Chawlas2

INDIA 🇮🇳

COVID-19 UPDATE: Chawlas2 is takeout only for the moment, but there is a triangle park on the same block with convenient benches for would-be outdoor diners. You can also order online through their website.

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

Chawlas2 is not the second of two restaurants, as you might guess from the name, but is rather the first US outpost of a chain that started in 1960 in Uttar Pradesh, a province in northern India near Punjab. The location is somewhat inauspicious, at the far edge of Queens near JFK. Despite the cars whizzing by on Rockaway Boulevard, the restaurant draws repeat diners from the neighborhood and across Brooklyn and Queens.

Chawla’s signature dish cream chicken ($11.99, below) is a variation on butter chicken, with the gravy bolstered by cream and green cardamon, and all the red parts omitted. The seasoning is sublime, and a nice contrast to the usual over-the-top fireworks of Indian flavor profiles. It goes best with plenty of naan or rice.

Speaking of naan, keema naan with gravy ($7.49) is a real standout from the sides menu. The naan is stuffed with seasoned ground chicken and served with a container of mutton gravy. There’s no chunks of meat in the gravy, but the flavor leaves no doubt that sheep were involved in the preparation.

Also on the sides menu are several chaats, Indian and Pakistani snacks that combine various contrasts: hot and cold, sweet and tangy, soft and crunchy. Chawla’s samosa chaat ($6.49, not shown) is a strong rendition of a great dish, with chopped-up samosas topped with chickpeas, potato, yoghurt, and the dueling chutneys of mint and tamarind. Pani puri are off the menu for the moment, presumably because they lose their crunch in takeout form, but papri chaat ($6.49, below) fills in nicely, with the samosas replaced with fried crackers.

There is a range of tandoori items, and both meat and vegetable curries, though vegetarians in the neighborhood might be better off down the block at Satguru Sweets, which has a full menu of veggie items. Chawlas’ chili mushrooms ($10.99, above) reflect Uttar Pradesh’s proximity to the borders with Nepal and Tibet, with the chili gravy more reminiscent of familiar Chinese dishes than most Indian food.

Chawlas2 is just off the Van Wyck Expressway, on a three-block stretch of businesses that includes four Indian restaurants, a Guyanese restaurant, a Guyanese-Chinese restaurant, two Jamaican restaurants, a Chinese-Thai-Indian restaurant, and more. Stop at Chawlas2 for the cream chicken and keema naan, and then maybe add a dish or two from one of the other restaurants down the block. The connections built between peoples by geography and immigration are present in the menus, and we very are privileged in New York to have access to all of these cuisines in such close proximity to one another. Maybe dropping your friend off at JFK doesn’t have to be such a chore after all.

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SOUTH OZONE PARK Queens

131-19 Rockaway Blvd.

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Caleta 111 Cevicheria

PERÚ 🇵🇪

It is hard to imagine Caleta 111 in a couple months from now, after the predictable New York Times review comes out and this tiny corner space under the J train in Richmond Hill is bursting with humanity. Will the sea-blue walls be able to contain everyone hungry for some of the best ceviche in town?

The colorful walls are the new home of Chef Luis Caballero, who has previously cooked in Lima and most recently in Williamsburg at Llama Inn. He still wears his chef coat from Raymi, an upscale Peruvian restaurant in Midtown. No doubt he did excellent work at all of them, but he seems at home and completely at ease in his new Queens cevicheria, leading a small team in the execution of everything.

While small is definitely a theme that comes back again and again here, forego any open tables in the back and grab a seat at the bar. The kitchen is right in the front window, so all of the action is right here. But better yet, this is a guaranteed way to get involved, as Chef Caballero is a very talkative man and will make sure you are happy.

Despite having opened on the 21st of September last year, the restaurant still has that new car smell. Rhythms and moods are not established yet, they are still selling themselves to newcomers. Everyone is friendly, but by the end of the meal, the chef will have asked you about all your travels in Perú and any previous experiences with the food.

For now at least, the limited menu only focuses on the sea. There is no chifa food here, nor are there rotisserie chickens, but you will not miss either. Even the desserts which do have a spot on the menu have not quite arrived yet, although were promised soon. What is on the menu and what you will come here for first is ceviche, available in three individual ways (fish, shrimp, and seafood) and two mixes, one of which is customized by the patron if desired.

To get your taste buds kicking, a dish full of roasted Peruvian corn (above) will arrive before the main attractions. As you would in Perú, pair this with a glass of their house-made chicha morada ($4, not shown), by far the nicest in the city. This Andean-origin drink made from culli, or purple corn, is just the right amount of sweet while full of the tastes of fruit, cinnamon, and cloves.

For the standards of New York City, a place where you usually must spend ungodly amounts of money for seafood that does not seem old or from a freezer, this ceviche de corvina ($21, above) is damn near perfect. The thick chunks of of corvina, a fish found in the Pacific waters of Central and South America and beloved for ceviche, are "cooked" just right. Not too little, not too much. You could almost tell before putting it in your mouth how good it was going to be.

Chef Caballero's special sauce blend is sometimes served in shot glasses on the side, more as presentation than anything because the liquid would travel to other parts of the plate, but this ends up being a great way to eat. Some bites can be dipped for more lime tartness, some can remain more basic. Paired with pieces of a lovely sweet potato, crispy plantain chips, and big pieces of hominy, it is hard to go wrong. Even the seaweed garnish is from Perú, and delicious.

There is an option to pair your ceviche with either one of three seafood causas, a dish prepared with what becomes something of sculpted mashed potatoes, or arroz con mariscos ($21, above), which can in a pinch be compared to a seafood paella. Even the big, meaty clams are as fresh as ever, again requiring a re-grounding when remembering you are eating this in New York City.

Besides the rice, clams, mussels, octopus, and shrimp, the entire bowl is spiced throughout with ají panca, a deep reddish-brown pepper beloved in Perú. This mild punch is balanced with a bit of Peruvian beer as well, but the rice is still much less "wet" than most paellas.

The prices listed above are for individual orders of each dish, but the combos are a flat $35.

Chef Luis Caballero in his comfort zone.

As you can see with the logo, netting, a ship wheel, and serving dishes shaped like whales, the point here is to remain safely away from dry land. The maritime theme is duplicated on almost everything. Despite the J train rumbling overhead, when summer comes, the front of the shop is open to the street, and warm humid air makes it way to your table, life might seem like it is headed in the right direction.

Don't despair if you have found yourself seated at the back with those "premium" seats at the bar full. When the chef has a moment to spare between orders, he quickly makes his way back to hear from his customers, whether they be friends or strangers.

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RICHMOND HILL Queens

111-27 Jamaica Avenue

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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.

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Good Hope Restaurant

GUYANA 🇬🇾

Talk long enough with people from Guyana, and the topic of conversation will likely somehow come to a point of pride they have with their ability to drink you under the table. There may be cultures we more stereotypically associate with alcohol consumption, but there may be no people more enthusiastic about this "gift." While cricket is the sport on TV, drinking is such a culture in the country that "sporting" has become slang for the act.

In the capital Georgetown, before it gets late and parties move to places like Original Palm Court, a lot of drinking takes place in Chinese restaurants. These offer the best of both worlds, plenty to drink and Indo-Caribbean style Chinese food which is fabulously popular. These habits have directly transplanted themselves with the Guyanese population in and around Ozone Park and Richmond Hill as well, as thoroughfares like Liberty Avenue are densely packed with establishments just like back home.

As far as a casual visitor is concerned, Good Hope Restaurant is always full of "sporting," and seemingly near or over capacity at all times of day and night. It was a place to seek refuge on the night of a blizzard last winter, but even then not even a stool at the bar could be found to rest weary (and wet) feet.

But stand around for a bit after ordering a beer and something will open up. Grab a dirt cheap beer from the bar and tip a couple bucks and the ladies here will immediately start taking care of you. The scene is raucous and might spin at first with the soundtrack of Bollywood and its Caribbean offshoot chutney at volumes that make everyone have to raise their voices, but give it a few minutes for your body to find its rhythm within the walls here and the music will eventually seem ideal.

By the time your first order arrives, a booth or at least a seat at someone else's will have most likely opened up and you can sit and enjoy plates like pepper chicken lo mein (above). Lo mein of course has its own section on the menu at any reputable Indo-Caribbean Chinese restaurant, and you can get it topped with all manner of jerked and barbecued meats, gizzards and livers, and seafoods. The pepper chicken is always nice because it brings the heat and creates a certain pleasure mixed with the sweetness of the noodles below.

As the first dish was just about finished, the first point of contact brought a bill since she was about to leave. The damage for the plate and a Becks beer: $10. But on this occasion there was no feeling of wanting to leave, and plenty of other tables were snacking on plates of fried wonton ($5.25, above) so another tab was started. These small nuggets come with a side of sweet dipping sauce but are better alone or with a slight drizzle of the vinegar they bring to the table in clear or mustard squeeze bottles.

There are usually no female customers here, but every once in a while a confident pair will come in and meet up with friends, immediately becoming the center of attention of everyone. The community is quite large in this part of Queens but you get the sense everyone knows each other already and certainly the patrons of this restaurant are all on a first name basis.

If you are not in the mood for the spicy chicken gizzards and liver appetizer, another safe option is the cha che kai chicken ($7.50), on not just Guyanese-Chinese menus but all throughout the region. These spicy morsels are fried to a strong crisp with the skin still on. While most of it can be popped in your mouth directly, do be aware that this is bone-in chicken and you will find them here and there.

The spicy oil and peppers shine through brilliantly in the dish, which of course is best washed down with bottles of light beer readily available. In an informal poll during many trips here, Heineken is by far and away the most popular beer of the Guyanese diaspora, followed by Coors Light and Corona. You may find a Guyanese Banks Lager at some establishments up and down the strip but not here, and as you may recall from previous posts the Trini beer Carib has been sold and is awful now, worth avoiding.

Follow the "locals" and drink what they're drinking. On a most recent visit the highlights from the Cricket World Cup were showing on the restaurant's TVs but the "sporting" going on this evening was definitely more about emptying those bottles.

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SOUTH OZONE PARK Queens
121-15 Liberty Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

The Hibiscus

GUYANA 🇬🇾

In a two month long search to find Queens' best cricket bar for a story that never happened, I kept returning to The Hibiscus in South Richmond Hill. There were stories of the owner coming in long before opening time with his friends to catch a feed from somewhere on the subcontinent, the kind of thing many European expats and football fans in this country do at early opening bars so they can watch English Premier League or Italian Serie A.

The whole space is split into two parts, with the left being a bar ideal for sports. On one visit in the late afternoon, I witnessed a shift change and all the TVs were tuned into cricket replays while the music switched over to Bollywood-type tunes. Because of the dark tinted windows, you cannot see into either side, but the right is a quieter sit down restaurant and takeout counter. This was by far the most busy part of the operation on my visits mostly in the afternoon.

My recommendation at any part of the day though is to choose the door on the left and grab a seat at the bar or at one of the tables on this side. The menu is the same regardless and it just feels more alive over here even during the quiet times. You can get more traditional Caribbean foods in the "West Indian Corner" of the menu, but there is much more to it than that, the appetites of Guyanese are all over the place just like the people who live there.

A lot of the menu, like most Guyanese restaurants in this section of Queens, is devoted to Guyanese-style Chinese food, a mashup with beautiful results. The jerk pork lo mein ($11.95, below) is one of these beauties, luscious and fatty hunks of pork full of pepper and spice placed right on top of overly sweet western-style lo mein noodles.

The combination works well, and so do the rest of the entrees and appetizers that toe this line. Every country with Chinese immigrants (probably every country in the world?) has their own versions of tweaked Chinese foods to cater to local tastes, and Guyanese is up there in the running for the best.

Despite being told by the bartender up at Palm Court of Guyana that Carib Lager had been sold and was not good anymore, I ordered one here just to confirm and this was proven true. The popular Trini beer had lost its way. Also available are super sweet West Indian sodas like the one below, a creamy sorrel that definitely screams to be poured over ice to thin it out.

Sweet things seem to be part of the ride here though, as on top of this food and drink I watched a man come in on my last visit to quickly drink a Grand Marnier on the rocks and take back off. That was new.

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SOUTH RICHMOND HILL Queens

124-18 101st Street

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Kaieteur Sports Bar

GUYANA 🇬🇾

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GUYANA 🇬🇾 BARBADOS 🇧🇧 Dispatch from Richmond Hill, Queens: 📸 (1) One cold Banks Caribbean Lager (2) Lefferts Blvd facade. ° Banks Brewery was the idea of a Guyanese businessman, but a short six years after it's conception in 1955, another Banks Brewery he created in Barbados also started brewing the beer and quickly separated from the original. For decades, competition and copyright problems between the two companies created confusion for drinkers and mutual problems for the businesses. In 2005, the breweries of both islands came to a mutual decision to join forces once again. Banks Caribbean Lager is the most popular beer in their arsenal, available in the Caribbean, the United States, and Canada. For those curious to try it in New York City, quite a few Guyanese bars in South Queens carry the light lager. ° 📍 Kaieteur Sports Bar, 87-12 Lefferts Blvd, Richmond Hill, Queens. ℹ️ Instagram exclusive post, added to full map on website. ° ° #EattheWorldNYC #eattheworld #worldfood #worldfoods #nyceats #nycfood #nycdining #eatsofnyc #foodlovers #foodlover #instayum #instafood #instaeat #newforkcity #eatingnyc #queensny #queensnyc #queensistasty #queenseats #ediblequeens #richmondhillqueens #barbados #barbadian #bajan #bajanbeer #barbadosbeer #guyana #guyanese #guyanese #banksbeer

A post shared by Eat the World NYC (@eattheworldnyc) on Nov 10, 2018 at 6:11pm PST

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RICHMOND HILL Queens

87-12 Lefferts Blvd

Map of Eat the World NYC:

New Bahktar Afghan Halal Kababs & Gyro King

AFGHANISTAN 🇦🇫

Service and availability were still coming together when I dined here, but with mainly Latin American options in the neighborhood, New Bakhtar's "Grand Opening" is good news for this northern section of Richmond Hill. To demonstrate my point right of the bat was the non-existence of hot tea, which I was in the mood for on a rainy day. The lady just shrugged, seemed apologetic, and offered to boil some water for me.

No matter, a hot soup would warm me up, so I went for the lamb kurma ($9.99, below). While waiting, I enjoyed Arabic television with the other patrons, watching what appeared to be election results of small races in Pakistan. Two men in a back booth were given their takeout orders eventually and a group of burqa-clad women in another finished and left with their children. When my order came out, I was the only one left in the restaurant on an off-hour between lunch and dinner.

The broth of the kurma was oily and thin, in a good way, very rich. The dish comes with a plate of brown rice and fresh-baked Afghan bread (which was probably fresher during lunch). Both were good pairs for the broth, and not a single drop was left by the end of my meal. The tender lamb was so fresh I could imagine the creature must have been alive earlier that morning.

With a bigger group, I would definitely tackle a bunch of the kababs on offer, which seem to be the centerpiece of the operation from the impression I get from both awning and menu. All the dishes seem to be around $10 and come with the sides mentioned and a salad, quite a good deal for portions tough to finish.

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RICHMOND HILL, Queens

110-23 Jamaica Avenue

GT Rice Bowl

GUYANA

In this part of Richmond Hill and/or Ozone Park, it is very common to see Guyanese or Caribbean style Chinese restaurants up and down Liberty Avenue and surrounding streets. None of them are particularly mind-blowing, but for my money, GT Rice Bowl takes first prize amongst them for food and atmosphere. Come during a big cricket match and find the place packed with beer guzzling fans. Come during an evening and the place resembles a club despite its modesty. Come for lunch and find a workaday West Indian eatery catering to locals.

As a solo customer at midday, I got some stares from the groups of Coors Light drinking mothers at tables and individual men at the bar and felt slightly out of place. The woman running the show barely acknowledged me, not making it any easier, so I took a seat and tried to act like I was in my long time favorite restaurant.

She just had a couple things on her mind or something though, because after bringing me a menu was very kind and donned a smile. Eventually I could see she was just annoyed with the men at the bar that were probably nursing their 4th or 5th beer at one in the afternoon.

The menu here reads like a Chinese-Caribbean mashup, and it seemed only natural to order a rice dish since it is in the name. I went for the house special fried rice ($12.45, below) which turns out to be a mountain of food that should be able to fill two people.

The rice mountain is generously proportioned with various chunks of pork, shrimp, and crab, and is all topped with a big slab of chicken that is moist and well-seasoned. The rice is not quite as greasy as your local Chinese takeout and is definitely more fun to eat. A few weak peppers are interspersed in the mix as well, but for real heat add the fiery sauce that is on offer on every table. Be careful with this stuff though!

I have never been at night, but if you are in the area, I imagine that a group of four could settle in nicely to one of the booths with a bucket full of bottled beer and enjoy the "clubby" scene of it all. As with other places on this street, Coors Light seems to be the go to beer of the West Indian community, but they make plenty of cocktails as well.

RICHMOND HILL Queens

114-09 Liberty Avenue

[CLOSED] Caribbean Suriname Restaurant

SURINAME 🇸🇷

[UPDATE: CLOSED, keeping on page as only example of Suriname food]

When I heard of the closing of Warung Kario, the city's only Surinamese food, I was deeply saddened because not only was it unique, it was also extremely delicious. Luckily a new restaurant with owners from the same country stepped in to fill the gap. The friendly man running the show now tells me "it would be very sad if the country did not have a restaurant in the city." I could not agree more.

The previous owner was of Indonesian-Surinamese origin and her menu took that bent. The new incarnation seems more broad, taking in all the influences in the country and more general fare. The menu has definitely expanded, and it is worth asking what is good and ready on any particular visit, as we found many items on the menu were not ready, and many other specialties that were not listed could be ordered.

I arrived before the rest of my group, and the place was empty, so I decided to talk to the amazingly friendly woman running the shop. I told her we did not know much and wanted all her best recommendations for a well-rounded meal to sample the best they had to offer. She put together a perfect presentation of appetizers, a soup, and a combination of entrees that would end up stuffing us beyond capacity.

Our first item was the crispy fried fish cake ($2.75 each, above), which apparently is not the one on the menu. The center is soft, not too fishy, and comes served with an orange-yellow sauce that should be generously applied to this and other items if you do not run out.

The bakabana ($2, below, two portions shown) came next, banana fritters still soft, served with a peanut sauce. The combination really made me feel like a fancy, foreign Elvis. The fritters are just a bit on the greasy side, but the peanut sauce is so good I went for seconds.

Our third appetizer was the pasteitjes ($2 each, below), a chicken pastry with a dough thick and crispy like that of a pie. The combination of these three together with different tastes, alternating salty and sweet, made for a perfect first round. None of them were weak, and as we calmed our intense hunger, all of us shared approving glances around the table with each bite.

We completely changed gears with the soup round. Unfortunately the saoto was not cooked today, the soup I glowingly wrote about in the review of the previous restaurant. Instead we were served the Chinese tayer ($6, above, small portion), recommended again by her and not on the menu. You can certainly taste Chinese influences, but the broth is interestingly more creamy than anything you would find in China. It's a trick though, the Chinese influence is null. "Chinese tayer" is just a local translation of taro root. The dish is intensely but satisfyingly rich, and served with rice to battle that. The chicken falls off the bone just as tender as can be.

We had to jump up from the table when we saw her preparing a full plate entree for each of us during the next round. We were already at a certain level of comfort and knew it was too much, so as she was shoveling the third of four, we asked that only two full plates came out for us to share. What she did bring was a half portion of bamie, an Indonesian-influenced stir-fried noodle with roasted chicken, and a half portion of nasie goreng, their version of fried rice. The plates are $9 each, and come as a mountain. She asked me before whether everyone wanted pepper, and this was code for if we wanted it blazingly hot. I am glad I said yes.

No Surinamese meal is complete apparently without the inclusion of pom ($3 per portion, below), a dish usually cooked for festive occasions. According to Wikipedia "Without pom there is no birthday" is a popular Surinamese expression. At any rate, it is incredibly unique and much unlike anything I have tasted before. The root of the plant locally called tayer is baked with citrus juices and chicken (hidden underneath the mash). The crispy top and soft chewy interior create a wonderful texture for the country's unofficial national dish.

The menu is rounded out by a full complement of desserts if you are still hungry. They also have $2.50 beers and plenty of juices to wash it all down.

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SOUTH RICHMOND HILL Queens

128-12 Liberty Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Rockaway West Indian Roti Shop

GUYANA 🇬🇾

The Rockaway Roti Shop is one of the best places to sample the many varieties of Guyanese curries, including this goat curry ($7, below). There is a clash of cultures and spices that make a few delightful differences between the curries in the south Caribbean and those of their ancestors in India.

It takes a little walk from the nearest subway station, but buses serve Rockaway Blvd just as well. [UPDATE: This whole building has been recently made over, but the impressions are that the food remains just as tasty, if not a few dollars more expensive than in 2008.]

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SOUTH OZONE PARK Queens
122-21 Rockaway Boulevard