My friend Ben has moved back to New York, from LA. Last week we celebrated his arrival by eating at Cheburechnaya (see Ben's blogging of this). Yesterday we went to Jackson Heights, and tried two places I've never been, "Desi Chinese Palace", and "Maharaja Sweets and Snacks". At the former, an outpost of the omnipresent "Kebab King", we had some tandoori beef called Bihari (which I've never seen before), and the typical Desi Chinese-style "Cauliflower Manchurian". They also had another type of cuisine I've never seen before, but it was not currently ready yet. The owner described it as huge meatballs, although there seemed to be some items of that cuisine that could not fit that description, such as steamed chicken. Everything was excellent except for the service, which was fairly awful. At the sweet shop, we got a selection of Indian sweets, and some Bhel Puri. One of my co-workers, on trying that dish for the first time at another restuarant, said that Bhel Puri was like "wet, spicy trail mix". Looking at their menu, it seems full of wonderful vegetarian dishes - several types of Chaat, a Chana Masala with pomegranate, three types of Dal, including a black dal, and many other items. I'm going to have to go back there. Finally, we had a Paan, a betel leaf wrapping a variety of ingredients, including a seed mixture, a rose water-based paste, coconut, and two types of betelnut. Wonderful, and only a dollar.
Posted by ahyatt at February 14, 2005 08:58 AM