Lagman House

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The recently opened Lagman House at 2612 East 14th Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, is New York’s first restaurant to feature Dungan cuisine. “Dungan” refers not to a geographical region but rather a Muslim ethnic group that settled in western China in “the Stans” bordering Russia. The language is an offshoot of Mandarin Chinese and is spelled in Cyrillic; if you can speak “menu Chinese” and read a little Russian, you’ve got it knocked, but it’s all there in English as well.

It’s one of those restaurants that compels me to eat my way through the menu, item by item, so fasten your safety belt and loosen your waist belt – here we go!

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

Beshbarmak – often referred to as the national dish of Kyrgyzstan: thick, hand rolled dough cooked in broth and topped with meat. The menu indicated that it could be ordered with either lamb (which would have been my choice) or beef, but we were told that since there wasn’t enough call for lamb, they no longer offered it. If necessary, I will single-handedly bring in enough lamb-lovers so that it will take its rightful place on the table! In the meantime, this is absolutely a must-do dish when you come – even with beef, shown here.


Dungan Style Salad – carrot and radish in a tangy dressing. Our extremely helpful waiter told us we could just eat it straight or mix it in with the noodle dishes for a little extra kick. We did both.


Classic Lagman – Hand pulled noodles topped with fried beef and onions. Note the Chinese linguistic influence: lo mein -> lagman. Delicious. Insiders’ tip: when the menu describes something as “fried”, it means stir-fried, not deep fried. Also, they brought out the noodles pre-cut since they might prove unmanageably long if they hadn’t. On my next visit, I’m considering requesting uncut noodles; I’m betting we can deal with them or at least have fun trying! (Just a thought for you Instagram noodle lifters 😉!)


Dapan Ji – handmade noodles topped with “fried” chicken, potatoes, and spicy pepper. Ever had Chinese “Big Tray Chicken,” dapanji? There’s that language connection again. I think these noodles were a bit thinner than those in the beshbarmak and shaped more like the flat noodles you’re familiar with.


Huashi. Looks like a soup, but that’s hardly the word for it; as a matter of fact, it’s not even listed in the Soups section of the menu – go looking for it and you’ll find it heading up the Meat Dishes. Six types of meatballs along with pickled cabbage in beef broth fill your bowl to the brim with satisfying deliciousness. Definitely a highlight.


Lamian. Hand pulled noodles topped with “fried” beef and potatoes. Note the Chinese language influence again: lo mein -> lamian. Make good use of the two accompaniments, a spicy chili sauce and grated garlic.


Chives Gravy. Sautéed chives with eggs and meat. There are six “gravy” dishes on the menu; these would be best accompanied by a bread like Jin Momo. You’ll definitely want some kind of neutral starch with these dishes.


Jin Momo. Steamed bread, a little like Chinese bao, but with a lot more character; surprisingly good!


Justai Hezi, or so the menu transliterates it. (My far-from-perfect Russian leads me to believe that “jutsai” might come closer to the actual pronunciation.) A fried turnover stuffed with chives and beef; you’ll want to apply the supplementary sauce generously.


Bon Thon Soup. This unusual and delicious beef and vegetable soup features buoyant, gossamer bits of noodle dough floating within.


Tsomian (from the Chinese chow mein). The next step up from classic lamian, these long hand pulled noodles are stir-fried with beef and vegetables in a savory sauce.


Manti. Fist-sized dumplings filled with beef and chives; impossible to resist.

Lagman House is located at 2612 East 14th Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Highly recommended!
 
 

U Yuri Fergana

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When I write about restaurants on Instagram, they’re usually brief takes accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here on ethnojunkie.com, updated almost daily, by selecting the “Instagram” category from my home page – no signup required.) But folks sometimes ask for more extensive reviews and photos, so in response, here’s a comprehensive report on one of my favorites.


The warmth exuded by a family run business and the luxury of a splendidly appointed restaurant are not at odds at U Yuri Fergana. This mom&populence, if you will, was in evidence from the gracious service through the appetizing dishes we enjoyed during a recent lunchtime visit to their location in Rego Park, Queens.

Its name translates to “Yuri from Fergana”: our host Yuri Moshev and his wife and head chef Myra hail from Fergana, the capital of the eponymous region in eastern Uzbekistan. They and their son Ben have created a unique establishment that distinguishes itself from the multitude of neighborhood Uzbek restaurants in that they operate a livestock production facility in College Point, so you can be certain that the meat is fresh and of high quality; the restaurant is kosher in keeping with the dominant Bukharan Jewish culture in the neighborhood.

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

Sautéed Eggplant Salad

A bright, sweet and sour mélange of sautéed veggies with eggplant in the spotlight; the perfect foil to the richly flavorful kebabs (see below).

Meat Salad

Although there was a pronounced sweetness to this dish, it was considerably different from and less sweet than the eggplant salad. Fresh, crispy and crunchy, the combination of flavors was even better than I had anticipated.

Peeking out from the side is Toki, baked into a parabola on the convex side of a wok and similar to matzo but a little less brittle; its tiny flecks of cumin were a welcome element.

Lagman Soup

Characterized by long, hand pulled noodles with a perfect chew, lagman soup is a fixture in this part of the world. It’s worth noting that the word “lagman” is a cognate of the Chinese “lo mein”, their geographical proximity providing the clue. This beefy, tomato and vegetable infused version was delicious.

Kebabs

What Uzbek meal would be complete without them? From left to right, ground lamb, lamb chop, liver, chicken, beef, and ground chicken. Usually, chunks of chicken are the also-ran in the company of other meats, but these were outstanding.

Leposhka (Homemade Bread) and French Fries (with dill and chopped garlic, of course!)

Gusinie Lapki (Goose Feet Cookies)

Not too sweet, these delicate cookies along with some tea provided the perfect finishing touch to our delightful meal.

Note that some large family-style items on the menu must be ordered in advance, so call ahead if there’s something on the menu that piques your interest.

U Yuri Fergana is located at 94-09 63rd Drive, Rego Park, Queens.

Note: This was a complimentary meal sponsored by the management of U Yuri Fergana. The opinions expressed in this post are uninfluenced and impartial.
 
 

Kashkar Cafe – Samsa, Two Ways

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Instagram Post 9/30/2018

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While preparing for my ethnojunket through Little Odessa, I passed Kashkar Café, 1141 Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn, and grabbed a few items to bring home. Kashkar serves the food of the Uyghur people, a primarily Muslim ethnic group who live on the Chinese/Russian border near Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan; as you’d expect, the fare is a blend of Chinese and Central Asian cuisines.

Samsa are baked (usually in a tandoor or clay oven), filled with a tasty lamb/onion mixture, crisp outside, moist inside, and often decorated with a few nigella seeds. On the left, a large, round one (triangular samsa are common too), one to an order. On the right, Samsa Parmuda, four smaller pieces to an order, same filling, but easier to divvy up on a food tour! The white bun in back is Yutaza, a plain, steamed multi-layer bread, a little like a Chinese bao but denser.

Photos of a dine-in experience to come soon.
 
 

Pecel Ndeso’s Indonesian Kue

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Instagram Post 9/29/2018

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Here’s the first in a series from another visit to the monthly NY Indonesian Food Bazaar at St. James Episcopal Church, 84-07 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens. These are kue (diminutive Indonesian sweets/snacks) from Pecel Ndeso’s booth; the disk-shaped twosome are serabi solo. There are many regional variants on serabi; most are made with rice flour but some use wheat flour, and most call for coconut milk. Green almost always implies pandan flavor, while brown indicates palm sugar. The cutaway view reveals the puffy, airy interior.

One of my all-time favorite snacks is anything that involves sticky rice pressed and sweetened with coconut milk. The Indonesian fulfillment of this wish is wajik, which I posted about on 8/16. Usually diamond-shaped (wajik is the Indonesian word that describes a diamond or rhombus shape), this sweet, green blocky rendition is infused with pandan and contains bits of jackfruit, another weakness of mine.

More to come from the bazaar….
 
 

Chuan Tian Xia – Chengdu Dragon Handwriting

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Instagram Post 9/26/2018

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These light dumplings came from recently opened Chuan Tian Xia at 5502 7th Ave in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. The combination of a little knowledge and more research leads me to think that menu item “Chengdu Dragon Reading Hands” (成都龙抄手) might be better translated as “Chengdu Dragon Handwriting” but that’s still not much help in determining their contents or the derivation of their fanciful name. Can anyone enlighten me?
 
 

Chuan Tian Xia – Fish Flavored Eggplant

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Instagram Post 9/25/2018

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Fish Flavored Eggplant. Don’t be misled by the phrase “fish-flavored” – it neither contains nor tastes like fish; rather this delicious Sichuan yuxiang (魚香) sauce refers to a combination of ingredients, a little sweet and sour, a little spicy and salty, often used in preparing fish. New kid on the block in Sunset Park, Chuan Tian Xia at 5502 7th Ave, Brooklyn, did a nice job with this one.

Stay tuned; more to come….
 
 

Snowy and Icy Mooncakes

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Instagram Post 9/24/2018

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Today’s the day! In addition to the traditional mooncakes that abound in almost every Chinatown bakery for Mid-Autumn Festival, you might see these trendy snow skin versions that hail from Hong Kong. Think mooncake meets mochi: rather than dough-based and baked, the skins are almost like the sweet Japanese glutinous rice cake, but not quite as chewy. These snowy and icy mooncakes must be kept chilled. Here are four of the many delicious varieties.

The snowy flavors are contemporary: strawberry, mango, orange, pineapple, honeydew, peach, peanut, taro, chestnut, green tea and red bean; one version featured durian flavored sweet bean paste with bits of the fruit, enveloped by a skin of almost almond paste texture and flavor. Icy mooncakes come two to a box with imaginative flavors like pandan bean paste with chocolate pearls (tiny crispy, candy bits, crunchy like malted milk balls, but probably puffed rice), dark chocolate bean paste (the skin is like mochi with chocolatey paste on the inside and a piece of dark chocolate or a bit of cream cheese nestled within), durian, mango, blueberry, custard, chestnut, black sesame, strawberry, and cherry.

To learn more about the holiday and these delicious treats, please check out my Chinese Mooncakes Demystified post.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋节快乐!
 
 

Chuan Tian Xia – Mixed Fungus

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Instagram Post 9/23/2018

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Classic Sichuan cuisine, this Mixed Fungus (巧拌木耳) from newcomer Chuan Tian Xia at 5502 7th Ave in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park is elegant in its simplicity. The wood ear fungus is lightly touched with a tangy soy/vinegar/sugar dressing and accented with red and green chili peppers, garlic, and a bit of red onion.

Stay tuned; more to come from Chuan Tian Xia….
 
 

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival – 2018

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Instagram Post 9/21/2018

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A visit to any Chinatown bakery this time of year will reveal a spectacular assemblage of mooncakes (月餅, yue bing) in a seemingly infinite variety of shapes, sizes, ornamentation, and fillings, all begging to be enjoyed in observance of the Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated this year on September 24th. Here are two pandan mooncakes, one with preserved egg yolk and a mini version without, from Fay Da Bakery at 83 Mott Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

To learn more about the holiday and these delicious treats, please check out my Chinese Mooncakes Demystified post detailing their similarities and differences in an attempt to shed some light (moonlight, of course) on their intricacies.
中秋节快乐!
 
 

Chuan Tian Xia – Pork with Garlic Sauce

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Instagram Post 9/20/2018

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Sichuan restaurants are rare in Brooklyn’s Chinatown and Chuan Tian Xia at 5502 7th Ave is the newest in Sunset Park. First in a series, here’s an attractive presentation of Pork with Garlic Sauce; cucumber slabs provided the foundation for this creative bit of architecture.