B & D Halal Restaurant

It’s the ultimate «ethnic food» experience. Unassuming eatery, an array of food without labels, lots of bones in stews…
Spoon the foods onto your styrofoam plate. Pay the friendly attendant by the lb — and indulge.
The giant carrots soaking in the beef stew are packed with beefy brothy flavor «New American» chefs would love to get from their short ribs — but don’t! Perhaps it’s the lack of restraint in bone selection that give theses stews their rich flavors.
The rices are just moist enough and very flavorful.
So good.

When you see how many people of African descent eat here everyday, you have to check it out. The food is great and they have a diverse selection. Definitely try the home made hot sauce (located in the back) no labels so be careful. The sauce is very hot! On top of that the pricing is just right.

Place is authentic AF, stumbled into this spot after some drinks at pioneer (great karaōke night on Tuesday)… Awning reads west African halal. Wow, nice, never had that before so I give it a shot. Great food laid out buffet/​hot bar style. No signs on any food item, don’t worry about it. Couple your plate with a nice bottled drink like orangina or pineapple soda or guava nectar and you good.
Four stars because I don’t give 5 stars off of one visit

Pay per pound buffet with a lot of seating area, and good food with many flavors, I’m in!
As mentioned in other reviews, the dishes have no labels, which makes it harder for me to note down which ones I like and look them up. We had chicken curry, barbecue chicken, pilau rice, jollof rice, meatballs with white beans, and many other dishes which I can’t identify. And I like all of them!
They also have a salad bar with avocado salad, cole slaw and fresh fruits and veggies.

Flavor erupts from this food like a volcano for your brain. You won’t be disappointed. Go.
Bear in mind where you’re going: it is a casual, no frills buffet. You won’t be able to identify all the food because it is unlabeled. I went at peak dining hours so everything was fresh, nothing caused illness; and I can’t comment on off-​hours. It seemed fairly cheerful and pleasant inside. There are too many entrees to try once, you have to go back. And you’ll want to.

No frills pick, fill your own plate establishment with cafeteria style seating. Food is authentic and truly delicious. You have to go by sight to figure out the dishes since there is no signage. Doesn’t matter though, as all of the options are quite tasty.

I’d loved to have given this place a good review. A variety of interesting dishes, even though none are labeled (I came in knowing this). In fact, I even recommend the fried dough balls at the back left of the buffet.
But I had 18 hours of digestive issues. They cut short family events and made me miss Mother’s Day. Fortunately my gf did not get sick, as she tried fewer items. I don’t know which item did it, but poison me once and I’m not returning, and I’m going to tell other people to stay away. The food may be interesting and even tasty, but it comes with a price.

Self served food and so many of them to choose from! Price depends on how many pounds you put in the box.

I’ve been here twice now. I’m usually the only white person in here. People here like to smirk at the sight of me, and it leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
I can’t identify the food. It’s all very colorful, very meaty, very saucy, and very halal. There’s lots of choice. And it’s all $ 8/​pound. Some times I find myself unexpectedly pulling fish bones out of my mouth. Watch out for that.
I sat down and chatted up some random guy. He came from some West African country, which I now forget. He looked at my plate and said «you are now eating the food of my tribe.» I asked him what his tribe was called, and what he said sounded like «full-​on-​y.». Then he told me «I am happy that you like the food of my tribe.» We then talked about everything, like his life here in America, and what it was like to immigrate here, and what we thought of Obama and war. It was lovely.

Being so close to the office, I’ve always wanted to try this place. You walk in and it is very spacious with two steam buffet tables in the front and another long steam table in the back. Beverages are right up front. Communal seating to your right.
Like many have mentioned, nothing is labeled but I was aiming to try a little of almost everything so that didn’t bother me much not knowing what anything was.
Got the Joloff Rice as my starch and loaded a small piece of everything on top. Here’s what I can identify:
— Fatty goat in a thick nutty stew was very tender. Interesting contrasting flavors in this stew.
— Large beef brisket chunks in a light sauce had some interesting spices but a little dry. Pieces were a bit too large cut.
— Stewed chicken chunks in a very vegetal tasting spice/​herb stew was not to my liking and overcooked. Maybe better on a different type of meat.
— Stewed fish chunks in a red liquid were a bit fishy but still tender. It’s a bit scaly so be careful with the skin.
— There was a peppery lamb/​mutton that was really good. I wished I grabbed more.
— The jerk chicken had a nice kick to it and very flavorful. Very spicy and a good wake-​up from the very similar tasting stewed meats. Love this!
— Stewed peas were nice and tender. I like to mix it in the rice.
— Stewed black-​eye peas were delicious.
— Forgot from which stewed meat the onions were from but they were really good and had a hint of sourness to it.
— Zucchini mixed veggies were a nice lighter side as I wanted some greens and didn’t see much else that day other than colder salad options.
The people working there are very nice. Also, after weighing, the guy at the register will undercharge you. Priced at $ 6.99 a pound and mine came out to be $ 8.99. He told me to give him $ 8. A good place to be adventurous and taste something different.

I am West African and this place is my new home! Great variety of meats and rice. And love that they have peanut soup, okra stew and spinach stew to cater to my African cravings. This will not be my last visit. Will visit again and again! Plus is a clean environment to sit and enjoy your lunch, they also have complimentary water at the table.

This place is as ethnic as it can get. Its packed with a wide range of food varieties packed with bursting flavor. Food is self serve and sold by the pound.
The fried rice with String beans, peas, and carrots was very good and even better mixed with the Coleslaw.
They have two different kinds of baked chicken; both are extremely tender and amazing to my taste buds.
There’s also chicken wings that perfectly caters to people who LOVE spicy wings. I can’t bear tooo much spiciness but the flavor was so good I kept eating it. I teared afterwards. …just kidding, but one more and I just might’ve.
There is lots of seating on the side; sort of communal seating except it feels like you’re all a huge group who came to eat together. Everyone is just super friendly and welcoming.
I think I’ve found my go-​to place when I want a yummy and filling meal all for a good price !

I have only lived in NYC for two months but this is the best place that I have been to. It’s cheap, there are a lot of different options for the buffet, and the people are super nice. You get the food that you want, stand in line, they weigh it… I think it’s like $ 5 a lb. and then pay. The food options are plenty, lots of chicken, beef, but some vegetarian options as well, be sure to ask someone if you are not sure. The clientele is mostly just cheerful Africans. My only negative for this spot is that of the options are on the bony side.

Delicious. The highlight of last week. I went in because it was packed with tour bus drivers. They gotta know where to get some good grub, right? For some It might be a little intimidating because it is very busy and nothing is labelled but I strolled in and loaded up my plate with whatever the guys in front of me were getting. Black eyed peas, seasoned rice, stewed greens, oxtail (?), chicken. Everything was so flavorful and fresh. Yes, the place is no-​frills but it is clean and the people are friendly. If you need scenery just take it to go and sit in the Eventi courtyard down the street.

I give this place really low ratings for the lack of atmosphere and the horrible service… just kidding. This is not a place to bring your date. But this is a place to eat really well for cheap. This by-​the-​pound self-​service place serving slew of African dishes. Not knowing anything about food from the continent, I didn’t really know what I had except that it consisted of a couple of stews, rice and what looked like hushpuppies, all of which were very good. It’s also not very far from Penn Station, so a nice and convenient place to eat when taking the train to and from the city.

This a no frills, by the pound african place.
There are alot of African customers which shows you that the food is good.
There are many stews, Rices, beans and other foods .
It was very interesting and the first time i tried a little of everything. I will def be back for the stewed eggplant with yuca, joloff rice, and black eyed peas.
They have this hot sauce on the table which extremely hot (youve been warned) .
If you are seeking heat this sauce will give you alot if it !
A good, ethnic place if your near 29^th st.

This is probably one of the strangest reviews I will ever write — and I love it. The food is really good and there is a very diverse selection — especially of meats. Its a laid back atmosphere — self-​serve buffet, no fancy pancy bling. The service, well, is as good as you are since its self serve :) But the guy cashing you out is nice and he kind of makes up his own price after weighing your food — in my case it was «bank error in my favor» — i.e. scale said $ 8+ and he charged me $ 7 flat.
The bizarre thing was that I have no clue what I ate. I mean — no signs and at the time, everyone was really into a sport match that was going on — seemed like some African wrestling match — so I did not bother to ask. Plus I was hungry and felt like living on the edge.
I would say this place is for the somewhat adventurous and those that eat meat. I feel like its high risk, high reward though. Although there were a decent number of veg options for some reason did not feel its a preferred place for a vegetarian.
I am unsure what part or country within Africa this food hails from but I would assume North Western Africa (given that its Halal and some other vibes I was getting). That really doesn’t narrow it down, I know. It seems like there are a lot of regulars and it honestly feels like you are stepping out of the U. S and into some other country. Its pretty cool in my view.

Um, this meal was perhaps the best 15 minutes of my week. This was my 2^nd time there, and it’s just plain amazing!!! The flavor explosion in your mouth is like Hiroshima, but in a good way. I just go in with arms swinging and scoop out whatever looks most appetizing, and I haven’t picked up anything yet that I would not take again. Today I got some mustard onions, some fried dough that tasted like peanut butter, some… chicken? in red curryish sauce, some brownish greeninsh goopy stuff, some kind of awesome flavored fried (?) rice, and some other blackish goopy stuff. I’m sure there are names for all this amazing, exotic, goop, but who needs names when you’ve got FLAVOR??? It really is just soooo good! If you’re too cowardly for meat with bones in it, either grow up and don’t be such a baby, or just get the stuff without bones because it’s amazing too… or eat the bones and I’ll be all, «they ate the bones!!!»
The last time I went, I paid with a credit card. They use an iPad with a Square card swiper. Today, I only brought a card to pay, but the guy at the register told me that the «card guy» wasn’t around, so they were cash only. This is where the awesomeness jumps and bumps it’s head on a box with a question mark on it and a friggin fire flower comes out. The guy told me I can just come back some other time and pay them back. No questions asked– just take the food and come back with your $ 7 some other time. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

For anyone hesitant to go here due to what it looks like:
The people are nice.
You only hear foreign languages (as in authentic!)
The place is mad inexpensive, 6 dollars for plate of anything.
This place is also Halal which has even stricter dietary restrictions than Kashrut/​Kosher.
In short, it is clean, nice and spicy but not too spicy, and filling.
Atmosphere:
Food is —not— labeled.
Self-​service
People speaking foreign languages.
Spotless, for a buffet this I was surprised how clean it was.
English Al-​Jazeera on TV.
The guy in front was nice.
Food
African Food, I think it is West African but I am not positive? Not «spicy» but the flavors were definitely pronounced. A mix of many dishes for 6 dollars a pound.
It cost me —2 dollars — - for:
A piece of Chicken liver with onions (delicious,
Some okra stew (reminded me of callaloo but slightly different spiced)
A piece of chicken (no bone, was a piece of breast meat, fall off the bone)
a piece of oxtail (not enough meat, soup/​sauce itself was good but not recommended for oxtail alone.
I had no rice so that is probably why it was so inexpensive.
quite solid, would write a proper review but I have no clue what the name of the dishes were.

There are two ways to go about eating at B&D. The first way is to just pile on your plate anything that looks like it might be tasty. The second way is to ask one of the people working there to tell you what everything is. Either way has its merits. If you are sure that you won’t like pureed cassava, then you are better off thinking it’s spinach and going ahead and trying it. But if all the meats look mysterious and you want to know what the heck you’re eating, you may want to ask for advice.
I have been to B&D twice now. There were some different dishes out the 2^nd time and others I was happy to see again, like the chicken with onions. Man, that’s some good chicken. The second time I went there were also some fritters. My coworker and I couldn’t tell what sort of fritter, but we each tried one anyway. Turns out they are beignets but without sugar sprinkled on top. When we went to buy more to take back to the office, we were told that these fritters are also known as beignets.
There is definitely a French influence at B&D. The TV will be blaring the French news and you can probably practice your French with almost anyone else eating or working there.
If you put a good amount of rice on your plate, you get charged slightly less per pound than if you have no rice.
They don’t take credit cards at this time.
In the back you can get coffee and a west African herbal tea. Bottled drinks are for sale and there are also pitchers of water on the tables.