Kalustyan's is filled with spices, dried beans and fruit, teas, sweets, cookware, and many other surprises from soup mix to nuts. There's also a counter upstairs serving falafel sandwiches, hummus and a selection of cheeses.
The store is an excellent source for cooks faced with recipes that ask for hard to find spices like black cumin seeds or nigella, but the store's strong spicy smell and tight aisles can quickly start to feel overwhelming. Bring a couple of international recipes with you and let them help to guide you through the store's array.
Their house brand of spices and dried beans are packaged in bright yellow labels that often provide descriptions of the flavor, which may be helpful since some of these products go by multiple names. For example, packaging explains that black cumin seed has a "sweeter and mellower flavor" compared to other varieties of cumin. A manager in Kalustyan's was quick to offer advice when I asked a few questions about their sweet, smoky, and spicy paprikas.
While you're in the neighborhood:
Check out the Vintage Thrift Shop (286 3rd Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd Streets). When you enter the store, walk past the clothes and head straight to the far right corner of the store where they keep the kitchen stuff. They often have glasses and plates with initials engraved in them . . . you never know when they might have a couple of great juice glasses with your initials on them. They also regularly have heavy Pyrex baking dishes and casseroles. While their kitchen-related collection might be smaller than the nearby Housing Works (157 East 23rd St.) it is also easier to quickly look through.
I work a couple blocks from Kalustyans and can't say enough good things about it, too. From the hot foods area upstairs, the mujadarra, bulgur/chickpea dish and eggplant are my favorites - as well as the old dude behind the counter, who calls his mujadarra "viagra."
I live down the street and can definitely vouch for it's range of spices/ingredients/imported treats. I was looking for an Afghani spice called sumac (it's a ground berry that tastes a lot like raisin) and was told I could only find it in Queens, but I headed down the street and they had it in every incarnation (whole berries and ground). In addition they have all of the Spanish treats that remind me of home, all kinds of oils, vinegars and international cooking wines, not to mention great ripe mangos. Definitely worth checking out if you like playing with food :)