Saturday, April 18, 2015

Ethnic Food

The mention of Rochester brings to mind many things...ethnic cuisine is not one of them.  If New York City evokes visions of fine dining with an eclectic fare, the Rust Belt evokes visions of meat and potatoes.  And just to help fuel this stereotype, Rochester's most famous addition to the culinary scene is the Garbage Plate, a mixture of hamburger or hot dog meat with some form of potato and mac salad, all covered with a greasy meat sauce (very tasty by the way.)

But in typical Rochester fashion, the ethnic food scene has a tendency to surprise.  To be clear, the quality, flavors, and options do not remotely resemble New York City.  As a trade off, Rochester is a tad bit cheaper, has slightly less traffic, and does not require 2-year-olds to interview for preschool.  Using rocwiki.org as a guide, some unanticipated food choices in the region include:

  • Anywhere between 10 and 12 Indian restaurants.  The names and locations change from time to time, but this range is generally accurate.
  • Ethiopian restaurants.  At last count, there are 4.
  • At least 3 Korean restaurants.
  • At least 3 Dominican restaurants.
  • Perhaps 9 Jamaican restaurants, if not more.
  • Maybe 12 Vietnamese or part-Vietnamese restaurants.
  • 3 entirely vegan restaurants (with many others having vegan options.)


1 comment:

  1. This is a great foodie town and does have a lot to offer even in terms of Ethnic cuisine. What Rochester does best, however, is trendy American cuisine! There is no dearth of of creative and inspired dishes that are often created with farm fresh ingredients. Pizza in this town I'd say is just as good as any you'd find in New York City.

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