The Bite: Indulge In Succulent Meat Skewers At Cafe Dushanbe
THE BITE: Spring is in full bloom, and that means we’re entering grilling season!
Sheepshead Bay is full of cuisines from post-Soviet states that offer skewered grilled meats. However, there’s one restaurant that’s received surprisingly little love on this site: Cafe Dushanbe, the Tajik spot located less than a block from the waterfront on Sheepshead Bay Road.
The restaurant originally opened in 2013 under the name Cafe Rokhat, but the signage changed last year when one of the owners split to focus on another venture. The new name, Dushanbe, comes from Tajikistan’s capital — and indeed the decorations epitomize the Central Asian country’s ultimate splendor and luxury. The chairs and booths are upholstered with intricate patterns that invoke Persian-style rugs. Images of camel caravans riding over the dessert are painted on stretched canvases and inside arches made to look like windows. Meanwhile, delicate sheets curl from the ceiling to top off the atmosphere.
Although the decorations were impressive, I came for the grilled meat — called shashlik at Dushanbe. The smell of it curls into your nostrils when you walk past the kitchen windows near the front door. I ordered the lamb ($4.25) and beef ($4.99), as well as a traditional bread called fatir ($5).
The shashlik arrived on gleaming metal skewers along with onions and a tomato and pepper sauce. The sight of the moist meat cubes looked heavenly. I peeled away one of the beef morsels and took a bite. The meat was so succulent, it felt like the juice was being squeezed onto my tongue. It was expertly peppered and cooked so that the center kept its deep red hue.
My waiter told me the restaurant only uses ribeye steak for its beef shashlik and the meat is marinated overnight. The lamb was equally juicy and flavorful. I particularly liked that the meat cubes were separated by cuts of fat that evaporated pleasantly in my mouth.
Another highlight of the meal was the pastry-like fatir bread — so comforting it felt like curling up beside a fireplace with a favorite book. The outside of the bread has a flaky crust while the inside is buttery and doughy. It comes with a yummy garlic butter, but honestly, you don’t even need it.
I topped off the meal with the evening’s dessert special: a plate with a traditional and a chocolate Napoleon along with fresh berries and two scoops of ice cream ($7). The Napoleon was delicately textured and packed with a mellow-sweet vanilla custard. Meanwhile, its more richly flavored cousin, the chocolate Napoleon, had a flakier crust that held in its sweet contents. Combined with two scoops of ice cream and green tea served in an ornately decorated porcelain teakettle, it was a refreshing way to finish the meal.
Cafe Dushanbe
Where: 1788 Sheepshead Bay Road, between Shore Parkway and Emmons Avenue
Hours: 12pm – 10pm, 7 days a week
Phone: 718-676-9404
The Bite is Sheepshead Bites’ column exploring the foodstuffs of the Sheepshead Bay area. Each week we check out a different offering from one of the many restaurants, delis, food carts, bakeries, butchers, fish mongers, or grocers in our neighborhood. If it’s edible, we’ll take a bite.
