surprise, there’s nothing sheepish about the way Grain House does it.


This is one of my favorite Sichuan dishes, Chinese Bacon with Garlic Sprout. I know it as Smoked Pork with Garlic Leaf and I’ve actually made it at home. (If I’m not mistaken, the greens are suan miao, 蒜苗, similar to leeks but definitely garlic.) Needless to say, Chef Bob’s version is considerably better than mine.


Hot Spicy Jumbo Shrimp with Red Pepper. People at our dinner couldn’t stop raving about it. None of these was killer spicy, by the way; every one was perfectly balanced.


Sweet and slightly spicy, this Eggplant in Garlic Sauce was delightful.


Spicy and Numbing Pork Wonton was one of the delicious appetizers we enjoyed…


…as was fuqi feipian (夫妻肺片), literally “husband and wife lung pieces”. Choice of specific ingredients varies among chefs (not to worry, it never includes actual pieces of lung) but here Chef Bob does it with Ox Tongue and Tripe and it’s top notch.


Yi Bin Burning Noodle. Pleasantly spicy but not overbearing, so don’t worry about the allusion to “burning” in the name. Mix well for maximum enjoyment.


A suave change of pace: Chiba Tofu with Pork Belly. Melt in your mouth, slippery tofu accented with fresh pork belly – elegant and delectable.

Some folks often insist on a straight ahead vegetable dish, and who am I to refuse? Here’s Grain House’s version of Fried Cauliflower and it did not disappoint. The structure of Chinese cauliflower is less compact than the dense Northern European version you might be accustomed to and that makes for a more tender texture after cooking and allows it to soak up more sauce.

Salted Egg Yolk with Shredded Potato. Sichuan style shredded potatoes are meant to be al dente and these were perfectly cooked and delicious. Simple, but such a happy addition to our table.

So there’s the roundup of the awesome dinner we enjoyed at Grain House, 929 Amsterdam Avenue – and if it hasn’t convinced you to try this unique, standout Manhattan restaurant, nothing will!
 

Bajeko Sekuwa

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Sekuwa refers to seasoned meat that’s been roasted over a wood fire and Bajeko means grandfather, so we headed off to grandpa’s Nepali grill! Bajeko Sekuwa, 43-16 Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside, Queens, is a restaurant chain that has its roots in Nepal so they clearly know their way around this hearty, meat-heavy cuisine. Here’s some of what we had:

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

Bengoli Fish Curry cooked with mustard (a Bengali giveaway 😉), tomato and spices. Excellent.


Haas Ko Choila (you might see chhwela). Choila is a dish of heavily seasoned grilled meat, in this case duck enhanced with tomato, garlic, ginger, coriander, dry red chili, and lemon juice. On the side, that’s beaten rice, flattened into dry, light flakes.


Jhol Momo (you might see the word as mo:mo). These were filled with chicken but they’re available in goat and vegetable versions as well. The dumplings themselves were delicious, but the key here is jhol, the Bengali word for broth; the steamed dumplings arrive swimming in a pool that lies somewhere along the sauce-soup continuum, and the two complement each other perfectly.


Eggplant Curry. Spicy, deep-fried baby eggplant touched by ginger, garlic, and coriander, bathed in a traditional Madras style sauce – a welcome respite from this otherwise meat-heavy cuisine.


Hyakula Sekuwa. Sekuwa, from which the restaurant takes its name, refers to marinated, grilled cubes of meat, in this case hyakula (mutton); puffed rice on the side. Tasty.


Sukuti Sandheko. Sukuti is Nepal’s answer to jerky: dried, highly seasoned strips of meat; sandheko refers to the spice blend that permeates it. It’s a delicious snack, but the texture may be a challenge for some: imagine the driest, hardest jerky you’ve ever encountered, almost like chewing on softened bones, but not quite. Personally, I loved it.


Paneer Pakoda. Paneer is a fresh (unaged) cheese that doesn’t melt when subjected to high heat. Battered and deep fried for a delicious crispy coating, it was accompanied by two chutneys, cilantro and tamarind.


Chicken Chhoila (you might see chhwela, choila or other spellings). Chhoila is a dish of heavily seasoned grilled meat, in this case chicken marinated in soy sauce with onion, tomato, bell pepper, garlic and hot sauce. Flattened dried rice flakes on the side.


Sekuwa Bandel. Chunks of marinated, grilled, wild boar. Good stuff!
 
 

Sagara

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Instagram Post 8/24/2018

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When it comes to Staten Island’s Sri Lankan enclave, the only thing I like more than visiting it is revealing it to someone who’s unaware of it. On a recent excursion, we went to Sagara, the new Sri Lankan restaurant at 98 Victory Blvd, to scope out their lunch buffet.

[1] Dishes included red and white rice, dal curry, and coconut sambal…
[2] …yuca, deviled chick peas, kale salad, papadam…
[3] …deviled chicken (the best dish in terms of flavor but tricky to eat because of bone shards in every bite), vegetable fried rice, vegetable chop suey, noodles with egg…
[4] …an assortment of breads including plain dosa, uthappam, dal vada and urad dal vada, along with chutney and sambar…
[5] …and fresh fruits and ice cream for dessert. But props for the most interesting dessert go to lavaria (also spelled lewariya), coconut stuffed string hoppers.
 
 

Q Town Asian Cuisine

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There’s another new kid on the block in Elmhurst, Queens: Q Town Asian Cuisine at 82-87 Broadway. They specialize in Taiwanese cuisine, but their extensive menu (some 300 options) tiptoes into mainland cuisines as well. At the outset, I should report that we were a party of 14 with somewhat divergent tastes so our ordering attempted to cater to a cross section of palates. A few dishes we tried, in no special order…

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Beef Tripe with Hot Pepper Sauce. I know this dish as fuqi feipian (aka husband and wife lung pieces, although there’s really no lung in it). This Sichuan dish consists of spicy beef tripe with one other cut, usually tendon, but this seemed more like beef shin to me. Q Town Asian Cuisine did an excellent version of it.


Oyster Pancake. A classic Taiwanese appetizer.


Fly Heads. Another example of Taiwanese home cooking, this dish calls for garlic chives, bits of pork, and fermented black beans (the ingredient that looks like flies’ heads). On the downside, this version would have benefited from a slightly heavier hand with the pork; on the upside, for all the many times I’ve enjoyed this dish, I’ve never had a version that was quite this spicy. I don’t know about its authenticity, but I certainly liked that aspect of it.


Crispy Fried Shrimp. They did a great job with this one. Tempted to try their crispy fried oyster or cuttlefish next time.


Cuttlefish and Squid with Yellow Chives. I understand that this dish is subtle, but even with that, it was lacking in flavor. Fresh ingredients though.


Homemade Tofu Pot – Pork and Oyster. Delicious, but I wish there had been a little more pork or oysters in evidence. In fairness, that observation may be attributable to the fact that we were a convivial group of 14 and it’s truly difficult to portion out dishes like this one equitably, but their flavors made their presence felt. Or tasted, perhaps!


Clams with Basil. Tasty and flavorful. The basil flavor comes mostly from the basil leaves in the dish, not the sauce itself, but that’s fine.


Sautéed Squash – the loofah variety. It’s a gentle dish with a pleasant crunch, a change of pace for the palate; as such, it succeeded.


Kidney and Liver in Sesame Oil. If you’re an offal aficionado and a liver lover (like me), this one is for you. Perfectly cooked, tender meat with welcome slices of ginger to kick it up; excellent execution.


Three Cup Chicken. A Taiwanese classic, theoretically made using one cup of soy sauce, one cup of sesame oil, and one cup of rice wine, but usually tweaked a bit and fleshed out with additional ingredients including garlic, ginger, sugar and red chili.


Sizzling Black Pepper Short Ribs with onions and bell peppers.


Striped Bass swimming in Spicy Black Bean Sauce dodging slabs of tofu. Very fresh and truly delicious.
 
 

Sing Kee – Pan Fried Flounder

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Instagram Post 8/16/2018

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Our Cantonese banquet at Sing Kee Seafood Restaurant, 42 Bowery in Manhattan’s Chinatown, included a show! With surgical precision, our server performed a spinectomy on this appetizing Pan Fried Flounder:

No scalpels, just spoons for the incision…
…the procedure in progress…
…resection successful…
…and close!
 
 

Awang Kitchen – Part 3

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Instagram Post 8/15/2018

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Just one more (for the time being 😉) from Awang Kitchen, the top-notch Indonesian restaurant at 84-05 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst.

[1] Ketoprak. A vegetarian dish featuring tofu, vegetables and rice vermicelli served in peanut sauce with kerupuk (deep fried chips) on the side.
[2] Fried Cow’s Tongue in Green Chili Sauce. Exactly what it says. And don’t be squeamish – it’s spicy, delicious, and tastes better than it looks!
[3] Mie Goreng Tek-Tek. Sautéed noodles are in the spotlight here; tek-tek is the onomatopoeic word for the sound the wok chan (spatula) makes as the chef taps it against the wok while preparing this dish!
[4] Grilled Pompano, done to a turn – totally turnt and excellent!
 
 

Grill 21

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Instagram Post 8/14/2018

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If you guessed that I can never get my fill of Filipino food, you’d be right. This time, it was dinner for two at Grill 21, 346 East 21st St in Manhattan.

[1] Fried Golden Pompano with tomato and scallions
[2] Lechon Kawali – pork belly that’s crispy on top and meltingly tender beneath, served with a liver sauce (that doesn’t taste like liver!)
[3] Bicol Express – chunks of pork belly and green chili pepper sautéed in coconut milk kicked up with shrimp paste, onion and garlic

Masarap!
 
 

Awang Kitchen – Part 2

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Instagram Post 8/14/2018

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More delicious Indonesian cuisine from Awang Kitchen, 84-05 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, Queens. This sampling includes…

[1] Bakso Cobek. Bakso are meatballs made from finely ground (pulverized, actually) beef accompanied here by tomatoes, tempe, and tofu; cobek is the stoneware in which it’s served.
[2] Ayam Goreng Kalasan. Coconut (kalasan) fried (goreng) chicken (ayam). Crispy and delicious.
[3] Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin. Salty (asin) fish (ikan) fried rice (nasi goring) with a fried egg on top (of course) and kerupuk (deep fried chips) on the side.
[4] Pempek Kulit. Fishcake (pempek) made with the addition of mackerel skin (kulit) served with kuah cuka, a sweet and sour vinegar sauce. Chewy goodness!

Stay tuned for more from Awang Kitchen….