Jennifer Tripucka 
Hidden in plain sight at 576 Summit Avenue in the Journal Square neighborhood of Jersey City, Korai Kitchen isn’t the kind of place you casually stumble into on a walk-by. In fact, you can’t really walk in at all these days. The only way to experience it is by securing a seat at one of its intimate, limited-capacity dinner series. So when a last-minute 8PM reservation popped up on Resy at 6PM while we were scrolling for dinner plans, we couldn’t say no(!!). Two hours later, we were sitting down for what would become one of the most memorable meals we’ve had in a long time thanks to a mother-and-daughter team. Read on for more about dining at Jersey City’s Korai Kitchen in Journal Square.
A Dining Experience, Not Just Dinner
Korai Kitchen isn’t a traditional restaurant (though it has takeout and delivery as an option throughout the week!). On the weekends, it’s an experience dedicated to the Bangladeshi concept of dawat, which loosely translates to gathering, feasting, and sharing a meal with friends and family.
That philosophy is felt immediately when you walk in; only about 10 tables are in the space, and it’s a cozy, warm environment that feels tucked away from the outside world.
When it comes to dining, you’re not picking your own dishes – you’re there for the experience (which is $95 per person, btw). It’s also BYOB, but the restaurant has soft drinks for purchase as well.
The dinners are hosted by a mother-daughter duo, and that dynamic is at the center of it all. Nur-E Gulshan Rahman started Korai Kitchen at 61 years old with no formal culinary training beyond cooking for her family, and now has multiple James Beard Award nominations. Her daughter, Nur-E Farhana Rahman, leads the front-of-house and guides guests through the experience.
Now 67, Gulshan still cooks entirely without written recipes. Everything is andaz, or intuition. If it’s not something she’s been making for decades, it doesn’t make it onto the table. Many of the dishes date back over 50 years, passed down and refined through memory and practice.
Bangladeshi Food, Made With Love
If your understanding of South Asian food starts and ends with chicken tikka masala, this meal will completely reset your perspective. As they’ll tell you — and as it’s written on the wall — “no tikka masala.” The dish is actually British in origin, not traditional to the region.
Bangladeshi cuisine, particularly from Dhaka, is deeply rooted in home cooking. It’s lighter in some ways, more nuanced in others, and heavily centered around rice, মাছ (fish), lentils, and vegetable-based dishes.
“Rice is the center of all of our dishes,” the duo explains, along with a key tip: go easy. If you fill up too quickly, you won’t make it through the full experience. Instead of wine pairings, Korai leans into what they jokingly call rice pairings.
The meal starts with some colorful appetizers: potato mash, pumpkin mash, and a peanut mash. Servers will come in synchronicity to serve each dish, which adds to the fun of the vibe.
You might start with shorboth, a refreshing lemonade-style drink (made for us due to a dairy allergy), or a mango lassi (we had both!). On the subject of allergies, about 90% of the food is naturally gluten-free, but the kitchen is very accommodating to most. Dairy is easy to avoid, but if you’re vegan, it might be a tougher one to enjoy, as most dishes are meat or fish-based.
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Rice is central to everything, but the insider tip is don’t overdo it early (direct words from the chef!). You’ll want to pace yourself because there are 8 courses, and out of more than 3,200 guests who have come through Korai Kitchen, only 10 have ever finished the entire meal. In fact, Nur-E has takeout bags ready and willing, because it’s that common to not be able to finish given the amount of food served.
Dishes rotate constantly, and no two menus are ever the same. But on the night we went, standouts included:
- A deeply spiced chicken roast, made with over 30 ingredients (it was UNREAL)
- A rich, aromatic biryani
- Tender kebabs and steak
- মাছ dishes, including fish with *tok* (a tangy component that cuts through the richness)
And then there’s the one dish that appears at every single dawat. It’s a Tuesday night labor of love, guided entirely by instinct – and takes days to marinate… again no recipe, just andaz.
One notable philosophy: nothing is boneless. The cooking stays true to tradition, which means you’re engaging with the food in a more intentional way, and often using your hands. And if you’re feeling shy, Nur-E will show you how (so kindly for newbies, we might add!).
While eating, you’ll hear stories from Nur-E throughout the meal, talking about the origins of dishes to the journey of opening Korai Kitchen later in life with her mom.
And yes, the accolades are real and well-deserved: in addition to James Beard Award recognition, Korai Kitchen has been featured by Food & Wine, the New York Times, and continues to earn national attention year after year. Still, it manages to feel deeply local, with even a Bangladeshi grocery store nearby, Hilsa Grocery, where Nur-E and her mom get their spices and a lot of their sourced ingredients.
The Ending
Dessert is often mishti doi, a lightly sweetened rice yogurt that feels like the ideal ending to a rich meal. For those with dietary restrictions, the team is quick to adjust; on our visit, we were served a thoughtful mix of nuts and dates instead.
And if you have leftovers, they’ll pack them up with white rice (and you will have leftovers – pretty much everyone does!).
Final Thoughts
Korai Kitchen isn’t trying to be trendy, but it feels like an experience that you’d have once a year (or perhaps a lifetime) and definitely something to bring a large group to enjoy.
Nur-E and Nur-E are preserving their legacy of food and sharing it with the world, and in a world of fancy chefs and uppity vibes when it comes to acclaimed food, Korai is truly a homestyle breath of fresh air, where the owners want everyone to feel comfortable, excited, and ready to learn about their culture.
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And sometimes, all it takes is a last-minute scroll on Resy to find your way in! (But they have a 200-person waiting list normally, FYI.)
Korai Kitchen is located at 576 Summit Avenue in Jersey City and is open from 5:30PM to 9PM Tuesday through Friday; Saturday and Sunday from 12PM to 4PM and 6PM to 9PM.
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