This post is adapted from a review I originally wrote for The Forum West.





Neighborhood: Rego Park, Queens


After a year and a half of periodically slinking by and peering into its tinted windows, Brian and I finally mustered the courage to enter Cheburechnaya, a somewhat imposing Bukharian (Central Asian Jewish) restaurant on 63rd Drive in Rego Park. Once we crossed the threshold, we realized the place isn't gloomy or unwelcoming at all. The decor is haphazard: TVs flickering from the corners, an ornate wooden bar near the back, pink-clothed tables set with clutches of condiments including, curiously, Thai sriracha sauce. Lots of big, boisterous families sharing platters of food and bottles of vodka.

Brian and I forwent the booze, but even fueled by Diet Coke, meals here are adventures in eating. They are also—for those of you interested in such things—damn tasty lessons in history and geography, with wide-ranging influences that reflect Central Asia's role as the hub of the storied Silk Road. 

The restaurant is named for its chebureki—blistered, deep-fried pockets of dough filled with meat, potatoes, and other savory stuff and served with a tangy tomato sauce. The "special" chebureki contains a flavorful mixture of beef and lamb; I cared less for the runny filling in the potato version.

Warm bread—torn from a disk-shaped loaf flecked with sesame seeds—is delicious dipped into Cheburechnaya's velvety smooth hummus and fluffy, slightly sweet baba ganoush. Olivie is a serviceable potato salad with peas, bits of meat, and a healthy amount of chopped pickles.

Lagman and Pelmeni—two soups with obvious Chinese roots—are made with beef according to the menu, but are gamey, almost lamby in flavor. We especially loved the pelmeni, a rich broth filled with wonton-like dumplings. Swap in vegetables, chunks of meat, and thick, Chinese-style noodles for the dumplings, and you have lagman.

Deeply flavored and fragrant with cumin, the pilaf seems to be made, interestingly, with medium-grain rice, which gives it a slightly sticky texture. It's served with chunks of dry, stringy beef that have already sacrificed everything they had to the rice. Skip them and proceed straight to the shish kebabs.

Offal and organ meat lovers, you've hit the jackpot. Chicken hearts! Beef brains! Sweet breads! Veal liver! Lamb testicles! Yes, testicles! All impaled on dagger-like metal skewers. We played it safe with the lamb ribs, which were meaty, fatty, and flavorful, and the beef, which was, well, beefy. Our one small excursion to the wild side involved the kebab of pure lamb fat. The translucent, gamey cubes were crisp and caramelized on the outside, meltingly soft on the inside. I found that if I cut them into little pieces and ate them with lots of salt and the accompanying raw onion, I liked them a lot. Maybe next time I'll try that with the lamb testicles.






CHEBURECHNAYA
92-09 63rd Drive, Rego Park
(718) 897-9080
http://www.cheburechnaya.com
"R" or "V" train to 63rd Drive (for more detailed directions, visit http://www.hopstop.com)
Note: Friday and Saturday hours vary according to Shabbat (check Web site)


Technorati Tags: cheburechnaya, bukharian, rego park, queens

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