The Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Week

The amount of excellent food available in New York City is dizzying — even during a pandemic — yet mediocre meals somehow keep worming their way into our lives. With Eater editors dining out sometimes several times a day, we do come across lots of standout dishes, and we don’t want to keep any secrets. Check back weekly for the best things we ate this week — so you can, too.

March 28

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Indomie goreng at Warkop NYC

A warung is an Indonesian snack shop, and Hell’s Kitchen has a new one, opened in early March by Omar Karim Prawiranegara. Warkop NYC is a cheery walk-down space where the menu includes packets of dried noodles like Japanese ramen with Indonesian flavors, to which one can add a choice of eight toppings in any combination. I picked green vegetables and corned beef — the latter might not seem like an Asian ingredient, but like Spam, in canned form it has become a globe-trotting staple. The packet noodles have spicy and meaty flavors, while the corned beef shreds delightfully, adding salty notes. The greens are crisp and crunchy, and at $9 the Indomie (an Indonesian brand of dried noodles) is a full meal. 366 West 52nd Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues, Hell’s Kitchen — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Bao Ong/Eater NY

Numbing celtuce salad at Wenwen

An 8 p.m. reservation on a Friday at Wenwen meant our table had no chance of ordering the already popular, five-orders-per-night BDSM (brined, deboned, soy milk) fried chicken. But a small bowl of celtuce salad ($12) was the sleeper hit for me during a fun dinner where friends and I shared a bunch of dishes. The thick stems of the Chinese lettuce were cut into slivers that resembled mung bean noodles doused in chile oil common at many Sichuan restaurants. This version, however, was more refreshing. There’s a crunch to each bite, and the dusting of peppercorn imparted that familiar mala-tingling sensation to balance out the hints of garlic and red vinegar. This “numbing” salad, as it’s described on the menu, is definitely worth coming back for while trying more of Eater New Guard chef Eric Sze’s exciting Taiwanese cooking — maybe even that elusive fried chicken. 1025 Manhattan Avenue, between Freeman and Green streets, Greenpoint — Bao Ong, editor

Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Chopped cheese french fries at the Bodega Truck

Add chopped cheese french fries to the running list of sandwich spinoff dishes popping up across New York City. This mountain of fries from the Bodega Truck showed up on my Instagram feed over the weekend, and I decided they had to be mine. The roaming food truck specializes in chopped cheeses, and will make any of its sandwiches as a pile of french fries ($15). An employee nudged us in the direction of one topped with fried cheese, salami, and “bodega sauce” (salt, pepper, ketchup, mayonnaise, hot sauce) — on a Sunday afternoon, this hangover-busting dish hit the spot. The spuds were salty and firm enough to hold up against a mountain of toppings, but side by side, I have to say these chopped french fries were better than the sandwiches they riffed on. Parked on Metropolitan Avenue, between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street — Luke Fortney, reporter

Plate of Polish specialties at Karczma

My buddy and I tried getting into a hot new Greenpoint restaurant late last week, but after an hour of hanging around the bar it was abundantly clear they weren’t going to seat us, so we opted for plan B: hearty, affordable Polish fare at Karczma. There was no wait at the longtime neighborhood staple, decked out in rustic, farmhouse-style woods. I opted for the plate of Polish specialties, a diner-style combo platter that fans of Veselka will recognize: pierogies, potato pancakes, stuffed cabbage with tomato sauce, grilled kielbasa, and hunter’s stew ($17). Of particular note was the kielbasa, a snappy sausage sporting an assertive smokiness, and the potato pierogi, crisp golden shells hiding pockets of soft mashed potatoes. These were all pleasantly salty foils for tall glasses of cold Polish beer. I’ll be back. 136 Greenpoint Avenue, near Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint — Ryan Sutton, chief critic

Erika Adams/Eater NY

Red chicken skewers at Jai Sang Ma

I cannot tally up the amount of times over the past two years that I’ve been reminded of how much I wanted to visit a certain restaurant or bar as I’m writing or reading about its permanent closure. (Uncle Boons. Glady’s. Pegu Club. It’s a depressing list.) Northern Thai spot Lamoon in Elmhurst was one of those places — until the owners resurrected the space earlier this year as Thai skewer shop Jai Sang Ma. I dropped by this past weekend with a friend to sample a variety of skewers, including a particularly tasty stick of red chicken ($2.50; cash only) where the meat is marinated in a sticky, slightly sweet sauce and cooked over charcoal until the edges crisp up just so. Next time, I’ll come for dinner and tack on some old Lamoon favorites that the owners kept on the new menu. Welcome back to the city, team. 81-40 Broadway, at 82nd Street, Elmhurst — Erika Adams, deputy editor

Cacio e pepe rice cakes at Ssäm Bar

I’m a little over cacio e pepe now that it’s being marketed more as a flavor than simply a terrific pasta dish, especially after seeing it appear as everything from cream cheese at my local farmers’ market (not a fan) to whatever new concoction Trader Joe’s has unleashed this week. But Ssäm Bar made me a believer again — probably since their take on the dish embraces the spirit of the original. The cacio e pepe rice cakes ($52) bring a toothsome texture to the decadent sauce, which the kitchen pushes over the top with a mound of shaved perigord truffle. Bonus tip: The revamped Ssäm Bar is also a fun place to order a martini, as it actually requires paperwork — they present you a little checklist that allows you to customize everything from vermouth ratio to garnish (recommended: the pickled daikon). 89 South Street, Pier 17, Seaport — Missy Frederick, cities director

Disclosure: David Chang is producing shows for Hulu in partnership with Vox Media Studios, part of Eater’s parent company, Vox Media. No Eater staff member is involved in the production of those shows, and this does not impact coverage on Eater.

March 21

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Cuban lavash at Edith’s Eatery & Grocery

Opening in January, nearly a year after its sandwich-counter counterpart, Edith’s Eatery & Grocery seeks to expand the purview of the Jewish deli beyond the usual pastrami sandwiches and latkes. Last week, I tried the Cuban lavash ($16), a pared-down take on the classic Cuban sandwich featuring Paris-style boiled ham and Emmenthaler Swiss cheese on a toasted flatbread native to Iran, Armenia, and Western Asia. No pork roast, as in the original sandwich, is found here but there’s a pickle on the side to nibble on in between bites of the bread. All the ingredients are squished in a sandwich press, and the result is that each bite is crisp, salty, and oozing with cheese. Plenty of seating in the front and the back — the shelves lined like a museum with an international selection of groceries — encourages you to enjoy your sandwich on the premises. 312 Leonard Street, at Conselyea Street, Williamsburg — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Ryan Sutton/Eater NY

Maple Tart at Hawksmoor

The growing British steakhouse chain Hawksmoor is known, quite obviously, for its steaks, some of which are masterfully charcoal grilled and fairly priced. And if you’re looking for a stellar lobster dish in Gramercy, this is probably the first place I’d send most folks. But quite frankly, it’s also a restaurant where I’d happily visit later in the evening for a martini or two at the bar and a couple of excellent desserts. I’ve already written about the refreshing Meyer lemon bomb, but I can’t seem to stop thinking about the maple custard tart lately, perhaps because its wintery flavors remind me of the departing season. No surprises or tricks here; the tart is smooth, custardy, and screams with the sweet, woodsy, musky flavors of the namesake ingredient. I’m still eager to work my way through the rest of the dessert menu, but I’ll definitely be trying this one again. 102 East 22nd Street, near Park Avenue South, Gramercy — Ryan Sutton, chief critic

Emma Orlow/Eater NY

Lucky noodle at Thursday Kitchen

For me and my friend, Thursday Kitchen has become “our spot” ever since the restaurant’s opening in 2016. If you’ve still never been, it’s an East Village restaurant with small plates rooted in Korean cooking. It goes without saying between us that we’ll always order the edamame steamed dumplings with citrus truffle oil and parm ($12) — it’s our standby. But then we always make sure to rotate in some newer dishes. This time, we tried the lucky noodle ($14), which was a dish made up of perfectly al dente hand-torn flat noodles, that almost looked like rough cuts of white cabbage, with minced beef, lime yogurt, and fennel. There’s a really satisfying spice from the beef, that interacts really well with the creamy-yet-tart yogurt bath its in. 424 East Ninth Street, near First Avenue, East Village — Emma Orlow, reporter

Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Chile relleno burrito at Los Burritos Juarez

Growing up, the chile relleno burrito seemed simple enough. It’s cheese stuffed into a pepper stuffed into a burrito. What could go wrong? (Apparently a lot, I learned from three years of living in Brooklyn.) In Southern California, the chiles — made from poblano peppers that have been roasted, filled with cheese, battered, then fried — were usually chopped up, then stuffed into a tortilla with rice, beans, and whatever else. Done right, it’s a meat-free burrito as satisfying as any carnitas. Here, they often gloop (with too much breading) or glop (through the cracks of a store-bought flour tortilla), but this version from Los Burritos Juarez, a pop-up run out of chef Alan Delgado’s apartment, came packed with nostalgia. He encases a whole chile relleno, with a little crunch left to it, in a flour tortilla that might have been rolled to order a few minutes earlier. It’s fresh, filling, and blame it on the time apart, but I could probably eat two of them. Address disclosed after placing an order, Williamsburg — Luke Fortney, reporter

Bao Ong/Eater NY

Paella at El Quijote

I never made it to El Quijote, a Spanish restaurant inside the iconic Chelsea Hotel, before it closed almost exactly four years ago. But it’s now reopened under new ownership (Sunday Hospitality) and a bit of its past still remains, from the bright red neon sign out front to parts of the menu, including the paella. While the dish is a hefty $72, it easily fed our group of four. We polished off the crispy bomba rice topped with mussels, cockles, rabbit, and four large prawns. It was the perfect dish for sharing — after we had already devoured the tuna crudo and patatas bravas — as my friends shared stories about the former (much larger) space. The mural of Don Quixote still spans a wall, and I can see myself coming back to the cozy dining room to soak in more of the historic space. 226 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, Chelsea — Bao Ong, editor

March 14

Nat Belkov/Eater NY

Xi’an corned beef sandwich at Xi’an Famous Foods

With a nod to St. Patricks Day around the corner, Xi’an Famous Foods dropped a special menu item last week: the Xi’an corned beef sandwich. While the Irish corn their beef with a mixture of saltpeter, mustard seeds, and clove, regions of China have their own tradition that involves salt-curing brisket before stewing it slowly in a spice-laden bone broth. In Shaanxi province, especially, this fork-tender beef can be found stuffed into griddled flatbreads called roujiamo. At XFF, the braised beef is chopped, shredded, and packed into the pucks of yeasted dough with a smear of their signature chile crisp should you ask for yours spicy (and I highly recommend you do). The tender tangles of meat carry hints of five spice and coriander while drippings of the beef’s poaching broth and rendered fat saturate and soften the otherwise dense bun. Ask for a few sprigs of cilantro to act as a vegetal sounding board to the sandwich and pat yourself on the back for having just spent $6.75 on a portable meal more satisfying than most. 648 Manhattan Avenue, between Bedford and Norman avenues, Greenpoint — Nat Belkov, Eater design director

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Sopa de pescado at El Auténtico

Positively glowing in red and blue on a Woodside side street (though the address is on Broadway), El Auténtico is a Colombian lunch counter with a few tables inside — though most patrons wait in line for carryout. Check out the steam table, which displays a half dozen dishes of the day, many featuring pork or chicken. On a recent weekday at lunch, I was enticed by a fish soup that I saw lapping at the side of one of the steam table tubs, The broth — reminiscent of a French fumet — was rich with the flavors of cilantro and green onion, and all sorts of vegetables bobbed around, including yuca, plantain, and yam. Best of all, the sopa de pescado ($8) came with a made-to-order arepa that comes striped black from the grill. With its creamy interior, it was an ideal accompaniment to the soup. 47-20 Broadway, at 48th Street, Woodside — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Shrimp parm hero at Vinny’s

It was six months ago, while reporting out a story on the city’s up-and-coming smash burger scene, that I learned of this shrimp parm hero. Jamie Chester, the owner of Lower East Side burger spot Smashed, mentioned the creation during one of our interviews last fall, and a half-year later, I finally clutched one in my hands. It comes from Vinny’s, an old-school Italian restaurant that’s also home to veal, chicken, eggplant, and meatball parm sandwiches. The shrimp version isn’t actually on the menu, but ask nicely and the restaurant’s plate of fried shrimp and melty parmesan cheese can be fashioned on a roll or hero and cut into as many pieces as you need. It didn’t disappoint, although I might have wished for a side of hot sauce or marinara to cut through all the fat. 295 Smith Street, between Union and Sackett streets, Carroll Gardens — Luke Fortney, reporter

Niu Rou Mian at Eatery 19

One of the great things about spending time on Long Island is the continued presence of fantastic regional Chinese and Taiwanese fare. I’ve written about the joys of Dunhuang’s outpost here, and perhaps you’ve noticed that Eric Gao earned a James Beard semi-finalist nod for his O Mandarin in Hicksville. Zou Ji served fantastic Northeastern Chinese fare in Syosset, until it suddenly closed, but the good news is that it made way for the very good Taiwanese-themed Eatery 19. This place has everything one might expect, including a fine lu rou fan and nicely seasoned popcorn chicken, but the niu rou mian noodle soup is always what blows me away. The broth is assertively nourishing and salty, with a good hit of chiles and warming cinnamon; the noodles are firm and fat; and the generous slabs of tender beef are accompanied by wonderfully jiggly slices of tendon. The whole thing is practically enough to feed two. Not bad for $16. 19 Ira Road, near Jackson Avenue, Syosset, Long Island — Ryan Sutton, chief critic

Emma Orlow/Eater NY

Warm sansai soba at Cocoron

One of the best ways to beat the cold, when you can feel spring creeping up but it’s still in the 20s outside, is hanging out at Cocoron. Though the menu has other noodle options, soba is the move here and there are more than a dozen different variations on the menu. The restaurant takes their soba seriously: In fact, they won’t deliver it because they don’t want the noodles to get soggy. The small wam sansai noodles, which come with strips of fried tofu, scallions, and mushrooms in a clear soy sauce-based broth, are my go-to ($17.50). Upgrade the size for a dollar more. Cash only. 16 Delancey Street, near Chrystie Street, Lower East Side — Emma Orlow, reporter

Bao Ong/Eater NY

Tacos at Taqueria Sinaloense

When I stumbled across Taqueria Sinaloense, a shoebox-sized shop located below street level near a Metro North station between upper Manhattan and the Bronx, the taco lover and journalist in me found a happy medium. “Scoop!” I kept telling myself. “Surely nobody in New York food media knows about this hidden spot.” As it turns out, my intrepid colleague and Eater senior critic Robert Sietsema beat me to it — years ago. Still, I was elated to find a Mexican restaurant that could rival the ones I left behind when I moved from Jackson Heights to Inwood last year. There were fewer than 10 chairs here, and I decided to load up a to-go order of four tacos: carnitas ($3.50), al pastor ($3.50), birria ($4), and lengua ($4). The corn tortillas were generously filled with the various meats and showered with plenty (maybe a bit too much) of cheese, lettuce, onions, cilantro, and a squiggle of sour cream. It’s the comforting, belly-warming fuel I’ll need to hunt down the next taco spot in my neighborhood. 113 West 225th Street, between Marble Hill Avenue and Broadway, Marble Hill — Bao Ong, editor

Erika Adams/Eater NY

Cholgas secas at Mena

Whispers of chef Victoria Blamey’s cholgas secas, a Chilean mussel dish, were going around town well before she opened her debut solo restaurant Mena, and now I understand why. This is the kind of dish that leaves a restaurant afterglow, where you wake up thinking about it the next day. The puffy, meaty mussels — the largest I’ve ever seen, let alone eaten — are slicked in an onion glaze that lends a sweetness to both the mussels themselves and the mussel broth pooling at the bottom of the bowl. The seafood ($115 as part of a four-course set menu) is paired with cooked cabbage leaves that are singed around the edges, adding both smokiness and an extra bit of sweetness to each bite. Dame’s cucumber and mussel salad may have been the city’s winning mussel dish of 2021, but this is a contender for the crown in 2022. 28 Cortlandt Alley, near Walker Street, Tribeca — Erika Adams, deputy editor

March 7

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Polpettone at Barbuto

There was much hand wringing when Meatpacking favorite Barbuto closed (it eventually moved a few blocks over to the West Side Highway). Well, I’m happy to announce that the new place is more spacious, with incomparable sunset views on the Hudson River, and chef Jonathan Waxman still presides over the wood-burning oven, from which fly his famous roast chickens with salsa verde. As a prelude to the chicken, I went for the polpettone ($16), a massive, crunchy-and-crusty meatball cloaked in herbal and cheesy sauces, with a light coating of parmigiana that’s dusted on like freshly fallen snow. It takes some force to cut into it, but when you do, out tumbles a filling of Swiss chard, justifying your decision to order such a meaty sounding appetizer. 113 Horatio Street, at West Side Highway, Meatpacking District — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Stephanie Wu/Eater NY

Bread and dips at Zou Zou’s

Is there a better shared dish for a table than warm bread paired with various dips? Lamalo, the Middle Eastern restaurant from the team behind Breads Bakery, put me onto starting a meal this way, and now I’ve found another fantastic bread-and-dip spot at Zou Zou’s. The Mediterranean restaurant, located at the Pendry Hotel in the Manhattan West complex, serves its dips (three for $21 or all five for $31) with either raw veggies or bazlama (a Turkish flatbread). We went with the creamy whipped ricotta, savory roasted eggplant, and my favorite, a brown butter squash puree topped with toasted almonds. I barely needed an entree afterward — but still managed to polish off half a chickpea burger anyway. 385 Ninth Avenue, between West 31st and 33rd streets, Manhattan West —Stephanie Wu, executive editor

Erika Adams/Eater NY

Little tomatoes mixed with plum at So Do Fun

I ordered the tomatoes and plums ($8.95) at Chinese newcomer So Do Fun as a light preamble to more exciting main events, like the spicy crawfish and chicken flower tofu, but, it turns out, I had underestimated what was about to come out of the kitchen. The cherry tomatoes were skinned clean and dropped into a cold, clear liquid with two dried plums bobbing about. The plum-infused liquid imbued the stripped tomatoes with a fruity sweetness to the point where, if I closed my eyes, I could have tricked myself into thinking that I was eating grapes instead of tomatoes. It was a genius treatment for produce that I generally skip over when it is so far out of season in New York. 155 Third Avenue, between East 15th and 16th streets, Gramercy — Erika Adams, deputy editor

Avery Dalal/Eater NY

Big Rowdy at Rowdy Rooster

On Saturday, I dropped by Rowdy Rooster, the latest venture by Unapologetic Foods, the group behind Dhamaka, Adda, and Semma. This more casual spot is dialed in on serving an Indian twist on fried chicken. I ordered the Big Rowdy ($12), their chicken sandwich, which came as three spice-covered pieces of poultry topped with mint chutney, scallion yogurt, and pickled onions in between a bun. When ordering, you can pick one of three spice levels, and even though I got the middle option, the “Rogue” heat level, I was definitely feeling the spice. The chicken was tender and crispy, with each bite being just as satisfying as the last. I also got the potato pakora ($4) as a side, serving as their version of french fries. I am looking forward to returning, as it is some of my favorite fried chicken I’ve had during my time in New York. 149 First Avenue, between East Ninth and 10th streets, East Village — Avery Dalal, Eater audience fellow

Bernie’s chips and dip

For as many people that I know that have been to Bernie’s in Greenpoint, I am shocked none of them ever mentioned the chips and dip ($11.95) as a dish to order (or the saucy ribs!). Sure, when there’s a burger, shrimp cocktail, chicken parm, and mozzarella sticks that everyone is absolutely ordering, there are bound to be sleeper hits on the menu. The menu doesn’t offer any description aside from “chips and dip” but let me assure you, this is a creamy french onion dip singing with garlic and caramelized onions that you’ll be heaping on top of homemade chips. Like everything on the menu at Bernie’s, it’s like you’re eating at Fridays, and I mean that in the best way. 332 Driggs Avenue, at Lorimer Street, Greenpoint — Patty Diez, Eater network development manager

Bao Ong/Eater NY

Crostini di fegato at Lodi

From delis to French bistros, pate isn’t that difficult to find in New York. Still, Ignacio Mattos and his team (Estela, Altro Paradiso) manage to put a little twist on a classic so that the presentation feels new and elegant. There’s no detail spared in this order of crostini de fegato ($16). The silky liver pate is squiggled on a gently toasted piece of bread and placed atop a doily. It’s the perfect, bite-sized savory snack with a cocktail or glass of wine — which makes a good case for placing another order. 1 Rockefeller Plaza, West 49th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, Midtown — Bao Ong, editor

Emma Orlow/Eater NY

Baked goods at Archestratus

Yesterday, I stopped by cookbook shop and Sicilian cafe Archestratus for a bake sale raising funds for Ukrainian relief efforts. Customers grabbed a box and filled it up with treats made by local bakers ($3 to $7 each). I filled my box with an English muffin with marmite cream cheese, a chocolate chip cookie with coconut shreds, a pistachio cake slice, a cereal bar with pandan, as well as one of the most moist chocolate sheet cake I’ve ever had, near rivaling the coveted version at Yellow Rose. 160 Huron Street, near Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint — Emma Orlow, reporter