For many students living far away from home, food isn’t just about eating, but about belonging. The right dish can transport you across oceans or back to a family kitchen. Food has a way of bringing people together, offering comfort, memory and connection in a city that can sometimes feel overwhelming and lonely. Beyond the endless french fries we consume at Downstein and the empty Chipotle bowls that fill our trash cans, there are a few restaurants around the city that never fail to bring us back to our roots.
Mamoun’s Falafel
119 MacDougal St.
Amidst the chaos of moving to the bustling city, searching for home was a challenge when I was across the world from all I’d ever known. I soon discovered that home can be found where you least expect it — for me, it happened to be a family-owned, hole-in-the-wall restaurant just a block away from Washington Square Park: Mamoun’s Falafel. Mamoun’s remains comfortingly consistent in the constantly changing city, and its affordability, quality and late hours have been reliable since its opening as the first falafel restaurant in the city. The first time I stepped inside — after walking past its old-school storefront countless times — it felt like being teleported to a Jordanian falafel shop, with the hospitality of the welcoming cashier greeting me as I admired the eclectic decoration adorning the cozy space. In between classes, comforted by the sounds of falafel frying just feet away and Middle Eastern music playing, I sat at a wobbly wooden table and was quickly greeted by the bursting flavors of a family falafel recipe — crispy and wrapped in a soft, freshly baked pita bread alongside the refreshing tahini and salad. You can truly taste the love passed down through generations that have perfected the recipe of a meal from Mamoun’s Falafel.
— Fatimah Alyousif, Contributing Writer
Mint Masala
95 MacDougal St.
Growing up, my most common dinner was roti sabzi, a simple combination of Indian flatbread with vegetables. As a first-year at NYU, I found a taste of home at Mint Masala, a family-owned restaurant just a short walk from Washington Square Park. While the restaurant is open all day, I would recommend saving a few dollars by ordering one of the lunch specials, available from noon to 5 p.m. Every dish matches the servers’ welcoming hospitality and is thoughtfully prepared, from fluffy basmati rice and warm, soft flatbreads to smooth mango lassi and crispy-outside, tender-inside aloo tikki. The highlight for me is the palak paneer, with its generous cubes of cottage cheese in a rich spinach gravy. And, unlike many Indian restaurants, Mint Masala has a robust seafood selection, including a Bombay Fish Masala that features delicate fish in a tangy tamarind-based sauce. The restaurant specializes in tandoori-style cooking, and those dishes — prepared in a traditional clay oven — are consistently juicy and well-seasoned. Although Mint Masala only serves two desserts, both the gulab jamun and kesari rasmalai are classics that are just as they should be, simple and satisfying ways to end a flavorful meal.
— Krish Dev, Digital Director
Nom Nam
210 E. 34th St.
Nestled on the borders of Kips Bay and Murray Hill sits a small Vietnamese restaurant: Nom Nam. I stumbled upon this restaurant last year in a frantic search for pho to cure a sore throat and runny nose, and I ended up finding my hidden oasis. For as long as I can remember, I grew up with my bà cooking my favorite dishes whenever I was under the weather, and pho has always been the surest method to restoring my health. On my first visit to Nom Nam, the warm, savory broth of their O.G. pho instantly cleared up my sinuses enough for me to catch a whiff of the basil, bean sprouts and onions simmering in the bowl before me. Now, whenever I’m ill with the usual cold that comes around during midterms and finals season or just longing to be back with my family in Garden Grove, California, I sit at my table for two and delight in the comfort that Nom Nam brings me.
— Isabel Lesser, Contributing Writer
Sobaya
229 E. 9th St.
In Torrance — my Southern California hometown — decades-old Japanese restaurants hidden away in strip malls are king. Combined with the neighboring city of Gardena, Torrance is home to the largest suburban Japanese population in the entire United States — and I’m a firm believer that we have the best Japanese food, too. No restaurant in the NYU area has come closer to matching my hometown favorites than Sobaya. It isn’t just the quality of the food, however, that makes the East Village restaurant feel like home. Sobaya’s wooden architecture, warm lighting and soothing jazz music — all trademarks of many traditional Japanese restaurants — are just as integral to its character as the quality of its soothing, homemade soba or buckwheat noodles. Whether you order your noodles hot with tender pieces of duck or cold with a side of refreshing dashi-soy dipping broth and tempura, one meal at Sobaya will make you understand why soba deserves a spot among the likes of the more popular ramen and udon. The restaurant serves up lunch and dinner sets that will impress any New York City foodie in a space that preserves the comfort of a hometown joint.
— Lauren Ng, Managing Editor
Bamboo Walk
1343 Utica Ave., Brooklyn
Born out of obedience and vision, Bamboo Walk was created by Paula Mercure, who was born and raised in Jamaica. She opened it hoping it would be more than just a dining spot, but a cultural home — and it indeed was for me. Even before enjoying the jerk chicken, rice and peas and curry goat, my heart felt warm the moment I stepped into the restaurant. The scent of the food transported me to my kitchen back home where my mom would cook delicious Jamaican meals for Sunday dinners after church. The restaurant shows how food can be both personal and unifying, offering flavors that resonate with Jamaicans, the wider Caribbean community and anyone craving comfort.
— Robin Young, Contributing Writer
Contact Fatimah Alyousif, Krish Dev, Isabel Lesser, Lauren Ng and Robin Young at [email protected].