5. Sunnyside has restaurants serving cuisines found nowhere else in New York City
Sunnyside rarely appears on top restaurant lists, but the neighborhood has some hidden gems serving cuisines found nowhere else in New York City. One spot written about by the New York Times in 2015 is I Love Paraguay, the city’s only Paraguayan restaurant that serves classic Paraguayan staples, including dishes from the Indigenous Guarani people. Popular options include sopa paraguaya, a salty cornbread; mbeju, a yuca starch flatbread with cheese; and madi’o chyryry, fried yuca with eggs and scallions. Nearby, Bolivian Llama Party is one of the city’s only Bolivian spots, known for their empanada-like saltenas, and silpancho, thinly pounded breaded beef cutlet with yellow potatoes and fried egg.
A spot called The Weekender with signs outside for billiards may not seem like much, but it is the city’s only Bhutanese restaurant with a full menu of classic options. The restaurant offers many types of datsi, a dish of vegetables in a cheese sauce often served with beef. Lastly, one of the city’s only Romanian restaurants, Romanian Garden, is located at 43rd Avenue. Dishes include Romanian stew with polenta, grilled pork neck, fried white perch, and breaded veal brain.