Caravan Review - Financial District - New York - The Infatuation
"You don’t have to eat any lamb at Caravan. You really should though. As a staple of Uyghur cuisine, it’s all over the menu, in noodles, dumplings, and kebabs. So is cumin, and sometimes dill. But even with such a lamb-centric selection, Caravan still turns out the widest variety of flavors you’ll find in one building in FiDi. This isn’t the first iteration of the restaurant (it opened in 2020, then closed briefly in 2022), but its current spot on Beaver Street has double the tables. On weeknights, the split-level, family-run restaurant is quiet, with just a few people sitting under the colorful tapestries. Most people take their food to go—after adding an order of baklava or honey cake from the pastry counter by the door. It fills up a bit more on weekends; you might even encounter the rare party that pre-ordered a whole fire-roasted lamb for $800. Food Rundown photo credit: Neha Talreja Chüchüre Our favorite dish here is this soup with lamb dumplings. Though the broth is clear, it’s well-spiced with cumin and dill, bringing out the flavor of the meat dumplings. photo credit: Neha Talreja Samsa Like we said, it’s all about the lamb. In this case, it’s ground lamb and a ton of sauteed onions in a doughy pocket. We get an order every single time we’re here. The beef is also very good, if you must mix it up. photo credit: Neha Talreja Goyru Laghman The chewy texture of these thick handmade noodles is extremely satisfying. They could use a bit more chili oil and cumin, but it’s still a great plate of noodles. You can get them with lamb or chicken, but we recommend—you guessed it—the lamb. photo credit: Neha Talreja Lamb Rib Kebab The regular lamb kebabs are perfectly wonderful, but why get those when you could get these even fattier, smokier pieces of lamb with crispy edges?" - Neha Talreja
