New York's sprawling boroughs are home to countless ethnic neighborhoods, from old and established ones like Manhattan's Chinatown to ones filled with more recent immigrants, like Jackson Heights and its unique mixture of Indians, Colombians and Koreans.
If visitors had only one weekend to spend in New York and wanted to get a taste of international foods, they'd have to be selective.
There are far too many neighborhoods to see in one weekend, so on a recent trip my travel companion and I just picked the classics -- Chinatown and Little Italy -- and some newer, lesser-known places.
The best restaurants are not always in ethnic neighborhoods. But ethnic neighborhoods offer a trip within a trip -- a unique cultural experience within a sometimes overwhelming city.
Our trip was fat-laden and guilt-inducing -- but by selecting a few of the neighborhoods we surveyed, visitors could gain a world of experience in just two days and one city.
Ukrainian
The unobservant visitor could stroll through the Ukrainian neighborhood on 2nd Avenue between 8th and 9th Street, and miss its ethnic flavor -- and flavors. The Ukrainian shops, churches and cultural centers tend to blend into the vibrant, busy street, but visitors who slow down to stray will be rewarded.
Only the lucky would stumble into the cafeteria beneath the rectory at St. George's Church, where parish women cook overflowing batches of stuffed cabbage, potato-filled pierogi topped with caramelized onions, and babka (coffeecake) to raise money. It's no wonder they've been able to build a towering modern church just across the street, complete with intricate stained glass windows. At between 40 cents and 75 cents per item, visitors are indeed in for a real deal. Walk down the steps at 33 East 7th St. for a no-frills meal.
Not far from the church, sausages, cheeses, and imported canned goods to make your own picnic can be found at the East Village Meat Market, 139 2nd Ave., (212) 228-5590.
Several coffee shops serve inexpensive and huge blintzes, potato pancakes, pierogi and kasha (hot buckwheat cereal) -- all perfect for a fortifying breakfast -- along with more typically American breakfast fare. The lines are long, and the prices are low. Two such places are Kiev International Coffee House Restaurant at 117 2nd Ave., (212) 674-4040, and Veselka, 144 2nd Ave. at East 9th Street, (212) 228-9682.
The closest subway stop to the Ukrainian neighborhood is Astor Place on the L Line.
Chinese
Even the most unobservant visitor has no chance of missing Chinatown. It's a sprawling mass of herbal shops and electronics stores, restaurants, churches and vendors selling souvenirs. The energy of the streets sweeps visitors along at a rapid pace -- or runs them down.
We were fortunate enough to happen onto the Nom Wah Tea Parlor, 13 Doyers St., for take-out dim sum and were shepherded into the kitchen to hand-select succulent pork buns. fat and crispy egg rolls, and steamed dumplings. Wally Tang, the tea parlor's friendly, outgoing owner, sells dim sum items to other restaurants in Chinatown. The phone number is (212) 962-6047.
For many years New Yorkers have been feasting on Sichuan, Hunan and Cantonese. Less well-known is the Fujianese cuisine, from the southern Chinese province of Fujian (pronounced fu-kien). Several restaurants have opened recently on East Broadway off the Bowery.
At Lang Shine Restaurant, 53 East Broadway, the waiter pointed what we should eat, and after we agreed, served us something completely different. Foods under the heading Foo Chow (the English pronunciation of Fujian's capital, Fuzhou) were mostly large bowls of soups and noodles, but Lang Shine also serves Cantonese and Sichuan foods. The high point of our meal was the crispy fried Oyster Cake topped with Louisiana-style hot sauce. (212) 346-9888.
A local free weekly paper ranks Canton, 45 Division St., as the best Chinese restaurant. It's a cloth-napkin place with soothing pastel colors and plump egg rolls; call (212) 226-4441.
But 20 Mott Street Restaurant, didn't disappoint the palate with its superb hot-and-sour soup (my test of truly great Chinese restaurants), skinny crisp spring rolls and duck sauce reminiscent of apple butter. The decor was elegant, the service was faultless, and -- considering that we arrived about midnight and were the last to leave -- the patience and friendliness of the staff were a credit to the management. The phone number is (212) 964-0380.
Every meal we had in Chinatown was good -- except for one foray into "meat" made of wheat gluten. I don't recommend its chewy texture and chemical taste.
The subway stops for Chinatown and Little Italy are on Canal Street on any of the Manhattan subway lines that go there.
Italian
Our biggest problem, aside from indigestion, was trying to see and sample even a fraction of what the city has to offer. In order to sample the most different foods in the shortest period of time, we spent the bulk of our second day in Jackson Heights, 'D Queens.
But before we headed over, we opted for breakfast in Lower Manhattan's Little Italy.
The reports of Little Italy's demise are greatly exaggerated. Many New Yorkers say that the neighborhood no longer lives up to its old Old World image and often avoid its restaurants as touristy. And while the "Welcome to Little Italy" banner stretches between Shingwong Jewelry Center and Malnuet Jewelry Center both Asian-owned -- at the entrance to Mulberry Street, many of the restaurants still offer foods straight out of Rome or Milan. We walked along, enjoying the colorful scenes, and listened to two elderly women, dressed in their Sunday best, speaking rapidly in Italian.
The first cafe we stumbled upon was La Bella Ferrara, 108 Mulberry St. We ordered from a large selection of pastries including sfogliatella, (cheese pastry) and pasticiotti a cream (a custard-filled tart). Call (212) 966-1488.
Next we stopped at Casa Victoria Caffe, 126 Mulberry St., a few doors down, for another cup of coffee and a double chocolate cannelloni.
The cafe provides outdoor seating, and is the perfect place for people watching. Call (212) 966-2862.
Friends of mine swear by Luna at 112 Mulberry St. for heaping plates of low-priced home cooking and a waiter who could be Robert De Niro's double. Call (212) 226-8657.
For a fine-dining experience, Il Cortile, at 125 Mulberry St., is one of the most popular; its phone number is (212) 226-6060.
Indian
When it came time for lunch, we headed to Jackson Heights, only 40 minutes away by subway -- not too long for a ride to another world.
Jackson Heights is a place with families, neighborhood shops, schools, churches, lots of great restaurants, and a peaceful mixture of Indians, Colombians, and Koreans.
"It's full of hard-working recent immigrants -- people on the rise," says Ray Sokolov, former New York Times food critic and current New York resident and cookbook author.
The walk along the too-short block between Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Avenue along 74th Street is a jolt to all the senses. Sari shops pull you in to feel the soft silks in shocking pinks, yellows and greens. Along the crowded street women wear flowing saris, and some men wear the traditional headdress of Sikhs.
The bazaar-like atmosphere is heightened by the throngs of Indian tourists whose motor coaches have stopped long enough for them to buy small kitchen appliances at the many nearby shops. Several large markets, including Indian and Pakistani supermarkets at 37th Avenue and 73rd Street, display mounds of fresh fruits and vegetables out front.
Two restaurants are particularly noteworthy. Delhi Palace, Haute Cuisine of India, at 37-33 74th St., is elegant and pricey, but the lines are long.
And if you want to try beef tandoori or curry without injuring your karma, this is the place: Its proprietors are from the predominantly Catholic Goa, where the Hindu prohibition against eating cow are not generally observed. Call (718) 507-0666.
Since we were told in advance that Delhi Palace was great but expensive, we opted for the nearby Jackson Diner at 37-03 74th St., which, as one of the many glowing reviews taped to it's
window says, "has all the ambience of a check cashing office."
We feasted from the buffet, where for $6.99 we reached food nirvana. The phone number is (718) 672-1232.
Latin American
After hours of enjoyment in a bit of India, we turned the corner from 74th Street onto Roosevelt Avenue and found ourselves in Colombia. Pastelerias sell Colombian-style sweets and the restaurants are big on beef and chicken. Pollo Loco 1, 2 and 3 -- a small local chain -- sell Pollo Asado al Carbon (charcoal-roasted chicken), Comida Rapida (literally "fast food" -- hamburgers, gyros and souvlaki) and traditional Colombian dishes. These small and very busy cafes have hundreds of items on their menus, many under $7. And while the 20 or more Colombian restaurants in the neighborhood would serve you an excellent meal, locals recommend the "Crazy Chicken" chain for its value. Pollo Loco No. 3 is at 74-01 Roosevelt Ave.; (718) 457-0925.
We walked down Roosevelt Avenue up to 82nd Street, wandering in and out of little shops. Although Colombian immigrants make up the bulk of the Hispanic community in Jackson Heights, Argentines, Uruguayans, and, most recently, Mexicans have also settled there.
Walking even a short part of Roosevelt between 74th Street and 82nd Street is like a mini-tour through Latin America, except for the brief intermission of a large, authentic Korean supermarket at 78th Street and, between 74th and 76th, a cluster of Korean restaurants, with lower prices than restaurants in Manhattan's Little Korea around Broadway and 34th Street.
At the neighborhood's Uruguayan restaurant, 18 de Julio Carniceria, 77-05 37th Ave., a colorful and famous Uruguayan food -- veal roll stuffed with hard-boiled egg -- is on display, along with grilled chicken, beef and sausages; (718) 429-5495.
For our last meal in New York, we could not have imagined anything more satisfying than our meat fiesta at La Portena, Carniceria, 74-25 37th Ave. It's an Argentine barbecue restaurant in a building that was once a kosher butcher shop; (718) 458-8111.
The two subway stations in Jackson Heights are the Roosevelt )) Avenue Station on lines E, F, G and R, and the 74 Street Station on the Number 7 line.