Kalustyan's Café (Closed)

[alacarte]

We had dinner at the new & improved Kalustyan's last night -- overall, a very pleasant experience. We had no reservation, but the restaurant was about half-full at 7PM...more like 3/4 full by the time we left.

We started with cocktails (I had the "Bombay," a guava-vodka-tonic that tasted rather like spiked grapefruit juice and had a slice of frozen guava at the bottom of the martini glass) and Mr. alacarte had a mango iced tea, which seemed to be a lot of mango and just a little tea.

We started with naan bread and a chunky cucumber-yogurt raita -- both excellent. The naan was fresh out of the oven, so hot it nearly burned my fingertips.

Then we moved on to the spiced chicken puffs (really just well-spiced, crispy samosas) and the tuna tartare, which was served with spiced soybeans and "silver fish." Though the tuna was good quality, Mr. alacarte found the soybeans way too hot/spicy for his taste (we were glad to have the cooling raita on hand). He was also offput by the description, and nearly reconsidered the order: "tuna tartare with spiced soy beans and silver fish." Though it turned out to be a sardine, In NY, we are acutely aware that "silverfish" is a type of cockroach. BLEAH!

But we put that aside in the interest of enjoying our dinner.

The entrees proved even better than the appetizers -- I ordered the "forbidden rice with congee," which reminded me of an Asian-style vegetarian chili: flavorful long-grain black rice was piled high with quartered green tomatoes, sea beans (they look like green beans but are saltier and more fibrous), corn, peppers, and other vegetables. It was not too spicy, rather it had a sweet flavor to it. Mr alacarte detected raisins and cinnamon in the dish. Meanwhile, he ordered the cod wrapped in banana leaf. Most of the reviews said that this dish arrived overcooked. I guess Kalustyan's took this critique to heart, because our cod arrived cooked just right, and still quite tender. The dish came accompanied with a vinegared cabbage (sort of like a kimchi-inspired cole slaw) which was not to Mr. alacarte's taste, but he's not a fan of vinegar.

The service was attentive, although it took a while to get our server's attention to get the check, they seemed slightly understaffed. The price tag was a little steep for the neighborhood (our final tally with tip was about $80), but it wasn't altogether out of line for a good meal including apps and drinks. I'd go back again.

Edit: I almost forgot -- Inspired by Monica Bhide's article in the Washington Post about Indian Weddings -- esp. the part about the "mouth freshener table," with 30-plus types of mouth fresheners, I bought a couple of packets from the Kalustyans store...one with all kinds of minty-green goodies and another with candy-coated fennel seeds. MMMmmmmmmm........

Edited August 26, 2004 by alacarte (log)

[alacarte]

Kalustyan's Cafe has closed. It will re-open as Rice (read: Thai), a "Pan-Asian" restaurant which already has an outpost on Mott St.