THE BEST: Indian

[jturn00]

[...]I am still exploring brooklyn but an excellent place is Dhaka Indian Restaurant on atlantic ave.

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Atlantic and what?

148 Atlantic Ave.

(Between Clinton and Henry St.)

Brooklyn, NY 11201

(718) 858-4340

http://www.dhakaindianrestaurant.com

Note: While I have lived on the upper west side there is nothing there worth noting.

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I would disagree, Jeff. I've found Indus Valley (99th and Broadway) to be a very good North Indian restaurant. Best, no; very good and dependable and a good value, yes. The last time I went there was a few months ago.

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I've never been there but I will have to try it! There are lot of great places above 86th street but that is a little far to go if I want to just go out and get someting as am more near lincoln center. (I don't think they would deliver to 66th st.) Also, now that my fiance is in Brooklyn, I spend a lot of my time there.

Jeff

[Felonius]

I've never been to India, but I ate lots and lots of Indian food while living in England. To my taste, I found the Indian food in the UK generally superior to what's on offer in the USA.

My favorite in NYC is Chola, and I particularly like their chicken "chettinad" (sp?). Chola has an interesting selection of dishes, many of which I have not encountered elsewhere.

Never tried Devi, but glad for the Egullet tip. I will put that on my short list. Any recommendations on what to try there on a first visit?

[Pan]

Yes, Chettinad, referring to the Chettiars. Chettinad Chicken is one of my family's favorite recipes. We use a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey, but change it by quadrupling the amount of urad dal we use, because we love the nutty taste of that pulse so much.

[raji]

I've never been to India, but I ate lots and lots of Indian food while living in England.  To my taste, I found the Indian food in the UK generally superior to what's on offer in the USA.

Many a time I have to host friends from across the pond who bemoan that they can't find a good curry once they're nice and smashed.

I have to explain that most of the Indian food in Manhattan is not made from people from the same region. For instance, all the 6th street restaurants are run by Bangladeshi's and is not good. Just doesn't taste authentic.

Last night, after explaining the rules of baseball to my Welsh friend for 2 hours, we hit Jackson Heights, and although I wanted South Indian, he wanted "a good curry", which I don't exactly know what means but I took Mayur's recommendation and hit Kababish - you know it must be good when it's packed with North Indian's and Pakistanis

For $13 we stuffed ourselves on a chicken tikka masalas, 2 garlic naans, basmati rice and salad, ending with a couple chais. Very very good - he agreed this was better than most in London.

So, while Jackson Heights does not offer FINE dining, by exploring a bit you can certainly piece together the best of every single Indian regional cuisine at more "hole in the wall" restaurants... I've been exploring more as a Mets season ticket holder and have been able to get great south indian, north indian, kebabs, and that in between....

thanks for the reccos Mayur

[Mayur]

Any time!

We should still swap dinners, you know! I have to drop by Devi to pick up a gift at some point, so I'll be dining there soon!

[raji]

Sounds great! and I have an Ushiwakamaru dinner coming up soon - perhaps next week - PM me

[no3food]

I was blown away by the food at Devi and Tabla - the only other Indian restaurant I would put in that same category/class is an outstanding one in Vancouver called Vij's (if you ever venture North and West this is a place not to be missed).

But sometimes you just want what I refer to as "roll-up your sleeves" Indian fare - comfort food that you can just dig into wholeheartedly, that isn't overly pretentious but equally satisfying and for that, so far, I have found Angon on the Sixth to be just the ticket! The dhal fry (although perhaps not 100% traditional) is outstanding and is definitely what cravings are made of, as are their meat dishes - the lamb is cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Their spicing seems to build to a palate-pleasing, but not overbearing, kick (and I love spicy food). And the service is the most personable and attentive that I have found anywhere.

Thanks to this thread, I now have other places to scope out!

[Pan]

How recently have you been to Angon? I used to like it, but the last time I went (which I think was February 2, 2006), I had a terrible meal. Everything was way oversalted. Has it gotten better since then?

[Nathan]

Mina, the chef who had a devoted following follow her to Angon, left a year ago. I haven't been back since.

[vivin]

I just read this. I have learnt that my British friends' idea of curries are slightly different than what I grew up with. Anyway, this is a nice place for fiery curries. And I mean seriously hot. Good stuff though.

http://www.bricklanecurryhouse.com/

[Nathan]

brick lane's probably the best on 6th street these days. and they will give you some serious heat if you ask for it.

[no3food]

How recently have you been to Angon? I used to like it, but the last time I went (which I think was February 2, 2006), I had a terrible meal. Everything was way oversalted. Has it gotten better since then?

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Last week. It was the owner's birthday, a Saturday night, and there was a big celebration. The kitchen was also sampling a new dish to put on the menu, which was divine. And prior to that visit, last month, which was also great! Perhaps it is a hit and miss and fortunately the last two times for us were a hit! I know that I am very reluctant to give a place another go if I have been burned no matter what I read on various boards...but hopefully my streak of good luck here continues and perhaps you might hit the same note if you try it again. Good luck!

[raji]

I'm going to Chola for an early dinner Saturday, followed by Ravi Shankar concert. I'm pretty excited; I severely mourned the loss of Devi but I am well prepared for Chola to be my stellar Indian standout for Manhattan (especially so I can tell all my British friends that yes you CAN get good Indian food in NYC). I had not idea until my brother told me, but apparently I had been to Chola's sister restaurant in MA which is where his rehearsal dinner was. The food there was really great - you wouldn't have expected to have found this in rural Mass.

Does anyone have recommendations about the best dishes, best way to order etc.?

[LPShanet]

I'm going to Chola for an early dinner Saturday, followed by Ravi Shankar concert. I'm pretty excited; I severely mourned the loss of Devi but I am well prepared for Chola to be my stellar Indian standout for Manhattan (especially so I can tell all my British friends that yes you CAN get good Indian food in NYC). I had not idea until my brother told me, but apparently I had been to Chola's sister restaurant in MA which is where his rehearsal dinner was. The food there was really great - you wouldn't have expected to have found this in rural Mass.

Does anyone have recommendations about the best dishes, best way to order etc.?

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You'll be happy to hear that you no longer have to mourn the loss of Devi. The two chefs bought the place from the previous owner and are reopening it this week or next after having done some renovations.

[The Naughti Literati]

My boyfriend is the head chef at Brick Lane so I can totally co-sign on the food being delicious. And spicy. He has mentioned that many Brits come there, there's even even a curry club of some sort that was there recently! LOL

Raji, he is from Chennai too! If you were to go during lunch (they have a great buffet), he sometimes makes South Indian dishes for the buffet and has turned me on to a lot of them...I love bisibele bath, idlis, dosas and sambar, vada (the little doughnut-shaped ones?), and almost everything he makes at home too except for that yogurt rice.

When we go out to eat, we like Saravaanas too. I want to check Devi out, I saw the new cookbook, American Masala, on Tuesday and Chef Saran was at B&N Chelsea last night signing copies but I didn't make it out. A friend of ours is at Tamarind, another at Chola and we plan to make it up there as well!

Edited October 18, 2007 by The Naughti Literati (log)

[Nathan]

Brick Lane does indeed have the best Indian lunch buffet that I've had.

[Mayur]

My boyfriend is the head chef at Brick Lane so I can totally co-sign on the food being delicious. And spicy. He has mentioned that many Brits come there, there's even even a curry club of some sort that was there recently! LOL

Raji, he is from Chennai too! If you were to go during lunch (they have a great buffet), he sometimes makes South Indian dishes for the buffet and has turned me on to a lot of them...I love bisibele bath, idlis, dosas and sambar, vada (the little doughnut-shaped ones?), and almost everything he makes at home too except for that yogurt rice.

That's awesome! Tender him my compliments; it's a great place, and my dad and his friends (all South Indian veg Brahmin types) love the food.

When we go out to eat, we like Saravaanas too. I want to check Devi out, I saw the new cookbook, American Masala, on Tuesday and Chef Saran was at B&N Chelsea last night signing copies but I didn't make it out. A friend of ours is at Tamarind, another at Chola and we plan to make it up there as well!

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Has Devi reopened yet? My impression was that it was still closed. I will have to make it back and say hi to Suvir and Hemant...

I'm a big fan of the starters at Chola, specifically the kalmi kabab, kodi vepudu, and era varuval. The chettinad dishes are awfully good, including the chicken chettinad and lamb pepper fry. Lots of good stuff there, to be honest, although I prefer the South Indian standards at Saravanaas.

Edited October 18, 2007 by Mayur (log)

[The Naughti Literati]

Brick Lane does indeed have the best Indian lunch buffet that I've had.

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I used to be curious about the place but it was rather expensive compared to the other places so I'd eat at Taj Mahal - til they started the lunch buffet. I became a regular then! One day I went in there with a cookbook (Mangoes & Curry Leaves) and asked to speak to the chef about certain spices and to my surprise out comes this fly-ass young dude. Been with him ever since. Two years and 20 pounds and a million terrific food writing books later, I haven't any regrets. LOL!

After reading all the great things about Devi on here, I can't WAIT to go. The cookbook is *gorgeous* and the first thing I thought when I saw it was that we had to go on his next day off. I'm going back to B&N to grab a signed copy if there are any left! Then we'll hit Chola.

There's another HUGE place in midtown in the lower 50's on the east side that has an extensive buffet that is quite good but I can't think of the name, I'll find it! I know it's a short walk from Harper Collins which is on 53rd...

EDITED TO ADD: Hi Mayur, thanks! I'll be sure to tell him tonight.

I just looked on the Devi website and it says they will be opening late October.

http://www.suvir.com/devi/devi.html

So if it's not open this upcoming Tuesday, perhaps we'll do Chola first instead. Sounds great.

Edited October 18, 2007 by The Naughti Literati (log)

[raji]

So my dinner at Chola this past weekend was simply great. I wasn't able to order as exotically as I usually would I was one out of 5 family members there...

To start out - we got the lamb patties and a bunch of bhaji, vegetable fritters. Everything was spiced and fried really well. While the breads out of the tandoor, like roti and paratha, weren't anything to shout about... Devi and Tabla probably have better, they were awfully good, and the pooris we got were probably the best I've ever had. Completely light and oil-free, and really fried to perfection.

We shared a few mains, the shrimp kabobs (nowhere as good as Devi's, but still very good), dal makhni (great), and the one order I was able to slip in was the Chicken Chettinad. Surprisingly the other diners didn't want to get too many dishes marked "spicy" on the menu but I urged to get this one, and as I suspected, it was not as spicy as much as it was bursting with plethora of flavor profiles. This dish was really the standout.

While Devi has reoponed I think Chola is very much in the same class of menu, ingredients, and execution, if not as "nouveau" as Devi.

[kretch]

My boyfriend is the head chef at Brick Lane so I can totally co-sign on the food being delicious. And spicy.

I'm proud to say I made the P'hall of Fame this summer. Delicious.

[phaelon56]

Mina, the chef who had a devoted following follow her to Angon, left a year ago.  I haven't been back since.

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Mina has reappeared in Flushing at the edge of Jackson Heights with Spicy Mina. Her food is terrific as always and I doubt that there's better Bengali food anywhere in the NYC Metro area.

Follow-ups to a related question would inevitably have to move to the New Jersey forum but have any of you on this thread tried some of the options in and around Edison NJ? There's a very large Indian population out there not to mention that the discretionary income levels are likely to be higher than in Flushing or Jackson heights. It stands to reasons that there might be some higher end Indian restaurants out there.

[TongoRad]

...

[EDIT: I'm not wowed by Jackson Heights Indian restaurants, to be honest. Most of the stuff I like out there is really just junk food. Rajbhog and Dimple both do excellent chaat, and Rajbhog's sweets are passable if you like that sort of thing. Dosa Diner in JH, and Dosa Hutt next to the temple in Flushing, are both cheap and excellent places to get dosas, iddlis, etc. Kababish does pretty good kababs, but it's not what I'd call a full-fledged restaurant.]

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Bumping an old thread, but there doesn't seem to be any better place to post this...

Dosa Hutt is certainly good, but IMO it is being outclassed these days by two other very close neighbors- the Temple Canteen next door and Sai Bhavan just up Holly towards Kissena. I am particularly impressed with the sambar in both places, very different from one another but equally good. The Canteen's is quite full flavored, heavily leaning on the mustard seed tempered oil and chiles, and just full of vegetables, while Sai Bhavan favors the tamarind with naught but potatoes and whole onions lending it an elegant sweet/sour quality. They are both quite distinctive and well put together.

The rava dosas are also tops in both places- the Canteen's are just insanely lacy and crisp, while the guy at Sai Bhavan sprinkles a little water on his while cooking to keep them pliable- but both are well studded with chiles and coriander leaves. I've had many an excellent lunch in all three places and- yup- they're cheap to boot!

[Jammin]

Anyone happen to know what's the story on Dosa Diner? Tried Saravanaas yesterday - really good, but I miss the chili paneer uttapam from DD.

[raji]

I have been as recently as last summer, and you could arguably say that the canteen or the Hudd make a better paper dosai or sambar or chutney, but for a mysore or pondicherry or other escalations of spice, they are very very good. Their masala potato is also awfully tasty without breaking the ghee barrier. I take them to go eat @ Shea, lucky I have a front row and aisle in front of me otherwise it could be unwieldy

[Jammin]

well, i was more referring to their being closed.