Rajbhog Sweets

When walking through Jackson Heights, you will never go hungry. There are various places that offer a quick snack to a full course meal.  One sweet shop is called Rajbhog Sweets where if you’re interested in tasty Indian delicacies this is the perfect place.

The little store is not a fancy restaurant, resembling something more of a deli, but the delicious food makes up for the smaller space. In addition to the colorful sweets there are also common Indian vegetarian dishes, such as somosas, papdi chat, and yellow dal with roti. The shop started over two decades ago , and the owners, Ajit and Lata Moda wanted to allow the Indian communities to have authentic dishes from “back home.”  

According to their website, “Rajbhog is a leading manufacturer and nationwide distributor of sweets, snacks, savories, frozen foods, ice cream and beverages.” The food is made fresh for you to eat right then and there, which makes you want love it even more. After sampling a samosa chat, I was taken back by the amount of flavor the cooks are able to pack into this small dish. However, one should be cautious of how spicy the dish is since most people can’t handle the amount of heat.

If anything, you can order the dish without pepper. In the shop you will find Indian customers indulging into the cuisine, but also Caucasian’s trying out the ethnic food. Thus, the shop is not only an attractions to South Asians, but New Yorkers passing by willing to give the colorful food a try. We personally tried burfi, which is made from condensed milk, cooked with sugar until it solidifies. It’s one of the more simpler treats that melts in your mouth, just make sure you’re not allergic to nuts! Finally, the staff is very kind, and if you’re in the mood to enjoy a Bollywood movie while eating Rajbhog is the perfect.

Rajbhog Sweets is located on 72-27 37th Ave Jackson Heights.

Jackson Diner 

Another hot spot of Jackson Heights is  the Jackson Diner. It was one of the first Indian restaurants that opened in the area. The restaurant is set-up in buffet style where there is a wide range of scrumptious Indian food. Like almost every other restaurant the aim of Jackson Diner is to provide classic Indian food to the immigrants who now live in New York. While walking out of the train station, a person can see a community of various South Asian ethnicities that have collected in the area since it feels just like home. Along 74th Street between Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Avenue and the surrounding blocks is the heart of Jackson Heights called Little India. However, it is not just Indians in this area, but Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis.

Going into the restaurant the first thing you smell is the aroma of spices that many Indians use in their recipes. However, over the years the restaurant has blended American and Indian culture to have dishes that appeal to more than the South Asian crowd. Such items include: crab samosas and baby lamb chops. The restaurant is roomy with high ceiling, a bar area, and a Earthy toned color scheme. Like Rajbhog they also serve chat papri, and samosa chat. However, their range of Indian cuisine is greater, such as shrimp masala (shown in the picture below), shrimp simmered in curry and finished in cream, and vegetarian specials such as aloo gobi, potatoes and cauliflower tossed in Indian spices.

Jackson Diner is on 37-47-74th  street and is a magnet for various people around the globe since it provides a gateway to Indian food.

Cositas Ricas 

As the group continued their way down into Jackson Heights we ran across a large group of tourists rushing into a restaurant called Cositas Ricas. Wanting to see what the buzz was all about we too went in the direction of the tourists. From the outside the restaurant didn’t look like much, but as soon as we went inside we saw that every seat was filled. Apparently there was a lot more to this little restaurant than we thought.

Some call it the iHop of Latinos since it is one of the best-known Columbians restaurants in Jackson Heights. People were lining up outside taking a look at the menu, so they could be prepared to order as soon as they went inside. Like many cultures store owners want to mainly attract people from their own country, so the menu is mostly in Spanish and the workers all speak Spanish to most of their customers.

Entering this crowded restaurant the first thing a person would hear, besides the hustle and bustle of Latin American families, is the loud Spanish music playing. You immediately feel as if you’ve stepped into a portal that has transported you into the middle of Columbia. Many of the people seem to know each other already, as if they’ve been going there for years while others, such as the tourists, were welcomed by the staff. Cositas Ricas is considered a “home away from home” for many Columbians, but in recent years after gaining so much popularity many different ethnicities stop by also wanting to get a small taste of Columbia. Everyone was smiling away enjoying the authentic Columbian dishes.

If you come into Costias Ricas with a large appetite you will leave barely able to walk because of how stuffed you are. They serve a large amount of food in a single meal, so come hungry! We recommend anything from the “pollo,” chicken, section mainly because we didn’t know exactly what the others were until we saw pictures!

Costias Ricas is located on 79-19 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights.

 

Indian Grocers

Many people of New York rather not go to a fancy restaurant to buy a cultural dish they could just make at home. Luckily, the ingredients are at their fingertips because of Indian grocers.

“At Patel Brothers, our mission is to bring the best ingredients from around the world, right to your doorstep. With a wide variety of authentic regional ingredients, we strive to reconnect people with the familiar flavor of India.” 

– Patel Brothers Website

Many immigrants appreciate the fact that stores such as Patel Brothers exist because its keeps the link between them and back home. My parents also shop at another Indian grocer called Apna Bazar, and the grocers provides all the necessary ingredients to make whatever Indian dish, or Guyanese dish you’re planning to eat.

If an average joe walks into the grocery store, on the other hand, they might have some trouble recognizing some of the Indian seasonings, spices, and foods. Not because they look different, but the names are slightly changed while others are completely unrecognizable. For example, Indian karela would better be known as bitter melon in New York City. In addition, spices are not the only attraction for many New Yorkers the various amount of fruits and vegetables make for delicious snacks and meals, respectively.

 

 

 

Arunee Thai Cuisine

What is one of the first things that come to mind with you think of Thailand?  Food of course!  Many people are familiar with Thai cuisine.  Thai cuisine features one of the most exotic delicacies known to New York City.  Unique to this form of cuisine is the use of native ingredients such as “lemon grass, fresh coriander roots, leaves and peels of Karif Lime, Galangal Root and very hot chili.”  Anyone familiar to these special ingredients would make connections to Chinese and Indian cuisine.  This is because of the heavy Asian influence on the community with Chinese and Indian cuisine incorporated in Thai delicacies.

A popular Thai restaurant known in Jackson Heights is Arunee Thai Cuisine.

Due to the popularity of this restaurant and of Thai cuisine in general, people of all ethnicities visit this restaurant.  Sitting in one corner were three people from Dominican Republic and Chile and across the room were a number of Caucasian men.

 

Anyone who enjoys eating Thai food would recommend the Chicken Pad Thai.  This dish is one of the most popular and known Thai delicacies.  Chicken Pad Thai primarily consists of Thai-style rice noodles, chicken, bean sprouts, peanuts, garlic, and coriander.  In this restaurant, they dressed the Chicken Pad Thai with cucumber to add to the color and flavor of this popular dish.

 

“Chicken Pad Thai is scrumptious.  It has a citrusy zest that encases your hunger.  It makes your taste buds explode with the immense flavor that it entitles.”  – Michelle Sawh

 

Tom Yum Soup is also a widely known Thai delicacy.  Thai Tom Yum soup is also know as Thai Spicy and Sour Soup.  Although other cultures also have a “hot and sour soup” such as the Chinese Hot and Sour soup, the Thai added their own twist to this dish.  Using native ingredients such as various Southeast Asian spices, they have created a variation of the hot-and-sour soup that is both very hot yet very delicious.  In addition to the array of spices added to a flavorful lime-scented chicken broth, sliced field mushrooms, straw mushrooms, and optional white chicken meat are also added to the soup.

Two common beverages that anyone can find at any Thai restaurant are That Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee.  One characteristic that these two drinks have in common is that they both are very strong in terms of caffeine concentration.

• Thai Iced Tea is one of the most well known drinks in Southeast Asia.  It is made from strongly-brewed black tea and is usually combined with anise, crushed tamarind, cardamom, and other spices to make this variation of iced tea unique and different from other versions of iced tea.  It is then sweetened with sugar and condensed milk.

• Thai Iced Coffee is another well-known drink in Southeast Asia.  The recipe for Thai Iced Coffee is similar to that of Thai Iced Tea in the sense that many types of spices are added.  Thai Iced Coffee consists of strong coffee, sugar, crème, cardamom, and almond extract.

 

 

Arunee Thai Cuisine

37-68 79^th Street (Off Roosevelt Ave.)

Jackson Heights, NY 11372

Phone Number:  718-205-5559