Królewskie Jadło

POLAND 🇵🇱

Greenpoint location.

It is always enjoyable to sneak in the door through the two armed knights guarding the entrance, into the medieval-themed dining hall. Explore the traditional menu much deeper than pierogies and kielbasy to find how complex Polish cuisine can be. This is literally "royal food" as the name translates, and it feels that way once you're full.

The last few times I have dined at this restaurant, it has taken place at their Ridgewood branch. This neighborhood has taken over as the main Polish concentration, especially along Fresh Pond Road.

Ridgewood location.

On weekdays, this location has a very economical lunch special (below) that gives you a choice of soup and entree for $11, and guarantees to stick to your ribs.

I recently paired the sour pickle soup known as ogórkowa (above) with the hunter's stew bigos (below) which comes with a side of mashed potatoes. Both dishes are spot on, like most everything in the restaurant.

Don't forget a half liter of Żywiec lager to wash everything down.

🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
GREENPOINT Brooklyn

694 Manhattan Avenue

RIDGEWOOD Queens
66-21 Fresh Pond Road

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Danish Seaman's Church Christmas Fair

DENMARK

Open-faced sandwiches and pastries were the name of the game at this annual festival. These have switched from the Zion Lutheran German Church on Henry Street over to a larger cafeteria space in the Plymouth Church on Hicks Street, still in Brooklyn Heights. The larger photos are from there in 2014, the smaller versions from the 2008 event.

At the actual Danish Seaman's Church, nearby on Willow Street, they offer hot dogs, gløgg, and Carlsberg, as well as æbleskiver, of which the powdery remnants of sugar can be found everywhere inside and outside the brownstone.

Røde pølser ($4, above) are boiled in water that has bacon and garlic. Toppings include ketchup, mustard, remoulade, chopped raw onions, fried onions, and sweet pickles. The variety of tastes and textures is the most enjoyable part of this creation. Grillpølser, the grilled version, are also available.

Reje madand Frikadeller.

Frikadeller and Flaeskesteg.

æbleskiver

Nisse!

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn
Danish Seaman's Church
102 Willow Street

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.]

🇬🇾🇬🇾🇬🇾
SOUTH OZONE PARK Queens
122-21 Rockaway Boulevard

La Delicia en Pandebono y Cholados

COLOMBIA 🇨🇴

[UPDATE: CLOSED]

As the completely tempting sign in the front suggests, the pan de bono ($1.25) here is without question good. This is one of the only places that comes close to making it as good as the Brazilians make their pão de queijo. A couple here and two tamales from the ladies across the street near Roosevelt make for a perfect meal.

🇨🇴🇨🇴🇨🇴
JACKSON HEIGHTS Queens
40-23 82nd Street

Hummus Place

ISRAEL 🇮🇱

Old East Village storefront, location no longer open.

On a recent visit, we arrived just before a downpour and watched as many passersby took refuge under the awning outside. We were dry and had our minds on the food making such delicious smells in maybe my new favorite non-Japanese place in the East Village. Hummus Place is both comfortable and warm. There is really not much of a selection here, but that is no problem because what they focus on here is done very well. A trip would be incomplete without the delicious shakshuka ($6.95), a stew of tomatoes and vegetables with two eggs. Add the cheese chunks for $2 more, worth all 200 pennies. One of these and a hummus appetizer is plenty sufficient to feed two people, making a very economical meal.

🇮🇱 🇮🇱 🇮🇱
UPPER WEST SIDE Manhattan
305 Amsterdam Avenue


WEST VILLAGE Manhattan
71 7th Avenue

Pacificana

CHINA

A vast, dim sum factory, perfectly located nearby to the 8th Avenue N train stop in the heart of Brooklyn's Chinatown. Probably wise to show up before 11 on weekends if you want to wait less than 30 minutes. Bring a big group, and prepare not to pay any more than $15 per person in the end. Try your best to nab a table near the kitchen, where all the food carts and servers are bringing out fresh things and you can get first dibs.

Like most places in all of New York City's Chinatowns, the chefs rotate and the restaurant goes through peaks and valleys of goodness. I have found that over the years the consistency here is one of the best.

SUNSET PARK Brooklyn

813 55th Street

[CLOSED] Tuck Shop

AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺

[UPDATE: CLOSED]

A great little place for pastries both salty and sweet, of the Australian variety. Who knew? The big board tells you what is on offer, and the proprietor is more than happy to help with suggestions. One of the more interesting desserts, lamington ($3), is a sponge cake with strawberry jam filling, covered in chocolate and rolled in coconut. The meat pies, similar only in size to English pies, are all $5 and make a nice quick lunch.

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
EAST VILLAGE Manhattan

68 1st Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

New Belacan Restaurant

MALAYSIA

Another Chinese-run Malaysian restaurant in a city full of them, with the food to match. This place is friendly enough, has passable roti canai and is nice and cheap. Vegetarians beware, it is supremely hard to find a dish without some sort of meat in it here.

SUNSET PARK Brooklyn

5918 8th Avenue

Tu Sabor Latino

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 🇩🇴

[UPDATE: Original post updated July 2018]

When we first came here ten years ago, our simple words were:
"All hail the chicken, as it is roasted to perfection. The tender meat falls right off the bone and is simply delicious. The rice and beans are so-so, atmosphere lively, although a bit intimidating for women in the evenings most likely as groups of men and many empty Corona bottles populate each table."

Many things have changed in a decade, but families are still coming here for the chicken. What used to be one small storefront has expanded to the next property and did a complete renovation to combine the two spaces. There is still an area for takeout orders which is constantly full, and now a dining area to seat 20 or 25 people comfortably. As compared to 2008, quite a bit larger percentage of folks walking by did not grow up in the neighborhood.

Those groups that come to drink together still come in the evening and now have a full bar to enjoy in addition to beer buckets.

Many interesting things happen on the daily specials menu, which has a lot of overlap but sees a few unique options each day. On Saturdays, try the cocido ($5, above, small), a Dominican-style cow foot soup that is incredible. This small bowl had three bone slices included and was as rich and fatty as can be. Bacon, carrots, potatoes and macaroni all make the soup even heartier.

Also on the Saturday menu but probably available any day is a portion of pernil ($8, below, small), slow roasted pork shoulder that includes plenty of fat and crispy skin. This plate is considered small and includes a mountain of rice and bowl of red beans.

While the sign outside now reads "Latino's Bar & Grill Restaurant" rather unnecessarily, the menu inside still reads the original name, and so we will keep it here as Tu Sabor Latino.

🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS Manhattan

3864 Broadway

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!

SanuRia Restaurant

INDONESIA 🇮🇩
MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

A couple sharp turns and a very narrow street makes for an undriveable little block of Chinatown, a welcome respite from the noise and traffic plaguing most of the area. On lovely and quiet Doyers Street, sits somewhat of a hidden gem: Sanur Restaurant [UPDATE: SanuRia seems to be the name now, much of the rest is the same], which awaits down a very narrow and very steep flight of stairs.

The staircase is adjacent to the upstairs takeout, a much busier spot full in this visit with lunch seekers. Down the stairs is a much more tranquil environment, where the noises from upstairs are still audible, but muffled. The biggest distraction though in this subterranean environment is the fact that every surface is covered with another busy pattern, from the plates, to the walls, to the tablecloths.

We're here for the food though, and the restaurant proclaims proficiency in both Malaysian and Indonesian food, and from our servers conversations, we detect both will be leaning Chinese, as both countries have a rich tradition of immigration and "fusion" cuisine from these many generations of immigrants. We are only two today, but feel like sampling many things and naturally gravitate towards the appetizers, ordering rujak, and two types of roti. The rotis ($1.95, above) are pretty standard and good, although not extraordinary, their accompanying curries above average. Personally I prefer my roti canai a little thicker. The rujak ($4.75, below) was new to me, described as "Fruits in a spicy Malaysian sauce" on the menu, and arrived looking amazingly appetizing. Unfortunately it sat mostly uneaten by the end of the meal, as the sauce was somehow fishy and just did not compliment fruit at all.

Our one main course was the always interesting gado gado ($4.95, below), which in this restaurant's version was served somewhat like nachos. I was expecting a much different plate, but by the end had been converted and was enjoying it just as much as other versions of the ubiquitous Indonesian staple.

One of the highlights of the night was the check at the end of the meal, coming to less than $20 for two including the tip. As far as Indonesian food goes, one might stick to Elmhurst for now, but we look forward to exploring the Malaysian side of the menu here at Sanur a little further.

The old awning.

🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩🇲🇾🇲🇾🇲🇾
CHINATOWN Manhattan

18 Doyers Street

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Upi Jaya

INDONESIA 🇮🇩

There are many reasons why the borough of Queens is so amazing, and on this late August Sunday, Indonesian goodness was the proof. First we spent a short 15 minutes or so at the Al-Hikmah Indonesian Mosque in Astoria, perusing the sweets, finger foods, and ready-made lunches served to happy patrons, who must miss the food from home very much. My Indonesian friend left the simple "food bazaar" with a bag full of things to take home. I could not leave empty handed, and picked up some lemper ayam, sticky rice and shredded chicken wrapped in a banana leaf, and a couple pastel, which could have been mistaken for any number of Latin American country's empanadas. After we were satisfied, it was time for the 45 minute walk to Elmhurst, and Upi Jaya, our destination for the day.

After the warm trek, we met up with three more friends to explore the menu here as best we could.

The first item to our table was the beautiful tahu goreng ($2.50, above), a fried tofu that only came alive when eaten with the accompanying hot green chili peppers. This simple dish is a favorite of school children for lunches, and cooked by food vendors outside. Shortly after, came the fried chickens, a favorite of our friend. Both the ayam goreng padang ($6.50, below, left), and ayam goreng kalasan ($6.75, below, right) were certainly tasty, but did not set Indonesia above or apart from any number of other fried chicken varieties. The spiced sauce that arrived with them was the most interesting, and probably different for each restaurant and cook.

Three of us could not say no to the delightful sounding es campur ($3, above), a collection of shaved ice, palm fruit, jackfruit slices, and shredded coconut. After our appetizers settled a bit, our main selections arrived first with the sayur daun singkong ($5.75, not pictured), a curry-like coconut milk based dish that went excellently with the rice. The sauce was pleasantly tangy and delicious enough that the five of us were fighting for the last portions left in the bowl. We had earlier decided to "splurge" on the ikan pepes ($18, below), a red snapper that required special time to prepare, but was worth the time and wait. Its green chili marinade was delicious, although I might ask for it to be cooked slightly less next time.

Our final dish was the gado gado ($6.50, below), which was initially forgotten by our server, but added at our insistence. An Indonesian staple for sure, it is one of my favorite dishes, and this version did not disappoint. The peanut sauce was milder than normal, but had layer after layer of taste inside.

I look forward to returning to try some of the other interesting items on the menu, and omitting the fried chickens to make room for something more exotic and new, especially the soups.

🇮🇩 🇮🇩 🇮🇩
ELMHURST Queens

76-04 Woodside Avenue