Pakiza

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

[COVID-19 UPDATE: The few tables inside have been removed for now, but the steam table operates daily as it always has, and takeout is as fresh as ever.]

For a good chunk of the city's restaurants, the pandemic has hit them with a vigor that appears unlikely to subside anytime soon. Most that want to forge the path forward have adapted as best they can, building outdoor seating areas and more robust delivery systems.

On a recent hot day, kulfi served as immediate relief.

But then there are also certain sectors that seem almost unaffected, besides the annoyances everyone faces to be outside their own home. The steam table joints up and down this section of Coney Island Avenue still have all of their spots full of freshly prepared meals that both the neighborhood and working taxi drivers pop in quickly for throughout the day and night.

If you arrive by car to a place like Lahori Chilli or Pakiza, yellow and green will occupy most spaces out front, and many onto each of the side streets closest. Certainly there are bottom lines that are not seen when something like this is said, but frankly it is a brief glimmer of hope to witness business still going ok for some.

At Pakiza, most of the steam table offerings are available in two sizes, a small for $6 and a large for $12. A recent visit was able to procure large portions of haleem and biriyani and a small lamb curry, annotated in the photo below. Most orders will also throw in a container of lettuce and onions as well as a good portion of raita, a yogurt-based condiment full of cucumber, mint, and coriander.

The lamb curry ($6, small portion) is definitely worthy of a large order, which has already been noted for next time. Grab some naan ($1.50 each) for use with their also excellent haleem ($12, large order), a spicier than usual version of the barley, lentil, and shredded chicken stew. The workaday biriyani ($12, large portion) satisfied just fine, but of the three it could have been the one ordered in a smaller quantity.

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KENSINGTON Brooklyn

1032 Coney Island Avenue

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Sweetness USA

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

Sweetness USA is a place for everyone. Pakistani businessmen come in for takeout on their way home from work. Groups of women come together to buy food for their families. Another sits alone and charges her phone while screaming into a video chat. Solo male diners watch videos with one hand while eating with the other. Cab drivers are constantly double-parked on Coney Island Avenue while grabbing specials from the steam table.

While it is easy to be satisfied one dish at a time, bring a group with you and order a feast. As it becomes clear the amount of food you need, the men that run the place will start to show you a lot of attention, upping their levels of hospitality and happy to answer questions from the unfamiliar.

The previous establishment in this location was the Indian chain Mithaas, which has multiple locations in New Jersey and one in Long Island but no more in New York City. The meaning of this word is something close to "sweetness" in both Hindi and Urdu, so it was without much change that the new proprietors shifted only a tiny bit.

A meal here should be a hodgepodge of what you see and what you don't. The steam table offers the daily meals, which most patrons come in to order fast. But there are things listed on the menu behind the counter that might warrant attention as well. These could take up to 15 or 20 minutes to arrive, but if you do not have your yellow cab shift to get back to, hanging around is not so unpleasant.

On Google Maps, there seemed to be an unusually high percentage of photos of the mix grill sizzler ($12.99, above), a dish that indeed comes sizzling and requires that lead time. The mix of chicken and beef kebabs is combined with chicken tikka and fresh onions. Each bite of every type was greeted with their wonderful marinade.

The haleem ($6, below) here is prepared with barley, lentils, and chicken, and tastes like it has been cooking and improving for days. It is full of deep flavors and chilies, and perfection could legally be described as scooping some of it up with their freshly baked naan ($1).

Definitely worth an order, and what unlocks a bottle of mint yogurt sauce arriving at the table, is the chicken polao ($5.99, below), which always seems to be ready and something of a special of the house.

What sets polao, or pulao, or pilaf apart from biryani of course is the cooking method. Meats and spices are cooked separately from the rice, resulting in a lighter and more subtly spiced dish. It was agreed around the table that the version here was top notch.

The orders continued but even so it was impossible to try everything like their different types of chaat, or kati and paratha rolls which would have made excellent solo snacks.

A full tray of tikka drumsticks ($2 each, below) looked so tempting that one was ordered for each person at the table. These somehow were even better than they looked, the meat pulled off the bone without effort while remaining so moist. The marinades were just as satisfying as they were on the sizzling plate.

After seeing how well they prepared the chicken dishes here, next visits will have to include the full chicken Lahori charga ($14.99, not shown), a full bird marinated overnight and deep fried in oil.

Another table favorite was beef nihari ($6, below), a deep-colored stew that tasted rich with bone marrow. This slightly spicy dish originated with Muslims in India but is now popular throughout the Islamic regions of the subcontinent like Pakistan, where it is always on any self-respecting menu.

Add some curry to your repertoire with the goat curry ($6, below), another deep and rich ride. What they describe as an "exotic blend" is pretty much as you would expect from a Pakistani curry, with hunks of tender goat that must have been simmered for just the right amount of time.

And what would a place called Sweetness USA be without a huge selection of treats? Most of the display cases in the restaurant are used for an overwhelming amount of desserts, while branded boxes are stacked and ready to be filled with whatever you desire.

The proprietor steered the group toward a slice of their mango cake, which he described as the house special, but an assortment of treats like the one below was much more interesting. The cake itself was fairly simple and did not warrant the moniker of special.

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MIDWOOD Brooklyn
1150 Coney Island Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

BBQ Nite

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

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PAKISTAN 🇵🇰 Dispatch from Elmont, Long Island: While all the rage of summer will be on the coasts of Long Island, the interior is where the good food is located, with expat communities from the edge of Queens to the middle of the fork. BBQ Nite serves three locations in this corridor, with the closest being this spot in Elmont, just past the county line. ° BBQ Nite, 663 Elmont Rd, Elmont, NY. (Locations in East Meadow and Hicksville). Instagram exclusive post, added to full map on website. ° ° ° #EattheWorldNYC #eattheworld #worldfood #worldfoods #instayum #instafood #instaeat #foodlovers #foodlover #forkyeah #nyc #nyceats #nycfood #nycdining #newforkcity #eatingnyc #eatingnewyork #longisland #longislandeats #longislandfood #longislandrestaurants #pakistan #pakistani #pakistanifood #pakifood #elmont #elmontny #bbqnite #kebab #kebabs

A post shared by Eat the World NYC (@eattheworldnyc) on Apr 24, 2018 at 6:17pm PDT

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ELMONT Long Island

663 Elmont Road

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Namak Mandi

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

This stretch of Queens is usually experienced at 50+ miles per hour flying by on the Long Island Expressway. Namak Mandi understands this and has built a high sign to vie for the attention of passing commuters. It was this that caught my attention a couple months back, and led to an exploration of the name later, as well as an eventual return.

In modern times, Namak Mandi is a bustling neighborhood in central Peshawar. This city is situated in Northern Pakistan, close to the Afghanistan border and the famous Khyber Pass. The name means something like "salt market," which is somewhat of an understatement as the old Namak Mandi was the hub of the entire region's trade in salt.

Now the neighborhood of Namak Mandi is known for many types of market vendors but also for its delicious restaurants that specialize in meat dishes. Among residents, it is the ultimate destination for restaurants specializing in tikkay and karahi.

On the menu of this Auburndale, Queens restaurant is a drawing of Bab-e-Khyber, the stone gate that stands at the entrance to the Khyber Pass and represents the importance of the region's trade. Underneath is the simple promise: "The real taste of Namak Mandi."

Karahis will take a full 45 minutes to prepare, so either order ahead or try some of their delicious samosas ($4.99, above) to control the pre-meal hunger. These freshly fried triangles of ground beef are an excellent deal for four even if the final price is $1 more than the menu showed. The mint chutney should be applied liberally on these and kept for the karahi as well.

Their tea comes pre-brewed with milk, but sugar is served on the side in the form of an entirely full cup. Needless to say, the average customer makes it very sweet.

You may find various karahi dishes, named for the wok-like cooking vessel, in parts of India and Pakistan, but Peshawar prides itself in having the absolute best. Here at Namak Mandi, the special of the house are these Peshawari-style karahis, available in mutton, lamb (khaddi kabab), and chicken. Mutton is the most sought after cuts and the most expensive, a two person mutton karahi (above and below) runs $24.99.

Seated at a restaurant in the thin alleys of Peshawar's Namak Mandi, you would see your chosen animal hanging in the window before selecting, cooking, and eating. Here in Queens, the first two parts of this take place in the kitchen out of sight, with only the faint sounds of the large serving spoon scratching the karahi in the final stages of preparation.

In such a large vessel, the arrival of the two person portion almost seems underwhelming, but the chunks of meat end up being plenty. Order some of their soft naan ($0.99) and dig in with your hands. The meats are all still on the bone, so there is no way to keep your fingers clean even if you tried.

The base of the sauce and seasoning are tomatoes, which give the dish a slightly sour taste. This combines well with the spicy peppers, scallions, and cilantro that are also used. It all ends up being very oily, but in a heavenly way that naan is perfect for scooping.

On this frigid day, we seemed to be the first customers and entered a basically unheated restaurant. The switch was turned on though, and by the time our karahi arrived warm air was starting to circulate and some other customers were coming in for mostly takeout. Our toes were just starting to thaw when it was time to go back outside with our bellies full. Next visits will have to sample the tikka dishes as well, the other most well known food of Peshawar's Namak Mandi.

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AUBURNDALE Queens

184-02 Horace Harding Expy

Al-Humza Halal Restaurant

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

Around the corner from the restaurant, the modern spotless masjid un noor lives in a two story pale pink building and sees a steady stream of mostly Pakistani men and women with a few neighborhood Africans as well. Along with this house of worship, the other hub of the community seems to be Al-Humza, which offers both a halal meat counter and grocery store as well as full service restaurant.

Last year, the building had a large awning that properly described its contents inside, but now the only hints of the food being prepared within come if the weather is nice and the door is open. No matter though, walk-in customers are few and far between in this driver's borough, and all the Pakistanis nearby seem to know about the good food here already.

The menu has most everything you might expect, and even a weekend specials section that includes haleem ($8, above). This stew is often found in bazaars and on the street in Pakistan, but is thankfully available to us in local restaurants. It pairs perfectly with a fresh piece of naan ($1, above), which is not quite enough to scoop up all of this generous portion.

It was fun to eat slowly here and relax, taking in the comings and goings. On this Saturday, extremely large takeout orders close to $100 seemed to be the norm. There are at least a dozen tables, but most were empty as food was taken home much more frequently than eaten here.

5 mangos imported from back home for $24.99

Other weekend special items include nihari, a slow-cooked stew of lamb and bone marrow, and paya, a spicy stew made from the hooves of cow or goat.

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PARK HILL Staten Island

629 Richmond Road

Zaiqa Restaurant

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

When asked what zaiqa meant, the proprietor held his fingers to his lips and said "taste." This can presumably be altered slightly to "tasty" and upon further investigation seems to be the name of quite a few Pakistani restaurants around the world. This Urdu word must have a strong meaning to speakers of the language.

Fairly new Zaiqa Restaurant sits on Bath Avenue in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, near the end of the city and home to a small community of Pakistanis. Across the street is Masjid Noor ul Quran, which has constructed 2-dimensional minarets on its awning and converted from a normal Brooklyn storefront into a mosque. The casual space of the restaurant would lend itself well to post-prayer meals. There is nothing in the decor to set it apart from other South Asian steam tables, but the food is bringing a level of excitement on its own.

On a first visit in the morning at 10:45, the steam table was not quite set up but everything seemed to be available through the kitchen. Zaiqa is open 24 hours, surely for the taxi drivers and other laborers that call Bath Beach home and get back at all hours.

On that visit, an order of haleem ($6, above) was made, with a piece of very fresh naan ($1, below) to scoop it up. The fact that the restaurant was quiet and not really set up for lunch did not seem to matter in the quality and freshness of the foods.

The haleem does not attack the tips of your tongue and lips, but rather works on a slow burn as you progress. It comes after you slowly with a very satisfying layer of spice within the complex flavors. The bulk of the volume and color comes from a mixture of lentil, wheat, and barley, while the meats have been cooking for many hours.

On a second visit, the plate below came to $7. Two dishes were asked to be split and served with rice, and came to just about the right amount of food for lunch. The yellow-ish portion of kadhi pakora on the right was the winner of the meal, a dish combining sour and richness. Kadhi is a type of yogurt curry, thick in texture, while pakora is the vegetable fritter most people are familiar with that is soaked inside in this rendition. On the menu here, they call it "karri pakora."

The spinach dish is less outstanding, with more mild flavors. Do watch out for the large chili pepper that looks a lot like a Sichuan peppercorn buried within.

The vegetable samosa ($1, below) is filled mostly with potato, and also standard. Each time you sit down here they bring an excellent mint chutney that is best used with these samosas, but also makes for spicier bites of rice.

The restaurant has a sweets case which unfortunately went untested. An attached party hall also offers the area a great communal space serving halal foods for special occasions. It would not be a surprise if Zaiqa was around for a long time.

BATH BEACH Brooklyn

2031 Bath Avenue

Lahori Chilli

PAKISTAN

You have to admit it, that chili pepper in a chef's hat is pretty handsome. If this place became a chain, ascribing human form to that green chili, in the form of song and dance, is going to become great fun.

In the more near future though, are the purveyors here bragging with anthropomorphism about spice levels of their cuisine specifically, or Pakistani food in general? After five dishes, I can attest to a certain heat level running through each plate. Not the type of heat that burns your lips upon impact, but the kind you feel creeping up after a few bites and all the way until you finish the last morsel. It hangs around and causes you to pour yourself an extra two or three cups of water. It is a good feeling.

The first visit here was solo, but determined to eat more than one item, a split order was asked for. The above dishes, ground chicken, lamb curry, a piece of naan, and an unseen cup of milk tea came to the princely sum of $10.

Stacks of naan are constantly coming from the kitchen in the back, fresh and hot. Takeout orders here on Coney Island Avenue are constant, as taxi drivers stream in at all times. The restaurant is open 24 hours a day, and I would not be surprised to see bustle here at 3 or 4 in the morning when shifts were ending and men went home.

I have only traveled to East Pakistan, but the feelings of being welcome were strong here just as there. This restaurant is set up for people that know the food, but they seem genuinely pleased to slow down and explain the options to someone like myself that might need to ask a few questions. On a second visit I was not alone, and the two of us were treated with even more care by the staff members that seemed to recognize me from the first meal. I am certainly not fussy about service, but this feeling of warmth was palpable, and special.

On that second visit, we asked for a split portion of chicken tikka ($3, above), some of the most moist and juicy versions I have ever seen. Each meal will also include a small bowl of yogurt chutney with cilantro and mint that pairs well with the chicken.

Whenever I am in the mood for naan lately as I was before this meal, I also tend to think about haleem ($6, below), the dish of lentils and grains and always so full of spices. The "stew" here is made with chicken, and the puffy warm pieces of naan pick it up perfectly.

Heat levels rise even further with the goat curry ($5, below), a spicy, oily, tender dish. The perfect brown and red visuals in the pan made it an easy order on this chilly afternoon.

Having put much of the order in containers to go after thoroughly stuffing ourselves, the very kind woman in charge of the dining room brought us a small bowl of dessert with two spoons and a terrific smile. The light green half was our favorite, a pistachio flavored custard with very mild sweetness.

There are so many South Asian steam table restaurants in this area of Coney Island Avenue that it may be hard to select one. I initially chose this because of the good crowd gathered in the front making orders and the parked cabs outside, and after two visits have only confirmed this initial impression with two very good meals. But on top of a very happy belly, the overall good-hearted nature of the spot stands out and makes it a worthy place to come for a meal at anytime of day or night.

KENSINGTON Brooklyn

1026 Coney Island Avenue

[CLOSED] Taste of Pakistan

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

[UPDATE: CLOSED]

Taste of Pakistan almost reminds me of the feeling of going out to eat in Los Angeles, which often entails finding great food in a strip mall, parking right in front. Nevermind that I arrived by public transportation and the air was humid on both visits, Staten Island has an enjoyable "out of the city" quality that I try to enjoy whenever I come.

A lot of South Asian restaurants in the city advertise themselves as "Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi" cuisine, many times the smaller countries use India's better name recognition to entice customers inside. It is refreshing to see places like this, that celebrate the home country of the chef, even when the cuisines still overlap.

With a banner outside announcing "Best Kebab Kitchen," it seemed appropriate to order a variety of these on my first visit. Half of the fun turns out to be making flavor combinations with the assortment of condiments they bring out. Two yogurt chutneys, a sweet fruit one, and some spicy pepper sauce can combine to make each bite different.

An array of naan is also available from the oven, from plain to butter and sesame, all the way to potato and qeema varieties. I opted for a simple garlic naan ($2.50, below) to accompany my kebab assortment. It is thin, crispy, and tasty, but somehow I prefer my naan to be puffy and soft. On the second visit, a plain naan ($1, see below) was more satisfying.

While waiting for an order, a look around the place shows they probably put their focus in the kitchen. The decor can be described as "brown," while the pistachio colors of the booths do not quite qualify for interior design. Stacks of postcard adverts and a handwritten "room for rent" sign on lined paper are the decor. The smells are good though, and we're not here for design advice.

The plate below, clockwise from bottom, consists of a chapli kebab ($3.99), seekh kebab ($1.25), one order of gola kebabs ($2.99 for 2), and a chicken tandoori leg ($3.99) which as you can see had an extra piece. That chicken had a pleasantly fragrant taste and the crunch of its visible spices stuck to the skin. Inside the meat was moist and tender.

As for the kebabs themselves, the only other one that was moist was the seekh, which is ground chicken. The chapli kebab patty and gola kebabs were drier and perfect for experimenting with all the chutneys.

That first visit was on a Friday night, and my eyes immediately scanned to the "weekend special" section, browsing the choices that were unavailable that night. My next visit naturally landed on a Sunday so that I could sample some of the dishes. With plans to buy three and take two home, I was disappointed to find the paya ($10.99), a soup made of goat hooves that is cooked for festivals or special guests was not made that day.

With three other options, I settled into a nice bowl of haleem ($7.99, below), a stew of chicken, lentils, and plenty of spices. The menu describes a "thick paste" but do not let that distract you, it is delicious. It is made thicker by pounded wheat, but scoops up perfectly with the naan.

At steam table restaurants, haleem will often just be served on a styrofoam plate with rice, but here the dish is cooked special only on weekends and they serve it properly with a plate of extras to add. On that plate is lemons, parsley, fried onions, slivers of ginger and chopped chilis, allowing each diner to eat it exactly as they prefer.

Also available was nihari ($8.99, below), which I enjoyed later at home. This is another slow-cooked stew, this time of beef cubes in a rich, oily soup. It pairs well with both rice or bread.

In the restaurant it would have also been served with the plate of garnishes, and one would be sure to add a healthy squeeze of lemon and as much chili as desired. The fun story about nihari is that many restaurants in South Asia that cook the best versions are said to add some of the leftovers each night into the next day's pot. Check out this story, which claims that some shops have continued this tradition of saving the leftovers, or taar, for over a century!

Since Taste of Pakistan only serves nihari on weekends, it is safe to say their stew is somewhat younger than 100 years old. They also make a wonderful mango lassi ($3.50, not pictured), make sure to order at least one. The friendly staff is happy to answer questions, and both times I visited they warned me I was over ordering. I like their honesty.

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CASTLETON CORNERS Staten Island

1970 Victory Boulevard

Lasani Restaurant

PAKISTAN

Lasani is definitely the benefactor of good location, hanging out right above the neighborhood's mosque, Masjid ar-Rahman. The mosque serves a wide array of Muslims who work in the area and plenty of cabbies, so the restaurant is a fun mixture of South Asians and West Africans, something you do not always see. They all need their halal fix though, and lucky for us, the food here is worthy of being their go-to spot.

On most days, two ladies run the front of the operation, the older one very businesslike, and the younger more friendly. She calls customers who arrive by name and always has a smile. The place is busy even during off periods of the afternoon between meals, as their customers don't have such a routine schedule. This keeps the steam table fresh, and the massive turnaround is always good for the product. Alas, not all steam tables are created equal.

On the recommendation of a very nice Facebook follower, I ordered a plate of their lovely haleem ($10, below, with rice AND naan, cheaper without). This is a beef dish, so the "Indian" on the front awning could just be to attract people who may feel unfamiliar with Pakistani or Bangladeshi food. When the meat is cooked, it is taken out and the bones are removed so that it can be crushed and put back in. The resulting texture is what you see below, and really needs a plate of rice to soak it up.

Wheat, barley, lentils, and loads of terrific spicing are also involved here in what is a lovely dish. Typically haleem is cooked for eight hours or so, but I did not inquire about the lengths they go to here.

I have been back for a full complement of dishes including chicken tikka, beef and lamb curries, as well as the spinach. The naan here is so hot and fluffy (made to order!), that an order is essential every time you come. As stated before, it seems hard to go wrong with their steam table selections as everything is always fresh.

As a spot for cabbies, and seemingly an open bathroom for anyone in need, this is probably the only part of the restaurant that I would tend to avoid if possible. A small sacrifice.

MIDTOWN Manhattan

15 West 29th Street