After selling their flan at Zabar’s, Union Market, and elsewhere in the city for years, chef Claudia Berroa and husband Richard Berroa have opened this brick-and-mortar business in the Bronx. The menu showcases Peruvian specialties like lomo saltado and pollo a la brasa, but best of all are the empanadas. Made to order, and packed with chorizo, chicharon, and other fillings ($3 to $3.50 each), critic Ryan Sutton found their golden crust to be “as light as a wonton wrapper.”

First launched as a food stall at the Queens Night Market in 2019, chef Amy Pryke is now serving her popular Singaporean noodle dishes from a small restaurant in Washington Heights. New to the brick-and-mortar storefront is the roti john sandwich, a toasted baguette sandwich made from from cumin-spiced beef, caramelized onion, and egg. In Singapore, the dish is often eaten as breakfast, but here it makes for a comforting midday meal.

From the southern tip of the Bronx, Hudson Smokehouse is serving Texas-style barbecue that ranks among the city’s best. Brisket is the top seller, and critic Robert Sietsema recommends enjoying it on a sandwich, stacked with the smokey, thickly sliced meat. A lengthy list of sides — baked beans, mac and cheese, pork cracklings, and nearly a dozen more — round out the menu.

First-rate Filipino fare arrived on the Upper East Side last summer in the form of Bilao, a restaurant from three nurses working at nearby Mount Sinai Hospital. They were reportedly looking for a place to enjoy the food of their native Philippines after their shifts and, unable to find one, ended up opening their own. The restaurant’s breakfast platters — composed of rice, egg, and sausage or fried fish — are especially good, and thankfully can be ordered for lunch, as well.

In a stretch of Hell’s Kitchen known for its Thai food, Three Roosters has managed to find its own lane. The newly opened restaurant specializes in chicken over rice, served three ways: grilled and fatty with lemongrass, fried and coated in zab seasoning, and prepared in the style of Hainanese chicken. Skip the Hainanese version for now, and opt instead for the fried chicken, whose interior critic Ryan Sutton found to be delightfully “fatty and chewy, almost like pork belly.”

From this tiny, takeout-only storefront in Astoria, owner Beatrice Ajaero tends to steaming trays of West African soups and stews. The shop excels in its egusi, a vibrant soup made from crushed melon seeds, spinach, and red pepper, though New York Times critic Pete Wells warmed up to Ajaero’s “smoldering” spicy goat stew, enriched by ginger, cayenne, and Scotch bonnet peppers.

Jianbing, a street food staple in China, is the focus at this takeout counter in Downtown Flushing. Order the crepe-like dish with a variety of fillings — spicy ramen, Peking duck, and chopped crawfish, among a half-dozen others — and wait a few minutes for it to come off the grill. The restaurant also specializes in roasted cold noodles, which are neither cold nor resemblant of most noodle dishes in the city, but are preferred over the jianbing by New York Times critic Pete Wells.

Chef Kelly Cho, the mastermind behind acclaimed Japanese curry shop Suki, expanded with this bite-sized sushi restaurant in the East Village last November. Everything at Min Sushi is priced at $15 or less, including its rice bowls, thick udon noodle soups, and dozen-or-so sushi rolls. For the indecisive: Lunch sets with udon and sushi, or udon and donburi, are available.

Em Vietnamese Bistro opened earlier this year with a dinner menu that nods to the late-night, shellfish-laden restaurants of southern Vietnam. During lunch hours, the team serves a smaller and more casual menu of pho — either chicken or beef — and banh mi, a category that includes classic versions of the sandwich, as well as baguettes stuffed with hamburger patties.

Porcelain, an Austrian cafe that debuted in 2019, has emerged from the pandemic as a destination for inventive, lunchtime fare. Chef Kate Telfeyan, an alum of the Bushwick location of Mission Chinese, began hosting her Vaguely Asian pop-up from the cafe last year, and in March, she signed on as chef. Under her stead, the restaurant serves an arsenal of Korean, Sichuanese, and Taiwanese staples, including rolled omelettes, fishcake katsu sandwiches, and butter bean crepes.

Four former Gramercy Tavern alums opened Rolo’s earlier this year, serving wood-fired fare from a storefront in Ridgewood. Those in pursuit of the restaurant’s charred half-chicken and saucy meatballs will have to wait until dinner, but during the day, Rolo’s serves an impressive lineup of sandwiches, salads, and sides. If it’s available, order the grilled porchetta, made with sliced tomato and rosemary mayonnaise on ciabatta.