BANGLADESH 🇧🇩
The words "haat" and "bazaar" can be somewhat redundant in the sense that in South Asia a haat is an outdoor market that happens frequently. Often I would see towns in Bangladesh named after the more popular ones. Traders might travel to various locations in their region on each day of the week. For local people, this was their chance to get products and produce that were not made or grown in the village or town hosting the haat.
In Jackson Heights, Haat Bazaar has the same basic concept with half the establishment full of South Asian groceries and spices and always busy. The other half is dedicated to a Bangladeshi steam table restaurant. When I first moved to New York City, the neighborhood was known for good cheap Indian food that some people from Manhattan might even travel to, nowadays the South Asian neighbors like Nepal and Bangladesh are better represented here, although good sweet shops are still around.
Nothing is really labeled here (the label above is for beef kala bhuna, below for the fish dish called chital maach), but the staff is happy to answer any questions. Usually these will consist of one word responses with the type of meat involved, but everything is on display and certain items will catch your eye more than others. If you plan on trying many things, ask for very small portions of each or you might end up getting far too much food.
No Bangladeshi meal is complete without some bhorta, usually mashed vegetables spiced with mustard oil, chilis, garlic, and onions, amongst other things. These can be eaten alone or in between bites of other items, as their intensity might be too strong for some.
After the massive order was made, the table had trouble carrying everything at once.
Everyone raved about that beef kala bhuna, the dried dark beef in the lower far right of the photo above. As we went along and tasted each dish, there were nods of the head and looks of satisfaction. Haat Bazaar was doing a Bangladeshi feast very well. If anything was not up to par, it was oddly the biryani, which seemed off on this day.
Dessert options are available here as well, and recommended. Even after a feast, the sweet tooth must get taken care of and Haat Bazaar is ready to take care of it.
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