Diwan

[anil]

A number of veggie dishes had been mentioned in the review. They were not included in my edited text, as marked by "..."

Point well taken

[Wilfrid]

I've always been told that restaurant critics are usually recognized in restaurants in the cities in which they work and get extra-special VIP treatment.

Indeed. I seem to remember being told that William Grimes wouldn't get a bad meal at Lespinasse, like I did.

You know, I can post reports of restaurants I go to, day in day out - I wonder how many I've posted on eGullet. I can be positive or negative and get little or no response, let along detailed critique of what I've said. But I would have bet $100 there was going to be this post mortem on my fairly balanced (I thought) take on Diwan. Unfortunately, I could get no takers.

[macrosan]

You know, I can post reports of restaurants I go to, day in day out - I wonder how many I've posted on eGullet.  I can be positive or negative and get little or no response, let along detailed critique of what I've said.  But I would have bet $100 there was going to be this post mortem on my fairly balanced (I thought) take on Diwan.  Unfortunately, I could get no takers.

Oh Wilfrid, I don't think this post mortem (actually I think that should be post cenam) is all about your review I think you just prompted a continuing discussion.

I will absolutely support your view that I found your review to be fair and balanced, and I can't believe that anyone is saying otherwise. I was myself laudatory about the banquet, although I still found cause top criticize a couple of the dishes. I repeat my growing perception (which I posted a few days ago here) that subsequent visits by eGulletarians to Diwan are consistently producing reports suggesting inconsistency Your review sits nicely within that growing context.

[vivin]

I have had two OK meals at Diwan recently.

All tandoori fare (thanks to Hemant) was first rate. Roomali rotis were very good too.

Everything else, including Chicken Makhani (butter chicken), Vindaloo, Chick Peas etc etc were uniformly sub par. Kind of watered down in taste and spicing. The butter chicken had good chicken (tender) but the sauce could not keep up.

Service was friendly and very good all around.

[Miguel Gierbolini]

I visited Diwan a few days ago. All in all it was fine but my shrimp dish was non-descript and perhaps not worth the price. I think it was called "Shrimp."

I did have Suvir's Recipe Pot de Creme which was really good. Really good. Really, really good. Can we have the recipe? Suvir?

[tommy]

the tandoori shrimp is very good (not sure if that's what you had, though). whenever i've had it, it has been cooked perfectly. i'm not expert though, and i generally derail discussions. i usually get this in the mixed tandoori grill for an app. the shrimp has always stood out for both me and the experts with whom i was dining. 4 out of 5 in fact. so it must be true. it must be. i'll repeat it if necessary it must be true true.

glad you had a decent meal.

Edited May 2, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Miguel Gierbolini]

Thanks T-Man. My shrimp was like a remoulade or something in a tomato based sauce with some flavorless rice. Or something. Usually I pay more attention to what I am ordering but I thought I was getting something that Fat Guy described elsewhere as Sri Lankan Tiger Prawns. Or something. Perhaps they were referred to as "prawns" in the menu.

I swear I was not drinking that night. I do. I swear.

Also had samosas and quail apps and a Halibut Tandoori main.

[Malik]

I finally made it to Diwan on Monday night for the first time. While our party of six had a good meal, we were all disappointed, especially given the high praise given to the restaurant on this board. All six diners of us were first time diners at Diwan, but are all very familiar with Indian cuisine. Hemant Mathur could be seen manning the tandoor oven in the kitchen.

We had three appetizers (Tandoori deluxe mixed grill, Beggar's purse and Papri chaat). The standouts among the appetizers were the tandoori prawns and the lamb chops. I am not usually fond of tandoori prawns, but these ones had an excellent marinade, and were cooked just right (a lot of Indian restaurants tend to overcook prawns). This was one of my two favorite items of the night overall. The lamb chops were also very good, though not quite the best I've ever had. The rest of the mixed grill varied from good (one of the chicken versions) to just average (seekh kabab). The beggar's purse was rather dry and bland, though we did like Suvir's tomato sauce that accompanied it. The papri chaat was a faithful rendition of a traditional dish, I found it good but not exceptional.

Among the entrees, the highlight was the tandoori venison chops. The chops were obviously marinated for a long time, and were then cooked medium well. The process resulted in a very tender and moist meat. My only complaint is that the marinade took a bit away from the character of venison, there was no gameyness left. The tandoori halibut was also a fairly popular dish at the table. I found it to be a nice piece of grilled fish, but not much more than that.

Less successful but still good were the karahi ghost (lamb curry) and the shrimp biryani. We also had tandoori chicken dish served with lemon rice. I didn't try the chicken, but the diner that ordered it was underwhelmed. Finally, we had bengan bartha (mashed eggplant), which was the least favorite entree of the night. This dish had some sweet peas thrown in which we did not care for, and was quite bland overall. I would say i was one of the weaker renditions of the dish that I've had.

The entrees were served with a mix of breads, most of which were pretty good, including the roomali roti, the plain naan and the whole wheat naan (tandoori roti?). For dessert, we had Suvir's chai pot de creme, which was quite a hit at the table (it had a tad too much ginger for my taste, but nobody else seemed to mind), a citrus sorbet served in a frosted orange, which I liked quite a bit, and the rasmalai, which was just ordinary.

All six of us had gone to Tamarind in New York at least once before, and everyone but me preferred Tamarind. I've only been to each restaurant once (Tamarind was in September), and would need a few more visits to separate them (a bit hard given I live in San Francisco), so I'd rank them about equal on food at this point. I do think that the cuisine is more modern and inventive at Tamarind though, so if I'll probably go back there first.

I'm pretty sure from my visit though that I would not put up Diwan as a world class Indian restaurant. It's certainly in the same class as the best modern Indian restaurants I've been to (Vij's in Vancouver and Zaika in London would be the best of that bunch), and even when compared to more classical Indian restaurants, it's not quite up to the task. I liked Tamarind in London better in the latter category for example.

[Malik]

Also, in the non food aspects, which are much less important to me, Diwan was not that impressive. In particular, I found the service was not quite adequate. I think it is due to lack of training rather than lack of effort. The manager is very good, but he was streched in trying to cover the whole restaurant, and the waiters were not up to the task to fill in. I think Diwan should hire a host/hostess at the very least, that should smooth out some of the rough edges in the service.

When we walked, we were told the manager is the one that knew about reservations, and were asked to wait at the bar (where nobody asked if we wanted to order a drink). We were celebrating a special occasion, and since the wine list is not very strong, I decided to bring in a bottle of wine (a 1985 Cos d'Estournel, which is drinking beautifully right now). I handed the bottle to the person behind the bar, who told me that it would be best if I kept the bottle with me and brought it to my table. When we finally saw the manager, he did volunteer to take care of the bottle for us.

At the beginning of the meal, we tried ordering a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine. After a couple of confused looks and some running around by the waiter, he eventually came back to tell us that our selection, while available, was not chilled, so if we wanted something right away, we should order something else. I tried to order another bottle from the list, and was told it was also not chilled. Finally, I was told that they did have a bottle of Mumm's Cordon Rouge (which is not on their list) that was chilled, and in fact was the only chilled sparkling wine they had at his point.

Through the rest of the meal, the service was adequate, but never quite excellent. Again, I think it was not due to the waiters not trying hard enough, as they clearly wanted to please us. I think that part of the problem was that multiple different people were taking our orders, which seemed to create some confusion at times. They were very nice though to bring us a complementary dessert and a round of cognac at the end of the meal for the special occasion that we were celebrating.

As for the decor, I liked the front room better than the back room where we were sitting, though an advantage of the back room is that one can see into the kitchen. I think the decor at Tamarind is nicer by comparison.

[Jason Perlow]

Very interesting observations, Malik. I only had 1 meal at Diwan, and I felt that by far the things they did best was anything coming out of the tandoor under Hermant's supervision -- their regularly prepared dishes were good, but I could understand how someone might be disappointed in them.

[Malik]

Yes, I agree that the traditional tandoori dishes under Hemant are a success. The prawns were perfect, the venison chops were excellent, and the lamb chops were very good. What's lacking is the breadth, as the other dishes seemed just OK, as well as the inventiveness shown by some of the new up and coming Indian restaurants worldwide.

[vivin]

Malik,

I had a very similar experience to yours. I was surprised given all the praise heaped upon the place in these quarters. I am afraid of going back a third time and striking out.

[Suzanne F]

The first time I was there, at the eGullet event, so many of the dishes (tandoori and non-tandoori) were new to me that I found just about everything wonderful. So I gushed when posting.

The second time, the tandoori foods were still wonderful (ones I'd had before as well as new ones), and the non-tandoori ranged from just okay to very good.

The third time, tandoori still ***, other eh. Although that time I finally got the chai pot de creme, which was worth waiting for.

So if and when I go again, I'll know: stick to the tandoor. (Ouch, that's HOT!)

And I apologize for giving the wrong impression.

[ErinB]

I just made a reservation at Diwan for July 23rd. They asked me what i wanted to order. Should I have requested something special? I've never had that asked before ...

[Pan]

It seems an odd request in that context, doesn't it?

[ErinB]

The whole conversation was very weird. On second thought, maybe she was just mixing me up with something else she was doing. I'd better call and double check my reservation.

[tommy]

The whole conversation was very weird.  On second thought, maybe she was just mixing me up with something else she was doing.    I'd better call and double check my reservation.

did you mention egullet? i'm thinking maybe the person assumed you'd want the tasting menu? although i think they offer that to anyone at this point.

but yes, call back to confirm the reservation and don't worry about it after that.

[ErinB]

Just had an excellent meal at Diwan last night. We had the venison chops, tandoori halibut, and the chicken vindaloo.

I asked for the wild boar chops, but they didn't have them. Initially, i didn't mention Egullet, but then when they didn't have the wild boar chops, i told them i was from egullet and mentioned Suvir's name, and that they were highly recommended. The service was very good before i mentioned egullet, but after we mentioned egullet, we got a free round of after dinner drinks and the chef came out and talked to us.

My friends, who didn't know about the site, were highly impressed.

I haven't been to many indian restaurants, but in terms of the tandoori, it was the best and highest quality i've ever had. I thought the chicken vindaloo was very good, but nothing amazing.

We also had the chai pot de creme, which was amazing. There were so many spices that came out with each bite.

[rstarobi]

Just saw a post on another food board saying that Hemant had left Diwan for parts unknown. Any truth to this?

[rstarobi]

False alarm - he's on vacation for the next couple of weeks according to the person who answered the phone at Diwan.

[Stone]

Hmmm. Wasn't Suvir hinting about a new restaurant in NY?

[MichaelZ]

According to a Chowhound poster, Hemant has left Diwan and can be found at a place on 51st St. between 2nd & 3rd Aves, called Amma.