Restaurants: love ‘em, obviously. But grocery stores … those are my happy places. And when a grocery store’s got prepared food that beats anything? I’m moving in. Last year, my colleague Tanya Sichynsky did a great installment of the newsletter about grocery stores with excellent food, so consider this a sequel.
With park picnic season approaching, mercifully, picking up a meal is an obvious solution. Or maybe you’re hosting a last-minute hang — cook one thing (or nothing at all) and buy the rest prepared. Especially if you need to shop anyway, there’s a win-win solution.
Plov, please
Tashkent Supermarket, the venerated Uzbek grocery store with locations in Brooklyn and Queens, recently opened its first Manhattan location in Greenwich Village. They’re selling produce and other Eastern European groceries, yes, but the big draw is the prepared food: two long hot bars, a bakery section, a kebab counter and a plov station. My favorite bites were of the tennis ball-size spiced beef manti ($2.99); kutabi ($3.49), a flaky, beef-stuffed Azerbaijani pancake; and excellently seasoned potatoes and mushrooms ($7.99 per pound). Finally, the pièce de résistance, plov ($9.99 per pound), a dish of rice and stewed meat (the lamb is phenomenal).
Obviously, all buffet rules apply: Take a few laps first. Develop your game plan. Mind the prices when you pack up plastic clamshells of salads and dumplings, as prices differ per pound. Eat your steaming dish of plov in Washington Square Park, making sure to squeeze out every caramelized clove from the head of roasted garlic. Repeat regularly.
378 6th Avenue (Waverly Place)
Picture-perfect chirashi bowls
A Reddit thread led me to MOGMOG, a small Japanese market in Long Island City where I could have spent upward of three hours looking at the wall-to-wall snacks, condiments and noodles. (I settled for about 45 minutes.)
In refrigerators you’ll find the most stunning bowl of chirashi ($38), for which the plating and quality of the fish absolutely justifies the price; bouncy, seed-covered dango with a rich sesame filling ($4.99) and some special Japanese beers — the Kagua saison brewed with yuzu ($6.30) is a standout. All that being said, this will probably be the most money you spend on the fewest items in a grocery store … or maybe I’m just too vulnerable to seeing something like a $28 mochi-wrapped snowberry, sitting alone in the fridge in its own pristine plastic cloche. Life is too short to live with regrets.
Half grocery store, half florist, BTS Korean Market in Bed-Stuy has the highest vibes per capita of any store its size. Its website accurately calls the store a “one stop shop to happiness!” Indeed: Grab the spicy braised tofu ($7.99), kimbap ($7.99 for vegetable, $8.99 for bulgogi) that comes with a small miso soup, homemade kimchi ($4.99) and a delightful sesame mochi doughnut ($3.50).
And, even if you’re not in the market for banchan, the flower prices are reasonable — tulips abound right now, in every shade, at $12 a bunch. Keep it in mind for a last minute birthday, celebration or apology gift — throw some Korean candies in there and most wrongs can be righted.
512 Nostrand Avenue (Halsey Street)
One Reader Question
What’s the best place — if any — to get a kosher-style omakase (no shellfish, eel, octopus/squid, pork, etc.)? — Bill
I find myself recommending Sushi by M all the time, because it hits a bunch of marks: three locations, an affordable 12-piece omakase (just $69!), easy to get a last-minute reservation. I dig it, and they can do it all kosher. Kanpai, to you and yours!
