maggie and i have been talking about doing a food tour of brighton beach for ages, and we figured having both brandon and kevin in town was the perfect opportunity to make it happen. i’ve chronicled our shenanigans below.

kashkar cafe.

this uygur cafe was listed on every “best of” list we found when researching brighton beach, and it lived up to the hype. the man who runs it is so incredibly nice, the decor is beautiful, and the food was amazing. it was the perfect place to kick off our adventure.

what we had: bosu lagman / veg lagman / guyry say / khonoom / kompot

total bill, including tip: $80

boardwalk stroll.

we were all very full after lunch, so we decided to walk along the boardwalk to the other end of coney island. it was overcast and windy but not outrageously cold, and the light on the water was very nice. we watched a man feeding the seagulls, took pictures with some of the murals, and talked about which rides we would go on when the park opens for the season. it was a great way to walk off all the food we had consumed, and i think we all enjoyed being on the ocean.

nathan’s famous.

we figured since we were in the area we ought to visit the original nathan’s location, and it did not disappoint. inside you can self-order using kiosks or queue up and order with a cashier, and there are picnic tables outside where you can sit and eat. the menu was much more extensive than any of us were expecting, but we kept it simple. and yes, the hot dog was delicious.

what we had: hot dog, cheeseburger, and fries for kevin / chocolate milkshake for me

total bill: i don’t know, because kevin paid and he wouldn’t tell me

güllüoglu baklava.

we knew we wanted dessert at some point, so we stopped into this restaurant / bakery to pick up some sweet treats. it looks like a cute place to sit and people watch for a while, but we opted to get ours to go and continue on to our next spot. later we each sampled a few and had positive things to say about all of the options.

what we had: a variety box, with choices selected by brandon

total bill, including tip: $18

ocean view café.

as one review states, ocean view café decidedly does *not* have a view of the ocean [nor do we think it ever did]. it does, however, have delicious food and a very hilarious server who responded “yes, of course” to every question we asked of him. it was the perfect spot to wrap up our adventure.

what we had: vareniki with meat / vareniki with cabbage / pelmeni with meat

total bill, including tip: 40

all told we ate very well and had a great time. and i’ll definitely be back to explore coney island more over the summer when the rides are open and we can swim.

xx