The Grill House

PALESTINE 🇵🇸

COVID-19 UPDATE: Mostly takeout in the best of times, Grill House has a few modest tables set up now that indoor dining has resumed in NYC.

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Written by Joseph Gessert, photographed by Liv Dillon.

On a quiet residential Bronx block sits Grill House, which on first glance looks like a run-of-the-mill shawarma shop. Behind the unassuming facade and alongside the shawarma spit is a full menu of Middle Eastern mezzeh at very reasonable prices, including Palestinian desserts that remain hard to come by in most New York neighborhoods.

First things first: the chicken shawarma ($5, below) is very good. It has pickles, garlic sauce, and is carved fresh from the spit. The spit’s seasoning is milder than at Bay Ridge favorite Al-Aqsa Bakery, but the flavor is bolstered with a vibrant green spicy schug that is heavy on fresh peppers and herbs. Be a little gentle in its application—it packs a punch.

A side of baba ganoush is never a bad idea for dipping, and here you might order it in the Middle Eastern platter ($7.99, below), which combines scoops of hummus and baba with falafel balls, salad, and pita. The dips are both garnished with green chili-infused olive oil, and the falafel balls are small, maximizing the crunch ratio as you make your own falafel sandwiches.

Other mezzeh options dot the menu, and most come in $3 or $6 sizes. Cauliflower salad is surprisingly acidic in a good way, and cucumber with yogurt is seasoned with abundant dried mint and fresh parsley.

Room should be saved for dessert, including a respectable kunafeh ($1.50), the amazing shredded filo and baked cheese dessert that is becoming more readily-available in NYC restaurants. Also good is the standard walnut and pistachio baklava ($1).

Grill House’s version is less sweet than many others, letting the nut flavors come through clearly. Most popular, however, with both walk-in traffic and during a recent afternoon lunch, is the cheese baklava ($1), which replaces nuts with soft cheese. If you take it home, be sure to stick it in the oven briefly to reheat the cheese.

Both the sweets and savories pull from the proprietors’ upbringing in Jordan by Palestinian parents. As with so many in the Palestinian diaspora, they have not been able to visit their home country, but their parents brought their culinary traditions with them to Jordan, and now the children cook the same food on this quiet street in The Bronx.

Grill House is a fifteen minute walk from the Bromx Zoo’s Bronx River Parkway entrance (and not too far from the 2 and 5 trains), making for a great post-zoo dining option. Assuming that it has stopped snowing, which as of this writing is not the case.

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

VAN NEST Bronx

1991 Bronxdale Avenue

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World NYC is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better and you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World NYC is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE or click here to send PayPal donation, no account is necessary. Thank you!

Al-Aqsa Bakery & Restaurant

PALESTINE 🇵🇸

There seems to be quite a lot of turnover in Bay Ridge over the last two or three years. One of the closings that hit hardest was Alexandrina Seafood Restaurant, source of some the freshest and tastiest fish in town. Over the winter of 2017-2018, it abruptly shut down and was replaced by the very unappealing chain Gyro Mania. With all the better options around, this establishment did not last long and from those ashes has emerged the wonderful Al-Aqsa Bakery & Restaurant.

By far not the first place to use this name, it is an immediate suggestion of the proprietors' homes in Jerusalem. The namesake is the third holiest site in Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located in the old town. It is crucial to Muslim life in the city and all of Palestine though, the destination of Muhammed and his night journey (al-Isra) spoken of in the Quran.

To see this name on the brand new awning at the same address of Alexandrina makes it hurt a little less, as did walking inside to the smells, activities, and hospitality. If you come in seeking only takeout orders, as many do, please do not miss the opportunity to walk towards the back and check out the baking go on.

Baskets full of different types of breads, pre-packaged containers of cookies, and all kinds of pastries sold by weight are all made here by the skilled bakers, as are stacks of breads available for purchase. A gigantic oven sits at the back, and if you are too shy to peek around the corner just ask to use the restroom and you will have to walk by. The oven fills the restaurant with intense heat, and the man rolling and tossing dough for flatbread sheets called laffa (or taboon) looks just like a pizzaiolo.

The cooking surface of the oven rotates and allows multiple items on at once. Not wanting to stand out like tourists, a Palestinian woman customer finally confirmed the special qualities of the oven and process when she started a Facebook live as laffa was being thrown in the air and onto the oven. It is worth sweating a little bit at the tables near the back of the restaurant just to be around the bakery for enough time to see everything that goes on here.

For each event that took place, two more questions came to mind, but the people that worked here were all very receptive to these and made sure to explain everything, happy to have a chance for their foods to shine.

A selection of cookies for $3.24, sold by weight.

One of these questions turned into an enjoyable addition to the meal, a full loaf of ka'ak (below), which the man here referred to as "Jerusalem bread" and recommended wholeheartedly. Other customers were coming in and grabbing multiple loaves, bagged separately and ready for purchase as we were eating.

"This bread is straight from Jerusalem!" was stated at least five times during our stay and it could be felt how significant this was to him. Even in Palestine the bread is unique to the city, travelers from other parts buy many loaves to bring as gifts to their friends and family. The crust is soft and covered in sesame seeds, the bread inside even softer and so light. Despite being almost a meter long before cutting, it is not heavy and feels like it might float away.

No matter what, the ka'ak is a great addition to the meal and should be an automatic order to replace the simple pita when ordering some of their dips.

But let's back up to the beginning now that you know what lies ahead at the end. To get to the rear you must first traverse the main preparation station and a healthy spit of chicken shawarma, which most customers seem to be ordering. You can have the sandwich on simple pita, upgrade to laffa, or go the route of what they call a hero, a hearty loaf of bread also covered with sesame seeds (see photo at end of article).

Add fries ($2 when added to sandwich) to eat it in true Arabic style. The chicken shawarma on laffa ($6.99, below) can be customized up front, also a tradition worth watching so you can replicate the other customers. A table of choices for sandwich additions can satisfy the tastes of any customer, with fresh vegetables and pickles ready to be added.

Served to the specifications of the house, the sandwich is full of onions and a mustardy sauce, quite different than the standard garlic sauce and pickles found on most, but thoroughly enjoyable. If you threw in some citrus and spice, the sauce could almost replicate those found on West African meat dishes, but this remains comfortable on shawarma despite its surprise.

As mentioned above, the ka'ak deserves to be dipped, and the perfect plate for this is their musabaha ($6.99, below), a hummus upgrade that uses whole chickpeas and is topped with chopped garlic and sumac. Full of lemon juice, the dish is sharp to the tongue, while the spices and oils round out the flavors as you start chewing. Wonderful.

When the falafel ($2.99 for 6) arrived, the simple tahini seemed disposable and dips kept returning to the musabaha.

As with any respectable falafel maker, these vegetarian balls of goodness are formed and fried to order. Turn around at your seat and you might catch them quickly being created on the special tool before getting plopped in the hot oil. The end result are perfect, light and airy, and reminiscent of another Palestinian chef in the neighborhood that is now long gone.

Despite your oncoming food coma, make sure to grab a selection of some of their cookies and pastries before leaving. When that feeling of needing something sweet comes to you later in the day, these delicious selections will bring it all full circle. Each cookie has a different quality, but all are handsome and made with care and craft.

Al-Aqsa is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood, and worth coming to even for those living far away. Keep your groups at four as space is a bit limited, but you will want some friends with you so you can sample as much as possible.

[UPDATE 05 OCTOBER 2019: A quick return for something different]: Having gravitated straight back to the tried and true favorites on a couple return visits, it took another recent trip to try the mix platter ($12.99, above), a combination of three meats, salad, and rice.

As you already know the chicken shawarma is excellent, but the chicken kebab and kofta both were just as tasty. Served with various pickles and over a bed of onions, the plate is quite a good deal.

Loaves for "heros" and hard-boiled eggs.

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

BAY RIDGE Brooklyn
6917 5th Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Al-Basha Restaurant

LEBANON 🇱🇧
PALESTINE 🇵🇸
SAUDI ARABIA 🇸🇦

Al-Basha is already a neighborhood favorite, no secret to anyone in Paterson. Along with the many middle eastern families and business lunches we saw on a Tuesday, locals of all stripes were coming in to enjoy what we discovered was a fantastic restaurant. The awning reads "Middle Eastern & Lebanese Cuisine" while the owner hails from Palestine. Their menu runs the gamut.

They were a little overwhelmed at the peak of lunch time, but this may have been due to a surprise visit from the health department that some of the employees had to cater to in the kitchen. Regardless, they handled it well and were always friendly. Our meal was only delayed slightly, and well worth the wait.

Lunch seems like a great time to come here, as they have a daily rotating specials menu that has interesting items each day. The national dishes of many countries of the Levant make an appearance. On Mondays, Palestinian dajaj musakhan, Tuesday has Saudi kabsa and Egyptian mloukhieh, Friday has Jordanian mansaf. While not national dishes, Yemeni mendi and Palestinian makloubeh show up on different days. While these versions may not adhere strictly to the cooking styles of each of those countries, you get the point. I actually looked at AirBnB listings in the area, thinking I could stay for a week and try everything.

Before our mains arrived, a plate of pickled turnips came, along with lovely bitter green olives. Seen above is also our plates of tabbouleh, one of which was not ordered. Generosity was not in question throughout our meal.

The restaurant has a fresh juice bar at the front and my ayran (below) came in one of their cups.

To get a general sense of the restaurant's "regional" appeal, we ordered one relatively unadventurous and ubiquitous plate, the beef shawerma ($11.99, below) which comes standard with hummus, baba ghanouj, and Turkish salad. Even without tasting anything else, we would have known the place was special. The hummus is drop dead delicious, smooth and glorious in every way. Also smooth and creamy, the baba ghanouj has a slight tang that might be mistaken for sour cream but certainly could not be.

The meat might have taken second fiddle to these meze, but even it warrants praise. The knifed-off slices from the spit come with charred crispy ends and plenty of juiciness inside. The marinade is wonderful. I'm running out of superlatives with an even more delicious plate still to come!

Tuesday specials had three options, but I was most struck by the kabsa ($11.99, below), a dish named for the rice and spices and served throughout the region. It's origins are in Saudi Arabia, where it is considered the national dish.

The rice is infused with plenty of cumin and even pine nuts for a slight crunchiness that is excellent. They serve the dish with chicken here, a full half bird. The spices used are also superlative heavy, and the skin comes crisp. The only problem is getting pieces of that skin in every bite, but even without the meat of the bird is somehow so moist throughout. A really amazing dish.

I specifically remember the words "Holy Shit!" coming from my mouth after the first few bites.

[UPDATE: A couple photos from a January 2017 visit]

Al-Basha mazzah $15.99 around eggplant salad $6.99 (center)

If you have never tried mhamarah (above, bottom center), a hot pepper dish using Aleppo peppers and originally from that city, please try it here. It is divine.

Al-Basha small platter $17.99

🇱🇧🇱🇧🇱🇧🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
PATERSON New Jersey

1076 Main Street

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World NYC is and always has been free. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better and you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World NYC is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE or click here to send PayPal donation, no account is necessary. Thank you!

Nablus Sweets

PALESTINE 🇵🇸

I would expect more sweets vendors on 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge, a street dominated by Middle Eastern shops and restaurants. The community apparently only needs one full place though, and that is Nablus. The shop is run by a Palestinian family, but baklava is similar through the region so to my taste, I cannot distinguish it from a Syrian place.

Nablus advertises a kenefa that they seem to be known for, a popular sweet cheese dessert. We came for baklava though, priced by weight. I asked for $10 worth (the last bill in my pocket), and noticed the plate above came out to $11 and change when he weighed it, but was given the upgrade without hesitation.

After visiting what was probably the best sweets shop in the world, it is easy to notice slight variations in quality when eating other baklava. The pieces here are very syrupy, as the honey all settles down at the bottom, making for a very sticky and heavy snack. That being said, this tray came home with me and I had no trouble finishing it all. My Latin American eating comrade also gobbled everything up in front of her. We give our blessing.

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

BAY RIDGE Brooklyn

6812 5th Avenue

 

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World NYC is and always has been free. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better and you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World NYC is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE or click here to send PayPal donation, no account is necessary. Thank you!

[CLOSED] Falafel Damascus Gate

PALESTINE 🇵🇸

[UPDATE OCT 2015: CLOSED]
[UPDATE AUG 2014: Name change on awning to Falafel Damascus Gate]

In Jerusalem, Bab al-Amoud, one of many gates to the ancient city, goes by many names. This restaurant in Bay Ridge takes at least two of these, the old Arabic above on the awning and the English "Damascus Gate" is written on their menus. For the sake of not confusing people into thinking this is a Syrian restaurant, I will use the former. The owner, originally from the Eastern part of Jerusalem (Palestine) has used the name as a reference to home.

The storefront restaurant is more spacious than it appears from the outside, with a large preparation kitchen, steam table, spit, and friers, as well as a few tables along the wall and in the back for seating. A covered woman was quietly eating in the back when I arrived, otherwise my late lunch had no dining companions.

The chicken on the spit looked very tempting, so I immediately ordered a chicken shawarma ($5, above), which is placed in a pita more in the style of a Turkish donor or Greek gyro. The meat comes very succulent and fatty, in a good way, and the pita is full of wonderfully fresh and crisp vegetables.

Although this can was made in the United States, and Vimto ($1.50, below) originated in the United Kingdom, it has most of its sales in the Arab world. The soda says "fruit flavored" but I would put the taste closer to bubble gum than anything.

Shortly after sitting down, I altered my order slightly to add a small plate of falafel ($2, below). These little guys are small and perfect, handsomely fried with a great crispy exterior while admirably mushy and green inside. If you order falafel anywhere in the world, you should never be given pieces that are already made, and I was happy that he fried them for me here. It may not be grounds for arrest, but giving someone already fried falafel in Jerusalem would most certainly be a deal breaker.

The star of the show.

I had no room to try desserts, but a separate case full of trays (above and below) displayed all the homemade sweets. Next time I will probably take a few of these good looking treats home.

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
BAY RIDGE Brooklyn

6742 5th Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC: