Somewhere in the world there may be a train line that covers more gastronomic territory than the B and V subway lines, which start in southernmost Brooklyn and end deep in Queens, but if there is, we don’t know about it. For the next twenty-odd weeks, we'll be riding the B and V from Coney Island all the way to Forest Hills, jumping off frequently to rave about our favorite restaurants and food stores near the subway.
This week: Newkirk Avenue
According to local lore, the neighborhood of Ditmas Park West is the most ethnically diverse Zip Code in the country. We could well believe it: Walking the four or five blocks from the Newkirk stop, you pass Bangladeshi convenience stores, a Jamaican fried-fish restaurant, a Latin American luncheonette with the alluring smell of fried lard wafting out, a West African laundromat, an Israeli auto shop, and then, finally, cross the perilous, lawless Coney Island Avenue. Only then do you get to what could be the city’s top Afghan kebab house, Behar.
Unreal Afghan Pasta in Polyglot Ditmas [Grub Street]
Bahar Restaurant
984 Coney Island Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 434-8088
