With Korean BBQ and Tex-Mex on every other block, fusion fare is nothing new to New York, but La-Niece Lyew takes it to unmarked terrain with her Caribbean-Cantonese café in Prospect Heights. The Brooklyn native (and alum of Mercer Kitchen and Umi Nom) reps her Jamaican-Chinese heritage in cross-cultural dishes like crispy fried snapper with tamarind glaze; jumbo golf shrimp with sweet-mango salsa and hanger state with royal trumpet mushrooms and caramel-miso sauce. A live band plays as you tuck into salt-cod fritters in the 150-seat dining room, fitted with cream tufted booths and globe lambs. The upstairs lounge is a more casual affair, with flatscreens broadcasting games and a wall-to-wall digital mural of the Brooklyn Bridge. Cheer the home team at the white-lit, 20-seat bar—carved with wavy designs to echo the restaurant's namesake, Jamaica's Milk River—over local draft beers: Bronx Pale Ale, Ommegang White Ale and Kelso Pilsner.
