FARIDA - Finest World Dishes

Review: Farida in Midtown Is a Charcoal-Grilled Meat Destination | Eater NY

"Claiming to be “the first and only Central Asian cuisine in the heart of Manhattan,” I found Farida a Midtown, full-service take on Uzbek-centered Central Asian cooking run by owner Farida Gabbassova-Ricciardelli and her husband, chef Umitjon Kamolov (nicknamed “John”). A few steps south of the Port Authority on Ninth Avenue, the narrow, deep dining room with an alcove and a counter looking into the kitchen is decorated with murals and artifacts — battle axes, embroidered pillbox skullcaps, hanging caravan lanterns, and antique pistols — and uses particularly handsome servingware with a jagged blue pattern edged in gilt. The menu emphasizes Uzbekistan (the chefs and co-chef hail from Samarkand; the owner is from Kazakhstan) and offers a Samarkand-style plov ($15) made with tender beef cubes, sweet carrots, and heaps of fresh scallions; fist-shaped manti with a thinner wrapper, available with oniony lamb or slightly sweet pumpkin (the pumpkin filling also flavors the flaky brown turnovers known assamsa ($8 for two), sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds); and a range of shashlyks (lamb rib shashlyk $9 left on the skewer, strewn with onions and served with garlicky shredded salads — get fries or naan on the side). The chicken wing shashlyk is exceedingly succulent and the onion-laced lulya (ground beef) is lean and flavorful. I also found the Tashkent salad ($15) — shredded daikon radish and beef with crisp fried onion bound with thick mayo — decidedly rich, while the achichuk (tomatoes with dill and onions) is a fresher pick; soups are magnificent, including a meal-sized lagman with plentiful handmade noodles, and the oxtail stew ($21) shot with chickpeas is a hearty Samarkand wedding–style dish. Overall, the food felt wholesome and freshly prepared by a crew with real zeal for the cuisine, and outside of Texas barbecue it’s my best chance in Manhattan to get charcoal-grilled meats that taste powerfully of smoke." - Robert Sietsema