Cafe Euroasia

Under the elevated tracks of Brighton Beach Avenue, Cafe Euroasia feels like eating in somebody's apartment: Russian music videos on the television, still lifes of flowers on the walls, regulars pouring from their own bottles. The menu covers the whole former Soviet map, but the reason to come is Uzbek.

Order the Uzbek-style plov, rice cooked down in lamb fat with carrots and cumin until every grain tastes of the meat; manti, big steamed dumplings packed with lamb and soft onions; and lyulya kebab of minced lamb. Add the garlicky Korean carrot salad — a Central Asian staple brought by the Koryo-saram — and a bowl of laghman noodles if you have the room.