Get a taste of Nigeria and more near this Brooklyn stop - Eating along the J line

The Chauncey St. station is the first J train stop in the booming Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. In recent years, the area has seen countless new shops and restaurants open — including these three near the station.

 

Taste of Nigeria

It’s obvious even from the sidewalk how much effort Roli Osagie puts into her 22-year-old Owa Afrikan Market, which moved to Bushwick from Clinton Hill last August.

Not only does Osagie spend months in her native Nigeria sourcing African spices, herbs and other goods, but she arranges the store so neatly it serves as a gallery of Afrikan culture. (In fact, says Osagie, she has an exhibit of some of her products at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.)

In the early days, Osagie’s shop sold only food, like the pounded yam flour for making dumplings called fufu; $5 tubs of spice blends; tins of palm nuts; palm oil in various sizes (a half-gallon is $12); and bags of dried black-eyed peas.

But over time Owa African Market — Owa means home — has grown to include Yoruban religious items and herbs, African fabrics, as well as art, jewelry and everything in between, most also sold online.

The new store even has a small backyard. “In business you have to have your heart in what you do, you have to love what you do,” Osagie says. She adds that she doesn’t call her regulars “customers,” saying, “They’re family and friends.”

Owa Afrikan Market: 1666 Broadway, near MacDonough St., (718) 643-8487

Not your standard corner slice

The granite countertops at Armando’s Pizza might be your first clue that this is more than an ordinary takeout joint. The second is a peek at the pies.

There’s the perfect basil leaf on the thin $2.50 grandma slice — a square where the cheese goes under the sauce — and a margherita pie with house-made fresh mozzarella and a well-charred crust speckled with sesame seeds. (A small is $14).

There are hot meals here too, like a $10 eggplant parm platter served with spaghetti, or $7.50 baked clams topped with sweet peppers and crab meat. You can also grab a veggie-laden house salad and a fresh-baked dinner roll.

If the name of the spot sounds familiar, it’s because the original Armando’s — there are now three — has been a Brooklyn fixture since the 1960s on Rockaway Parkway in Canarsie.

Armando’s Pizza: 1717 Broadway, near Cooper St., Brooklyn; (718) 484-8500

Great beer in south Bushwick

When June Ramirez first sat down to plan the menu of the year-old, art-filled Salud Bar & Grill, his consulting chef advised him to serve what he wanted to eat. The result was a tavern inspired by Ramirez’ Dominican background, his world travels, and his own guiding culinary principle of, “I like food, and I like beer.”

A Bushwick resident and former barber, Ramirez’ menu now includes 20 beers on tap — many local, like Bridge and Tunnel Brewery just blocks away in Queens — and food that is designed to go with them.

A thick pork chop ($14) marinated in yogurt and Indian spices goes with the Brooklyn Brewery Insulated Dark Lager, says Ramirez, while a burger piled with applewood bacon, melted cheddar, caramelized onions, and spicy roasted pepper sauce is meant for a Flower Power IPA from Ithaca Beer Co.

The burger is $14, and comes with fries, platanos fritos (fried plantains) or yuquitas fritas (fried yuca), the latter two worth ordering just for the mojito sauce thick with crushed garlic, orange juice, bay leaves and olive oil. Though the plantains and yuca are also good doused with the hot sauce made with chiles Ramirez grows himself.

Salud Bar & Grill: 1413 Bushwick Ave., at Moffat St., Brooklyn; (347) 365-7257