Uygur Delight: hearty without the farty

Cafe Kashkar, and sister Cafe Adolat, of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NYC



Billed as an Uygur (Uighur) restaurant, it is a blend of Asian-Russian meets Chinese. In fact, it is said to be the only Uygur restaurant in the state, or the country. Though I'm not going fact-checking any time soon, I do believe it to be a very interesting blend of tasty Russian staples in a healthy (a not-so-Russian ideal) delicate manner.
The best times to go is lunch or early dinner, as it tends to be booked by the local Russians in the evenings. Also, you can bring your own alcohol, as you will find the stereotypical Russian does.
The Lagman soup is a lamb stew with homemade noodles. In it, you will find an array of spices, chunks of lamb, ginger and cardammon. It is hard to describe this soup without saying that it is extremly well-spiced. This is one of my favorite qualities in good, inexpensive, ethnic food. The Langsai salad is a clear noodle salad with so much garlic that you will taste it on your mouth for days to come. Needless to say, it is incredible. Finish off your meal with chak-chak(basically angel cake fried in little pieces, then mixed with honey and walnuts) and green tea.

This is a very special place with food you can't get anywhere else.

Café Kashkar
1141 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn; (718) 743-3832

Café Adolat
3087 Brighton 4th St, Brooklyn, NY 11235; Phone: (718) 743-2077

Pak Nasheman: best Paki for your buck

It is in a predominantly russian neighborhood but still. One of my favorite places ever.

This is a really great neighborhood Pakistani place. On the outskirts of a predominantly Russian neighborhood, this place caters to the local scattered Pakistani population, and that is who you will find dining here at all hours (it is amazing how strangely inviting this place gets after-hours).
We eat here almost every week. After experimenting in a bunch of places in the city, we always come back to this one. The vegetable dishes are amazing. You can get a mixed vegetable plate over rice for $6-$8. You can get a mix of peas and potatoes, lentils, chickpeas, okra. Everything tastes very strong and spicy and you can wash it all down with a mango lassi. The curry chicken has bits of cardamon and ginger in it as well. They have a large selection of desserts. I always get
the milk balls or rice pudding.

Senyor Paralleda

This is by far the best restaurant we have been to in Barcelona, and this counts for a lot in an eating town. Rather than tapas, this place serves traditional and modern dishes. It is tucked in the corner of L'Argentina, with a gorgeous decor ,detailed high ceilings,pale blue walls,chandeliers, and friendly waiters. The first time we were there, all of the dishes looked amazing, so we asked a friendly and interesting American couple (a writer and artist who now reside in Pisa) seating near us for advice. They told us they loved the place so much it was, in fact, the third time they were there in two days. After about 20 minutes of deliberation, we settled on the tenderest veal cheeks we have ever tasted in our lives and a herring dish .

The second time we were there, we ordered the lamb in 12 garlic cloves and a traditional stew, pot-au-feu. The latter dish was an appetizing dish of the Spanish patrons sitting near us, and after some muddled Spanglish, we were told it was a very traditional dish of the Catalonian region. To this day we debate what exactly was in it (a variety of meats, vegetables, tendons/ligaments, and what I believe to be the skin of a tongue), and little can be seen in the second picture above (it was only taken to prove that I ate more than the meat-eater).
Furthermore, it was ordered only as a promise that I will eat any traditional dish I come across without hesitation, and would think twice about ordering it again. Without a doubt it was delicious..at times..and not...most of the time.
Overall: best restaurant we've been to in Barcelona --> food 5 out of 5, service excellent, ambiance exquisite, and not expensive.We ate a huge meal with cava for 40 euros for two and enjoyed it more than Cal Pep where we paid over 90 euros for two.