This is one of those reviews where the rating for the food and the rating for the service are so wide ranging that I had to net out the overall score to something in the middle. This place has gotten rave reviews from Grub Street and The Infatuation, two of my all-time favorite food blogs, so I had high hopes for this place. The good news is that the food is quite good and the decor a notch up and a nice departure from all those crazy places on 6th street. But for some reason, I was just really turned off by the service of the place.
First, Aarti and I walked in at 12:15 and there was literally nobody in the entire place. The hostess asked if we had a reservation and when we said no, she looked around before she seated us. I mean, seriously?! I'm fine that she asked if we had one since they take reservations for lunch but to look around as if she had to even think about where to seat us was just crazy pants. We sat down and the menu looks like a mix of traditional Indian with their own twist on the description. Aarti and I are fairly well versed in Indian food and as we were reading through it we decided that a lot of what they were trying to do was described the dishes in a deconstructed version of what the dish actually was or kind of dumb it down to non-Indian people. For example, we started with the papadi chaat ($12) which they described on the menu as "the motherland's version of nachos and salsa". I get what they are trying to do, but I'd rather they described it as a savory roadside snack popular in India and SE Asia vs. trying to compare it to something it's not really. I've always been a huge fan of chaat because of its sweet, savory, tangy and crunchy flavors. Plus who doesn't love yogurt chutney? This version was pretty tasty version with chickpea, cucumber, pomegranate, tamarind, and mint and yogurt chutney. For my main meal, I wasn't sure if I wanted a full blown heavy Indian meal experience but I couldn't resist a good butter chicken dish (even though it was 100 degrees outside), so I got their butter chicken over rice ($15) and Aarti got a naan like sandwich that I can't quite remember right now. What I love about Indian food are all the spices - it makes you realize how bland other types of food can be. The butter chicken was a solid and large bowl of basmati rice with chunks of tender chicken in a tomato curry based sauce. I really enjoyed it but it was so much food and quite heavy for a hot summer day, so I asked if I could take the rest home with me. The waiter looked me and and said "We don't have any take out containers here". Umm - what? I literally had only taken 2-3 bites and I was so full, so I would essentially be leaving more than 3/4 meal on the table. Even the nicest restaurants in NYC, have some form of take out if you can't finish your meal. Plus this is the East Village, couldn't they just walk across the street and buy a bunch of plastic ones? So I asked him what I should so with all my leftovers and he just shrugged and walked away. 10 minutes later he comes back and asks if I want dessert. Why would I possibly want dessert when I had an entire meal sitting in front of me still? So I proceeded to sit around and finish as much of my dish as possible - luckily it was good but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn't so full. As for Aarti's dish, we weren't quite sure what it was when we ordered it, but once she got it, she realized it was something she used to have as a kid and was called something totally different. It was kind of like a pressed naan sandwich.
Overall, I wish I didn't have such a disjointed experience here. The food was quite solid and the decor had a hip funky East Village feel to it that I liked. But being so un- accommodating to their customers and on top of it being CASH ONLY made me really irritated during my meal. If you do go, just be prepared to eat everything off your plate. Total bill: $25 pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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