504516 Mon Mar 31 10:01:03 -0700 2008 22 18 Manhattan 0 3545736 Looking for a reasonable place for good indian in the city saturday night. We normally go to Haveli on 2nd or Brick Lane Curry. Has anyone tried Masala Bollywood? Looking for any/all suggestions thanks! Kim Mon Mar 31 10:01:03 -0700 2008 12680 phunkykim 1 3546016 On 58th Street I like Chola. Some say that it has slipped but I disagree. I will concede that the food is heavy but I think that their flavors and their quality are the best. In Curry Hill I like Tiffin Wallah. It happens to be vegetarian--not sure if that's a problem for you. Also, it's pretty inexpensive even compared to other nearby places. (I've never eaten at any of the Curry Row places so you'd know better than I how they are.) Mon Mar 31 10:59:42 -0700 2008 3545736 40108 jakew8 2 3548234 earthen oven on w72 and columbus. absolutely outstanding. we also tried copper chimney in gramacy park last thursday. they are a bit stingy and expensive but the food was really great. Mon Mar 31 22:36:11 -0700 2008 3546016 57300 nativeNYer 3 3548761 What did you like at Copper Chimney? I went there a week ago and the food was only okay. We got the honey garlic cauliflower app--it tasted like over-sweetened general tso's chicken (but without the spice). My saag gosht was alright as well but just didn't have the depth of flavor of other lamb-spinach dishes I've tried (Chola's being chief among them in NYC). The saag paneer was probably the best-executed. As you said, the place is a little expensive and stingy (our order of naan wasn't even a whole naan), but the food was okay. Maybe I didn't order its standout dishes. Tue Apr 01 07:26:37 -0700 2008 3548234 40108 jakew8 4 3551170 we thought that the poori and rosemary naan were really fantastic - great texture and taste but you were absolutely right about the size of the naan. i couldn't believe that they served only half of the naan! we shared the chicken sixty five and my friend had the lentil soup. the chicken dish was great and my friend really liked the soup. i had the chicken tikka masala which i actually liked (quality of the chicken, size of the serving and overall taste). no, it wasn't as good as earthen oven but i was surprised i liked it as much as i did. i've become quite finicky about this dish. my friend had the chicken tikka - several large, juicy chunks of chicken . it was definitely a generous serving. these dishes are definitely not adventurous nor are they their signature dishes so i'm sure this wasn't a true measure of the place. so, to summarize the stinginess: 1. rice does not come with the entrees?!! WHAT???!!? Paying for it earns ya a very small serving. 2. not only do they not serve pappadum on the house but they do not give you ANY chutneys. asking for it will give you the equivalent of a tablespoon but they did not charge us for that. we got the tamirind which was watery. 3. the glass of ginger ale i ordered was served in one of those thin not so tall glasses with lots of ice. it probably cost $3. Tue Apr 01 17:36:19 -0700 2008 3548761 57300 nativeNYer 1 3548464 There are a lot of other threads about this - definitely search those. That being said, I'll still throw in my two cents: Depending on what you want and where you want to be, these are my favorites: - Devi (Flatiron) - my favorite Indian restaurant in the city - Angon on the Sixth (E. 6th St near 2nd) - avoid all other places on that block (except for Brick Lane) - Pongal (Lexington near 26th) - I think it's the best South Indian place in Manhattan Tue Apr 01 04:50:13 -0700 2008 3545736 19354 scarlet starlet 2 3548643 Agree with Devi, but it is on the expensive side. I love Brick Lane, and had 1 mediocre experience at Angon (but it was 3 years ago). I also like Banjara, which is on 6th and 1st. Tue Apr 01 06:45:46 -0700 2008 3548464 10205 valerie 3 3553234 Although Devi does have a reputation for being expensive, they do offer several prix-fixes that are quite reasonable: 3-course lunch @ $25, 3-course dinner @ $45, pre-theater 3-course @ $40, and $20 supper special served Sun., Mon., & Tues. http://www.devinyc.com Wed Apr 02 10:23:07 -0700 2008 3548643 13867 RGR 3 3553255 Second Banjara for great food. Ambience is kinda grim, though. Wed Apr 02 10:27:20 -0700 2008 3548643 28969 D...DF 4 3559914 I third Banjara. It's a longtime favorite of mine. Good food and reasonably priced. In terms of ambiance, it's dark and not necessarily in a super romantic way, but I did notice when I was there in Feb that they recently redecorated to spruce the place up. Blondie&Brownie: http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/ Thu Apr 03 21:55:10 -0700 2008 3553255 168758 brooklynbrownie 5 3560897 Good to know, thanks for the update. I'll check out the redecorated space. Fri Apr 04 08:18:35 -0700 2008 3559914 28969 D...DF 2 3561003 Pongal has gone waaaay downhill. I think there's better South Indian at Saravanaas. Fri Apr 04 08:46:32 -0700 2008 3548464 18466 a_and_w 1 3548683 I'm not a big fan of Masala Bollywood - I couldn't tell the difference between the food there and the food at nearby Chennai Garden. But a strong second for the praise given Tiffin Wallah - this is the most creative, and affordable, Indian food I've had in NYC. These days they do serve alcohol (although I keep BYOB-ing and they don't seem to mind) and I would recommend avoiding their lunch buffet which no one has anything nice to say about. But I've never been disappointed by a meal here. Tue Apr 01 07:00:05 -0700 2008 3545736 59944 LES_Crawler 1 3548734 I still like Utsav or Tamarind for upscale and Lassi and Sangam for down. Utsav and Tamarind are both classy joints, Utsav is a theater district place with a beautiful view and amazing service. Tamarind is more Park Av style with a brightly lit room and a very good lunch to recommend. Lassi is a great, fresh takeout joint down in the Village with an unusual menu and the kind of flavors you won't really find a lot of other places. Finally, Sangam is my new pet restaurant, a Biryani joint on Bleecker that is dirt cheap and delicious. Enjoy! Tue Apr 01 07:17:41 -0700 2008 3545736 22662 Nick F. 2 3548765 Neither Utsav and Tamarind is "reasonable" though... Tue Apr 01 07:27:41 -0700 2008 3548734 40108 jakew8 3 3550472 nor is LASSI for down Tue Apr 01 14:06:29 -0700 2008 3548765 11372 mrnyc 2 3559546 Hallelujah. Lassi gets very little praise on this board but it is one of the very few Manhattan Indian (and more precisely Punjabi) places that does food that in any way reminds me of food that I get in Indian people's homes in the UK, India and elsewhere. Their stuffed rotis are almost the real deal, the side dishes (especially the rajmah chawal and the boondi raita) worthwhile and the lassis themselves not bad. Very impressive coming from a non Punjabi chef. Thu Apr 03 18:49:23 -0700 2008 3548734 28263 oonth 1 3551961 No-one's yet mentioned Saravanaas in this thread. Great South Indian vegetarian food, corner of 26th and Lexington. Tue Apr 01 23:11:46 -0700 2008 3545736 17058 Pan 1 3559009 Gaam on 30th between 5th and broadway for great gujurati good (it has a single prix-fixe menu, and is the temporary location for Vatan's menu while that restaurant renovates); Tiffin Wallah is probably the best South Indian restaurant in the 28th & Lex area. Banjara is excellent on 6th and 1st. Chola is probably the best on E 58th between 2nd and 3rd -- though Yuva has an amazing dal. Tabla is much better for fusion cuisine than Devi, which is simply not very good cuisine. Tamarind is fine and elegantly presented but overpriced. Bombay Talkie is a fun place with a nice selection of Indian 'street food' (chaat) though the flavors have been somewhat americanized (9th and 22nd). Sukhadia's is a downscale place for chaat in midtown. I'm still looking for the truly amazing Indian food in Manhattan. Gaam is probably as close as it gets. Thu Apr 03 16:04:24 -0700 2008 3545736 11431 shivohum 2 3559401 I think comparing Tabla and Devi is ridiculous because while Tabla does serve fusion cuisine, Devi's cuisine is Indian. The dishes served at Devi are based on recipes from Chef/co-owner Suvir Saran's family and friends in India. Plus, Chef/co-owner Hemant Mathur, who is in charge of the kitchen, is a tandoor master. I strongly disagree with your contention that it is "not very good cuisine." In my view, and in the view of many others, Devi's superb cuisine is some of the best *Indian* cuisine to be found in the city. Thu Apr 03 17:57:19 -0700 2008 3559009 13867 RGR 3 3559636 Hey RGR, I've seen you say that before about Devi and I think they used to have that written down on their website quite prominently almost as one of their key selling points. But not any more (they've come up with a curious descriptive in its place) and to be honest I was never convinced by the contention that their dishes are based upon recipes from friends and family, it sounds like a nice strapline but when I talked about the menu with the restaurant manager the one time I went, and especially when he realised that I am of Indian origin, he more or less conceded that it's an experimental Indian menu, call it what you will. Sure it's a more authentic menu than Tabla but it's still not particularly authentic. I notice from his bio that Hemant himself hails from Rajasthan but there's nothing Rajasthani on his menu and, from an Indian perspective the menu reads like a generic mini voyage around the vast culinary diversity of India's 22 major states with the experimentation and cross fertilisation thrown in. All that wouldn't worry me a jot as I like variations on traditional themes except for the fact that the one time I ate at Devi, I was seriously underwhelmed, unfortunately one of the worst meals in the 2 year period I spent living in NYC. Thu Apr 03 19:30:18 -0700 2008 3559401 28263 oonth 4 3559801 oonth, The info about the menu came to me directly from Suvir himself. Since I am far from an expert in the realm of Indian cuisine, I took him at his word. Obviously, since you are of Indian origin, you would know better than I, so accept your explanation. In any case, I'm sorry that your dining experience at Devi was so awful. We have had several delicious meals there, and since there are many others who also have positive things to say about it, I guess we'll just have to chalk it up to one of my favorite French expressions, "Chacun a son gout." :-) Thu Apr 03 20:51:43 -0700 2008 3559636 13867 RGR 5 3577044 Yes, having been to India myself several times, Devi's cuisine does not strike me as particularly authentic (though maybe it's a bit more traditional than Tabla). Both times I've been there I've had the extensive vegetarian tasting menu, and both times I've been disappointed by unexciting cuisine. Omnivorous friends of mine have been similarly unimpressed. The manchurian cauliflower, which everyone praises to the heavens, is merely decent, in my opinion. But of course tastes differ, and I'm glad you enjoyed your meals there. Wed Apr 09 09:48:36 -0700 2008 3559801 11431 shivohum