African and Middle Eastern Food and Cooking

Monster Hot Dog Spotted at Union Square

Find it at Adel's Halal cart on the east side of Union Square. FiTR has expressed more than a passing interest in hot dogs and all their permutations around the city, so when we discover a new one, we can't wait to tell you about it. Stumbling out of the Beth Israel Medical Center at Union Square ... More >>

Does TD Bank Owe a Debt to Midtown Lunch?

One of a series of subway teaser ads by TD Bank I was hurrying toward the R train at Elmhurst Avenue with a group of friends - having just eaten a belt-busting Sichuan meal - when I spotted an ad on the mezzanine level. It was a subway billboard for TD Bank ("TD" stands for "Toronto-Dominion"), an ... More >>

Uzbek, You Bet, at Nargis Cafe

Grab your post-Soviet bib in Brooklyn

Hazar: The City's Best Falafel

And other pleasures at a Bay Ridge Turkish joint

Ezme With Homemade Pitas at Hazar, Dish #94

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

Cheap EV Favorite Tahini Shuttered by the DOH

Tahini dark during the shank of the dinner hour Tuesday On the edge of the Cooper Union campus and close to the NYU dorms, Tahini is a favorite for students seeking inexpensive Middle Eastern fare with an Israeli bent, especially falafel, chicken schwarma, bread dips like hummus and babaganoush, a ... More >>

'The Avengers' Makes Shawarma Sales Skyrocket

When my friend from Los Angeles was visiting the city last week, he made a point to take a picture of the shawarma shop next to my apartment and text the photograph to his buddies back at home. Before The Avengers, he'd never heard of the stuff -- and neither did his group of friends back in L.A. ... More >>

The Wall Street Journal Gets Africa Wrong

There's an interesting story in The Wall Street Journal about how we should get ready for a "Nigerian P.F. Chang's" because African food is the next big thing.There is only one largely unexplored continent left -- and it isn't Antarctica. With the exception of North African and Ethiopian cuisine, th ... More >>

Our 10 Best Middle Eastern Restaurants

New York City has a lot to offer when it comes to Middle Eastern cooking. If you know where to stop for a meal along the city's few Arab strips or even in fancy neighborhoods, you'll find a wide range of the region's typical cooking including grilled meats, honey-drenched pastries, savory flatbreads ... More >>

Ask the Critics: What's a Good Kosher Restaurant To Bring My Parents?

Rachel T. Asks: My parents are coming to town and I want to take them out to dinner. One requirement is that it needs to be a certified kosher restaurant. What are some places with actually good food for our evening? Dear Rachel: New York City offers several kosher restaurants, plus a great selec ... More >>

'Minimal Wave Release Party' w/ Veronica Vasicka+Peanut Butter Wolf

The Hummus and Pita Co.: Pretty Good Fast-Casual Mediterranean Cuisine Comes to the Flatiron

Looks like the owners of the recently opened fast-casual Mediterranean spot the Hummus and Pita Co. (585 Avenue of the Americas, 212-510-7405) had the Chipotle concept in mind when figuring out the plan for their new eatery. First you pick your protein (falafel, vegetarian salads, gyro, shawarma, ch ... More >>

Fork in the Road's Favorite Hummus in NYC

It's time for Tuesday Toasts, our weekly feature highlighting the Fork in the Road team's favorite versions of popular dishes and favorite spots in the city for a given activity. They might not be the best or the coolest or the newest, but instead represent the things and places that are near and de ... More >>

Za'atar Brings a Feast of the Middle East to the West Village

Greenwich Avenue has gotten a crop of new eateries recently. Whitehall, the new Brit-influenced spot from the team behind Highlands, is getting lots of buzz, but if it's cheap eats you're after, you're better off checking out new Middle Eastern spot Za'atar (50 Greenwich Avenue, 212-242-3451). The s ... More >>

Battle of the Brownstone Brooklyn Falafel: Darna v. Kulushkät

Rebecca MarxDarna's falafel.​ A few months ago, Darna chose to announce its imminent arrival in Cobble Hill with a rather intimate paean to its signature product. Posted on the storefront window, it read, in part: "...soft on the inside yet firm sexy brown on the inside. Being with you my lov ... More >>

Goodbye Falafel, Hello Fries: Chipsy to Open on MacDougal This Summer

Lauren ShockeyChip-chop!​For those lamenting the loss of the Hummus Place at 99 MacDougal Street, don't fret too much (after all, you do have another location close by on Seventh Avenue South). Chipsy is set to open in the space formerly occupied by Hummus Place.

Almost Midnight at the Oasis: Falafel Platter at Oasis in Williamsburg

​Just follow the bouncing balls: #31 in our 100 Days/100 Dishes Perennially listed among Williamsburg's top 10 eateries is Palestinian fast-food establishment Oasis, perched right above the Bedford Avenue stop on the L and open until 11 pm or later.

Our 10 Best Vegetarian Street Foods

Rebecca MarxMexicue's beet and goat cheese taco.​ While street food is, to many people, still synonymous with street meat, there are plenty of vegetal pearls to be found among the literal swine. You just have to search a little harder, and we have, across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. What ... More >>

Gazala's, a Druze Restaurant on the Upper West Side

​Chak choka (pronounced "shack shooka") is one of several Druze breakfasts at Gazala's. Gazala's (380 Columbus Avenue, 212-873-8880) is an offshoot of a small cafe in Hell's Kitchen called Gazala's Place, named after chef Halabi Gazala. With Gazala's Place, she opened the city's first Druze ... More >>

Where Am I Eating? Taïm

      Life's Sabich ​               Thanks to everyone who played last week's Where Am I Eating? contest. Kim conquered the challenge, quickly guessing that the dish shown is from Taïm. The dish above is Taïm's prized ... More >>

The Taïm Truck Should Hit the Streets by Early November

​Chickpea freaks, rejoice: Taïm's much-anticipated falafel truck is scheduled to hit the streets by the first week of November, per the truck's Twitter feed. Just as at Taïm's original Waverly Place storefront, the menu will include smoothies, green falafel, and the mighty sabich. No ... More >>

Serious Eats Crowns City's Best Falafel

Theeatenpath​As far as chickpea news goes, it's not quite as dramatic as the ongoing hummus feud between Isreal and Lebanon, but Serious Eats is featuring a comprehensive look at falafel sandwiches in New York, crowning Taïm as the best in the metropolis. Take a gander at all the runners ... More >>

Cheep's Hummus Plate: Cheap and Meatless in the East Village

A mountain o'veg​ East Village newcomer Cheep's serves up a very cheap falafel pocket, but it was no match for Mamoun's in our recent Battle of the Dishes. Today we stopped by to check out the place's other vegetarian offerings.

(Chick)Peas in the Middle East: Lebanon Defeats Israel in Ongoing Hummus War

AP10,452 kg of national pride.​Israel and Lebanon have more or less been at each other's throats for more than 60 years. And during the last few they've also been arguing over what goes down each other's throats: specifically, hummus.

Set Sail for Maima's Pepper Coast

Munching shrimp heads at New  York's only Liberian restaurant

Battle of the Dishes: Falafel Sandwiches From Mamoun's and Cheep's

In one corner: Mamoun's.​Dirt-cheap falafel sandwiches are something of an East Village institution (insofar as there are any East Village institutions left these days), so the shuttering of Snackalicious Cinderella Falafel on Second Avenue last January was greeted with a certain degree of con ... More >>

Mimi's Hummus Will Open Its Market on Jan. 25, With a Bar to Follow

Brownstoner.comMimi's retail sibling, Market, will open on Jan. 25.​ While eating at Mimi's Hummus on New Year's Eve, one-fourth of Fork in the Road heard owner Avi Shuker mention in passing that the market he's opening next door to his Ditmas Park restaurant would be opening at the beginning ... More >>

Tabbouleh, That Unlikely Dance Club Anthem

In the Middle Eastern restaurants that dot the planet, tabbouleh is little more than that reliable if somewhat unexciting staple of parsley, tomatoes, bulgur, and assorted herbs. On YouTube, however, tabbouleh occupies a more rhythmic realm. Check out this video, which stars a Borat doppelganger wh ... More >>

Baghdad in Your Belly at La Kabbr in Hell's Kitchen

Getting Your Phreak On at Gazala Place

Unique Middle Eastern restaurant flowers in Hell's Kitchen

Turkish Restaurant Opens In Fort Greene

For many months, a banner with pictures of kebabs promised a new Turkish restaurant on the corner of Fulton Street and South Elliot in Fort Greene. Finally, Deniz (662 Fulton Street, Brooklyn), has opened. Co-owner Yucel Yuksel lives in Bensonhurst, where he also co-owns the Turkish fast food resta ... More >>

Bati Yummy, Now Open for Lunch

Bati (747 Fulton Street, Brooklyn), the new Ethiopian restaurant in Fort Greene, is now open for lunch after a soft opening the weekend before last. A friend and I tried Bati last weekend and had some of the best Ethiopian food either of us had had in recent memory. The restaurant is still waiting o ... More >>

Condiment Lover: S'chug

While rooting around Holy Land Market the other day, I came across one of my favorite condiments:s'chüg. It's a Yemenite/Israeli hot sauce, a rough mash of red chiles, sweet red peppers, a big dose of garlic and cilantro. It's sharply hot but not painful, with a rounded sweetness from the sweet pe ... More >>

New This Week: Naya

Need a Makanek? Try Cedars Meat House

Flouting traffic laws, we seek out a Lebanese barbecue in Astoria

Memorial Day Special: Lazy Picnic Eats

Merkato 55 Deathwatched

Mamoun's Hot Sauce To Go

Our Man Sietsema at Merkato 55

Is African Food the Next Big Thing? Maybe With Merkato's Spectacular Catalog.

Famed Aquavit chef offers a kaleidoscope of African fare in the meatpacking district

Scooping up Raw Meat in Bay Ridge

Midnight at the oasis

Falafels, Like Bugs, Free Next Friday

Our Man Sietsema: 'As Smoky as a Fireman's Helmet'

Getting the Last Laffa

Full of chutzpah, Brooklyn Israeli joint braves Manhattan

African Resto Assimilates

Thanks, France, for the mustard and the memories

Shibam!

Perfect winter food near the corner of Court and Atlantic

Phat Fat

Taking a giant toki at a new Uzbek eatery in Rego Park

Kabul Cheese Steak

Slimed!

Very Berberé