The best and the predecessor to all these casual Indian restaurants is Chauhan’s Ale and Masala House in Nashville.
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Indian has been my favorite cuisine for a bit over fifty years now, since the days when almost the only place you could find it north of the East Village was at the Pak-India Curry House. It's grown considerably since then, but I really start to doubt reviews when I read, as here, that it apparently helps to add color to Indian coking with fresh flowers, "like this orchid with its lamb kebab". I eat food for its taste, not for its non-edible accoutrements. Based on what I see here, maybe I should wait until somebody comes up with a plain old lamb vindaloo on top of which has been placed a funeral wreath. Hey, that would be the ultimate in fine and original Indian dining (short of a palm tree covering, but Donald Trump has no interest in Indian cuisine).
Is Baar Baar too new to have made this list? It's been around only a few months, and the food is amazing. I guess you have to stop somewhere, but it would fit right into this roundup. An exciting time for New York Indian food indeed.
Indian restaurants are beloved by the vegetarian community and yet this article mentioned not a single vegetarian main course. This is disappointing especially considering very good veg dishes can be a challenge to find, they can be bland, less creative, overcooked, or just simply relegated to one or two options. Based on this article I have no idea how any of these restaurants handles those challenges, quite disappointing.
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And Andaz just closed without fanfare a few weeks ago....go figure....
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I'm an avid follower of the Indian food scene in Manhattan, and didn't realize there was this big group of casual and contemporary Indian! Your point about the flowers is funny! Would be nice to give these restauranteurs credit for finding a 'sweet' spot in Indian cuisine ... a fun and inviting way to offer up diverse Indian recipes, without overwhelming us with spice and curry. Minor typo in the last Babu Ji right at the end :)
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Catching up to the suburbs.
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Somehow we just got a satellite branch of Babu Ji here in Santa Barbara - Bibi Ji. It has only has been around for a month, is very much in the same vein, has promise, is still a work in progress. The beer-cooler-in-the-dining-room motif makes you feel like you're in a by-the-slice place. We will see; thought I'd mention it. Santa Barbara has been underserved when it comes to Indian food, so I'm rooting for them.
Am really writing in to question this sentence in the article: "I’ve eaten just one quick dinner at Badshah so far, and while I was content with the Kashmiri-style goat curry, I was less thrilled by the refrigerator-cold sauces spooned over hot potato croquettes."
I didn't like it when they sent out 45º Pinot Noir at Bibi Ji either. But it's hard enough to open a restaurant without this kind of unprincipled criticism, no?
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hos is this "unprincipled criticism"?
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I wouldn't think I'd have to spell this out: to dismiss a new business with a single sentence that's a nitpicking remark... well, I'd call it "unprincipled"?
This a the food critic's article, if you think that one sentence was dismissing the entire business then you don't understand food criticism.
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One of the original Little India Sixth Street dives Panna (on 1st Ave) might by the logic of this review be celebrated for its gazillion Christmas bulb decor and sparkler Happy Birthday spectacles. But okay, going to an Indian Restaurant in New York is no longer about lugging along a couple of Bud 40 ozers and asking the obliging waiter to put one in the fridge. I get it.
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when I think fun, casual, inexpensive (+ a bonus - psychedelic!), I think E6th st back in the day, and I miss it. Clearly, we're in a new definition of casual & fun now, this time with random flowers, more expensive and 'safe'. and look, they even have pork
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Loud music? Lost me as a customer before I ate a bite!
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One reason I tend to go to Indian restaurants is that most of them are quiet, thankfully.
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In these finanicially challenged times,restaurants have to sell alcoholic drinks to stay afloat. So, bring on the party,and small plates,to attract younger diners who enjoy that.
Shout out to the original party palace of Indian restaurants, Panna II. Hallucination on a budget and a solid Saag Paneer. 1st between 5th and 6th.
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Being Indian eating fantastic Indian food at home, Tamarind Tribeca is my best pick for an Indian restaurant.
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Interestingly, India is home to 500 million vegetarians. That is, naturally, half a BILLION people.
In our world of explosive population growth, unchecked environmental devastation and the viability of our species on Earth, the author of this otherwise joyous article focussed almost exclusively on meat. And more meat. Meaty meat.
This is disrespectful to the cuisine in question, insensitive to contemporary diners' awareness of the import and exquisiteness of vegetarian foods and just a wee bit out of step with modern life...an to call some of them 'not too expensive' is a distortion of menu prices found online.
I love Indian food...and the more masala the merrier. But make it veg, the natural choice of 500 million in India alone.
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Which probably leaves more than 500 million meat eaters in the Indian population does it not? Isn't it disrespectful to the cuisine in question to "make it veg" and erase any mention of meat? Things can coexist, believe it or not
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All I can think about looking at most of these wonderful pictures is #wewantplates
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Don't mind these establishments and understand that it's all about the ambiance, though the music can be deafening at times. Often find myself strolling into Kashmir 9 for some good food, as long as you don't mind hanging with the cabbies under fluorescent lighting.
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As an Indian who loves eating Indian food, I have also been observing this trend for the past few years in the City. While this is clearly a bourgeoisification of Indian cuisine, I do welcome the addition.
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If one calls an ethnic cuisine the foods associated with some parts of the five continents (no Antarctic cuisine so far yet), then such foods are an acquired taste for some, and the only known nourishment for others.
New York is an assembly point or, tritely, a melting pot of many ethnic cuisines and the wave of Indian restaurants, described by Mr. Wells, must be regarded as one of the ephemeral fads afflicting -- or enriching, depending on one's point of view -- the city.
For disclosure, I am not a fan of the great variety of the foods of the Subcontinent, but I wish nothing but enjoyment to all, who like them.
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Wrote a very detailed response to your comment on my iPad. But it disappeared when I tried to reposition the cursor to correct a typo on my iPad. I have contacted customer service about this and they have responded that they have a known issue. When are they going to fix this zi have no idea.
But anyway, summary my response, Indian restaurants have been around NYC since at least the early 70’s on Lexington Ave. Badically the food is universally good and trying to reinvent the wheel to raise th3 prices is probably an inevitability given the rent increases. I remember going to a very highly reviewed Indian restaurant in Nice, France and thinking that fo4 the exorbitant prices, it wasn’t any better than most of the 6th St hole in the walls. (Pardon the typos, can’t correct for fear of losing the entire comment).
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Almost seems like a slap in the face to glom and cram all these distinctive restaurants (much as Wells tries, much too hard, with mixed results, to make a connecting thread among them) into one piece.
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This isn't a full on review it is the "Critic's Notebook" which always observes a restaurant trend. I would imagine these establishments are jumping with joy at being mentioned in a NY Times food column. I already have my eye on a couple of these places because of the column so it will definitely influence others.
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I think that was Christopher’s point, that none of them get an actual full review. Lumping so many Indian restaurants all together like this seems really patronizing.
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Critic's Notebook often goes to other cities and examines the restaurant scene there and thus "lumps together" a group of restaurants there. Occasionally the column examines a trend here in the city scene, such as these new style of loud, colorful and pop culture oriented Indian restaurants. There was a column on Izakayas last year - Japanese gastropubs - I checked a few out and now go to one of them on the regular. Again, the marketing and exposure benefits of a mention in the Times is the opposite of patronizing.
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