NYC Subway Restaurant Tour, Part II: Toshkent (Bath Beach)
Surfing around for the second episode of this latest Tour, I stumbled across an Uzbek restaurant. It triggered golden memories of the Uzbek rice pilaf I’d had at Chinar in Old Town, Staten Island. I had to have it! Get me to Columbus Circle, I commanded the NYC Subway system. I’m going to need a D train.
Of course things go wrong. The subway’s IRT, IND, and BMT lines were constructed in the early 20th century by three private companies and haphazardly collected into a single public entity. Folks tend to stay in their own universe, in my case the IRT West Side lines — and when you deviate, things may go wrong. Beneath a sign saying D, I got on an N, which ran on the same tracks. I realized my error by the time I got to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, where the three lines in the patched-together system come together.
The cracked sign prompted a brief meditation on Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Were these huge glass status displays really an improvement over the impervious hanging status signs? They do offer a lot more information than the simple countdown clocks, which show subway line and direction, number of minutes, and that’s it. Note my intended third-from-last stop at the top of the screen.
The MTA has been beautifying subway stations with art. Some stations along the D featured floral motifs, but 20th Avenue featured a multicolored geometric pattern.
Even on this gloomy grey day, it cheered us as we descended the stairs.
Pre-trip prep informed me that I’d be walking south, but it was nice to be pointed in the right direction.
I’ve written caustically about New York’s elevated highways but its elevated subway lines also cast a shadow over the streets they dominate, in this case 86th Street, Bath Beach’s main drag.
It does have some good old urban hustle and bustle, though.
A Bath Beach resident in an FU46 hat relaxes on his walker outside the local Dunkin.
The Ricepot may be a subject for further research!
At the corner of 20th and Shore Parkway, I caught a faint glimpse of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, linking the New York boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island.
And other things not so savory. Direct access to the Gravesend Bay waterfront was not possible from here, but Bath Beach Park and Bensonhurst Park were both nearby. Note halal food truck in the distance (upper left).
Bath Beach’s redbrick apartment blocks are its dominant architectural element. They were built by Fred Trump, father of POTUS 45. As a young shaver, Fred attended Klan rallies at Madison Square Garden, but you’ve got to hand it to the guy, he sure did build a lot of housing. After a while the courts even persuaded him to rent some of it to nonwhites.
Fred worked doggedly to amass a real estate empire worth an estimated $1 billion, much of it with public subsidies, though it was sold for about $300 million less. What business genius was responsible for that? Insights are available from Mary Trump: Fred’s granddaughter, niece of the once and possibly future president, and clinical psychologist, in her book Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man (Simon & Schuster, 2020). A sequel is about to follow in 2024.
In front of a (former) Fred Trump building, among sturdy trees that must have been slender saplings when the building went up, America’s hopes for a brighter future were playing whiffleball.
I happen to like apartment living, so don’t get the impression I’m knocking Fred’s developments. But these houses across the street may be indicative of what they replaced.
I do suffer a bit from Cool House Envy. You’ll know you’re getting near the restaurant when you pass these turreted beauties.
I loved the exuberant zigzag facade of this one.
Almost there!
We have arrived at Toshkent Restaurant.
The interior was beautiful, clean, restrained, dignified, spotless. During this weekday late lunchtime I had little company except for the party in the next room — you can see a few of them at left. The staff tried to seat me farther away from the group, and the reason soon became apparent, when two pairs of children began waltzing and clumping around my table.
I should have listened to the staff. At the same time, I was charmed to have some lunchtime entertainment, at no extra charge. The china was opulent…
…as was the cutlery.
When I asked for tap water, instead of being grudgingly brought a small glass or bottled water, I got a whole carafe of NYC’s excellent H2O. IMO, that was even an even classier move than the cutlery.
I was so dazzled by all the beautiful surroundings and thoughtful service that I couldn’t even focus my eyes on the salmon kebab.
Ah, that’s better. I’ve probably used the terms succulent and delicious too often, so I’ll settle for tender and juicy.
Lagman soup featured lamb and beef with hand-pulled noodles — note their uneven widths — in a thin tomato broth.
Yes: It was good. None of the food was heavily salted, which as a kidney-stone sufferer I appreciated.
This meal was more than good enough to earn a blog. Too late, however, on the righthand side of the menu, I spotted an unusual kebab alternative: quail. It’s something I’ve never had.
My second trip began at the 18th Avenue station, so that I could take a look at two local parks: the neighborhood’s signature Bath Beach Park and Bensonhurst Park, named for a nearby neighborhood. Both were well endowed with athletic facilities, but what really caught my eye was the art in the station.
Kudos to the artist, Francesco Simeti, born in Italy in 1968; and to the fabricator, Tom Patti Design, for the half-dozen gorgeous multi-panel artworks on display. Even on a grey day such as this, the light shone through them, and it must be interesting to see them in different lights. Presumably on a sunny day the colors would be vibrant.
Even with muted light, they were gorgeous — I could feel my heart move, somehow — and there were three more eyecatchers across the platform. While I was shooting the plaque above (pictures are my notebook) a woman my own age said, “not a good place to stand.” She had plenty of room to pass by on the stairwell, and it was obvious that I was doing more than standing, so this was pure meanness. “No,” I said quietly, not in the mood to pay it back, “but it is a good place to take a photo.”
On the second visit to Toshkent, I decided to start with a Greek salad. Apparently lettuce isn’t really a thing in Uzbekistan, because there wasn’t much in the Greek salad, and none is listed for the other salads.
What it did have was freshness. As someone who lives on fresh produce at home (and chicken and brown rice) I noticed it in every ingredient. Most memorably, in the juicy, dark red, flavor-impregnated tomatoes. I would go back here just to taste the tomatoes in the salads. I might be returning here just to eat my way through all the ones with tomatoes.
And now, tah-dah, the Quail. I am referring here to poultry on a spit, not to the 44th VPOTUS — that would be Quayle, Dan. (Vice President Quayle was often critiqued for being verbally maladroit. But you could say the same of at least three presidents in my lifetime.)
The quail came with a gravy boat of sweet chili sauce and a beaker of vinegar infused with herbs and spices. I will tell you that, before I walked though the door, faced with the prospect of another expensive meal, I came this close to punking out. Would a taste of quail be worth a second meal at a place where I’d eaten, quite satisfactorily, just two days before?
Yup, it was. I am groping (not unusual) for words to describe it. Dispense with the obvious: not like chicken. Like duck? Closer, maybe. But it had something more delicate than duck, something unique. Something sweeter, a flavor of its own. It tasted like, well, quail.
On the way home I shared the Manhattan Bridge with a cyclist as we sailed past the dramatic landscape of New York City. Elevated tracks may not be scenic but they afford the most amazing views.
Previously on the NYC Subway Restaurant Tour:
Part I: Lake House Cafe (Van Cortlandt Park)
If you’re enjoying the NYC Subway Restaurant Tour, please follow my blog by clicking follow next to my name at the top. Then subscribe to get emails on new episodes. Also don’t miss my Staten Island Restaurant Tour (blogs | ebooks) and NYC Ferry Restaurant Tour (blogs). See you soon!
