This NJ Restaurant Was Named To '23 Best Dishes In America' List

NORTH JERSEY, NJ — Chefs are always looking to combine fresh ingredients in a new way. But what about vegetables grown behind a restaurant in New Jersey's second largest city?

A James Beard-nominated chef who owns a small Jersey City restaurant with her daughter — and grows her vegetables out back — has created a dish tasty enough that it just made a national list.

The small Bangladeshi restaurant Korai Kitchen — run by chef Nur-E Gulshan Rahman and her daughter — made the New York Times' "23 Best Dishes In America" list on Wednesday, the only restaurant in New Jersey to do so.

The Times said its food critics dined across the country this year to create their "Best Restaurants" lists, and 23 dishes in particular stood out. The dish Lau Chingri is made from the bottle gourd, a popular vegetable in Bangladesh (pictured above).

"The freshness of the lau stands out in this unfussy dish, alongside tender shrimp and an extravagance of chiles," wrote critic Ligaya Mishan.

Recipe websites note that the dish is often made with shrimp or prawns and spices.

James Beard Nominee

As reported by Patch last year, Rahman was shortlisted for a James Beard award in January 2024, something that earned gushing praise from her daughter.

"Words cannot express just how proud I am of my mom and our incredible team," she said at the time. "What a beautiful moment of recognition for Bangladeshi food and for my insanely talented mother, who has honed her craft for over FIFTY YEARS!" READ MORE: 'Proud Of My Mom': Chef At Small Hudson County Restaurant Snags Big James Beard Nomination

Korai said in a message this week that they are currently open just for takeout, and have dine-in on special occasions, listed on their website linked below.

Jersey City's food scene has been praised in the past, and the city made the Food & Wine list of 11 up-and-coming foodie towns in 2022. READ MORE: One Of Top 11 Foodie Towns In U.S. Is Jersey City, National Magazine Says

Korai is located at 576 Summit Ave. More details are here.