Mazal Tov

We came on a Sunday night, and were the only people in the restaurant. This is a little surprising, because the food was a good and a bargain.
We had a garden salad ($ 8.50), a beet salad ($ 5.50) and an avocado salad ($ 6.50), all of which were huge and well composed, tasty, relatively tender lamb shish-​kebabs ($ 5 each), lamb puff pastry pockets ($ 2.00 each… what a deal!) and a loaf of Uzbek bread, which was crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside, just the way we like it. Took half of the bread and one of the puff pastries home.
Why is this place empty? It might be that it is obviously a kosher restaurant and people might be unsure what to expect. I think they might be better off if they emphasized the Uzbek angle, but that’s a hard call.
What is not a hard call is that the staff should not be watching TV while they have customers. Not that the service was bad, or slow, but it was just a little weird: they were watching a preview channel, and we probably heard the same thing four times in a row.
We like it. We’ll be back.

I attended a family gathering at Mazal Tov last Sunday, and the food was so good that I cannot possibly rate the experience less than five stars.
The owners of this restaurant are Bukharian Jews from, I believe, Uzbekistan. I lived in Queens for a few years, and what I learned about Bukharian Jews was that when they invite you into their home, they are welcoming and gracious hosts. And that their home cooking is beyond belief.
The very first thing I did upon entering was ask the server whether they had plov. When it comes to rice dishes from all over the world, Uzbek plov is in a class all by itself. Biryani — forget about it. Paella — forget about it. You want Uzbek plov — with lamb.
Unfortunately they didn’t have plov. Which makes sense because as I understand it, in Uzbekistan making plov really needs an occasion. But by the end of the meal I had no regrets about not getting to have plov, since — as I already said — there was plenty of great food.
For our party we ordered a Russian restaurant banquet style meal, which meant that by the time we arrived the table was served with various salads and appetizers. If I were asked to put together a list of appetizers that I would want for a Russian feast — the selection they served would have been exactly it. There was absolutely nothing omitted and nothing I wouldn’t have wanted. I’ll spare the listing of items, but it was literally as if they read my mind and took my order telepathically.
For hot appetizers we had the obligatory /​traditional Russian fried potatoes with mushrooms, and they also served zucchini fried tempura style. Personally I don’t like zucchini, but those were as good as it could get for my taste.
For the main course I ordered a lamb shish kebab and manty. Why did I order two main courses — it is notable that Uzbek lamb shish kebab is different from, say, shish kebab commonly found in Turkish restaurants, such as in the notorious Sahara on Coney Island Avenue. There shish kebab comes in a form of cubes of lean meat without a trace of fat. Lamb shish kebab served in Bukharian restaurants commonly contains much smaller pieces of meat and also fat. It really takes three Bukharian shish kebabs for a main course.
Manty were absolutely divine. Manty are oversized boiled dumplings with meat. There was this one time when a friend of mine invited me to his family’s home for a meal of manty, and that was one of the most memorable dinners of my life. Manty served in Mazal Tov were just as good.
The meal came with freshly baked Uzbek lepeshka bread, which is possibly the most delicious way to consume simple carbohydrates.
One thing I should say is that I am not sure what sort of an ambiance could be encountered in the restaurant at a different time. We went on a Sunday afternoon and we were the only visitors, which was just perfect for us. One server took care of our whole party, and he was very polite, attentive and efficient. If I could have the same experience — I would definitely go again. Great time, fabulous good — just perfect in every respect.