Diwan

[Rachel Perlow]

Just to let everyone know: they have changed the kulfi, and no longer serve it with Suvir's citrus sauce.  The change in the kulfi is for the better, we agreed: smoother, creamier, not so icy, and the flavor is also subtle and not too sweet.  Still, I missed that refreshing sauce. 

This sounds exactly like the kulfi we had the first time we went to Diwan (before the big dinner). I liked it very much and was quite dissappointed with the icy kulfi we were served at the eGullet event. Another excellent dessert was the chai pot de crème.

Edit: Corrected the name of a dish.

[Suzanne F]

We wanted to order the chai pot de crème, but they were out of it.

[SobaAddict70]

I was one of those newbies, and I'd have to say, I'd go back for the lamb chops, the lemon rice and the okra in a heartbeat. The okra I'd recommend to anyone who loathes okra for its sliminess -- there's none of that here!

I'm sure the rest of the menu is up to par or possibly exceeds those three. I'm quite curious how the biryanis are made. Experience with the lemon rice suggests that the biryanis could quite possibly be an ethereal experience. (Suvir, when you come back, I want the recipe!)

I too was looking forward to the chai pot de creme. (The description on the menu sounds positively intriguing.)

Diwan is easily three stars. Grimes, eat your heart out.

SA

PS. Continuing my wine education, I guess you'd say the pinot gris was a success. (meaning I managed to down a little over a glass. )

[Sandra Levine]

I really love Diwan and think about returning as soon as I put my fork down. I am unable to choose a favorite dish.

[yvonne johnson]

We, with three chums, also ate at Diwan on Saturday (one can't go anywhere these days without bumping into other eGulletarians--they're everywhere).

Our meal was every good, though not up to the standard found at the eGullet banquet in November

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...6&st=0&hl=diwan

Beggar's purse (crab within a popadum--I was trying to access the photos from Imagestation in above thread but couldn't) was nowhere as good as before. The crab was certainly nice, but the popadum tasted tired. Mixed grill was excellent especially the shrimp and lamb sausage.

Chicken tikka masala was good and creamy and not as sickly as it sometimes elsewhere. Venison and wild boar chops also got very good ratings, though I think the marinade could be less pronounced. The winner was the halibut from the tandoor. Excellent breads. As Suzanne said, Hemant is a sweetheart.

[rstarobi]

We wanted to order the chai pot de crème, but they were out of it. 

Definitely worth going back for.

[Suvir Saran]

I'm quite curious how the biryanis are made.  Experience with the lemon rice suggests that the biryanis could quite possibly be an ethereal experience.  (Suvir, when you come back, I want the recipe!)

I too was looking forward to the chai pot de creme.  (The description on the menu sounds positively intriguing.)

Diwan is easily three stars.  Grimes, eat your heart out.

3 Stars??? Wow! Really??

What did you like about the Biryaani the most?

And yes I shall send you a recipe upon my return. Please remember to ask me.

[bperlow]

Well, Im back in LA now.. My brother Jason recommended Diwan.. So figured I would have great Indian before I went back to LA.. Jay also told me the the 3 magic words.. "Suvir Sent Me" . And I will say Magical indeed..

Since I was a budget(not a good thing for this place!)

I orderd the buffet for lunch. I wasnt expecting much.. I also orderd a tandoori pickled chicken appetizer which I forgot the name of. My friends came and orded buffets..

The buffet was had large variety of things to eat.. The dishes had a good degree of spices and were good as any entree in any other indian resturant. It was by far the best buffet I had..

The picked tandoori chicken was INCREDIBLE. I have not had such an interesting tandoori before. I never go for tandoori since most indian places blow it.. I recieved an extra serving of this dish, and then recieved a yogurt -cream coated tandoori chicken dish(different than normal tikka) that was Awesome. Note I told the waiter that Suvir Sent Me.. I and my party were treated extra special.. I got the 2 extra tandoori dishes on the house!

My only regret is that I wish I had more dough to spend. If I was with a larger party then we could have ordered more.. I really wanted to try the tandoori Boar..

I intend to go back and spend more there..

Hey Jay, you think you and Rachel can take me there and sport me?

[Jason Perlow]

Well Brandon, now you have a reason to come back to NY soon...

I'm glad the buffet was good, because I've never been to Diwan for lunch. In fact I've only been there once so far, Rachel has been there twice for dinner.

What did your friends think of the place?

EDIT: In case you haven't realized, Brandon is my west-coast struggling computer graphics whiz baby brother .. if anyone needs a 3D modeller and Alias/Softimage expert look him up..

[tommy]

the buffet, at diwan, is quite good. hemant's tandoori chicken makes it out there. the other day, they had a chicken sate, with peanut sauce, and the chicken, of course, was absurdly moist and tender. absurd in a good way, of course. i think it's 12.95 or so. the place was mobbed. the service is fantastic.

i just started going to bakura (sp?) grill (across the street), but after i rediscovered diwan, i don't think i'll return.

Edited February 11, 2003 by tommy (log)

[ahr]

Agreed, during the week. A recent Saturday (or was it Sunday?), however, was disappointing -- the place was empty, the buffet was set up on the bar, selection was more restricted, and some items, including the chicken, were cold.

[SobaAddict70]

I'm quite curious how the biryanis are made.  Experience with the lemon rice suggests that the biryanis could quite possibly be an ethereal experience.  (Suvir, when you come back, I want the recipe!)

I too was looking forward to the chai pot de creme.  (The description on the menu sounds positively intriguing.)

Diwan is easily three stars.  Grimes, eat your heart out.

3 Stars??? Wow! Really??

What did you like about the Biryaani the most?

And yes I shall send you a recipe upon my return. Please remember to ask me.

Well, I haven't yet had any of the biryaanis at Diwan.

I've had a version of biryaani at Tabla and was impressed that they managed to get it right there, so I'm curious how Hermant makes his. The lemon rice was this side of amazing -- better than the way I make it. The complexity of flavors and distinct layering of spicing definitely made an impression.

I would give Diwan three stars...but then I'm more of the Ruth Reichl school of restaurant reviewing.

SA

Edited February 11, 2003 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Suvir Saran]

The Biryaani Hemant makes is the classic preparation. But then as a special touch he seals the dish with dough and blind bakes it. Makes for a great touch.

The Lemon Rice is a recipe I have made for years. I prepared it for Hemant upon his return from SF. It is simple, but a favorite of mine and all those that have enjoyed it at our home.

If you email me SA, I can send you a word document with that recipe. Actually, I can also send you the recipe for the mint rice that is also served at Diwan with some dishes.

Glad you liked the rice... It is a wonderful preparation.. and makes for a great snack as well.

[DavidJS]

I'll agree with Brandon (one of his friends who attended) that DIWAN has one of the better Indian buffet for lunch. For the price of buffet it's usually higher than most Indian restaurant I've been to but its midtown. And for the 'suits' this is a bargain. Although I don't share Brandon opinion about the pickle tandoori chicken being 'awesome' the creamy tandoori chicken was very delicious. You may want to unbulk that belt when you attend DIWAN lunch buffet. Cuz you're most likely going to go back for seconds and skip dinner (maybe a light salad). Oh yeah, it's a nice setting 'nuff to impress a date.

[llwb]

Last night, not one but TWO groups of eGulleteers plus friends dined at Diwan

My husband and I were there the evening before Suzanne F. We had the Tasting Menu (n.b. Suvir, I ended up writing Chef Hemant a letter instead of calling) and it was wonderful. We were not quite up to the pleasurable task of consuming every last morsel, but we did the best we could - the food kept coming and it was all delicious. I mean all. But I think the crunchy rice cake, the halibut, the okra and the incredibly tender and flavorful chicken stood out. We drank King Fisher. The atmosphere was friendly and Chef Hemant visited our table twice to name the items that were about to appear. He seems happy in his work and this made us feel relaxed. It was a great dinner and a nice experience altogether. I plan to meet a friend at Diwan for lunch on Tuesday.... Thank you Suvir for your encouraging words!

llwb

BTW, they were out of the Chai Pots de Creme that night too.

[Simon Majumdar]

On Tuesday, I was stuck in NY for longer than I thought as I had to meet an author at The Roger Smith ( odd little place )

So, as Diwan was around the corner, I thought I would see what all the hoo ha was about.

The reception was very friendly despite the fact that the place was packed with people wanting to stuff themselves on the buffet and, they did not mind that I wanted to sit at the bar

I don't do buffets as I have an aversion to eating food that has been kept tepid over simmering water while people sneeze over it. I did go and have a look and it seemed interesting if fairly basic lunchtime buffet stuff. Not close to the quality of say the Bombay Brasserie in London.

I ordered off the menu, a butter chicken with some papads and a beer.

Butter chicken is one of those dishes that is very easy to make and very hard to make well and this was not, unfortunately wonderful. The sauce was ( to my mind ) too thin and although the dish should be creamy, it also needs to have a back note of heat which this did not. The chicken itself was a little tough and stringy.

I only had time for one dish as I was in a rush, but I would be interested to return one evening for a meal to try some more. On this evidence it is fairly standard stuff, but I may be missing something

5/10

S

Edited February 15, 2003 by Simon Majumdar (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

On this evidence it is fairly standard stuff, but I may be missing something

What you missed was that this restaurant specializes in tandori. The curries I've had have been good, but it is the perfect tandoor cooked food that makes Diwan worth the trip.

[robert brown]

Simon, we ate at Diwan last night with Marcus and his wife. My wife ordered the butter chicken and had the same opinion as you. Otherwise I have recently been finding myself bothered by some extremely salty spice Indian chefs put on Tandoori dishes that almost ruins the pleasure of eating them. I never was bothered by this until a year or two ago. Any insight? Nonetheless I like the restaurant. All of our four appetizers were very good. I did get distracted by the large screen set up in the middle of the room for the Sri Lanka-Bangledesh cricket match. I didn't even know Bangladesh had an international team.

[Simon Majumdar]

Bangladesh has a decent crcket team although they were beaten by Canada in the current world cup!! Which is like little orphan annie beating Iron Mike.

Anyway, I am cooking tandoored chicken and lamb for a group of NY eg's later on today. The lamb from Citerellas was OK, but quite expensive, much more so than in the UK.

I use very little salt in my tandoor cooking and feel when I do find it over salted in restaurants it means they have bought poorer quality meat and are trying to hide it

I just mix yogurt with spices ( chilli, cumin corriander seed, a ginger/garlic paste and saffron ) and mix into the meat ( I prefer on the bone ) and add lime juice. Leave for a minimum of two hours but better over night and bake on a rack on a high heat for 25 mins. Perfect every time.

S

[marcus]

The lamb vinadaloo was also excellent, much more complex flavoring than the usual NY Indian restaurant, and the heat sneaks up on you leaving your mouth on fire, but not too much. My tandoori wild boar chops were salty, but not overwhelmingly so. The butter chicken was poor and seemed to be missing an ingredient.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I find the chops at Diwan, both lamb and boar, to be difficult to eat. Besides their irregular shape, which results from the odd way they seem to be cut (is it a zigzag saw?) the level of marinade on the chops before they go into the tandoor results in the marinade not being fully absorbed before the meat is cooked through. And while the chops taste good, I have found that the outside is fairly wet, and not seared if you order the chops medium rare. I much prefer it when the chops are single rib, and the chef wipes the excess marinade off the chop before they go into the tandoor. Then they are charred on the outside with the marinade infused and just a touch of moisture left from the marinade. In fact, I find that most tandoori restaurants have a problem with the cooking times of anything other then chicken. Lamb chops, shrimps, etc., are almost always dry. One of the few places I know of that gets it right is Tamarind in London with their Tandoori Monkfish which is perfectly moist everytime I have had it which has to be at least a half dozen times. But it is also something where the marinade has been almost completely absorbed or cooked off in the tandoor. I'm not sure if it is the level of marinade applied to begin with, the density of the marinade so it cooks off in the tandoor, or the chefs wipe the excess marinade off before cooking. Whatever, they get the best results I've seen for non-chicken tandoori.

[Sandra Levine]

I usually love the charred surface of lamb chops, but at Diwan the chops are so delicious I don't miss it. The quail appetizer is extraordinary in its depth of flavor and superb texture. I think my favorite tandoori dish there is the shrimp -- huge, fresh, flavorful and succulent -- one of the best shrimp dishes I've ever had.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I agree they can be delicious. Thats's because the marinade is delicious. But they would be even more so if they improved the cooking time/marinade balance. Actually, I was recently surprised to speak with various people who attended the Diwan dinner who did not like the food at all. They can disclose who they are if they want to.

[robert brown]

When I left, Sri Lanka was 123 for none. But I have no idea what inning it was. Diwan also had the match on a TV by the bar. The set, however, was not suspended as in a sports bar, but on a shelf or cabinet below eye level behind the patrons. If I didn't know the basics of the game, I wold probably bitch and moan about plonking a big-screen TV in the middle of the front dining area. The broadcast came thorugh Dish TV. I assume it was live since it was the next morning in Asia. Is live cricket a staple of Dish TV, does anyone know? Does anyone have a result of both the match and the series so far? It must be on the web somewhere. What, by the way, is the best web site for cricket news and results? Is there a counterpart to the Major League Baseball site?

[rstarobi]

I know it's been said somewhere on eGullet, but I'm not having success finding it - what day is Hemant Mathur *not* at Diwan? I vaguely recall that it's Sunday, but I want to be sure before I book a meal this weekend.