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Restaurant Review: Korai KitchenLigaya Mishan, a New York Times chief restaurant critic, visits Korai Kitchen in Jersey City. A restaurant where a mother-daughter duo roll out an incomparable Bangladeshi menu.
Imagine you’re in the middle of dinner. You’ve been promised eight courses. You think you’re almost done. But no, five more are coming. I reviewed Korai Kitchen, a Bangladeshi restaurant in Jersey City. The chef, Nur-E Gulshan Rahman, and her daughter, Nur-E Farhana Rahman, opened Korai Kitchen in 2018. On Fridays and Saturdays, you are invited in for a dawat — an invitation to a feast. You start with a mango lassi, a refreshing way to clear the palate for what’s going to come. Quartet of bhortas, which are mashes. You’re going to get a lot of heat from chilie and the steady hum of mustard oil. The bhortas are meant to be eaten with rice. As Nur-E Farhana will tell you, they don’t believe in wine pairings. They believe in rice pairings. The eggplant dusted with turmeric, fried with a little salt. There’s always rui, delicate river fish imported from Bangladesh. Part of the pleasure is working your tongue around all the little bones as you eat. As Nur-E Farhana says, her mother does not believe in anything boneless. This is the way you’d eat it in Bangladesh. And this is the way you’ll eat it here. Act Two — steady march. Kebabs — beef or goat. The glory of murgir roast, a chicken for the ages — fragrant and lush with chiles, plump golden raisins. If the stars align, there will be kacchi biryani — dark shambles of goat with all the juices trickling, cut by the bright tang of sweet-sour dried plums. So there’s so much that’s brought to each dish. The dessert alone takes seven to eight hours, somewhere between a flan and a cheesecake. It’s exactly how you’ll want to end the evening.
Ligaya Mishan, a New York Times chief restaurant critic, visits Korai Kitchen in Jersey City. A restaurant where a mother-daughter duo roll out an incomparable Bangladeshi menu.
By Nyt Cooking
November 13, 2025