"Two way," the awning proclaimed, "to go to stay."
From our table (we stayed), I mused that this wording was a more poetic alternative to "take out, dine in." My dining buddy observed that the small kitchen was mismatched with the large menu; he suspected that it might be a "dumb terminal," the culinary alternative of a computer screen and keyboard with little processing power of its own. This kosher Tajik chayhana, or tea room, has a larger sister restaurant in Rego Park; much of the prep work, and perhaps all of the baking, may be done in that borough.
Shown: manty (three for $5) with rather thick skins; a tough-shelled samsa ($2), in cutaway view; carrot salad (small, $5); pilav ($7.50); and a pair of lolah kebabs ($2.50 each). We had forgotten about the kebabs when they arrived, at long last, after we'd all but asked for the check. Nonetheless, we would have finished them, if only they'd offered even a little tandoor sizzle.
Tandoori Food & Bakery (also known as Chayhana Shalom)
26 Ave. O (West 10th-West 11th Sts.), Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
718-331-1508
Also at 99-04 63rd Rd., Rego Park, Queens
718-897-1071
