A FAN OF AFGHAN

Saying he wanted to taste the local food our troops may be eating, Jeremy and I ventured to New York's "Little Afghanistan," located in  Flushing.  In tow with us was Jeremy's buddy and guest blogger, Max.

A little restaurant winning rave reviews is Kabul Kebab House on Main Street.   We had hoped there would be low tables and rugs but this place was spartan and spotless.  The only nod to Afghanistan were little squares of rug under glass tabletops and several arched doorways.  The focus of the restaurant is its glassed in kebab kitchen which is on view from the street.  Given Afghanistan's geographic location, I thought the food would be similar to Indian cuisine.  But, what we ate, was closer to Middle Eastern in flavor.

Jeremy
The restaurant was much nicer than I expected.  My mom ordered a combination platter than included three appetizers:  Kashk Badengan (eggplant dip), Badenjan Buranee (fried eggplant) and Sambosa  (a meat dumpling).   I really liked  the Sambosas; they sort of tasted like tacos.  The eggplant dip was amazing.  It was the first time I ever liked anything made of eggplant.  We also had the Salad Shirazi filled with cucumbers, tomatoes, mint, onion and feta cheese.  It was tasty.  We then ordered a special drink from Afghanistan called Dhoog, a salty yoghurt soda with mint.  It tasted like baking soda with milk and ground Mentos.

Max
I liked everything except for the fried eggplant.  I really hated the Dhoogh.  It tasted like carbonated yogurt.

Marci
The eggplant dip was indeed excellent --kind of a Baba Ganoosh with tomatoes.  The Sambosas had a delicate pastry dough--  much lighter than an Indian Samosa. As for Doogh, it is definitely an acquired taste.  It reminded me of me Total yoghurt with a spritz and some mint. -- not bad, but is it anything you'd ever think to make?

Jeremy
For entrees we ordered three kebabs:  Cornish Hen (Jojeh Kebab), Lamb, (Tikka Kebab) and Ground Beef (Kabab Kobideh).    It was served on an enormous platter with brown and white basmati rice, raw onions and grilled tomatoes.   The kebabs were really good.   I even liked the rice which I normally don't like.

Max
I also liked the lamb kebabs.  I really didn't like the ground beef.  It tasted a little weird.  I liked to mix the lamb with the raw onions and rice.

Marci
My favorite was the cornish hen kebab: very moist and absolutely delicious.

Jeremy
For dessert we had Bakhlava and also home made rosewater ice cream with pistachio nuts.  The bakhlava was okay; the ice cream didn't taste like much.  I would definitely go back to Kabul Kebab.  The food was really tasty.  I would try Afghani food again.

Max
I liked the ice cream because it was icey.  It was the first time I had bakhlava.  It was good but very sweet.  I really like kebabs so I would definitely go back to Kabul Kebab.

Marci
Me too.  The food was fresh, delicious and well-priced.  We definitely will eat Afghani food again.  Let's see if the next one we try will be as good as Kabul Kebab!

KABUL KEBAB HOUSE
42-51 Main Street
Flushing, NY
(718) 461-1919

a thumbs up, according to Jeremy, is 3.5 out of 4 stars

WE HAVE RETURNED

Call it middle school transition., call it plain old laziness.  Whatever it was, Jeremy and I are back blogging after a four month hiatus.

Not that we haven't been eating out.  We actually visited two restaurants in August and September and planned to blog about them but then school started and all the extra work of sixth grade and life, in general, seemed to preoccupy us.  In addition, to our local spots, we're also happy to report (well, at least, I am) that Eataly has opened in our neighborhood. While we haven't been able to eat at its restaurants, it's amazing roasted chicken -- among the best I've ever eaten -- has become part of our regular dinner repetoire.

MUCHO BUENO,  TORTILLERIA NIXTAMAL

MARCI
Jeremy is a huge a huge taco fan.  So, for his birthday in August, the whole family journeyed to Corona, Queens to Tortilleria Nixtamal, a small family run business where they make their own tortillas from actual corn.  Sounded interesting.  Their website also says they use natural corn oil instead of lard and buy local produce, meat from the local butcher and even fish from Whole Foods.

Tortilleria Nixtamal has only about a half dozen tables.  It reminded us of many of the local spots we ate at while on vacation in Mexico last spring -- only much cleaner.  A friendly waitress came by and we proceeded to order almost everything on the small menu.

JEREMY
I don't remember much about the restaurant except that I ate a lot of food and enjoyed it.  What I liked best was the pork tamales.   The guacamole was also pretty good and the tacos were good but the meat was a little fatty.    The food was very authentic.  It didn't taste like my favorite, Chipolte, but then again, that's more Tex-Mex than real Mexican.  Would I go back to Tortilleria Nixtamal?  I would if it was within a 20 block radius of my house.  Since it's not, I probably won't.

MARCI
The tamales were tasty.  My favorite was the Rajas tamale which had tomatoes, chile and cheese.  We tasted plenty of homemade corn products from the posole in the soup to the tamales to the chips for the guacamole and the tacos.  While everything was very fresh, I honestly don't know that I could tell the difference between the tortillas here or at some of our other favorite Mexican restaurants.

As Jeremy stated, the food is definitely authentic.  The good news is the Tortilleria is starting to supply other taco shops and Mexican restaurants in the city. I'll have to take Jeremy to the taco shop just south of Union Square which is now using their products.

Tortilleria Nixtamal
104-05 47th Avenue (between 104th and 108th Streets)
Corona, NY

http://www.tortillerianixtamal.com

a diagonal thumbs up, according to Jeremy, is 3 out of 4 stars


FINGER LICKIN' GOOD

MARCI
We were very excited to hear that Hill Country, the Texas BBQ place near our house, was opening up a restaurant devoted only to fried chicken.  We never got to go to Piece of Chicken, the Hells Kitchen chicken ship which closed late summer.   So on its opening weekend, Jeremy and I made an early visit to Hill Country Kitchen.

The restaurant looks like an old fashioned kitchen with vintage wallpaper, chrome tables and chairs.  It's cafeteria-style so you line up to pick your chicken.  As usual, Jeremy and I ordered far more than we could eat...

JEREMY

There are two choices for fried chicken:  Hill Country Classic (with skin) and Mama El's, a skinless fried chicken.  I liked the Mama El's chicken because it had extra crunchies.  The chicken tenders were also really good.  My favorite side were the cole slaw and the french fries.  I didn't like the carrot and raisin slaw; it was nasty.  The restaurant also serves mini pies small enough for one person to eat.  We tried a bunch:  double cherry, cowboy and banana cream.  My favorite was the cowboy pie.  It had caramel, chocolate chips and some sort of cookie crunch.  They also serve a pie shake which sounds really interesting but we didn't order.   I definitely would go back to Hill Country.  It's near my house and the chicken is really good.

MARCI
I'm with Jeremy:  great skinless fried chicken and chicken tenders, terrific cole slaw.   Not only is it close to our house, it's close to my office and sometimes after a particularly crazy morning, we need comfort and cholesterol.  We're happy it's in the neighborhood but it's one of those foods you can't really eat on a regular basis.

Hill Country Kitchen
1123 Broadway (25th Street)
http://www.hillcountrychicken.com

a thumbs up, according to Jeremy is 3.5 out of 4 stars