About us
The Palmyra opened its doors to customers in 2012. The owners of the restaurant named it after the legendary city founded by King Salomon in the oasis at the intersection of Middle Eastern trade routes. The menu that offers many choices, the beautiful interior decoration and convenient location of the Palmyra perfectly suits the name of the ancient Biblical city. The owners of the restaurant are originally from the former Soviet republics, now the countries of Central Asia. All three of them are well versed in the distinctive features of Central Asian cuisines. One of them was the owner of the biggest restaurant in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. That is why it is not surprising that the Brooklyn restaurant Palmyra became popular right away.
Its popularity, to a great extent, is the result of the knowledge of the gastronomic secrets the executive chef of the restaurant has inherited from his ancestors and the recipes handed down from generation to generation. Such secrets and recipes cannot be learned at any culinary school, even the most advanced. It is precisely that knowledge that makes it possible to turn everyday dishes into exquisite gastronomic creations.
Cuisine
Today, the Palmyra is a well-known establishment where it is possible to taste authentic Uyghur, Uzbek, Tadjik, Kazakh and Kyrgyz dishes as well as the dishes from the Caucasus and the food of the Bukharin Jews, along with some Russian, Ukrainian, Korean and Mediterranean dishes.
The menu of the Palmyra offers versatile and impressive choices: four types of lagman, four types of manti, four types of samsa, kazi, shurpa, chebureks, meat and fish shishkebab of different varieties – there is little chance that one would find so many dishes of the Central Asian cuisines at any other New York restaurant. For connoisseurs, our cooks can custom prepare even those dishes that are not included in our menu.
Unique Culinary
There are a few first-class restaurants of ethnic Asian cuisines in New York. But only at two of them (one of them is the Palmyra) is it possible to taste authentic Uyghur food. The ethnic cuisine of the Uyghur is unique. There was a time when it became a part of the Asian cuisines as a separate culinary tradition, but at the same time it has preserved its special features. The Uyghurs are famous for the way they handle dough. No one in all of the East Asia can beat them in that.
Unique Equipment
The Palmyra is equipped with two tandyrs (clay ovens-braziers) for bread and samsa baking. Shishkebabs are made exclusively over wood coals.
Interior decoration
The luxurious interior decoration of the restaurant seating 125 people is done in the Oriental style; it is at the same time extremely cozy, helping customers to relax in a leisurely atmosphere.
Lunch-time
No special dress code is required at the Palmyra. The exception is special occasions when the whole restaurant is rented for a private event. The restaurant is open for lunch every day from 12 to 7 pm. One can have a light meal and enjoy amazingly delicious food for a less than moderate price. The great advantage of the Palmyra is that it is very convenient to have a business meeting here while enjoying a meal. The restaurant has comfortable private rooms for that purpose.
Festive events
Customers visit the Palmyra every day from 7 PM to 12 AM. There are regular customers as well visitors who have learned about the restaurant through good word of mouth reviews of the restaurant. People come to the restaurant to have either lunch or dinner, and to dance to a live music. Banquets are held here very often on the occasion of birthdays, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and funerals – all the events that allow relatives and friends to get together in our warm and friendly atmosphere and socialize. The restaurant has a banquet menus for special occasions.
Drinks
The Palmyra offers its clientele a wide choice of beverages – different teas, coffee, compote, mineral water. Those who like to have a drink can choose from a wide assortment of alcoholic beverages.
Customers can have the best Italian pastry for dessert.
Catering is also one of the services offered by the restaurant. It is remarkable for its top quality and fast performance.
“The food tastes as if it was home-made” - this remark of one of the Palmyra's customers could be used as its motto.
Philosophy
Food is indissolubly tied to people's mentality and world view. Representatives of other ethnic groups, even if they follow all the oral and written instructions of a recipe closely, can seldom manage to make a dish of another ethnic group as delicious as a chef who learned the rules of cooking a particular recipe at his mother's knee.
Even though the cuisine of the Palmyra encompasses many dishes of other ethnic traditions, the Uyghur approach to cooking is closer to the hearts of the owners of the restaurant. The Uyghurs jokingly divide their ethnic dishes depending on their properties in accordance with for what and whom they are meant. Pilaf is the food for guests; lagman is the food for love, manti is the food for men. Noodles for recreation, khalva for children, shish kebab for business deals, narin for the generous ones. The Uyghur joke about the differences in ethnic cuisines – if the Chinese eat everything that moves, the Uyghurs eat everything that grows.
Food is a part of life on which people's physical health and longevity depend. But the aforementioned does not cover its entire significance. Quality of food seriously affects the spiritual health of human beings. That's why the environment in which a meal is held must put people in a relaxing and soothing frame of mind. A repast is a special ritual in the old Central Asian tradition meant to help people to socialize.
The unique taste of the food, the friendly calm atmosphere, the politeness and professionalism of the wait staff make a visit to the Palmyra unforgettable and evoke a desire to come here once again.
Quality, comfort and friendliness are the three pillars on which the philosophy of the Palmyra restaurant rests.
It's not accidental that aficionados of the Central Asian cuisines come to this restaurant from other boroughs of New York and even from other States.