African and Middle Eastern Food and Cooking

Hanukkah Face-Off: Sephardic Dish #7

Sephardic-Uzbek shish kebabs, top to bottom: chicken hearts, ground-beef lulya, lamb, and marinated chicken Hanukkah is a time for enjoying Jewish culinary traditions with family and friends, and to that end we present a daily competition between Ashkenazi and Sephardic food, going up around sunse ... More >>

It's Bollywood for Your Tongue at Chote Nawab

Curry Hill gets a great Indian newcomer

How To Eat Fufu

This is a loaf of banku, a mash that looks a lot like fufu, but is subtly different. Fufu can be made from plantains, or it can be made from cassava (a/k/a yuca or manioc). Either way it's boiled, kneaded, and pounded till the starch achieves a bouncy and utterly agreeable consistency. When you ge ... More >>

Mataheko: Mash! Pound! Eat!

Welcome to the best Ghanaian joint in town

Dive Your Pita into Balkanika's Hell's Kitchen Treats

2012 Vendy Cup Finalists Announced

The finalists for the 2012 Vendy Cup, which celebrates the best food vendors in the city, have been announced. The nominees are below:

Tomorrow: Our 10 Best Middle Eastern Restaurants in NYC

​New York City has a lot to offer when it comes to Middle Eastern dining--beyond falafel sandwiches and kebabs. Tomorrow, find out where to get the best grilled meats, tender braises, honey-drenched pastries, savory flatbreads, and light, bright mezze that make up the region's complex cuisine.

Our 10 Best Things to Eat on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, NYC

​The four-cheese mac-and-cheese at Macaroni, Macaroni is engagingly crunchy. If you haven't been on the stretch of MacDougal Street between Houston and West 4th in a while, you need to pay a visit. This student haunt and historic refuge of Bohos from John Reed to Bob Dylan has lately become ... More >>

Ask the Critics: Where Can I Feast on Shakshuka?

Mhaithaca / FlickrBest way to start the day​ George R. Asks: I recently returned from the Middle East where I frequently ate shakshuka -- the tomato stew with poached eggs -- for breakfast. I'd love to find a spot in New York that sells it. Dear George: I can understand why you fell for the ... More >>

PIG OUT

Will it be bacon or hummus or both?

Dish No. 36: Kulushkät Gourmet Falafel's Classic Falafel Sandwich

Rebecca Marx​ Since opening earlier this year in the former Taro Sushi space off of Flatbush Avenue, Kalushkät Gourmet Falafel has distinguished itself with, simply put, some damn fine balls.

Oasis Would Like Taïm Falafel to Hit the Road

Photo courtesy of Taïm Mobile​Given Taïm Mobile's widespread popularity, it seems that everyone, everywhere loves its falafel. But you know who doesn't? Restaurant owners who have to look at the truck outside of their windows.

Our 10 Best West African Restaurants in NYC

​The peanut-dusted lamb kebabs called suya from northern Nigeria, available at Brooklyn's Buka In the late 80s, the typical Senegalese immigrant was a guy who furtively sold counterfeit watches and handbags on the street. He took his meals at temporary restaurants set up in SRO hotels rooms ... More >>

Darna's Falafel Makes Sexytime in Cobble Hill

Rebecca MarxHubba hubba.​Falafel doesn't typically remind people of something found on a Prince b-side, and perhaps that's as it should be. But it seems that the people behind Darna, a falafel bar set to open in Cobble Hill, feel otherwise.

CRISP Falafel is Taking to the Streets

CRISPThe fusion falafel mobile.​ Taïm Mobile will soon be getting some competition out on the streets. CRISP, which has three brick-and-mortar locations in New York City, will be getting a truck that's hitting the pavement on April 4.

Kimchi Taco Truck's Tofu Edamame Falafel Tacos Have Some Impressive Balls

Rebecca Marx​ When we wrote Our 10 Best Vegetarian Street Foods round-up last week, we hadn't yet been able to make it to the Kimchi Taco Truck. But now that we have, we'd like to make its tofu edamame falafel tacos an honorary member of the canon.

The Best Thing I Ate Yesterday

Welcome to The Best Thing I Ate Yesterday, where we endeavor to remember the very best thing we stuffed down our gullets over the past 24 hours. Why? Because the only thing better than enjoying a meal is wallowing in the memory of one savored in the recent past. Today's fond reminiscences ...

Orhan Yegen's Bi Lokma Is Open for Business

Rebecca Marx​Orhan Yegen, the talented if somewhat bombastic owner of Sip Sak, today added another restaurant to his Midtown holdings with the opening of Bi Lokma on East 45th Street.

The Best Thing I Ate Yesterday

Welcome to The Best Thing I Ate Yesterday, where we endeavor to remember the very best thing we stuffed down our gullets over the past 24 hours. Why? Because the only thing better than enjoying a meal is wallowing in the memory of one savored in the recent past. Today's fond reminiscences ... Vict ... More >>

TaïmMobile Will Hit the Road Nov. 29

​In just 11 days' time, the falafel faithful will have new reason to rejoice: That's when, should all go according to plan, TaïmMobile will take to the street. Grub Street brings word that the truck, the four-wheeled incarnation of the tiny West Village takeout counter, will be overseen b ... More >>

The Best Thing I Ate Yesterday

Welcome to the Best Thing I Ate Yesterday, where we endeavor to remember the very best thing we stuffed down our gullets over the past 24 hours. Why? Because the only thing better than enjoying a meal is wallowing in the memory of one savored in the recent past. Today's fond reminiscences: Large ... More >>

Dish #98: Nigerian Goat Stew From Baku

​ Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now: Fork in the Road's handy list of some of our favorite dishes--old standbys and new finds alike--compiled daily. Today's pick: Nigerian goat stew ($7) from Baku

Our 10 Best Things to Eat on St. Marks Place in the East Village, NYC

​Like the sign says: New York's Best Egg Cream St. Marks Place is only three blocks long, but packs an astonishing 63 places to eat along its truncated and colorful length, some of them nearly invisible. It constitutes one of the city's foremost tourist destinations for the under-40 crowd, th ... More >>

Taïm's Falafel Will Hit the Road

Theeatenpath.comNow with wheels.​She may have just opened Balaboosta, but Taïm's Einat Admony still has expansion on the brain: she's about to launch Taïm Mobile, a roving extension of her miniscule falafel and smoothie shop on Waverly Place. Feast reports that Admony will be servin ... More >>

Buka Opens on Fulton Street, Serving Up Nigerian Pepper Soups with Booze on the Way

More West African for Fulton Street.​ Buka, a new West African restaurant on Fulton Street in Clinton Hill, has opened at the corner of St. James Place, and is awaiting a liquor license. The menu features several pepper soups - the traditional goat, as well as fish and chicken - dubbed "Lookm ... More >>

Live Blogging Choice Eats 2010

Fort Defiance's deviled egg with amaranth.​Hello from deep inside the bowels of the Lexington Avenue Armory! It's 6:19, meaning there are 11 minutes until Choice Eats 2010 officially begins. When we arrived at 5 p.m., people were already lining up outside in the rain; now, the crowds are begin ... More >>

Fort Hood's Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan: Jihadi, Psycho, Both?

​Bits and pieces are coming out about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the shooter in custody in the Fort Hood massacre. Records show he was born in Virginia, graduated from Virginia Tech and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences' F. Edward Hebert School Of Medicine in Bethesda, Mary ... More >>

The Early Word: B & B Restaurant, West African in Lower Midtown

​ Clockwise starting at midnight: Two classic leaf-based Guinean sauces, Ivory Coast athieke, Senegalese dibi (lamb), and Caribbean-style curry chicken. Beware the red scotch bonnet pepper! (click to consume) I watched sadly as many of the West African restaurants in Bed-Stuy along Fulton wen ... More >>

Under Review: Sietsema at Liman

This week in the Voice, Our Man Sietsema indulges in some (hopefully sustainable) ultra-fresh seafood at Liman. Bruni's third to last review is of a slipping Union Square Cafe. The beloved Danny Meyer restaurant lost one star from the three William Grimes awarded it in 1999. [NY Times] Restaurant ... More >>

What Ahmadinejad, Moussavi, and Khamenei Are Eating as the Iranian Election Dispute Flames Up Anew

Typical restaurant meal in Tehran (which Moussavi won't be eating--he's under virtual house arrest) would include kebabs, chello rice, and grilled mild or hot peppers. photo: razzletravels.blogspot.com While newsies sit on the edge of their seats watching riots erupt in Tehran, fo ... More >>

The Early Word--Sintir

For-now-signless Sintir offers a mysterious face to its East Village neighborhood Sintir is the East Village's pretentious new Moroccan restaurant, turning a cold shoulder to its long-running competitor, the still-delicious Cafe Mogador. The restaurant is named after a three-stringed lute, ... More >>

Molly the Cow Rescued, Given Sex Partner -- But Questions Remain!

Molly, the cow (actually a calf) who escaped her Queens slaughterhouse yesterday, has been placed in protective custody by the city's Animal Care and Control department at a farm in Suffolk country. We are told it is an organic farm, which at first led us to believe Molly would eventually become fre ... More >>

Flushing Kebabs Crawl Indoors

The Story Behind the Restaurant Formerly Known as Chickpea

Our Man Sietsema: '(Gasp!) Balsamic Vinegar'

Dreamy Moussaka at Bay Ridge Greek Taverna

But beware of sand sharks

Tahini? Hot Sauce? Cockroach?

Bland on the Run

Who pinched the chiles at the new Ethiopian?

Neon Rainbow

Single-minded Egyptian fish joint rules near Journal Square

Sea of Peas

It's m'hammer time at small and cozy Red Hook Moroccan

Downloading Doner

New Queens Boulevard Turk turns up the lights and the charm

Stinky Herb

The very best lamb chops in Astoria are not exactly Greek

Journey to Norwabia

A culinary trek through Bay Ridge

The Wages of Bistroization

Moroccan transforms itself into a full-fledged restaurant

Smelling Salt Water

Egyptian eatery bows to its Greek and Italian neighbors

Get Your Freek On

Food pyramid: Hold the testicles at Egyptian caravansary

Marco! Polo!

What's to Eat After Spending a Dusty Day on the Silk Road?

Bachelor Party

Scarlet Fingers

Fish and Chips