Real Cheap Eats NYC
Hi I am a div
- $5.00
- SPICY
- STREET
Everything coming out of this two-in-one-shop (one selling dosas and kati rolls, the other selling Nepali snacks and dishes) is charming, but the momos (Nepalese dumplings) are fantastic. Their chicken curry filling is juicy and herby, and their crescent-form wrappers are nearly translucent, but the biggest tease is their scent. Price? 8 for five dollars.
Tawa’s Nepali Hut on Jeffrey Tastes
37-38 72nd St. at 35th Ave. (Map)
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
(718) 457-7766
Trust my man Jeff. These are freaking awesome.
The veggie options are equally awesome. We stopped by tonight & enjoyed an aloo (potato) kati roll and an order of veggie momos with daikon pickle. The potato was mildly spiced — nothing special, but totally unoily (bonus!). It was the bits of chopped green pepper and red onion cooked into the aloo ON THE TAWA and the huge dose of tangy homemade mint chutney in the kati roll that made this exceptional. The whole package was amazingly zesty and full of flavor — or as you might hear in India: chatpata! (Nice parantha too — again, not at all oily and very delicate; they make their own paranthas in-house, so no surprise there.)
We were disappointed to find that he no longer offers the paneer momos, but our veggie momos left us with no regrets. They contained an amazingly flavorful mix of spiced cabbage and carrots and were served with way spicy chutney and tangy Nepali daikon pickle. The flavors were similar to Indian (couldn’t quite but my finger on which spices they were — and the owner kept mum), but DISINCT. I’ve tried a few veggie momos in this ‘hood (Merit Kabob and Bombay Chaat) and this is by far the most flavorful one. My only complaint — it seems like they use the store-issue wonton wrappers.
Very friendly owner, too. Though it was past closing time, he whipped up fresh chai on the spot for us (made properly — boiled w/milk in a pot!) and offered thorough storage/steaming tips for the two bags of frozen momos we took home with us.
[...] in Queens, Jeff Orlick offers a guide to the Nepalese Thali plate at Real Cheap Eats favorite, Tawa Foods. Down in South Brooklyn, Tom Sullivan delivers an excellent roundup of Bensonhurst’s [...]