Qanoon on 21st Street & 9th Ave feels like you’re in your best friend’s parents’ kitchen

‍We wrote a short time ago about Shukette, the raucous, ripping and dipping, Middle Eastern bazaar-style staple in Chelsea that makes you feel like you’re transported into a bustling market in another country or an M.I.A. music video.  Well, neighbor Inge responded to that post with a suggestion that we visit Qanoon, on 21st Street and 9th Avenue, which turns out to be Shukette’s cozy, reserved little brother that doesn’t talk as much, but everything he says is hilarious.  And secretly hilarious, my friends, is the best kind of hilarious.       

Founded by Tarek Daka, a Palestinian who grew up on a farm in the West Bank, Qanoon feels like you’re sitting in your best friend’s parents’ kitchen.  First you put in your order, and then you watch your waiter deliver that order to the chef in the small kitchen in the back, who you can then watch sizzle, season, and flip your soon-to-be dinner from scratch on a small cooking range. 

And what should you order?  Our usual advice—especially for intimate restaurants founded, owned, and operated by immigrants—is to sit at the bar, say less, and let the bartender or waiter order for you.  Do that here.  The advice you will probably get is the block-approved move: hummus to start, which is perfectly soaked in tahini and olive oil, and the Shepherd’s Beer, a refreshing palette cleanser shipped from a microbrewery in Birzeit, Palestine.  From there, go with the makloubeh, a lamb casserole cooked in a small pot with rice, tomato, and eggplant (and then drizzled with tahini), or the musakhan, which is chicken cooked with a signature spice called sumac and served over bread. We’ll be back later for the latter.  

Highly recommend. ‍ ‍