We arrived around 8pm with a line forming out the door which luckily for us we had a reservation and jotted right to the front. We still had to wait about 15 minutes to get seated but with the complimentary glass of wine “for our inconvenience” I deemed it a worthy investment.
On a mission to consume local the manager informed us of the up and coming wine region within India and poured us a glass of the Chennin Blanc from Sula Vineyards – one of the forefronts in the Indian wine revolution. I appreciated the info as I never imagined India having a wine region and although tasty I was in more of a beer mode so I quickly chugged and ordered up a Taj Mahal.
Once seated they started us off with pappadam (type of Indian cracker) and two chutneys (red & green). The red chutney is reminiscent of barbecue sauce, and the green is a bit spicy – both tasty. We then ordered New Delhi Samosa Chat (seasoned potatoes in a turnover, chana masala, chutney and yogurt drizzle), Taash Kabab (lamb cubes braised in yogurt, saffron and tangy spices), Murgh Tikka Masala (tandoori-grilled chicken in a cardamom and fenugreek tomato sauce), Bakra (goat on the bone), side of basmati rice, and last but not least garlic nan.
Everything was flavorful but the stand outs to me were the samosa chat which (1) you would never know was vegetarian based on the textures and (2) had the perfect balance of sweet and spicy that kept me going back for more and the Bakra as it had a spiciness that slowly built up and a meat so tender that it fell right off the bone. Garlic nan was very tasty, crispy and included four pieces which was convenient for the amount of sauce I had to soak up.
As we both sat there uncomfortably full debating if dessert was in the horizon we opted to skip for a walk through Madison Square Park in hopes of burning off a few calories and running into a cool spot for a night cap. Four hours and 12 drinks later we made it home safe.
Wanderlust Chef 