Drive by, and you'll probably drive by. Before my first confirmed sighting, early this year, I must have passed this parking lot a dozen times or more without spotting the modest signage and low lighting of the restaurant nestled at the back (and farther from the street than my photo suggests). This evening, however, I was on foot — a slow and sometimes wearisome means of travel, but one that's much more amenable to exploring the nooks and crannies of a neighborhood. U-turns, in particular, are easy to manage.
Much of the fare at Five Star Village Cafe (that's the name I'm going with from at least a half-dozen documented permutations, most of them by the establishment itself) would be an easy fit for the menu at a Russian, Georgia, or Armenian restaurant. When a friend arranged a group lunch, however, we naturally found room for a few items best known from the chef's first home, Azerbaijan. One, guru hingal, offered a heap of ground lamb atop folded pieces of boiled dough, as if the chef had contemplated dumplings but never sealed the deal. Not fancy, but it went fast. For a few more photos, see the EIT page on Facebook.
H/T Andrew Coe (via private communication)
Five Star Village Cafe
1968 Coney Island Ave. (Ave. P-Quentin Rd.), Midwood, Brooklyn
718-975-3373
www.Facebook.com/pages/Village-Cafe/1381430668744403
