Carmel Grocery - A Middle Eastern Food Bazaar
Queens in New York is as diverse as New York gets. One of the more quieter and family oriented boroughs of New York City, Queens is a mini United Nations with nationalities changing every few streets and every few years. Having lived most of my life in Queens, I have enjoyed hanging out with the Greeks and Cypriots in Astoria, stayed for a really long time in Woodside with its Irish pubs and now Shabu joints, Jackson Heights which was once upon a time "Little India" in New York, is now a melting pot of Indian's, Bangladeshi's, Nepalese, Ecuadorians and Mexicans.
After all the hustle and bustle that Jackson Heights offered (and the yummy range of food, from Indian, Nepali, Bangladeshi to Ecuadorian) Forest Hills is rich in European food. The area near the new apartment has a nice mix of Italian, Russian and Jewish restaurants. A hidden gem in Forest Hills is the Carmel Grocery store. I first heard about it when I saw a sweet elderly lady in the elevator carrying all sorts of containers filled with lovely Middle Eastern food and she told me about the store and its location. Set a little bit behind the main thoroughfare in Forest Hills (which would be Queens Boulevard, the main artery connecting Queens to the city and to Long Island), the store sits among a collection of other similar shops (a wine shop, a Subway and a laundromat) that serve the many apartment buildings and houses in the neighborhood.
Inside the store you are greeted by large glass filled jars which line the storefront with dried fruit and nuts (and frankly draw a lot of first timers in!).
Where the store is small (I would not call it tiny, a bodega is tiny, this is a small store), the 2-3 aisles and many shelves carry all sorts of delights from the Middle East, Israel and Russia. It carries some staples like Tahini, Pita and a number of brine filled plastic barrels which have various types of cucumber pickles, olives and other vegetables. Plan was to have falafel for dinner and so I picked up everything we needed, Pita bread, Hummus, the spicy green Shoug and the lovely thick Lebenese yogurt, Labneh. The dinner was a hit and we plan many more visits to the store whenever Middle Eastern cravings strike.
