thewayofthefuture

I will make a note in my spreadsheet to schedule one that weekend. My guess is that it would Bosnia or Brazil. Is there a day that would be best for you?

jackal

I get into NYC (from DXB) on the morning of 5/21. If we do something on 5/21, I'm definitely in. If it's within a few days later of that, I'll have to see what I can do, but I might be able to stay up in the city for a bit and join in before heading back to PA.

thewayofthefuture

Better late than never, here are a few photos from our Belgian brunch at Markt back on March 23.







http://i.imgur.com/SH48Guz.jpg

thewayofthefuture

I won't know until about a week before if I'll be in town during the week. If it turns out I am, we can definitely try to do one on the 21st.

jackal

^^ Just let me know when you know!

sk3x

The Markt meal looks delightful - haven't been there in a couple years, and too bad I couldn't make it. Hope I get to join you all for something in the next few months!

karung99

Thank you for wanting to schedule something while I am in NYC, I never try Bosnia food before it would be interesting to find out. I will let you know soon which day is better.
Looking forward to meet you all there.

thewayofthefuture

Since Belizean food was only going to be available on April 12, we jumped ahead on the list to Bhutan for akelkar's visit to NY. This is a country that has always fascinated me with its measurement of Gross National Happiness, though I can't imagine their food is doing much to raise the index. The national dish, ema datsi (pictured below), consists of chilis and other vegetables served in what tastes like a nacho cheese base. Searching online suggests there are a number of variations of the preparation, but it wasn't really close to being something I'd order again outside of a visit to Bhutan. The restaurant itself - Himalayan Yak - was a neat spot in Jackson Heights (Queens), and is worth checking out if you're ever feeling adventurous on a 2-3 hour layover/delay at LGA; the Q70 Limited bus will drop you off right around the corner for $5 round trip. And yes, they do serve yak.

Photos:

Ema Datsi


Exterior

Full Album

Calcifer

thewayofthefuture, I emailed my cousin I was telling you about who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin until recently. He didn't know of any Beninese places in NYC (he doesn't live here, fair enough), but said he'd pass my email along to a fellow volunteer who now works with West African immigrants in NYC and might have some ideas.

He also mentioned that Ghanaian food is quite similar, if that helps.... (doesn't really solve our alphabet issues though)

thewayofthefuture

Thanks for doing that

I'm planning to contact Benin's permanent mission to the UN today, and if that doesn't work I will stop by a couple of West African spots in Harlem that were recommended by cabbies to see if they can point me in the right direction. I'm afraid we might end up preparing this one at home though.

Calcifer

As expected, no reports of Beninese food in NY. I did get recommendations for Ghana and Senegal, however, which I'll post later.

thewayofthefuture

I had no luck finding a Belizean restaurant in the city, but there is an annual festival that features a few specialties from the Garifuna people, who make up about 20% of Belize's population. The festival (Garifuna Day) was held in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx on April 12 at the Evangelical Garifuna Church.

The food choices were few with only 2 vendors, but we enjoyed a tasty fish soup known as hudutu, served with freshly mashed plantains (machuca). We also sampled up a few options from the pastry table, but these were unremarkable. It seemed for a while that we were the only people outside the neighborhood to have heard of the event, so we lingered for about 30 minutes to enjoy the simple, yet charming affair.

If anyone is interested in trying Belizean food any other day of the year, there is an option just across the Hudson in Teaneck, NJ : My Belizean Gourmet.

thewayofthefuture

I had similar results at the Beninese mission (pictured below) this afternoon. The staff was incredibly helpful though, and gave me a contact number for a guy who leads some sort of Beninese cultural organization in the area. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I now have some good notes on what a typical Beninese meal would contain and I'm sure we can find a West African place that will do the trick if I don't hear anything in the next few days.

basske

I'll be passing through NYC in November, As soon as I'm sure of dates I'm going to start looking at some of these places, this food look's pretty amazing!

bk3day

Apologies if this is old news but I just came across this similarly purposed blog, http://www.unitednationsoffood.com

Perhaps it can serve as a resource for those hard to find cuisines?