In June, we introduced you to the ultimate South Florida Indian eatery: Arun's Indian Kitchen, a small takeout spot that's rated No. 1 on Yelp's Top 100 Places to Eat in Broward and Palm Beach. Since opening in 2014, the restaurant has retained the highest rating on Yelp's list for the area (and is currently #16 on the user-reviewed site's Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. for 2015).
Marked by a red sign and a single table outside the door, it's the type of place people visit once or twice a week, with locals who frequently call in orders and hundreds more who line up at the small order window in back. Here, they'll (almost) happily wait up to 45 minutes for a taste of the chef's homestyle fare.
Because everything is made to order, the first question you'll be asked is, "How hot?" Regulars know to reply on a scale of one to ten. The higher you go, the spicier it gets. That goes for the most popular dish:
butter chicken, a classic Indian staple, consisting of buttery-soft cubes of chicken smothered in a mild, orange-tinged curry thickened from pureed almonds and seasoned with garam masala.
But this Indian restaurant isn't the only place to get great global eats in Broward and Palm Beach. From Trini snacks to homestyle Indonesian — even some awesome Ethiopian — here are five of our favorite international dishes worth exploring.
5. Order Conch Curry Roti at These Top Trini Restaurants
Sure, plenty of us have had a taste of Jamaican jerk chicken, Cuban ropa vieja, Puerto Rican mofongo, or Bahamian-style conch salad. But you haven't really lived until you've sampled the Indian-influenced fare from the island of Trinidad and Tobago. Many dishes have unusual names, use exotic ingredients, and offer plenty of curry and spice.
4. Find the Area's Best Jamaican Jerk Chicken or Ackee and Saltfish
Jamaican expats looking for tastes of home have plenty of satisfying options in South Florida. Here you won't find a concentrated Caribbean corridor or "Little Jamaica" for a neighborhood selection of this nation's food, so we scoured both counties in search of the best Jamaican restaurants and found these gems scattered across neighborhoods including Lauderhill and Pembroke Pines in Broward County and Greenacres and Delray Beach up in Palm Beach County.
3. Find Fresh Injera at South Florida's Only Ethiopian Restaurant
Down a one-way street in a sleepy residential neighborhood just beyond the hustle and bustle of downtown West Palm Beach, you'll find something unique and unexpected at this quaint eatery: South Florida's only Ethiopian restaurant. Here chef-owner Lojo Washington is dishing out the heavily spiced fare of her homeland. A tiny woman with sparkling eyes, a shy smile, and a soft voice, she is the opposite of the flavors she creates, which are big, bold, and assertively spicy.
2. This Self-Taught Chef Prepares Homestyle Indonesian Fare in Hollywood
There’s an Indonesian restaurant operating under the radar at the Yellow Green Farmers Market in Hollywood. Here co-owner John Anthony and Indonesian-born chef Abe Muis are making some amazing eats from Muis' birthplace at their restaurant/stand, also named for the volcanic island located between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the province of Lampung.
1. This Top-Rated Indian Restaurant Serves the Best Butter Chicken, According to Yelpers
Arun's Indian Kichen is located in Coral Springs and is best-known for its chef-owner Arun Sareen, who says the secret to his success isn't just the made-to-order food coming out of his tiny takeout kitchen. Most important: It's about customer service.
Nicole Danna is a food writer covering Broward and Palm Beach counties. To get the latest in food and drink news in South Florida, follow her @SoFloNicole or find her latest food pics on the BPB New Times Food & Drink Instagram.