Korai Kitchen in Jersey City is known for its unique promise: no chicken tikka masala.
This Bangladeshi restaurant, founded by chef Nur-E Gulshan Rahman, offers authentic dishes from Bangladesh. With a James Beard Award nomination and a spot in Yelp’s national top 100 Restaurant ranking, Korai Kitchen has won the hearts of many diners.
Gulshan’s path to success was challenging. At first, her family avoided her cooking.
“I love feeding people,” said Nur-E Gulshan, who began cooking as a 16-year-old newlywed in Bangladesh’s Bogra.
“Since my kids’ friends come over, they always said: Auntie, why don’t you open a restaurant? Your food is so good! Always, I thought they are just telling me as a courtesy. Then they grew up, and they are still telling me to do the same.”
But after moving to Jersey City of New Jersey, she received support from friends and family who enjoyed her meals.
At 61, Gulshan decided to open Korai Kitchen with her daughter, despite having no prior restaurant experience, connections, or substantial capital.
Customers often mistake Korai Kitchen for an Indian restaurant at first, always asking for chicken tikka masala.
Gulshan and her daughter had to inform their customers about the unique Bangladeshi identity of their menu.
This lack of recognition also applied to delivery platforms like Uber Eats, which initially didn’t have a category for Bangladeshi food.
After receiving numerous requests, a Bangladeshi category was eventually added. This highlighted the broader issue of Bangladeshi cuisine being underrepresented in the US.
To promote Bangladeshi culinary heritage, Gulshan also opened a Bangladeshi grocery store.
The store offers authentic ingredients for home cooking, providing the community with a taste of Bangladesh and filling a significant gap in the culinary landscape.
Korai Kitchen’s menu includes popular Bangladeshi dishes like shrimp dopeyaza, pumpkin bhorta, and the refreshing yogurt-based drink, mango lassi.
Each dish is made with authenticity and care by Gulshan, whose family initially doubted her cooking but now celebrates it.
Korai Kitchen now serves some of the most authentic home-cooked Bangladeshi meals in Jersey City.
Gulshan and her daughter have overcome challenges to bring the flavors of their childhood and the rich culinary traditions of Bangladesh to delighted diners in the US.
At Korai Kitchen, three small side dishes of bhorthas, or mashes, are served at every meal.
Her cooking has resonated with people who live in Jersey.
Despite living near other Bangladeshi restaurants, they prefer the hour-plus journey to Korai Kitchen.
They find the food there more representative of home-cooked meals, both in taste and selection and lighter than what is typically served at other Bangladeshi restaurants.