EXPRESS EATS

Express Eatz - Review - Woodside - New York - The Infatuation

"Express Eatz serves a small menu of Nepali-influenced chaats, momos, and fried meat sticks that feel like the contraband your mom said you weren’t allowed to eat on the way home from school lest you ruin your dinner. You can always get your momos plain (fried or steamed), but why would you? Bo-ring. Instead, upgrade to the momo chaat with papdis, potatoes, and crispy-crunchy sev and vegetable confetti. This chaat comes coated in a tangy housemade tomato achar—which is the main reason why we won’t shut up about this place. Express Eatz sells containers of their achar, and you should buy some and add it to anything you’d put sriracha on. Notably, this is the only spot in the city where we’ve found one of our favorite Indian street foods, a chaat made with instant noodles (sometimes referred to as “Chinese bhel”). Here, it comes with uncooked Wei Wei noodles and a mix of various namkeens, chickpeas, potato, peanuts, onions, tomatoes, and herbs. All chaat should be a party in your mouth where you get every texture at once, and Express Eatz does this right by making sure the sharp onions and juicy tomatoes are always fresh, to balance out the crunchy stuff. Wash everything down with a Dopeboy lassi (named after the owner, Dopeboy Bobby) made special with the pile of almonds on top. Eating anything from here is just fun. The food is colorful and spicy, and they add something unexpected to every chaat. This restaurant is delivery and takeout-only, but if you go in person, you’ll find things that aren’t on the delivery menu like housemade Nepali potato chips and Frooti juice boxes. You’ll want to keep this spot a secret so you can get chaat masala in your mouth as quickly as possible—but Express Eatz deserves to be on everyone’s radar. Food Rundown Momo Chaat Get this. The only question is whether you'll go with chicken, beef, or veg. (The only momo you can't get as chaat is bison.) Waii-Waii Chaat This chaat is spelled Waii-Waii on the menu, but it's made with the popular Taiwanese Wei Wei brand noodles. (You'll also see this called Wei Wei bhel.) Make sure to give it a squeeze of lime, and try to get some fresh coriander in each bite. The sour-and-sweet flavors tie everything together. Pani Puri The tamarind water in this chaat is deeply green, so you know they added a generous amount of coriander, mint, and green chilis to it. They don't skimp on the fillings either, so get this, and eat every masala-water filled puri in one bite. Beef Sausage Fried Stick These hot and spicy Nepali-style sausage sticks are flavorful enough on their own, but Express Eatz doesn't skimp on sauces. You'll get three different kinds with your order to dip the meat in. Masala-covered fried aloo (potato) sticks are also on the menu, and they're worth getting even if you aren't vegetarian. Buff (Bison) Momo If you're in the mood for momos, we insist that you get the momo chaat. The only momos you can't get as a chaat are the bison momos—which have a more subtle, earthier flavor than the beef. In case we haven't mentioned it enough, it's imperative that you eat these with the house tomato achar." - Neha Talreja