Indian Restaurants

I just ate a massive meal (4 onion uttapams and 3 squares of Trader Joe’s dark choclate with almonds) so I think I can write about some of the best Indian restaurants I’ve been to in America without wanting to eat / cry. Pre @visheatsdelish, I barely took any pictures of the food I was eating because I judged people that did. Oh how the tables have turned.

After I left home but before I learnt to cook, I had to rely on the restaurant scene to satisfy my Indian food cravings. Safe to say, I learnt to cook Indian food very quickly. I lived in Waltham for grad school and the town had not one but two Indian stores. I didn’t expect that abundance but I also didn’t know what to expect. With ingredients and masalas at my finger tips, I learnt very quickly how to cook some of the basics – rasam, vatha kozhambu, matar paneer, rajma, channa, rice (still get this one wrong from time to time. What’s the water rice ratio???).

I still miss that restaurant quality oil floating on top and the artificially red non-descript gravies that are tangy and sweet and addictive. I also missed buffets. I know I’m not a 12 year old boy with an appetite of a family of 12 but I also love a bargain. I’m still surprised they are not more common here outside the generic Indian lunch buffet for $23.99 + tax. My favorite generic north Indian buffet at the time was Maharaja in Cambridge. My brother also went to school in the Massachusetts area and every time he came to visit, I’d meet him outside the Harvard yard and we’d walk across the street to Maharaja and he would easily eat three times as me making the buffet worth it.

In my second year of grad school, we found this restaurant a little further away that we would have to drive to. It took me twenty minutes to remember the name of the place (Godavari) because all I could remember was what they called garlic naan – Guntur naan. Guntur is a place in Andhra Pradesh known for it’s chili but this restaurant, though likely run by people from Andhra Pradesh, decided we were only smart enough to make the Guntur – G – Garlic association.

Looking back at this picture, I realize they didn’t think we were smart enough to even make that association given the garlic in parenthesis. Despite the attack against our collective intelligence, we loved the guntur naans. We were a large and loud group and the best part of going out with this group was that our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and over time, our stomachs learnt to adapt. We also eventually learnt that this place delivered so now we could stretch out our stomachs and not have to drive 20 minutes before collapsing. (This Kodak moment sponsored by Grubhub)

There weren’t a lot of options for good Indian food when I was in school and also on a budget. Everything tasted the same. Generic can be good some time but I don’t just mean all the restaurants tasted the same. I mean all the dishes in the restaurant also tasted the same so if you’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all. The average restaurant back home also put a little more effort into decor. There used to be this place called Samarkhand that I loved and they had this cave like ambience with low chairs and menus on newspapers. The food was also incredible. It made going out to eat an event that tantalized all my senses. If I was to pick between kookie ambience and good food, I’d definitely pick the good food but it’s such a treat when you get both. Samarkhand has permanently closed now.

On a family vacation couple of years ago, we stumbled on this place called Chai Pani in Asheville, North Carolina. Not only was the ambience young and fun, the food was actually interesting. Everything tasted authentically Indian but also had an interesting menu. I’m not saying I discovered this place but just saying they won a James Beard award this year..just saying.

Moving to New York really opened things up. I think the competition for patrons’ time on Friday night plus Indian food just having its time to shine has equaled some excellent restaurants with top notch food – both traditional and experimental. Every restaurant in the Roni Mazumdar – Chintan Pandya group of restaurants tops the charts for me. I’ve been to Dhamaka, Semma, Rahi (before it closed and was replaced by Semma – a very good choice) and Adda. With ~10-12 menu items, all outstanding, and a unique “vibe” to each one, if I’m trying to impress someone, this is probably where I’d take them. I also loved that there are things ont heir menus I’ve never heard about but somehow taste distinctly like home. I’m a sucker for themed cocktails and Semma had this gin drink infused with curry leaves. I’m also a sucker for gin drinks so you know I was out there smiling from ear to ear. The night I went to Semma was before I googled and followed the owners on Instagram so didn’t know what they looked like. One of them stopped by our table to see how we were doing and I made a joke that killed. If I was more aware or asked more questions, I could have charmed my way to a life where getting a reservation at these places wasn’t this hard. Oh well. My one complaint is not enough vegetarian food options which is interesting for Indian restaurants but I’ve tried everything they have to offer and it’s all been incredible so I don’t know how strongly I hold on to this complaint.

The holy grail of Indian restaurants I’ve been to has got to be a chain restaurant from India. Sarvana Bhavan. As I perused through my gallery for pictures of all the Indian restaurants, 90% were pictures of me eating a dosa, my friends eating a dosa or a dosa. I’m salivating, just thinking about it. That’s why I ate uttapams before writing this. I saw this coming. Sarvana Bhavan is on my list of top places in NYC, for food or otherwise. I remember when I was young, a place like Sarvana Bhavan would be where we would go on a Sunday night when mummy didn’t want to cook. We’d get one appetizer and then everyone would order two dishes each. What a great time.

So there you have it. How far we’ve come only to go back to dosas.