Kinara

[Jason Perlow x]

(originally appeared on Chowhound.com, June 25 2001)

Yesterday my wife and I went with a close friend to Kinara (which, I understand means "On the Water" in Hindu?) a fairly new Indian restaurant in Edgewater on River Road, across the street from the Whole Foods supermarket. The restaurant opened in late february and specializes in punjabi cuisine.

Kinara has all the old moghlai favorites, elegantly prepared, but theres a lot of stuff there that you wont find at your average indian restaurant.

We ordered

1) Mixed kebab platter which included peices of chicken tikka (tender, not dry), lamb sikh kebab (elegantly seasoned with herbs, also juicy), and reshmi kebab (another kind of chicken kebab, also very good but not done with tandoori spices like the tikka) which was served on a sizzling platter with caramelized red and white onion and thinly sliced green pepper. Sorta like indian fajitas. We ate it with a simple garlic naan flatbread, also excellent.

2) Chicken Vindaloo: a stew of boneless chicken in a very spicy hot and sour sauce. Very different from other vindaloos I've had, almost like barbeque cuisine.

excellent.

3) Karahi Lamb: Stir fried cubes of lamb cooked with bell peppers, onions and tomatoes. Lamb very tender, subtle spiciness, very good.

4) Fish Malibari: rachel ordered this, i didnt try it but she liked it a lot. Fish curry made with freshly ground coconut. Had a few whole dried chili peppers swimming in the curry, she said it was spicy but not overpoweringly so.

5) Jerra Aloo: Cubes of potatoes smothered and simmered with cumin and other spices. Very spicy, excellent vegetable accompaniment to our meal.

6) Mango lassi: among the best I've had. Served in a metal mug, frosty on the outside, sweet but not overpoweringly so and tangy. Worked well to tone down some of the spicy stuff we had.

All the dishes were served with rice, and a generous amount of it as well.

I'll note this place has a very extensive menu and we' d probably have to go there 10 times to get a broader feel of the place, they have that many dishes. 15 different appetizers, 8 different tandooris, 10 kinds of naan/paratha, 10 chicken dishes, 8 lamb dishes, 6 seafood/fish dishes, 16 veggie dishes, 2 thalis, 8 biryanis.

I'll also note that everything had the correct amount of spice to it and it wasnt toned down for americans, the place had a predominantly indian crowd. Also unlike a lot of indian restaurants I didnt smell caradamom coming out the rafters, and I didnt taste too much of it in the food, which for me is a good thing since I dont like too much of the stuff.

** NOTE: we went there for the luncheon buffet a week or so later, it was good but nothing special, typical tandoori stuff. ***

(Edited by Jason Perlow at 11:32 am on July 29, 2001)

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Jason Perlow, eGullet.com Community Coordinator

[Fat Guy]

Something Jason didn't mention in his Kinara review was the overwhelmingly fantastic Mint-Chili-Cilantro Chutney that's given almost as a throw-away with the various breads you can order.  The Tamarind and Onion Chutneys were also impressive, but the Mint-Chili-Cilantro had an almost perfect balance of spices that was very very memorable.

Also, to reinforce something he spoke about, the Lamb at this place was just out of this world.  I'm used to Indian food with taste, of course, but it's very rare that you can use the word "succulent" to describe meat preparation at NY-NJ area Indian restaurants--where, to be honest, the focus is usually more on the sauces and not on the preparation of the meat.  But its the only word I can think of for both the Karahi Lamb and the Lamb Sikh Kebab at Kinara.

[Fat Guy]

One more thing... a drink called a "Fruit Fizz" was also very good, although for you purists I'm betting its not as "authentic" (whatever that means) as the Mango Lassis.

[dhaaba3]

Another thing that Jason forgot, though he seems quite knowledgeable about Indian food otherwise, is that Hindu is a religion and not a language (Hindi)....d'oh!

[Jason Perlow]

Thanks for making me aware of the difference! Hindi, Language, Hindu, religion. :)

Besides Hindi what are the other prominent languages of India, and how do they relate to regions and cultures cuisine-wise?

[ziggybob]

They have sites about topics like this, JP...

Here's one: http://indiansaga.com/languages/index.html

[jsibley]

For fans of Kinara, is it as good for a weekday lunch as it is for dinner? I went for a late weekend lunch, and it was ok, but not great. However, I think the chef had left, and there was only the buffet, which was good, but not great.

[Rachel Perlow]

When we first discovered Kinara, we made a point to try the buffet. Although it was probably on a weekend too, I'd assume weekday buffet is similar. We thought it was an OK Indian Buffet, but not worth the drive the way dinner is. So, if you are in the area anyway and in the mood for it, it is fine, but otherwise just go there to order off the menu.

[Jason Perlow]

Actually, I felt that Maharani (in Fort Lee) had a better lunch buffet, in terms of selection. But what Kinara had was quality. Namaskaar in Paramus is also pretty good.