Fork in the Road Loves Floral Park, Queens

Floral Park, Queens is my new favorite neighborhood. It's on the eastern edge of the borough, bordering Nassau County, and it's home to a large and growing Indian population. There are well-stocked South Asian grocery stores, like Patel Brothers and Subzi Mandi, sweets and snacks shops, and many restaurants--from Pakistani kabob houses to Indian-Chinese spots.

In my column this week, I write about two of the best restaurants in the neighborhood: Mumbai Xpress and New Kerala Kitchen. If Mumbai Xpress were a little bit easier to get to, I would eat there everyday. It's definitely my favorite restaurant so far this year. It specializes in the fast foods and street foods of Mumbai, many of which I haven't seen anywhere else in New York. There are 99 dishes offered, ranging from the more familiar (samosa chaat, masala dosa) to the relatively obscure (misal pav, tokri chaat).

New Kerala Kitchen offers the rustic, fruit-seafood-and-coconut-heavy food of the Indian coastal state of Kerala. The dishes, such as kingfish fry and pulissery, are obviously made with care--well spiced and fresh, they taste like home cooking in the best sense. But each time we were there, the restaurant was nearly empty, and not everything on the menu was available. Still, it's worth a trip, and you'll be helping to keep them in business.

I know it's difficult to get to Floral Park, but supporting these completely delicious, affordable mom-and-pop restaurants really feels like the right thing to do right now. Make a day trip out of it, and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Click the clickety above to read the whole review.

Mumbai Xpress
256-05 Hillside Avenue
Floral Park, Queens, 718-470-0059

New Kerala Kitchen
267-05 Hillside Avenue
Floral Park, Queens, 718-470-6240