Balaboosta

The Yiddish term "balabusta" is a term of endearment used by Jewish people (usually over 50) to describe a good home maker.  My family friend from Los Angeles had heard good things about the Middle Eastern restaurant Balaboosta and sent me a link to the website. I love Middle Eastern food and on a hankering for Middle Eastern spices, we decided to check out Balaboosta.

While "balabusta" might mean good home maker in Yiddish, nothing about the restaurant Balaboosta remotely resembled a good home maker.  I had to wait at the host stand for 5 minutes and finally had to ask a server for assistance before I was "greeted."  And by greeted, I mean rudely snarled at me.  Once seated I immediately asked the server if I could put in a few appetizers (we had waited ages for our table).  The server scoffed at me that the other diner at my table was not seated.  As if that matters!  If the host was willing to seat me, I can't possibly fathom why the server wouldn't accept my appetizer order.  After a bit of persuading, the server finally agreed to put in the appetizers. 

On to our entree orders.  The snapper and branzino were accompanied by kale and asparagus, respectively.  I noticed, however, that the steak was accompanied by green beans, which as many readers know, is my favorite vegetable.  I asked the server if I may have green beans instead of kale/asparagus for either fish dish and the server said no.  This is NYC, not Paris.  What made it even more outrageous was that the server returned 20 minutes later and asked if I would eat potatoes.  They were willing to give me patatas bravas, an appetizer on the menu, instead of green beans, which was a small side to an entree.  Not only did this not logically make sense, it further exacerbated my sentiment that the service here, excuse my French, sucked.

Throughout the night, our server never checked if we liked any of the dishes we ordered.  We also had to hunt her down if we needed anything.  While Balaboosta had a fun wine menu, with dozens of choices from its European neighbors, and a fantastic dinner menu, I would only recommend going to Balaboosta if you don't mind bad service.

What to eat:

We started with a few appetizers but the standout of the night was Balaboosta's Turkish Empanada (note: this was a special).  The empanada was large but since we waited so long for food and were starving, I ordered a second empanada.  This doughy empanada was not over cooked or dried out, like so many other restaurants empanadas.  The empanada was stuffed with ground beef marinated in Turkish spices and sat on a bed of Middle Eastern yogurt.  This is hands down the best non-traditional empanada in NYC.  If you visit Balaboosta and the empanada is available, this is an absolute must order.

The entrees we ordered, the lamp chops and the branzino, were good but uninventive, essentially, nothing to write a blog about.  Balaboosta's patatas bravas, however, are worth blogging about.  The cubed shaped potatoes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Balaboosta's patatas bravas where generously coated in za'atar, a blend of Middle Eastern spices, and arrived with a side of garlic aoli to dip the potatoes in.

We passed on dessert (we didn't sit down until 10:30pm so we were falling asleep finishing our entrees).  I regretted skipping the banana bread pudding though, the table next to ours appeared to enjoy every bite.

Heading to Balaboosta? Don't bother without a reservation or else you are in for a long wait (and don't count on a spot at the tiny bar for drinks while you wait),

Your foodie friend