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“Graffiti”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Indian	East Village	Cheap Eats	Great

ve to be friendly.

To be sure, Graffiti’s dining room is not the only thing about this restaurant that is small. His kitchen, which is all of 60 square feet, was recently profiled in Time Out. Let’s put it this way: there may be street vendors with more surface area to deal with than he and his cooks have. But Jehangir has once again pulled off a square footage miracle, using all of his vertical space for storage and keeping everything in its place so that the workspace is optimized. You can check it out for yourself on your way to the bathroom, which is located at the “far” end of the kitchen. If you are waiting on line, you’ll have the chance to get some cooking tips from the source.

The fact that food this good is coming out of a kitchen that small (and without gas, but from induction hot plates, a rice cooker and an electric oven) is pretty astonishing. To be sure, this is not high-minded, seriously composed three-star cooking we’re talking about here, but more homey, comfort food—burgers, dumplings, buns, salads, pizzas—sized in sharable plate form and crafted from a palate of exotic and aromatic Indian and Persian spices and ingredients that reflect Jehangir’s background.

For instance, you can start out with a big bowl of chili pork dumplings ($12) to share. You’ll get six glossy steamed pouches filled up with spicy minced pork and dressed in tart and fresh grapefruit confit with a shower of semolina noodles over the top for crunchiness. I’d also recommend you go for the cumin eggplant wrap ($15). While it’s called a “wrap” it more accurately really resembles a quesadilla with fenugreek parathas (think thin pancakes) standing in for tortillas. It’s filled up with rich cumin-spiced eggplant (instead of cheese and beans and the like) and served with a small pot of lentil mustard soup for dipping or sipping.

Follow up with a refreshing salad of watermelon, feta and mint sorbet ($12) as a sort of summery palate cleanser, and then you’ll be ready for the braised pork buns ($15). The pork filling is prepared like a Persian stew cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, fresh green chiles and scented with cinnamon and star anise. This rock star braise becomes the filling for soft steaming Chinese buns, served with a sticky side of traditional Persian apricot chutney. David Chang’s steamed pork buns at Momof ... [more, click below]

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Posted: June 29, 2008

Other restaurants in East Village :
+ Yujin-- Closed   + Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar   + Mermaid Inn   + Five Points   + Lavagna   + Five Points   + Bond Street   + Jewel Bako   + Alphabet Kitchen   + In Vino   + Bao 111   + Chikalicious   + Il Buco   + Hearth   + Lima's Taste   + Mercadito   + Hedeh   + Momofuku   + Una Pizza Napoletana   + Winebar   + Uovo-- CLOSED   + Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction   + Gotham Bar & Grill   + Colors   + Chinatown Brasserie   + Knife and Fork   + European Union-- NEW CHEF; SEE APRIL 2007 Review   + Aroma Kitchen and Winebar   + Stand   + European Union   + Mercat   + Gemma   + Back Forty   + The Smith   + Seymour Burton   + Belcourt   + Graffiti   + The Redhead   + Double Crown    + Apiary   + Joe Doe   + Apiary by guest reviewer Kiri Tannenbaum   + DBGB   + Northern Spy   + Goat Town   + Saxon + Parole   + Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria   + Acme   + Calliope   + Nicoletta   + JEPPNEY by Claire Jaffe   + Feast   

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