An Adventure In
Woodside
DARUL KABAB: 39-26 61 St.,
Woodside, 396-6361
Hours: 11 am – Midnight., seven
days
Cuisine: Bangladeshi, Indian,
Pakistani Halal cuisine
Credit: all major cards accepted
A meal with "atmosphere" is what
most people look for when venturing outside of their own kitchens into the world of
Queens’ ethnic eateries and restaurants. Darul Kabab, in Woodside, will amply repay
your curiosity and sense of adventure.
The name means the "House of
Kebab." In this small new restaurant, you will be able to taste more kebabs you ever
thought possible, and some exotic specialties you never heard of before.
The strong and distinguishable character of
these foods lies in the spices in which they are rolled, mixed and cooked.
The atmosphere Darul Kabab offers is very
friendly and simple, but with a marked foreign touch. The restaurant’s owners are
from Bangladesh, and the place invites you to all sorts of exquisite foods from the Asian
and Sub-Continental cuisines of India, Pakistan and Bengal.
Bright lights, spacious tables, very few
decorative elements along the walls, and a big buffet window at the end of the long room,
greet guests who can help themselves from a variety of rice, vegetables and chicken
dishes, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. all week long.
At the entrance, right next to the door, a
turning cake-window shows the sweet, honeyed delights of Oriental pastry – no
NY-cheesecake here, but Darul Kabab’s alternative is worth the change.
The manager, Hassan Salim, is particularly
proud of his restaurant’s appetizers: dal puri, deep fried Indian bread
stuffed with yellow lentils ($1); singara/samosa, puff pastry stuffed with spiced
vegetables (75 cents a piece); or potato vhop, a potato ball done with eggs and a
mixture of fresh herbs ($1).
The selection of first courses is
impressive, in particular for its diversified character: curry specialties, for spicy
foods’ aficionados (average $5); Bengali specialties (average $7), for those who like
to explore different worlds’ delicacies without leaving Queens; and darul’s
selection of kebab dishes is a sample of the dozens of different ways to interpret the
meat we can learn from the Orient.
Expect all the foods to be very hot —
if you are trying Darul Kabab with your family and kids, on request the cooks will soften
the spiciness by adding yogurt sauces to everything – a refresher for the stomach and
tongue.
The main course is traditionally
accompanied by rice and one extra large pita bread per person; the Asian pita is
not so flat as its Middle Eastern relative, because it is made with milk and flour. A
variant that bestows upon the Bangladeshi bread an unmatched softness, elasticity and
durability.
If you think chicken or beef kebabs are not
for you, delight yourself with the Tandoori Quail or Fish Tandoori ($7.95),
marvelous platters for delicate palates. |
