NYCReview
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Mombar
Included In
The Little Egypt stretch of Steinway in Astoria is one of New York’s best-smelling food streets, where grilled fish mingles with hookah smoke, and whiffs of strong Arabic coffee. At Mombar, one of the older restaurants in the area, a haze of cooking smoke fills the air, bringing with it the fragrance of sauteed chicken livers, steamed rice, and spiced lamb.
The dishes here are nominally Egyptian—little pyramids of couscous, tagines, and chunky hummus with thick rounds of pita—but Mombar is just as much the unique expression of its chef-owner, who’s run the place since 2000. From behind the kitchen counter, the sounds of cooking have the disjointed rhythms of a home kitchen. Something sizzles as it goes into a pan, a microwave beeps, and a knife sniks haphazardly through fruit and vegetables.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Most nights, the chef is also the host, gauging whether he has enough space to prep food for another table each time someone walks through the door and into the sheet-draped dining room. Part magpie's nest, and part decades-long art installation, this room is an essential part of the experience. Found objects plaster the mosaicked surfaces, with everything from a New York license plate to a marble fireplace melding into one sculptural whole: a mass of statuettes and fencing sets, Eyes of Horus, and old tin advertisements. It's all cobbled together from here and there, and slowly assembled by hand—just like the food.
Naturally, there’s no paper menu. So when the chef comes over to rattle off a list of the day’s dishes, pay attention. He’s the server too, and by the end of the meal, he’s the amiable proprietor, pressing an after-dinner mint chocolate into your palm, and telling you to eat it while it’s still fridge-cold.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Order whatever he recommends and has on hand, which could be those nearly caramelized chicken livers, tingly with scraps of jalapeño, or that cumin-spiced lamb shank, tender and covered in greens. It might be a roughly diced salad of apple and beet, dusted with dried mint, or a whole fish with a side of stewed vegetables.
No matter what you get, when the handwritten bill comes it will be reasonable, typically under $100 for two. Remember to bring cash, and be prepared for a wait—the food here is cooked (or microwaved) to order, table by table. Bring a bottle of wine. No, actually, bring two. It’s nothing fancy, but the place is special: the rare New York restaurant where you can sit for hours and feel right at home, even if it’s not your own.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Sonal Shah
Chicken Livers
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Lamb Shank with Couscous
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Tagine
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Hummus
photo credit: Sonal Shah