I went to a new restaurant Sahib in Curry Hill, New York City on Friday and this is what I thought.
I went for two reasons, one was that I read in the New York Times that it is a Kashmiri restaurant. Kashmir is a region in India that is under if not entirely unrepresented in any New York restaurants that I know of.
The other reason was that Hemant Mathur who is the chef and owner of Sahib is someone I admire and like to go to his restaurants.
I arrived before my dining companion and was presented with this amuse bouche of what I think was a tomato soup with mustard seeds and a hint of a flavor of curry leaves.
I had enough time to look at the menu as I waited for my friend.
I carefully read it and had a tough time finding the promised Kashmiri dishes.
I looked again and found a few in the main course section and maybe another two in the vegetable section. HMMMMM – was I disappointed? I sure was. I was here for Kashmiri food after all.
My friend arrived and we started munching on the pappadum and chutneys that were put in front of us.
I told her that I couldn’t find the Kashmiri items on the menu and maybe she would have better luck. We started to talk of a lamb dish on the menu which was the Kashmiri lamb shank that sounded delicious. Who I think was the manager, walked up to us and said that he heard us talking of the lamb shank and informed us that they had it today. I was pleased and then said that I was expecting more Kashmiri dishes on the menu. He gave me a look of puzzlement which in turn puzzled me. He had no idea what I was saying.
I said, “Can you point out a Kashmiri appetizer.”
He said, “The curry patta Jhinga is nice.”
I said, “Curry leaves and Shrimp. Really? That doesn’t sound like something that would be found in the snowy peaks of Kashmir.”
He just nodded his head from left to right and left our table.
My friend and I decided on the Murg Angare – which was described as Chicken Tikka, Pomegranate seeds.
It arrived and was good. I liked the copper pan that the dish was presented in. The chicken was tender and flavorful. It did need the squeeze of lime that sat a top the chicken. I could not find a pomegranate seed – which is not a problem for me except I wondered why the description said to have it.
For the main course we ordered Dhaniwal Korma, Kashmir style Chicken curry, yogurt.
This dish was delicious. I enjoyed it very much. It was rich and creamy and had a sweet note to it which did not come from sugar, but I assume from a lot of caramelized onions and maybe even cashew nuts. I am not sure but it was a dish that I would order again.
We also ordered the Rogan Josh – Kashmiri style lamb curry, yogurt, saffron. We ordered this because when we asked for the Lamb shank, we were informed by the waiter that they didn’t have it. We told him that the manager came up to us and told us that they did – that was clearly a grand misunderstanding. Both my friend and I heard him say they had it and upon asking the manager he said they didn’t say that. That’s fine I suppose but I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the service in most Indian restaurants.
This is by no means to be rude – its an expression of disappointment and a hope that things change because I am a chef and am Indian and would like things to improve in Indian restaurants.
There are of course exceptions but many times the wait staff seems unsure of items on the menu and at the same time say things that are not factual to the diner. India is no longer a far off exotic land that you can say anything about and expect people not to know any better.
When I asked for a recommendation of a Kashmiri appetizer and I was pointed towards a Shrimp dish with curry leaves – that irked me to no end. That is clearly a dish that has South Indian flavors – nothing wrong with that but please, please don’t tell me that its from the north of India.
I wish that waiters look more alive and engaged – no need for the old fashioned servant like persona of the days of the Raj. We are in America – talk to me as though you are my equal. Please.
I’ll stop now and just urge restaurateurs to take the training of their staff seriously. The waiter is the representative of the chef and the restaurant – something I took very seriously when I worked in kitchens.
Back to the lamb – it was a tasty dish. Nothing to write home about – tasty nevertheless.
We ordered naan to go along with it and enjoyed our dinner of chicken and lamb.
We were presented with dessert on the house at the end of our meal. It’s a dish called seviyan which is vermicelli cooked in milk with saffron and raisins.
I am not sure if everyone gets the dessert of we got it because some of the staff know me.
Either way, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but my friend seemed to enjoy it.
I have enjoyed other restaurants of Hemant Mathur much more. My favorite at the moment is Kokum which has Kerala cuisine and I have never had a bad experience there.
Sahib’s room is pleasant enough – it has clean modern lines.
They don’t have a liquor license yet but I was informed that you can bring your own wine with no corkage fee.
I don’t want to discourage anyone from going to this restaurant. If you are looking for a traditional menu that most Indian restaurants seem to have – this is the place to go.
I hope I don’t upset Hemant for expressing my honest opinion here – he is a great man and a very talented chef. I stand by that opinion.
Until I go out again!
March 1st, 2017
New York Times recently reviewed Sahib restaurant and gave it two stars.
Who am I to argue with the Times – I can however tell you of my experience.
I went back this past Sunday for the buffet.
I was eager to taste the offerings as during my last visit I had ordered a la carte.
Well, I hate to say it but I was grandly disappointed. While my expectations of buffet food is not too high (which is really a shame because all food should be good), but this was highly disappointing. The chef really needs to familiarize himself with the concept of salt. Everything was bland and flavorless. Now I am not one of those who thinks Indian food needs to be spicy to be good – but it sure needs to have some sort of flavor.
There were run of the mill offerings like a goat curry that sure could’ve used some salt, lentils, tomato rice, chicken makhani, saag mushroom and sambhar.
My friend was craving tandoori chicken and when we asked if they had it on the menu, we were told that it would be brought to us at the table. I was so happy that it wasn’t red or orange but the color of chicken – one bite though ended the happiness. Once again, I suggest salt to the chef.
They brought us a hot naan, two mini dosas and some behl puri. I will just say that the bhel puri was good and leave it at that.
After a disappointing meal, we decided to have the gulab jamun that the Times had good things to say about.
I quote: “More than once when I tried to skip dessert, the servers talked me into gulab jamun, warm globes of cheese and milk dripping with a rose-scented syrup. I’d always protest and I’d always surrender, and I was always glad I did.”
Well, they were a lot better than the buffet – they were neither good or bad – they were gulab jamun.
In my review I mentioned my disappointment with the service on my first visit and was hoping that things may have changed.
I am not delusional in thinking that more than 10 people read my review or that my posts carry any weight – however, hope springs eternal in my life.
While the service for us was perfectly fine, I couldn’t help seeing a couple of glitches around me.
I am not splitting hair – I promise you but I do have to tell you about this one.
The restaurant was packed when we came in around 1:30 – surely that’s the power of the New York Times. Then I noticed 3 people walk in at 2:40 – the manager informed them that they were no longer serving lunch.
They expressed disappointment and he merely shrugged and turned away from them.
What I would’ve wanted to see was a politer manner of telling them that they had stopped serving the buffet and they would be welcome for dinner later or lunch any other day from this time to the other.
Alas, that didn’t happen.
We were blessed with a masala tea and the gulab jamun on the house – don’t ask me why.
Maybe they know me as the curmudgeon who knows and admires Hemant Mathur.
I really do wish him luck and wish that these few things could be ironed out – then his restaurants will be stellar.
I know I also risk never working in New York again by being so open with my opinions but such is life and I would wish that someone would critique my work fairly.
That’s it from me for now.
Until I eat out again!
Next, I sliced up a chicken breast thinly and seasoned it with salt and cayenne pepper. I like the color and flavor it gives to the chicken.
Serve hot over rice, pasta, potatoes, crusty bread or like in my case barley.
Enjoy – until I cook again!
I love making one pot meals as you may have noticed from my previous posts and also hearty stews are so comforting. They are easy to make and soul satisfying to me.
Sticking with the lazy or genius theme. I throw in a chopped onion or two and they will cook down just like you sauteed them in the beginning. At this time I like to add some more thyme and more salt and pepper.
After the garlic and tomatoes, I covered and simmered the chicken for about 30 minutes and then add the potatoes – cooking for another 20 minutes or until the potatoes and chicken is cooked through.
I like to put my chicken on a bed of vegetables, which allows them to cook at the same time as the chicken, get flavored by the chicken juices and I like to believe the chicken benefits in flavor by sitting on the vegetables too.
Here is the finished dish – I did drizzle it with a little truffle oil.
Indian Culinary Center, NYC 