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In any big local elections, a candidate’s connection to the food of their city is going to be part of the questioning, and in the New York City mayoral race, candidates Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo have given a pretty good overview of the city. Cuomo has gone more old-school when expounding on his favorite foods, including his love of spaghetti and meatballs with sausage, and the NYC favorite bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, which he told The New York Times he prefers on an English muffin rather than a bagel. Growing up in the diverse neighborhood of Astoria in Queens, New York, Mamdani has also talked about some of his favorite local eats, and in an interview with The New Yorker, he listed Kabab King as one of his favorite restaurants in the city.
Kabab King is a small spot located at the intersection of Broadway, 73rd Street, and 37th Road in Queens’ Jackson Heights neighborhood that serves a mixture of Indian and Pakistani dishes. In the interview, Mamdani says his favorite thing to grab from the local spot is the classic Indian dish biryani, which is layered and spiced rice with meat and vegetables, with Kabab King offering both chicken and goat options. In addition to that, Kabab King is true to its name, with a half-dozen different tandoori kebabs that are offered as both plates and rolls. Best of all, in true New York fashion, Kabab King is open late, satisfying your skewered meat and rice cravings until 2 a.m.
Zohran Mamdani also enjoys Zyara and Pye Boat Noodle
A little closer to home in Astoria, Mamdani says he loves Zyara, which is a New York halal restaurant on Steinway Street that specializes in shawarma and kababs, alongside other Middle Eastern favorites. There, Mamdani’s order is the lamb adana laffa, which is a minced meat grilled kabab flavored with spices and wrapped in laffa flatbread. He also recommends pairing that with a mint lemonade and some pita and hummus.
If kababs and shawarma aren’t your thing, Mamdani’s final choice is another local favorite, Pye Boat Noodle, which is also in Astoria. Located on Broadway between 35th and 36th street, Pye Boat Noodle is a Thai restaurant serving a variety of classic Thai dishes, including boat noodles and panang curry, but Mamdani’s recommendation there is neither soup nor noodle. Instead, he says the koy nua is the way to go, which is a spicy raw beef Thai salad that is like a raw version of larb, which might be more familiar to most Americans.
Mamdani’s favorite restaurants show that, for all its reputation as an expensive place to live, New York is still a heavily immigrant city with a lot of affordable local spots and a truly amazing amount of diversity. However, if you live in the city or are just visiting, you may want to try these restaurants soon, because something tells us they are about to be packed.