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This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to New York
The right meal at the right time nearly always beats a “perfect” meal. When I make reservations in advance, 6pm usually rolls around and I fancy something entirely different (often including having a bath and staying home). So my New York City restaurant recommendations reflect the rule of my appetite and not the scene; it inclines to spontaneous dining at places that will have me when I need them, without too long a wait. With one exception.
That exception is Sailor in Fort Greene. It’s quietly, casually miraculous. Chef April Bloomfield does the classics — Caesar salad and steak béarnaise — better than anyone. She also slingshots familiar-sounding dishes into an otherworldly realm: stuffed chard is filled with sticky risotto; the half roasted chicken — slathered in yogurt, cilantro and jalapeño — has the texture of a rotisserie bird and the taste of a tandoor; and her ice-cream-filled profiteroles are covered in a salted caramel sauce that becomes almost chewily Twix-like as you eat. Set your alarm for 11am to be the first in line for tables two weeks ahead, or try to walk in when it opens. If you fail, Roman’s down the road — a neighbourhood Italian where you’ll begin with fava e cicoria and end with chocolate sorbet — will have you forgetting that you ever intended to eat elsewhere.
A train ride to Flushing, Queens, may not feel like the spontaneous option, but the food court at New World Mall will provide a frenzy of instant gratification in the form of hot pot, dumplings and noodles. Chong Qing Noodle 19 serves one of my favourite dishes around: chong qing noodle soup with perfect proportions of broth, noodles, Szechuan chilli oil, mince, peanuts and pickles. Each bite is electrifying. Laoma Malatang, the dry-pot kiosk to the left (whose name is often changing), lets you fill a huge bowl with any meat, seafood or vegetables by weight before they stir-fry in mala spices — mild, medium or heavy. I choose medium with all veg: lotus root, enoki and wood ear mushrooms, and broccoli.
In the East Village, Sobaya specialises in homemade noodles, but everything on the menu is delicate and satisfying, from the agedashi tofu to the marinated spinach. It’s a wonderful place for a calm lunch alone, and is serendipitously close to Kettl Tea on the Bowery. Follow your soba with a shaken matcha and a bar of matcha chocolate with roasted soba crunch.
If you’re around Flatiron and wondering why, S&P Lunch is a quintessentially old-school New York lunch counter, filled with New York people doing New York things, like eating pastrami and tuna melts. It’s a great place to stop for an off-peak matzo-ball soup — theirs includes vegetables and dill. And although Superiority Burger has a reputation for being hard to get into, if you’re an early bird or happy to have a drink at the bar in the back, it promises something very different than its name suggests. It’s fully vegetarian and delivers zany vegetable perfection — in winter, chicories from Campo Rosso Farm, creamy little bowls of beans and grilled brassicas — and incomparable scoops: gelatos like Sicilian almond and Evercrisp apple. Food this good isn’t usually served so casually.
In Midtown, I may head to Cho Dang Gol, a Korean tofu specialist in Herald Square that feels nourishingly un-restaurant-like. From the canteen-esque dining room you can see wooden barrels of tofu steaming in the kitchen, and the endless stream of nourishing dishes you didn’t order makes it feel like you’re in someone’s home. Each meal begins with a scoop of warm tofu and banchan (Korean side dishes). Whatever you order comes with a wooden bucket of chewy rice that doubles as a kettle to brew toasty-rice tea. Sip this after you’ve eaten your stew for something better than a spa day. No reservations, so show up 15 minutes before it opens.
Back in Brooklyn, Chez Ma Tante in Greenpoint keeps its bar seats for walk-ins, so its nubbly chips with aioli are readily within reach. The sparseness of the room and menu may remind you of St John, and its meaty specials are as good as those at the British institution. If a homemade sausage is on the menu — served with just a spoonful of beans — don’t miss it. The kohlrabi salad, pork shoulder and kedgeree are mainstays, and you should get these too.
Finally, my brother-in-law from Beirut says the food at Nabila’s in Brooklyn is as close to his mother’s cooking as it comes here. Of course, my bar isn’t as high as his — but the fatayer, kousa and yakhnet sabanegh are some of the best I’ve had. This is brothy, allspiced Lebanese home cooking that is simple and unaffectedly excellent.
Clare de Boer is a four-times James Beard nominated chef and a writer. She is chef/owner at Stissing House in Pine Plains and co-founder/owner of King in New York
What’s your favourite restaurant in New York? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
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