Cafe Lily — Restaurant in New York

Must have passed Cafe Lily more times than I can remember… and finally went for lunch, 2x. Solo and then w/ a friend. A Uzbek restaurant, mix of Russian and Korean fusion cooking… I used to live near another spot that served up really delicious Uzbek food on 19th Avenue!

Situated on a quiet street with a mish-mosh of shops, and tinted windows, can seem uninviting… and staff could be a bit slow with service, so if you’re in a rush, come when you have time to enjoy the meal.

My first meal was of course to try their version of “cold noodle”… similar to the Korean style cold noodle but not made with buckwheat noodles. Here, they serve it with white noodles and tops with veggies and beef. The soup was not icy cold but also vinegary. It was good but I prefer the Korean style naeng-myeon which offers more chew & texture.

My 2nd meal, had to try my other fav - Yuk Kae Jang; but here they call it Yu-KajJan. Now this one is interesting, the soup comes out bland… and you mix in the aromatics to your taste and eat over a bowl of rice. I actually enjoyed this a lot and would recommend this!

My friend got their crispy potatoes & mushroom, it was ok. Nothing special. Also tried their meat manty - didn’t like this, the skin was dry and tough to eat, the meat was a little gamey - perhaps bc it’s lamb.

We also got their fern salad and the sauce, delish! Soak it up with the toasted bread and your belly will thank you! The price is ok, not too crazy but also not an everyday lunch outing. Overall would come back for the Yu-KajJan...

One of my friend from the past leaked that there is this Korean-Uzbek restaurant somewhere deep south in Brooklyn. It was such a random cuisine I’ve ever heard of, so never forgot about it for many years and somehow managed to search it out from Google map.

Btw, I’m Korean.

-Koosi(국수): Very strange and yet familiar taste at the same time. What I mean is that I can’t exactly name any Korean dish that is equivalent to this one, but the taste hits my mother tongue and old memory. I loved it and wish I could have this more often. 미역냉국에 단맛을 덜고 매콤한 맛을 더한 냉면의 온도를 가진 국수요리…. 라고 표현해볼수 있겠네요. 정말 맛있었습니다. -Manti(만두): Dumpling skin was very nice and something I was familiar with, but the inside is something quite different from Korean cuisine, so I suspect it’s more Uzbek type. Sour cream was really no no combination for me though. -Egg salad(forgot exact name): can’t say this menu was anything special, but have to say I enjoyed it very very much. And it also went very well with the breads we ordered as side menu.

My guess is that the owner herself or her great grandfathers are those who had to escape from Korea during Korean war (고려족?). I regret so much for not talking to the owner who kindly came to us, introduced herself, and offered serving foods for us.

Will def make my visit again...

I went with a friend to try out this Korean-Uzbekistanian spot in Brooklyn based off of a TikTok that emphasized that the food itself is not a fusion but the food of a “dying culture.” As some who loves to eat I know that culture is preserved in the food, so o just had to check it out with my friend before they left NYC for the next few months. Highlights below!

Wait staff was super attentive and friendly Service was fast and very considerate Very patient with us as new comers

Drea’s meal- Pigodya —— Good portions

Came with a spicy sauce: a little salty but very good! The meat is very tender The cabbage has a good flavor and very well seasoned The dumpling dough itself was very airy Vegetable/beef broth Super juicy but not too liquidy Needed some acidity like some soy sauce or something vinegary

My meal Fried salmon I do wish I had more greens The salmon was very good! I do wish it was a little more tender but I love the way it was fried

We also shared some of their homemade compote which was super fresh and refreshingly sweet! If you’re in the neighborhood you definitely should give them a...