Bundu Khan Kabab House (Queens)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive:  Great combination of lacha paratha (bread) and fresh naan with gola kababs, bihari kababs, and boneless chicken tikka.  

Negative:  Inconsistent food taste, especially the gola kababs, like many other Pakistani restaurants.

Overall: The best BBQ Pakistani food in the NJ/NY area.

Revisit:  Yes,  I have visited there often and will continue to do so; their food tastes better than other places even on a bad day.

——————————————————-

UPDATED ON 2/25/2012

Bundu Khan is still inconsistent in the food they have, but the naan and paratha are always delicious.  Their bihari kababs and boneless chicken tikka were excellent on this visit but their gola kababs were too spicy and a bit salty.  It would be so much more satisfying if they were more consistent. With all that said I still believe they still have the best all around Pakistani bbq food in the region.

FROM JANUARY 9, 2012

Craving good pakistani kababs and paratha?

Bundu Khan, no relation to popular restaurant in Pakistan with same name or the restaurant in Houston with the same name, is a clean and small quick bite restaurant located on Union Tpke in Glen Oaks, NY. The walls are painted bright green with large photographs of food hanging on the walls; despite the description, this all works very well for the restaurant and gives it a nice feel. They also have a large screen TV playing various indian movies on a given day.  It can accommodate four families of four people but not more.  Most people seem to order or take out.

There are usually the same three people working at the restaurant in the front end:  the owner, his wife, and a female worker.  From what I hear, they have been working together for a very long time when the owner had another well known Pakistani restaurants in Long Island which he later sold.  That restaurant (Kababchi) by the way, has dwindled in quality after the current owner of Bundu Khan left to start up a new restaurant.

Nonetheless the food at his new restaurant is delicious.  Yes, it is like other typical Desi restaurants, where the taste is inconsistent because of the large amount of different spices that are put in and the intricacy that is involved.  On the back end he has several Mexican cooks who do most of the work.  I enjoy their lacha paratha, naan, boneless chicken tikka, and gola kababs.  I have tried their bihari kababs but think they are mediocre.  The gola kababs can be very delicious at times, melting in your mouth, while you eat the crispy lacha paratha (no this paratha is not the typical flaky one from the Pakistan based restaurant or the one in Houston, but its still damn good).  The gola kabab used to be very spicy but the owner managed to make the spice less but now the problem is cooking – sometimes its burnt and other times its perfect.  They need to get this right soon otherwise they’ll lose me as a customer for sure. They do have some delicacies as well, including Magas Nihari (Nihari with brain in it).  I haven’t tried it and don’t plan on it.  I have heard its decent though, but of course cannot compare to the one you find in Pakistan.

Despite the inconsistencies, they have the best BBQ Pakistani food around and their food still tastes better than other restaurants on a bad day.

——————————————————-

No Website

View Larger Map

Related articles

• Kabab Paradise (Central & Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Bakhtar Halal Kababs (Queens) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)

Bakhtar Halal Kababs (Queens)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: Best Chicken and Beef Kofta Kababs I’ve ever had at a reasonable price.  

Negative: Casual seating and environ. Can become very busy on weekend nights.

Overall: If you want to try the most excellent Afghani food, hands down, you have to eat here.  

Revisit:  YES!  I already visit this place every time I am in the area.

——————————————————-

Want high quality afghani food and don’t care about location or ambiance?

Go to Bakhtar Kabab in Fresh Meadows, NY. They have the best Chicken and Beef Kofta Kababs I have ever had, hands down. Even their rice and their white yogurt sauce are delicious. I don’t go to any other Afghan restaurant anymore because every time I have tried another place, they can never compare to Bakhtar. In addition, the price is a super deal - for $8.00 you get two skewers of kababs, rice, and salad. No place beats that!

In addiiton to these kababs, their lamb chops and burgers are decent as well. This is a great place to go to with family and friends if you want good food that is very reasonably priced in a casual environment. There is a lot of seating available and they have a few televisions that are hooked to Pakistani channels. The restaurant is located across from an Indian movie theater, so it is very busy on weekend nights but you can always find a seat as they have a lot of seating available. This restaurant is one of my favorite restaurants so definitely try it when you’re in the area.

——————————————————-

No Website

 

View Larger Map

 

 

Related articles

• Kabab Paradise (Central & Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Philly Bistro (Philadelphia, PA) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Al Basha (Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)

Crave Shack (Queens NY) – CLOSED

PLEASE NOTE THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED DOWN FOR UNKNOWN REASONS.

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price, & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: One of the best halal burger joints I have eaten at.  Try the Crave burger, Inferno burger, or Swiss burger with Crave fries!

Negative: Long wait times are possible.  Inferno burger is not as spicy as advertised. Milkshake was not that good.

Overall: Recommended for the burgers and the environment.

——————————————————-

update: Went back to this restaurant two more times and the food quality seems to be declining.  Disappointing indeed.  I think theSwiss-room burger is probably their best although I haven’t had the inferno in a while.

Still takes some time to make the food but its fresh so I don’t mind.  The guy at the register is a bit weird and tries to hit on girls, hijabi or not.  The crave sauce is amazing though as are their fries.

——————————

Another halal burger place? Should I really try it?

Are they just selling burgers with the Al-Safa halal beef patties like many other halal restaurants? Thats the assumption I had of Crave Shack (no affiliation with Shake Shack) until my family recommended it to me. I left everything I was doing to check out their menu online, and wow did my mouth start watering!  This place had a pretty good variety of burgers and snacks, with a unique “crave sauce”.

I decided to go eat there as soon as possible. When I entered the restaurant, I absolutely loved it. It had the touch of Johnny Rockets and Five Guys. I actually felt like I was at a burger joint rather than some crappy looking halal restaurant. The restaurant has booths and bar stools with tables.

I ordered the crave burger with the crave fries. It was delicious. The crave sauce made it even more amazing. The sauce is a bit like Thousand Island Dressing and really adds to the burger. The fries were excellent and had some sort of seasoning. My family of critics ordered the Swiss Burger and recommended that as well. They also tried a Vanilla Milkshake but did not like it much.

I loved this place so much that I went the following day as well and tried another one of their “famous” burgers. I had the Inferno burger which was advertised as being very spicy as it had an “inferno” sauce and jalapenos. Surprisingly… and disappointingly it was not spicy at all. Although it wasn’t spicy, it still tasted yummy.

This place has become one of my go to restaurants as I am always craving burgers and fries, and it is one of the first places I have discovered that actually makes their own beef patties.

Another thing I like about this restaurant is that they make everything in front of you, just like Five Guys, so you know everything is fresh. A downside to this is that when the restaurant is packed, it takes an extremely long time for your order to be ready … but it’s worth the wait. Try this place as soon as you can!

——————————————————-

Crave Shack Website

View Larger Map