Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Week: April 8

With Eater editors dining out sometimes several times a day, we come across lots of standout dishes, and we don’t want to keep any secrets. Check back weekly for the best things we ate this week.

Manti at Urgut Tandir Express

Each of these five fist-size dumplings ($13) from Urgut Tandir Express is an explosion of flavor: It starts with the coarsely chopped lamb inside, oozing fat, flavored with onions and Asian cumin (more pungent than western cumin). It’s topped with sauteed and pickled red peppers as well as chopped cilantro and dill. And the wrappers are wondrously thin, given the load of meat they must carry. 3915 18th Avenue, near Ocean Parkway, Borough Park — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Melissa McCart/Eater NY

Grilled heritage chicken with salsa verde and lemon

Last week, I stopped by the new Sempre Oggi on the Upper West Side — in the former ‘Cesca spot for 20 years. The Italian restaurant from Robert Guarino of 5 Napkin Burger and chef Phillip Basone, formerly of Barbuto and Le Crocodile, turns out some classics, though the grilled chicken ($38) was a knockout: every part perfectly juicy, dressed with an herbal verde, and shot with lemon. Basone says he designed the oven specifically for the chicken dish, and it shows. It’s a leveling up of his mentor’s version at Barbuto. 164 W. 75th Street, near Amsterdam Avenue, Upper West Side — Melissa McCart, editor

Emma Orlow/Eater NY

Ice box at Penny

What better day to eat chilled seafood than one with a flash flood warning? At least, that’s been my thinking lately when a hot restaurant opens and it's bad weather — it just means I’m more likely to get in as a walk-in, which, thankfully, I did at Penny. Even still, the bar — from the team behind downstairs Claud — was bustling with the after-work crowd, and for good reason. A friend and I shared the ice box ($36), which is raw bar classics with one of the best mignonettes I’ve had in a while. And while I have no doubt co-owner Chase Sinzer’s wine list is ace, there was nothing that felt more needed after a busy day than the $8 draft Japanese beer Penny keeps on tap. 90 E. 10th Street, near Third Avenue, East Village — Emma Orlow, reporter

Stephanie Wu/Eater NY

Pork katsu at Crown Shy

For a last-minute dinner, we managed to nab a reservation at Crown Shy, the Michelin-starred restaurant in an Art Deco landmark downtown. The Financial District is far from a culinary destination, especially on the weekends, but the dining room was packed. We started with some fantastic crudo and a stellar pea-studded ricotta gnocchi. I rarely order meat entrees at restaurants unless I’m dining family-style, but I was so impressed by the two we ordered: the citrus-marinated chicken and the pork katsu ($43), my favorite dish of the night. It was served on the bone and lovingly panko-crusted, so that it was crispy on the outside but still tender inside, impressive for such a large piece of meat. Pro tip: Put your name in for a seat at Overstory, the cocktail bar upstairs, before you sit down, and they’ll have a spot ready when the meal wraps. 70 Pine Street, between Pearl and William streets, Financial District — Stephanie Wu, editor-in-chief