Betel Nut in NYC?

July 25, 2007 1:58 PM

Does anybody know where to get prepared betel nut in New York?

I am looking for specific locations, if possible.

posted by milarepa to society & culture (3 comments total)

Video Palace on Lexington Ave used to. I no longer live in NYC but I used to buy classic hindi films there a few years ago and saw that the prepared betel nuts there.

Also, if you walk the main drag in Jackson Heights you should stumble upon some.
posted by mds35 at 2:26 PM on July 25, 2007

This guy confirms:

Still, for the occasional enthusiast like me, there's really no substitute for the paan experience. Sometimes, though, I don't want to have to trek all the way to Queens. I don't want to stand out in the heat, waiting for the paan wallah to work his magic, even though it takes only a few minutes. Like a good Manhattanite, I want it now and I want it easy.

That's when my paan stop is Curry Hill, along Lexington Avenue in the 20's. I grab a masala dosa or two in one of the many Indian restaurants, buy my spices at one of the markets and walk across the street and up the stairs to Video Palace, 124 Lexington Avenue, at 28th Street. There, amid Bollywood videos and CD's with Indian damsels in diaphanous dress on their covers, is a paan shop. I survey the eight plastic containers filled with colorful Indian condiments. Ever so casually, I ask the guy behind the counter for a paan. He doesn't miss a beat.
posted by mds35 at 2:29 PM on July 25, 2007

Oops. Those two paragraphs should have been in quotes.
posted by mds35 at 2:30 PM on July 25, 2007