Category Archives: Restaurants & Food Courts

Belarussian Xata

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You’re on the B/Q subway heading towards Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, you detrain at Sheepshead Bay Station, make a right onto Sheepshead Bay Road and enter the establishment at #1655. You likely thought you were in Sheepshead Bay. Given the signposts, a reasonable assumption. But it appears that you have been transported some 4,444 miles to Belarus – and the feast that you’re about to enjoy will only confirm that notion.

Welcome to Belarussian Xata.

Evoking the impression of a Belarusian cottage (хата), the décor is picture-perfect, from the roughhewn tables and rustic fences to the charming artwork, wall hangings and sconces; even the wooden menu covers reflect the theme. And the incredibly attentive and helpful staff, clad in enchanting authentic garb, will guide you through your experience with such appreciation for their homeland and knowledge of its cuisine that you’ll come away feeling that you have been immersed in Belarusian culture, if only for a brief moment in time.

The food shares some features of other Former Soviet Union cuisines: there’s no shortage of potatoes and pork with hearty, creamy sauces; and vegetables, when they make an appearance, have been puckeringly pickled. But make no mistake, it is unique to Belarus and everything I tasted was delectable – each of the four times I visited since their opening last fall!

Here are a few of the superb dishes we tried. (Click any photo to view in glorious high resolution.)


The Appetizer “Village Style” sets out three different kinds of salo (cured fatback, not unlike Italy’s lardo): plain, smoked, and Hungarian style – kissed with paprika – served with chunky fried potatoes and greens. I recommend constructing each forkful with a bite each of salo, potato or bread, one of the greens, and a bit of mustard. Highly enjoyable.

Herring “Village Style” consisted of herring fillets layered over potato, egg, cucumber, and onion, a perfect marriage of flavors and a lovely presentation.

Meat Assortment “Belorusskaya”. Beef tongue, roast pork, chicken roll, and peasant sausage fanned out across a wooden platter, served with horseradish or mustard.

Machanka, a traditional Belarusian specialty featured three kinds of pork – homemade sausage, pork ribs, and roast pork shoulder – in a tempting creamy gravy that reminded me a little of veal blanquette but on steroids. All of the meats were wonderfully flavorful and tender. You have the option of ordering the dish with either blini or potato pancakes but I highly recommend the blini in this case. Absolutely not to be missed.

Potato Pancake “Kupechesky Style” (pronounced koo-PETCH-e-skee) is another must have. Grated potatoes, pork brisket, tomato, mushrooms, cheese, and mayonnaise combine to make another amazing dish.

Potato Babka “Bobruisky Style”, named for the city in Belarus. You may be conditioned into thinking of babka as a form of coffee cake, but the word actually means “grandmother”, and by extension, something your grandmother would bake and serve you with a side of love. If you’ve ever had potato pudding (or kugel), you’ll immediately recognize this grated potato/egg mixture – Eastern European comfort food in a pot.

Potato Kolduni (pronounced kol-doo-NEE) with Mushrooms. Another must order. It’s the grated potato/egg concoction but stuffed with mushrooms, boiled egg, and fried onions in a tasty mushroom sauce. Also available with chicken (second photo) or pork and beef, but my favorite was the mushroom version.

Pork Knuckle “Village Style”, braised for tenderness then baked for Maillard-crisp flavor was falling off the bone.

Sour Cherry Dumplings and Cheese Dumplings – sweet and delicious.

Fried Meat Dumplings “Grodno Style”, also named for a Belarusian city. Fried dumplings filled with chopped beef and pork seasoned with onions and spices provided a solid contrast to the sweeter dumplings. Second photo: Gotta show the cheese pull, right? By the way, that day-glow green drink on the left is tarkhun, tarragon soda; it has that anise/licorice/tarragon flavor profile that some folks love.

Baked Tongue in Dutch Oven. Tender and savory beef tongue with potatoes finished in a Dutch oven with cream sauce and cheese. If you think you don’t like tongue, try this: it might change your mind.

Belarussian Pickled Vegetable Platter. Cabbage sauerkraut, two kinds of pickled cucumbers and two kinds of pickled tomatoes (green and cherry); this dish is a perfect foil for heavier fare.

Carp Baked In Dutch Oven. Carp fillet with onions, carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes in a creamy white sauce.

Potato Pancakes with Cracklings served with sour cream and copious bits of pork.

Chicken Giblets with Buckwheat (Kasha). Chicken hearts and liver in a creamy sauce of onion, carrots, and mushrooms with a side of buckwheat groats. Also available with mashed potatoes, but order the kasha!

We also got the Grilled Branzino with Vegetables, technically not a Belarusian dish, but one of us was craving fish and the grilled vegetables were a welcome addition. The kitchen did a good job here as well.

Napoleon – one of three luscious desserts we tried.

Masculine Ideal. I’m generally not a cake eater, but the abundance of caramel dulce de leche and nuts had me hooked on this distinctive dessert. You’re probably wondering about the name, but it’s traditional.

The most unusual dessert was warm Orshanskie (“сырники оршанские в чугунке”, literally Orsha cheese pancakes in a pot, Orsha being a city in Belarus), mini cheese balls with a few raisins added for good measure bathed in a sweet sour cream and poppy seed sauce. Surprisingly good!

This is Anastasia. Proficient in many languages, she studied linguistics and considered becoming an interpreter before coming to the US. Helpful, attentive, charming, and always anticipating our needs, all of us fell in love with her as she answered our unending questions and pampered us as if we were royalty. She is an angel.

The man who started it all. Marat Novikov, a restaurateur and businessman from Minsk, opened the original Belarussian Xata in Moscow in 2012. A warm and generous man, he operates his Brooklyn branch ably assisted by family members. His genuine hospitality and outstanding cuisine made for an unforgettable dining experience that we are all eager to revisit.

Don’t lose any time in planning your visit to Belarussian Xata, 1655 Sheepshead Bay Road in Brooklyn.

It is an absolute must.
 
 

Vintage Curry

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Instagram Post 2/25/2018

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It was our second lunch of the day (these things happen) and I wasn’t particularly hungry (that never happens), but my dining buddy had been eager to try Vintage Curry “British Style Halal Indian and Chinese Restaurant” at 87-77 168th Place in Jamaica, Queens. Now, I’ve consumed more curries in my time than I can remember and most have been just fine if unremarkable, but a menu boasting 48 varieties gave me pause. Ultimately, we landed on Balti Bhuna with Shrimp (luxuriating in a thick curry sauce of balti paste and fenugreek leaves) and Dumpakth Curry with Lamb (featuring red pepper and curry leaves in a heavy cream sauce).

The bucket in the photo is a balti, basmati rice on the side; dumpakth refers to a cooking technique in which meat slowly braises in its own juices in a handi (a shallow cooking vessel) that has been sealed with a crust that translates to incredibly tender meat.

The presentations were my first clue that we weren’t in Little India anymore. I tasted both dishes. Stunned, I found them to be a flavorful cut above what I was accustomed to and absolutely delicious – and that was a judgment rendered on a full stomach! Regrettably, I didn’t get a photo of the Peshwari Naan; suffice it to say it was the best I’ve ever had. It’s a trek, but I think I need to go back for a follow up. And next time, I’m bringing my appetite!

h/t Dave Cook, Eating in Translation
 
 

Chef Guo

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Instagram Post 2/22/2018

Now firmly ensconced in the former digs of Henan cuisine champion Uncle Zhou, Chef Guo at 83-29 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, is the new kid on the block. Featuring some items that were similar, at least in name, to those of the avuncular hero plus many new ones, they’re boldly striking out with a menu of less familiar offerings and that always makes me happy. Chef Guo hails from Liaoning province in China and I suspect some of the new dishes may represent that cuisine.

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
Dial Oil Hand Drawn Wide Noodle (if the quirky name sounds familiar, it was on Uncle Zhou’s menu as well). Thick noodles with a properly sassy chew, the sauce was the kind of soy-vinegar-chili oil mixture that often accompanies dumplings.


Stewed Pork Noodles with Pork (“pork broth” is my interpretation). Cellophane noodles in a tasty broth with an abundance of extremely tender and flavorful chunks of pork belly. Probably our favorite dish at that lunch, but the menu is extensive and deserves further exploration.


Sautéed Pig Kidney, again very tender (the kitchen has this trick down). I’m a fan of organ meats, so no complaints from me on this one. Very mild flavor without the oft present overtones that are off-putting to offal skeptics.


Crispy Lamb with Chili Pepper. Dare I say tender again? Because it was lusciously so. Not overly spicy – it could have used a bit more punch – but they may have been playing it safe with us. New kitchen, new patrons, you get the idea. But the dish was quite good nonetheless.


Okay, this was one of the “less familiar offerings” I referred to earlier. The menu calls it Minced Meat Mashed Potatoes, the photo captions it Meat Foam Mashed Potatoes, but either name would have been sufficient cause for me to order it with a wink and without hesitation. It was pretty good and certainly filling – mashed potatoes drowning under a savory, meaty sauce. I didn’t ask what kind of potato they were using but my guess is that it wasn’t the standard issue American spud since it had a slightly sweet flavor that elevated the dish.
 
 

South of the Clouds

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Instagram Post 2/13/2018

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Cuisine hailing from southwest China’s 🇨🇳 Yunnan province is underrepresented in New York City, but South of the Clouds at 16 West 8th St in Manhattan recently stepped up to the plate (or bowl, more accurately) to help rectify the situation. Not long ago we sampled most of the menu, and the rice noodle soups turned out to be a perfect foil for that evening’s cold snap.
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Broth that has been simmered for four hours is the base for their signature soup, Yunnan Crossing Bridge Noodle, which comes with its own charming fable recounted on the menu. Shown here is the palette of ingredients that would be added tableside. Cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts, silkie chicken, egg, tofu skin, pork, and chicken would customarily be sufficient to run the gamut of components, but the spotlight here was on the noodles.

🐖 🥒 🐓
Pigs on a Stick, Cucumber Salad, and Yunnan Ghost Chicken (nothing to do with ghost peppers BTW) kept us busy until our Tofu Pudding Rice Noodle arrived. Minced pork in fermented bean paste along with pillowy tofu and a selection of vegetables cloaked the rice noodles, all of which, when stirred together, complemented each other perfectly. Cold Stir Rice Noodle was a less elaborate (i.e., no tofu), and slightly spicier, rendition.
🍅 🍲
We finished with Tomato Soup Rice Noodle, probably the spiciest dish we ordered but far from incendiary. As you’d expect, this dish is half a world away from Mom’s lunchtime bowl of Campbell’s, but given the bitter cold awaiting us outside, it was assuredly mm-mm-good! 😋 😋
 
 

Speedy Romeo

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Instagram Post 2/11/2018

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Occupying a space that was once a former auto parts shop that was once a liquor store that was once a bar, and named for the co-owner’s champion race horse 🐎, Speedy Romeo has become a dining fixture at 376 Classon Ave in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood (“neigh”-borhood?). Their wood fired oven turns out tasty Neapolitan style pizzas from the traditional to the imaginative like the three winners shown here. (All equally good so there was no win, place, or show this time around the track.)
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The Dangerfield with béchamel, pork-veal meatballs, ricotta, basil, and garlic chips
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The White Album with béchamel, roasted garlic, mozzarella, ricotta, provel, pecorino, and parm, with additional pork sausage
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The Anton Ego with smoked eggplant, summer squash, tomato concentrate, onion, basil, and mint
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Riding their galloping Clinton Hill success (Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list) they opened an outpost on Clinton Street (of course, of course) on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Speedy Romeo trots out other offerings too, and one of these days I’ll kick my unbridled appetite for pizza and harness the willpower to sample them!

(Um, about all the puns…just horsing around. 🙃 )

 
 

Azerbaijan House

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Instagram Post 12/2/2017

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We were in the neighborhood, so we stopped by Azerbaijan House, 2612 East 14th St, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn to check out what Mina had cooking. The three of us were in search of a delicious, light lunch and having been there before, we knew exactly what to expect and weren’t disappointed.
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Tashkent Salad – boiled beef tongue with daikon and red radish.
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Kutab (aka Qutablar) – I never pass up the chance to order this griddled treat; similar to a crepe, it’s filled with meat, folded in half, dressed with pomegranate, and always tasty.
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Düşbərə – The menu describes them as homemade ravioli, but you might know them as the mini version of manti, delicious little dumplings served here in soup.
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Stuffed Cabbage
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Kükü – a thick pancake made with potato, onion, egg, greens and nuts; real homespun flavor!
 
 

Old Tbilisi Garden

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My Instagram posts are usually 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.

As Lead Organizer of The World Food Lover’s Dining Out Group, part of Meetup.com, it’s always my pleasure to bring groups of people to ethnic restaurants that feature cuisines they may never have experienced.

Recently we visited Old Tbilisi Garden, a restaurant that features the cuisine of Georgia. (No, not the US state “Georgia” but rather the Former Soviet Union country “Georgia”.) It seems like there’s a budding proliferation of Georgian restaurants and bakeries around New York City these days, and I, for one, am thrilled about it. Our feast at Old Tbilisi Garden hit the heights but only scratched the surface of this wonderful cuisine.

(Click any photo to view in glorious high resolution.)

Adjaruli

The overarching term is khachapuri, literally “cheese bread,” and there are at least a dozen kinds that I know of. They’re commonly filled with tangy, salty sulguni cheese and imeruli, a fresh crumbly cheese which when melted together combine to make stretchy, cheesy nirvana. Two of my favorites are adjaruli and megruli. Adjaruli is shaped like a kayak, the center of which is filled with cheese; a raw egg and a chunk of butter are added just as it’s removed from the oven. Stir the mixture: the egg cooks and combines with the butter and melted cheese. Break off pieces of the bread and dip them into the cheese mixture. Now picture hot bread with melted buttery cheese that you eat with your hands, fresh out of the oven – what’s not to like?

Megruli

Megruli is a little more self-contained: cheese bread filled with cheese and then topped with more cheese and baked. Did I mention cheese? Think Georgian pizza.

Khinkali

Despite the resemblance, these are definitely NOT soup dumplings. Just grab one by its topknot and bite into its savory lamb filling. They say you’re not supposed to eat that little handle, but I like it, so I guess I’m just going to keep breaking the rules!

Pkhali Trio

These tasty spreads fulfilled the vegetable requirement of our meal: spinach, eggplant, and green bean served with Georgian bread called shoti.

Chicken Bazhe

Bazhe, a Georgian walnut-garlic sauce, was the perfect blanket for the chicken reposing beneath. If you’ve ever tried satsivi, another delicious Georgian dish, then you’re already familiar with the flavor of bazhe – basically satsivi with the addition of pomegranate.

Chakapuli

Chakapuli is lamb stew in a tangy white wine sauce spiked with tarragon, an herb that figures significantly into the cuisine – and even soft drinks like tarkhun!

Lamb Mtsvadi

No Georgian meal would be complete without skewers of savory, tender, marinated lamb with delicious tkemali (sour plum) sauce.
 
 
Old Tbilisi Garden is located at 174 Bleecker Street, Manhattan, in the heart of Greenwich Village.
 
 
Incidentally, if you’d like to be part of the dining out group, you can join Meetup.com (there’s no charge), sign up for The World Food Lover’s Dining Out Group, and then watch your email to see the schedule for our next adventure. Reply to this post and I’ll keep an eye out for you!

Old Tbilisi Garden

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Instagram Post 11/13/2017

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It seems like there’s a proliferation of Georgian restaurants and bakeries (no, not the US state “Georgia” but rather the Former Soviet Union country “Georgia”) around New York City these days, and I, for one, am thrilled about it. Our feast at Old Tbilisi Garden, 174 Bleecker Street, Manhattan hit the heights but only scratched the surface of this wonderful cuisine.

Of course, we ordered adjaruli, one of the many varieties of justly famous Georgian khachapuri (literally “cheese bread”). Kayak shaped and filled with two kinds of melted cheese, butter and an egg, the ingredients are stirred together to create stretchy, cheesy nirvana; always a crowd pleaser.

And then, for contrast, we got megruli, cheese bread filled with cheese and then topped with more cheese and baked. Did I mention cheese? Think Georgian pizza.

Khinkali – despite the resemblance, these are definitely NOT soup dumplings. Just grab one by its topknot and bite into its savory lamb filling. So good!

The Pkhali Trio fulfilled the vegetable requirement of our meal: spinach, eggplant, and green bean spreads served with Georgian bread.

Bazhe, a Georgian walnut-garlic sauce, was a perfect complement to succulent chicken.

Chakapuli is lamb stew in white wine sauce spiked with tarragon, an herb that figures significantly into the cuisine – and even soft drinks like tarkhun!

And no Georgian meal would be complete without skewers of savory tender marinated lamb with tkemali sauce. 😋

Note: Read the complete review here!
 
 

Belarussian Xata

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Instagram Post 11/11/2017

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Belarussian Xata – Part One (because I need to go back – yes, it’s worth doing again). Located at 1655 Sheepshead Bay Rd, Brooklyn, it’s currently New York City’s only Belarusian 🇧🇾 restaurant and I’m grateful for it. Xata means “cottage” and the memorable décor strives for authenticity (I’m assuming this: I know food, not interior design 😉). The staff is attentive and helpful; since Belarus is Russia’s neighbor and was once part of the Former Soviet Union, there’s a lot of cross-pollination between the cuisines but if you’re a purist like me they’re happy to point out Belarusian specialties.

The appetizer “Village Style” sets out three different kinds of salo (fatback, not unlike Italy’s lardo): plain, smoked, and Hungarian style, served with chunky fried potatoes and greens. So that you’re not just eating unadulterated fat, I recommend constructing each forkful with a bite each of salo, potato or bread, one of the greens, and a bit of mustard. Highly enjoyable.

Machanka, a traditional Belarusian specialty featured three kinds of pork – sausage, ribs, and a cut of meat – in a delicious creamy gravy that reminded me a little of veal blanquette but on steroids. All of the meats were wonderfully tender. (You have the option of ordering the dish with either blini or potato pancakes.)

We also got the grilled branzino with vegetables, not a Belarusian dish, but one of us was craving fish! The kitchen did a good job here as well.

Dessert was warm Orshanskie (“сырники оршанские в чугунке”, literally Orsha cheese pancakes in a pot, Orsha being a city in Belarus), mini cheese balls with a few raisins added for good measure bathed in a sweet sour cream and poppy seed sauce. Surprisingly good!

Note: Read the complete review here!

h/t Eat the World NYC
 
 

Bhanchha Ghar

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Instagram Post 11/7/2017

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If you’re going to enjoy a Nepali 🇳🇵 feast, Jhol Momo would certainly be the ultimate comfort food; as a matter of fact, we were even mo’motivated to do it because of the encroaching cold weather. At Nepali Bhanchha Ghar, 74-06 37th Rd, Jackson Heights, Queens, winner of this year’s #momocrawl 🥟, we tasted a bit of many dishes, specifically:

• Chicken Choila, grilled chicken marinated in a blend of spices.
• Buffalo Sukuti, dry meat, like jerky.
• Achar, a pickled dish, here half fish and half mula (radish).
• Bhuttun, organ meats; tasty indeed.
• Sel Roti, a ring of fried rice flour, traditional in Nepali cuisine; get at least one!
• and last, but certainly never least, Jhol Momo, chicken and pork, each with its own characteristic shape. The steamed dumplings swim in a pool that lies somewhere along the sauce-soup continuum, and the two complement each other perfectly. The word jhol means soup and here it was delicious in its own right.

Tip: When you enter, you’ll see two tiny tables. Don’t be discouraged: go downstairs and you’ll discover a much more capacious dining room. Warmer too! 😉