“ Lily Cafe is a hidden gem in Brooklyn. The food is fashion Korean Russian. The cold noodles are sooooo good in a hot summer day. Refreshing, chewy and lots of flavors. The super light cold broth is just perfect. ”

“ I came here with a group of 5. One member of our party arrived early. They showed her to the patio and gave her bottled water while she waited, which was very kind. We sat in the back patio on a raised platform table with seating on the floor. The table had cushions all around it, as well as carpeting, so it was comfortable to sit. The patio was lovely with faux greenery and flowers adorning the walls and a wooden ceiling. It felt like an oasis. To eat, we shared the korean salad platter. It included carrots, cabbage, and eggplant in a kim chi style. All the vegetables were pickled, but they were well seasoned and tasty. For my main, I had the tofu with spicy sauce. I enjoyed this dish. The tofu was a perfect, firm texture. It was accompanied by peppers and onions. The sauce was flavorful and slightly sweet with a subtle spicy kick. They also provided warm bread and butter for the table. My friends got several of the meat dishes and loved everything. We also got the compote punch. It was fruity, but quite sweet. Similar to a classic fruit punch, but I wouldn't order it again. Our waitress was gracious and welcoming. A lovely restaurant to visit for a very authentic meal. ”

“ This place was under renovations when I went. Grateful they fed me regardless as I hadn't eaten all day and it was super late. Food was delicious and prompt. I paid through Venmo. Service was prompt. I liked the spot and hope to return again when renovations are completed. ”

“ Food taste great Portions are small I would recommend this kitchen if you wanna eat authentic post societ union countries food. Saga is very polite and friendly lady. ”

“ Don't understand some of the negative reviews placed on this establishment but I'm here to defend and even the score. A first korean/uzbek/russian cuisine experience for me. A very homely restaurant and localized. The neighborhood it's located in isn't very lavish and doesn't look like much on the outside. But the food definitely is stellar and wow does it make up for everything. The kuksi salad, plov, potatoes dish was very flavorful, much spicier than your usual Uzbek cuisine. Love the korean fusion touches on several dishes. My manti dumplings were very stuffed and filling. Even the borcht soup was very rich and zesty. We loved the food so much, the owner herself stepped out to personally greet us while dining on the cold winter day - such a sweet lady. She went into detail about her menu cover choice, the restaurant name, and her wish to bring her home Uzbek Korean fusion cooking to New York because of the lack of restaurants dedicated to this type of food. As a cook, I appreciated the story behind the food and her journey too. A personal favorite for me as I loved all the dishes and is a perfect treat when coming home with a huge accomplishment. One of my favorite fusion places and unique to boot. ”

“ I had heard about this place a while ago and I finally got to come here earlier this year for dinner. I was extremely curious to try this place out for myself as I'm ethnically Korean and I'm always curious to see what Korean food from other parts of the world are like. Service was admittedly a little slow at first, but it became more attentive as the night wore on and the restaurant got more and more busy. We decided to get an order of their white fungus salad and lagman to share, and I got their tofu dish as my main while the SO got an order of their beef dish as his main. We also decided to try out some of the Russian sodas they had (Chersi brand, pear and caramel flavors) for fun. The food itself was good and I may be biased, but the tofu dish was basically a homier version of dubu buchim yangnyeom that my mom makes for me from time to time. The white fungus dish was delicious as well, although that certainly was something I wouldn't consider to be Korean, per say. The SO loved his beef dish and the lagman as well. The Chersi sodas were fun, albeit a bit too sweet for me. Funnily enough, our server didn't really speak much English and we didn't know any Uzbek or Russian, so a lot of gesticulating and nodding and chuckling happened. If you're curious about Korean-Uzbek food, I would definitely recommend this place. There aren't too many in NYC, and this place offered some very homey dishes that certainly tasted like your mom's Korean dishes, while also maintaining its own unique flavor. ”

“ The storefront looks totally closed but don't be fooled - it's open AND they have a large outdoor patio! That said, the patio is mostly enclosed with exposure to the elements - but it is also very spread out. I've been really excited to try Cafe Lily with my Korean friends because I was so curious about the natural Uzbek-Korean fusion. I'm actually finally writing this review over a year later because I actually totally forgot about my past experience. I came today with a Russian friend and some other people, and we ordered a ton of food. Today, we sat inside, and it was definitely much nicer - we got the seating with the couch by the front under a chandelier, which was very fun. + Tashkent ($13) - 9/10 - This sounds really unappetizing (beef tongue, egg, white radish, "green peas," and mayo) but it was actually really delicious. I think they meant to say dill instead of green peas, and there were crispy onion bits that gave this dish a nice crunch. The egg was shredded, which I've never seen before, and the mayo lightly coats everything. The whole dish came together perfectly because everything just complements each other so well, making it refreshing, light, and flavorful at the same time. Everyone really loved it. + Korean fern salad with meat ($16) - 9/10 - I'm not sure how authentic this was, but I thought it was absolutely delicious. I wish I had my Korean friends with me to critique this dish because the ferns were definitely very Korean, and I was addicted to the sauce. I started sopping up the sauce with the bread to eat because it was that good. It's very flavorful though so it might not be for everyone. + Kuksi ($14) - 7/10 - This is a milder version of a Korean guksu; it's quite light and refreshing, and they do provide a lot of extra spicy sauce to add (much recommended). + Kharcho ($10) - 8/10 - This is apparently a Georgian soup, and I thought it was really comforting. It's tomato-based with meat and cilantro, and it tasted really familiar even though I've definitely never had it. Also very excellent with the extra spicy sauce. + Borsh ($10) - 7/10 - This is a hot borscht, and it was pretty good served with sour cream. I feel like other borschts I've had were too intensely beet-y, but this one was mild and everyone liked it. + Plov ($13-14) - 8/10 - This was on two separate parts of the menu; not sure how much we were actually charged for it. I thought this was really good and I would totally get it again, though my Russian friend said it was not the best he's had, as the lamb was not as tender as it could have been. I though the rice was really well-flavored and the lamb was tasty. Would totally get this again, and apparently it's THE Uzbek dish to get. + Meat khe ($17) - 9/10 - This was really delicious, and totally Korean-Uzbek fusion because it tasted kind of like the beef from Korean bibimbap but way more spicy (in a great way) and with cumin and other unfamiliar spices. Totally loved it. + Manty ($12) - 7/10 - I love how large and pillowy these dumplings are - kind of like a mix between an Asian dumpling and something Eastern European because the filling is definitely not Asian, and pairing with sour cream is totally different. + Homemade potatoes ($8) - 6/10 - These were a surprise dish that my friend ordered for us, but he was expecting something else. These are basically fried potato wedges (very well done) with dill and some mushrooms. Tasty, but I don't think I would've gotten this - especially since we were really full by this point. + Compote ($3 for a glass, $10 for a pitcher) - 9/10 - This was really excellent; we got a glass to try first, and then we immediately opted for the pitcher. It's such a good deal - we had a good amount for five of us. It wasn't too sweet, and reminded me a bit of blackcurrant juice. It's a homemade punch that is apparently made with dried apples, prunes, and other fruit. + Russian lemonade ($3.50) - 4/10 - There are 3 flavors, and I got the pear one. It comes in a bottle and it was a sparkling drink that tasted pretty artificial - definitely did not like it anywhere near as much as the compote. + Ayran ($4) - 9/10 - One of our friends was shocked because apparently he grew up drinking this in Pakistan - upon closer inspection, it says it's made in Saudi Arabia! I really liked this salty milky drink; someone described it as drinking "cheese water" which sounds gross but I did think this was really refreshing and interesting. Overall, I had a great meal and I really enjoyed my time here; I would've given five stars but for two things: 1) both times that I have eaten here during covid times, none of the staff wore masks. 2) We got a 10% dine-in charge that was not written anywhere on the menu or communicated to us verbally. The prices are low enough that I don't mind, but it's more about the principle. ”

“ This is a rather unique restaurant I've had Korean food, Russian Food, and Uzbek food but not this combination but it was nice comparing to the other similar places in my local area or in Sheepshead/Brighton. Anyway, I was here perhaps a month ago or so with a bunch of others. As we were sharing, I unfortunately couldn't try their guksu which a whole lot of people there were ordering. We shared a lot of food and it was next to nothing for everything and we were all quite full and overall the food was good with a mom and pop feel to the place. Nice staff with slight English issues but one of the people there was good enough at translations. The place was BYOB so I also got compote which I shared (as they gave me a pitcher instead of a single glass) and some green tea to help digest along with beers others brought. Appetizer sections (Sorted by best to worst outside of the Khe on top.) Fish Khe/ salad: This was similar and essentially the Korean-Uzbek variation of #/hwe which is essentially a spiced ceviche. It reminded me of German canned herring but a lot tastier. Good flavors. / bracken salad. This was served warm with beef and it was the Uzbek version of Gosari Namul / . I wasn't looking forward to this much as I've never been a fan of that banchan but this was very impressive here. Very well flavored with a good amount of tender beef. An improvement over the more common type. Tashkent salad / with beef tongue, egg, radish, peas, and mayo topped with fried onions. I've had this from other places and the version here was quite nice. Great portion size and not too much mayo. Avocado salad with tomatoes cucumbers, greens, and mayo. I'm not usually an avocado fan (I'd prefer an achichuk instead) but this was tasty. Fresh avocado and the rest of the mix went well. Assorted Korean style salads: The plate came with three types: Morkovcha / / Korean carrot salad: You can find this in a bunch of Russian places also. I've never been too big a fan as the flavors are light and it was fine here. Kimchi: It was a bit lighter and quite crunchy compared to most places. A good amount less spicy Eggplant salad. Lightly flavored. Fine but there's better places for this. Snow fungus/white fungus salad. Unique texture but I wouldn't order it again. A bit too light. Main dishes: Two types of shashlik/ which is the Russian term for shish kebab. In this case, we had chicken and lamb ribs as they were out of lulya. The chicken here was exceptionally moist and very good and better than most other Uzbek/Russian places I've been to. The lamb ribs were good and slightly less fatty than other places. Russian style fried potatoes/ Good though they were unfortunately out of the mushroom they use for it so it was plainer. Manty /: This is the Uzbek/Russian version of manti/mantı which is a type of Turkish dumpling though the Uzbek version is much larger by comparison and it's not already swimming in sour cream. The variation here had a nice filling; not too fatty but with a whole lot of flavor. There was sour cream on the side. Veal liver Turkish style/Arnavut ciğeri: This was a good version though better at the Turkish spots I've been. I generally prefer smaller pieces of liver as they tend to cook more evenly so there wasn't as much of a chew but good flavors. "Korean style beef with vegetables and soy sauce." I think this would be in Korean but I am unsure. This was just alright/I wouldn't recommend it much. The sauce which seemed to have either chili pepper or gochujang was good but the beef was a quite chewy. Alright dish. The only dessert here that we wanted was chakchak/. These are essentially fried miniature dough in a variety of forms topped with honey. They have a chewy texture similar to tteok/Korean rice cakes and the version here was better than at Baku. Good place. The owners were nice and they were happy to speak with the person running the group. Hope they do well but I expect they will continue to if the rest of the menu is as good as the dishes we ordered. ”