I hope this post complies with rules/ethos. I was an old chowhound London member for many years but haven’t had so much to report on over the past years for various reasons (mainly young kids, location (Leeds UK) and budget!)
I’m planning for a 4 day trip from UK to NYC in Oct. Staying near Brooklyn museum but happy to travel about extensively for delicious food.
I’m looking for suggestions for the best examples of the below (towards the budget end). Strong preference is for wallet friendly and no frills local walk-in places. Hole in the wall type set-up or food trucks/food courts also work fine!
Colombian beef empanadas
French-Caribbean (guadalope?) Salt fish Bokit
Trini curry goat roti
Xinjiang samsa/kao baozi (Lamb not beef)
Xinjiang Chao mian pian
Yangrou chaunr/lamb skewers (preferably street style with alternating cubes of meat and fat fat ) with cumin and chilli dusted nang or mantou pian
Rou jia mo
La zi ji
Liang Pi
Rou bing
Singapore style char kway teo (with lards)
Roti canai
Pho (with an abundant side plate of fresh herbs)
Dark crusted white sourdough bread and butter (to sit down and eat with a drink but not as part of a meal)
Beijing style kao ya roast duck if any half decent places do this affordably (I’m thinking that might be optimistic… )!
And if anyone knows if JFores is still active anywhere these days please let me know as he was my reliable go to rec champion on chowhound!
Many thanks
French-Caribbean eats are few and far between in New York. In lieu of a salt fish bokit, you could swap in a Trinidadian bake (which is fried). Triniciti, in South Ozone Park, Queens, would be my first choice for bakes or doubles, and I’ll bet their curry goat roti is great, too.
For Colombian empanadas in many varieties, I suggest Empanadas Cafe in Corona, Queens.
As for the many Chinese items on your wish list, Nangbaorou, I see a trip to Flushing, Queens, in your future. I’ll give those some more thought!
It’s a hike for you, but I would pick up a loaf of She Wolf Bakery’s classic batard bread either at their bricks & mortar store or at one of the several food markets they go to, if one happens to coincide with your visit. It’s a big bread, but if you time it right (and have a knife where you are staying), you could bring it with you to have with coffee in the morning, have a sandwich at lunch, and maybe eat it with leftovers the next morning…It’s great with just butter too. I only mention it because I think it is the best sourdough in the city at this time.
There are a bunch of Caribbean places on Nostrand Avenue, but I don’t have a solid recommendation for you, if you don’t get to Queens (but I’d go with @DaveCook’s suggestion here, if you can). So, please report back, if you get a chance!
agree with @davecook that a trip to Flushing chinatown would be a good idea!
regarding your bread question, there are some good bread sources close to you, notably the Grand Army Plaza Farmer’s market, open on Saturdays - a couple of good vendors, one particularly good with grainy, seedy items… Also Union Market on flatbush Ave between 8th and 9th (I think they have opened in Crown Heights too now?) though a chain, this store sells the breads of some of the top bakeries in the city, including some sourdoughs and others with really goodl chew! Brooklyn has some top Italian bakeries including some that make the long lasting and chewy wet dough breads, but they are a LONG way out from where you are. In connection with She-Wolf here are some sale locations:
Hainan chicken house on 8th Ave in sunset park chinatown has the best char kway teo I have had in NY - when I had it it had the porky lard flavor and plenty of clams, a rarity. Their other dishes including the hainan chicken itself and the similarly served roast pork belly are very good too, definitely worth a stop!
Most of the standard sitdown viet restaurants in the various chinatowns will serve you a big plate of herbs with your pho, at this point Im not sure which place to recommend, they seem fairly standardized to me (but good).
Plenty of trini food in Brooklyn, Crown Heights and Flatbush, dont think you need to go to Queens to get your fix (tho its great out there). I havent been to these but De Hot Pot is on Flatbush just beyond the Botanic Garden, Trini Bites is selling their stuff at Smorgasburg in Prospect park on Sundays through October 27, and there are a bunch of places on Nostrand and Fulton Streets a walk away from you that could satisfy an itch for goat roti, doubles or salt fish. Good Jamaican dishes (not on your list) at the Islands on Washington Ave.
There have been a couple of French Caribbean places in the Park Slope/Prospect Heights area over the last few years but there are none now in Brooklyn that I am aware of.
) with cumin and chilli dusted nang or mantou pian
