Go for the throat.
Unlike the takeout menu, which I saw as I departed the restaurant, Arzu's in-house menu can be cryptic. Some items aren't translated, and others are printed only in Cyrillic characters. Though horovak (above; $4 per skewer) was also rendered in the Roman alphabet, it was listed without explanation; when queried, my waitress pinched her neck between thumb and forefinger. Her gesture didn't register immediately, but in retrospect it should have: I love sweetbreads. These thymus glands were skewered and grilled, yet treated gently enough to remain succulent and rich.
Also shown: the "fresh salad" (small; $3); a lamb-filled samsa ($1.75) accompanied by a forgettable tomato sauce, not tkemali; and a bowl of shurpa (on the menu, listed only as шурпа; $5), whose glistening pale broth was replete with red bell peppers, carrots, potatoes, celery, chickpeas, and bone-in lamb. The soup was wonderful, but if I'd been able to decipher the awning on my way in, I would have opted for the noodle soup called lagman. The letter that looks like an upside-down "V" (click the photo for a closer look) is a nonstandard Russian "L"; Arzu proclaims itself both a kosher restaurant and a lagmannaya.
Like Café Kashkar in Brighton Beach, Arzu is often cited as one of the city's few Uyghur restaurants. I found it curious, then, that my waitress — the only staffer I spoke with, primarily in English — didn't recognize the name "Uyghur" till I pointed it out within the description of several menu items. She herself is from the Urals.
Arzu
101-05 Queens Blvd. (near 67th Rd.), Rego Park, Queens
718-830-3335
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