Mongolian Momo King

Mongolian cooking is steppe food — mutton, beef, flour and fat, made to keep a herder warm — and New York has almost nowhere to eat it. This small East Village room on 12th Street is the exception, run by an owner who will happily walk you through the menu and pour you a cup of tea while you decide.

Order the buuz, plump steamed dumplings of lamb or beef with a puddle of juice inside, and khuushuur, the flat fried pastries that are Mongolia's festival food. Tsuivan, noodles stir-fried with meat and vegetables, makes it a meal. There are vegetable dumplings for anyone who needs them, and everything tastes homemade, because it is.