LEAD US NOW INTO PENN STATION
The dining options are rail good
Ask even the most knowledgeable New Yorkers where to eat around the 2 train’s 34th St.-Penn Station subway stop, and they’ll often draw a blank. Next time, just head to one of these three undiscovered gems.
West African 101
If you aren’t familiar with the West African food served at the four-year-old B&D Halal Restaurant — it’s run by the Barry and Diallo families — manager Hassan Barry will gladly explain.
Other than feeding the West Africans who work in the Garment District or drive taxis at night (it’s open till 4 a.m.) one of Barry’s goals is to show New Yorkers that halal food isn’t just “chicken and rice,” he says.
Here, the term applies to dozens of dishes, most $6.99 a pound, from countries like Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Guinea. Dishes include many thick, rich stews — like hako poute, made with dried potato leaves and smoked, dried fish; or maffe takou, made with ground peanuts, tomato and okra — served over rice or the steamed tiny grain called fonio.
There are also housemade drinks like the citrusy baobab, made from the creamy fruit of the same name (“I think it tastes like orange sherbet,” says Barry); roasted or stewed meats (fish, goat and beef); plus the fat fried doughnuts called beignets, brought to Africa by the French.
B&D Halal Restaurant: 163 W. 29th St., (212) 268-7602
Persian pleasures
Majid Karimi likes to say he opened Pars Grill House & Bar, his 10-year-old Persian restaurant, for “selfish” reasons. His real estate businesses kept him so busy, he explains, he couldn’t make it home to New Jersey for his mother’s frequent feasts. Now he can eat Pars food — the name of an ancient province near the Iranian city where he grew up — whenever he likes.
Karimi is especially proud of the diversity of his menu, which at lunch includes a dozen kinds of kebab platters — and just as many appetizers, from maast-o-moosir, a mixture of thick yogurt and Persian shallots ($6.95), to kashk-e bademjan, or mashed fried eggplant with walnuts and sautéed mint ($7.45).
As for the kebab platters, Persians are especially fond of the koobideh, or mixed ground beef and lamb ($12.95)
Like his mother, says Karimi, he also goes all out: He hires belly dancers on weekends, brings home spices from Iran; sources basmati rice grown in the Himalayas for pilafs flavored with sour cherries or orange zest and pistachios; and installed a traditional clay oven and a designated cook for his made-to-order flatbreads.
Pars Grill House & Bar: 249 W 26th St. near Eighth Ave., (212) 929-9860
More than rice and beans
This year, Milanes Spanish Restaurant celebrates its 20th anniversary, but for owner Grecia Milanes, it’s really her life’s work. A native of the Dominican Republic, she’s been cooking the food of her homeland “all my life,” she says, paying her dues at other restaurants before opening her own with her family in 1995.
Now 63, Milanes still works 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., usually behind the luncheonette-style counter where regulars belly up for her generous $7.99 lunch specials, like spices lathered baked chicken or the slow-roasted pork shoulder called pernil served with rice (yellow or white) and a big bowl of beans (black or red).
Many customers also order her version of the Cubano, a foot-long loaf layered with pork, ham and cheese pressed flat in a machine called the Tostato Supremo and served with sliced pickles. Known as a “completo” in the Dominican Republic, says Milanes, hers is a favorite of chef Bobby Flay — spot him smiling with the staff in a photo tucked into Milanes’ front window.
Milanes Spanish Restaurant: 168 W. 25th St., (212) 243-9797