nyc restaurant – Indian Culinary Center, NYC

I revisit Imli – an Indian restaurant in NYC

July 31, 20171 Comment

Old Monk rum with ThumsUp – nostalgia in a glass

I ordered the Desi Daaru – Old Monk, Thumbs Up, coriander, chaat, tabasco as my cocktail. It was nostalgia in a glass for a kid who grew up in India. The ThumsUp is a drink we had instead of Coke which was not allowed in India till the 90’s I believe. Old Monk is a rum that all my older cousins would drink around me. I would sneak a taste of it when I was 12 years old. For these reasons, I enjoyed this cocktail very much. If you don’t have the described memories – I’m not sure how you would feel about Desi Daaru. Imli offers a nice collection of cocktails to choose from though.

There is good news here. I have been to Imli 3 times and that means I like it.

The other good news is that if they fix their service – which really needs to be fixed… this could be one of the better Indian restaurants in NYC.

I met a couple of friends for brunch yesterday afternoon. We sat at the bar for a few minutes and were greeted by one of the owners – Vincent.

We moved to our table in the back which is a very attractive covered patio.

I enjoy sitting here and it is the perfect place to eat with the coolness of the air conditioning.

First, for the food. Then I shall address the service.

This is

Tandoori Chicken Salad

$11.99

Tandoori chicken, greens, red onions, dressing

It was surprisingly good. I mean what I imagined was not what came to the table. The chicken was tender and flavorful. It was topped with chutneys and seviyan or bhujia (fried chickpea snack akin to crispy vermicelli). This gave the dish a wonderful crunchy texture. I would definitely order this again.

A tiny complaint – the portion size was rather small for $11.99

My friend ordered the chicken and egg roll.

We had it the last time we were here too.

https://indianculinarycenternyc.wordpress.com/2017/06/27/brunch-at-imli-a-new-indian-restaurant-in-nyc/

It’s quite a nice dish – the rolls are akin to a kathi roll. Meats rolled up in a flat bread similar to a tortilla. Actually, if you didn’t tell me that it wasn’t a kathi roll, I wouldn’t know that it wasn’t one.

My other friend wanted to order something from the regular menu which we asked for.

He had the Ginger Salmon described as

-Ginger, garlic and turmeric sauce on the menu – $22/-

It came with Basmati Rice on the side.

I took a little taste and I tasted something very sour – that is a good thing. I believe it was tamarind – but they don’t mention it on the menu. The salmon was cooked well and the flavors were pleasing without being too spicy.

I liked it very much as did my friend who is from India and so I will assume, knows Indian food. He also ordered a tandoori roti which he also liked very much.

When we had come for dinner a few months ago – I remember enjoying the roti which is thin and cooked perfectly in the tandoor.

I ordered the

Scotch Egg Burger

–

14.99

Brioche Bun, Scotch Egg Meatball, Garnishing. Fries.

Bacon (add $2)

The meat I believe was lamb was nicely seasoned. The egg yolk as you see was not overcooked BUT the egg white! I have no idea what they did to it. It was dry and crinkled as you can see in the right picture. I pulled it apart and tasted it separately thinking that maybe it was an ingredient that I wasn’t aware of.

No – it was egg white that was rubbery to the hilt. I think it got that way because the eggs were cooked at a very high temperature.

If there is a rolling boil as you hard cook eggs – it results in an awful rubbery texture in the egg white.

This is not to say that I will not order this dish again, but hopefully, if the powers that be are reading this – they will talk to their chef. It is a problem that can be fixed very easily and then I would recommend this dish wholeheartedly.

We finished our meal with a dessert called Paan Kulfi.

Kulfi is an Indian ice cream usually flavored with saffron and pistachios. Their twist was to flavor it with Paan which is a is a preparation combining betel leaf with areca nut. It is eaten in India after a meal as a digestive or a mouth freshener. It has a unique flavor which is hard to describe.

I am not one who is into sweets as a rule, but this was quite nice. It was not too sweet as many Indian desserts can be and the Paan flavor was prominent. One of my friends doesn’t like paan and so she didn’t like the dessert.. the other one did because he likes paan.

It was a special on the menu and so I don’t know if they will always have it. It is an acquired taste and so, for those who enjoy eating paan – should enjoy this dessert.

That takes care of the eating portion of our afternoon.

Now about the aforementioned service.

I am sorry to say the service at this place is lacking and that can greatly impact how a customer feels about a restaurant and if they will return.

The restaurant was not busy and our appetizer dishes were not cleared for too long. Then when the plates were taken away, our table was dirty with food that we had dropped as we were sharing. No one bothered to come and clean our table.

I finally took my napkin and cleaned the table because nothing irks me more than a dirty table.

I think our waiter realized and was then more diligent in cleaning our table.

For various reasons, including that I am in the food business – many people ask me for Indian restaurant recommendations. I happily send people to Imli but have received complaints of the service. This is a pity because I really like the food and the decor of this place.

It would be so easy to spruce up the service. Make the waiters more informed and watchful. Nothing major – but it makes all the difference.

Not to belabor the point, but there were three waiters that I saw in an almost empty restaurant – and so I see absolutely no reason for tables to go untended to, and maybe replace our napkins each time they take one away because it was dirty.

Now this is not a service related but kitchen problem – it took an abnormally long time for our food to arrive.

And the biggest surprise and disappointment was that all our food except for the salmon was cold. And I mean totally, absolutely cold. I am guessing that the other two dishes were made, held on the side while the salmon was prepared. The salmon was hot and the rice was cold. The waiter came and asked us if he could replace it for us – without us even saying anything. Maybe he touched the rice as he was walking it to us.

Okay, I’ll stop now.

To recap – I enjoyed the brunch that I had at Imli restaurant yesterday afternoon.

http://imlirestaurant.com/

I was meeting my friends after a very long time and so the long wait before our food arrived did not bother us. It gave us a chance to relax and catch up. But if someone is on a schedule – and has somewhere to go… I can guarantee you – they would be upset and may not return.

Dear owners of Imli, please take my humble but pointed advice and you will have one of the most successful Indian restaurants in NYC.

Until I dine out again!

A Review of Dirt Candy in NYC

July 6, 2017July 7, 2017Leave a comment

“You are going to pay $75/- to eat vegetables? You are crazy!” exclaimed my father when he learned that I am going to Dirt Candy for a special event on Canada Day.

“They are not just vegetables dad. They are cooked in a unique way – in ways we could never imagine.”

“They are still vegetables,” he responded, still questioning my decision.

Well, I don’t blame him. I had the exact same feeling when I first heard of Dirt Candy which is is located on the Lower East Side of NYC.

http://www.dirtcandynyc.com/

I went there for the first time last year and was impressed by the chef’s creativity. When I heard vegetarian restaurant, I thought pasta, salads and grilled vegetables – but Dirt Candy is not that. I didn’t write about it back then and so my memory is flawed but the two most memorable dishes were:

Brussels Sprout Tacos

Brussels sprouts tossed in Mexican bistek sauce and served on a sizzling stone with iceberg lettuce wrappers and accompaniments so that diners can make their own tiny bites that are one part Chinese sung choi bao and one part strange Mexican tacos.

The accompaniments are usually: smoked avocado, pickled red onion, cotija cheese, radishes, crispy brussels sprout leaves, tortilla strips, pickled jalapenos, salsa verde, and crema.

Not in my wildest dreams would I imagine eating brussels sprout tacos and loving them.

Kale matzoh balls served in kale galangal broth with stir-fried shisito peppers and red amaranth. Topped with pickled okra seeds, micro cilantro, and a poached egg. Matzoh ball soup is supposed to be comforting, and there’s nothing more comforting to me than a poached egg slowly dissolving into a warm, rich, spicy soup.

This is the most insanely delicious soup that I have ever had and now you know what I mean by clever? I love matzoh balls and the other ingredients mentioned above, but never could I come up with these combinations or the techniques she uses to transform foods we are all familiar with.

Now back to my current meal at Dirt Candy which was last week. Amanda Cohen the brilliant chef is from Canada and so to celebrate Canada Day she organized a special meal where we would go camping indoors.

That’s where the aforementioned $75 for vegetables comes in. My mom made the reservation for me as a special treat and I went with a couple of friends.

The room was strung with Canadian flags and several televisions were playing camp movies. The red and white table cloths were to mimic picnic tables and the scene was festive.

We took our seats and were first presented with a basket full of jalapeno hush puppies and maple butter.

I may not have had too many hush puppies in my life but I can say that I never met a hush puppy that I didn’t love. I’m not sure how you can ever go wrong with fried dough and to guild the lily, maple butter. I was in heaven. These were hot and crispy and I had to tell myself that this was the first course of a multi course meal. I think I forced myself to stop at 3 or 4. I don’t recall.

The menu was a preset menu where one could eat an unlimited amount of food- music to my ears.

Next came a plate of nachos, which was the only dish that tasted like many plates of nachos I have had before. Nothing wrong with it but not something I would associate with this restaurant or this chef.

But hey, we are camping and I’ll eat anything.

I had been watching empty jars going into the kitchen and could not figure out what was in them. I couldn’t wait to see. My question was answered when the waiter placed in front of us 4 salads in glass jars set in a baking tray. Now this is what I am talking about. This is why I was here. The presentation was unique, an idea that I am surely going to steal in my meals and the salads were delicious. They were:

Grilled Caesar Salad!
Tomato and Feta Salad!
Smoked Potato Salad!
Herb and Bean Salad!

My absolute favorite was the Smoked Potato Salad – no surprise that I loved the potato salad the most but the smoke in the potatoes was such an amazing flavor that I just couldn’t stop eating it. I thought it was liquid smoke and labeled it as such on Instagram and wouldn’t you know it – I got a message from Dirt Candy telling me that they smoke their potatoes and don’t use liquid smoke.

I love it when I hear from the restaurant or bar that I have tagged.

And so I stand corrected. They smoke their potatoes! I am absolutely going to replicate this dish at home and since I don’t have the smoking apparatus that they must, I am going to add a couple of drops of liquid smoke.

The other salads were lovely too. The Grilled Caesar was made with baby Romaine hearts – grilled and I couldn’t tell you how she made the dressing taste that way without the anchovies. I love anchovies and always put extra in my dressing but this was done very well.

I will be honest, after having my share of the Caesar salad and the other salads – I couldn’t help but lick the potato salad jar clean with my fingers. Oh, and I forgot to tell you – the potato salad was topped with chips that made the salad look even prettier and the crunch was an important component to add to my overall satisfaction.

Can you guess what this is?

The cutest baby corn ever! I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t even know that baby corn grows this way. I thought it was some factory produced product. Don’t I feel stupid. Now I have to investigate how baby carrots are made 🙂

These are Grilled Baby Corn, Elote Style! Adorable little baby corn charred in the husk, topped with cheese and a little drizzle of lime. It was so good – I wished there were more than one – but I just couldn’t get over how damn cute and delicious these things were. I ate the whole thing – husk and all.

Yogurt Grilled Baby Vegetable Kebabs!

Even a champion eater like me was beginning to feel full but these kebabs were too delicious to pass. There was broccoli, cauliflower, baby zucchini and either baby eggplant or a summer squash – I couldn’t tell. The vegetables were marinated in yogurt, grilled to develop a nice char -which I love, served over saffron rice. The flavor of the rice stood up to the very assertive flavors of the vegetables. The rice reminded me of the rice that you get in the quintessential “Chicken and Rice” dish from the NYC halal carts. I mean this as a compliment. The plate was sprinkled with Sumac which I made the waiter confirm for me. I like playing – name that ingredient games with myself.

Carrot Sliders!

Things were getting serious now. I was getting so full but the food kept coming, and I have to eat everything – I just have to.

Carrot sliders you say? Yes indeed. Hands down, one of the most delicious and the most creative dish on the menu, and probably the most unique dish I have ever had. And I eat a lot. Trust me.

We were all so thrilled with the cute boxes that were placed in front of us that I forgot to pay attention to each component of the slider. I do remember that the bun tasted as though it was most likely baked on premises. It was like no popular bun that I have tasted before. And the carrot – it was a thick (ok 1/8th inch) slice of carrot that was soft but not mushy. I couldn’t tell you how it was cooked. I remember seeing some lettuce and there was some dried crunchy sea weed like thing too. But what was the best thing that added to the whole ‘burger’ experience was the ‘special sauce’ that one gets at McDonald’s. Once again, I mean that as a compliment.

The bun was chewy, the carrot was sweet, the lettuce was crunchy and the special sauce tied the whole thing up in a neat little flavor package for your mouth. Those 3 bites were pure bliss.

Broccoli hot dogs

Beet po boys

Things were getting a tad out of hand now. We have been eating for 2 hours. My back was hurting a little from all the sitting and I wanted to stretch my legs. But the food just wouldn’t stop coming. “Where is the hot dog and the Po’ boy?” asked one of my dining companions to no one in particular.

“Oh yah, we have those too,” I replied.

I was imagining the hot dog to be a hot dog made of broccoli but what we got was the above. I think its hysterical. It was a broccoli stem in a bun with hot dog toppings like sour kraut and onions maybe. I could stop laughing and I couldn’t stop eating. It was so simple and so good.

The po’ boy was made with yellow beets and mimicked oysters in their look and there was the wonderful crunch of a fried oyster with the creamy soft center. I am running out of words to describe this fun food, and definitely room in my stomach. So good – I will say and leave it at that.

Berry & Nutella Moose Ears

Sweet Pea & Mint Nanaimo Bars

“Okay they must stop now. I am going to explode,” I said.

“But we still have dessert.”

“Yes we do,” I sighed.

And so we were brought moose ears with nutella and berries. Turns out moose ears are fried dough. They reminded me of zeppoles.

Nainamo bars are a bar dessert which requires no baking and is named after the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. It consists of a wafer crumb-based layer topped by a layer of custard flavored butter icing which is covered with melted chocolate made from chocolate squares.

The version we were presented had a nut bar type of consistency on the bottom made with dates and nuts, topped by what I think was some sort of marshmallow thingi, a sweet pea ice cream and then chocolate. It was a fancy frozen ice cream sandwich to me.

It was quite good but I couldn’t get through more than a quarter of it. It’s just that I am not a big dessert person and I was really really full. The moose ears are just not my type of dessert. Even though I am a huge fan of fried dough – somehow when it is sweet, it doesn’t appeal to me. My friends enjoyed it though, and finished up both desserts with no problem at all.

Phew! That ended the eating portion of the program. We began eating nearly three and a half hours ago!

We were satiated, happy and I was thrilled by some of the foods I had never had or imagined could be so good.

On my way out of the ladies room, I briefly said hi to Chef/Owner Amanda and complimented her on her innovative thinking.

We waddled out to First avenue and found our way back home.

I came home and showed all the pictures of the foods I ate to my dad. “So dear father, this is what you get for $75/-. Very delicious and satisfying food. Most importantly fun and full of flavors I have never experienced before!”

I am not sure if I will ever convince him to go with me, but I am sure to go back myself. Dining at Dirt Candy is a unique experience and I would urge you to put away your prejudices against vegetables that many of us have and just go with an open mind. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Until I eat out again!

Imli – a brand new Indian restaurant in NYC

June 5, 20171 Comment

Imli is a new restaurant in my neighborhood at 1136 First Avenue.

They opened on Tuesday and I was there for dinner last night.

Because they are so new they don’t yet have an internet presence but this is how they describe their restaurant:

We are a modern Indian bar and restaurant specializing in small (tapas) plates, exceptional brunch menu inspired by old world Mumbai cafes, and of course all the regular favorites. All in a classy urban setting of exposed brick walls and an open kitchen. Our outdoor patio is perfect for enjoying the great weather and for cozy, romantic evenings. Our full service bar specializes in one-of-a-kind cocktails and an extensive wine list.

Right off the bat, I like what they have done with the place as far as the decor goes. It is a modern contemporary space with a bar at the entrance, a dining room on the other side of a wall and a patio area in the back. The bar is big enough and comfortable enough that I would meet a friend to grab a drink and a couple of appetizers. There are very few Indian restaurants where I would be compelled to do that.

Speaking of appetizers; that was the strength of their menu. And to be fair, that’s what we had the most of and so I cannot speak much of their main entrees in this review. Next time.

We were greeted by the friendly face of Vincent who is one of the owners and is behind the bar. There were a few people at the bar with food and drinks in front of them. In the dining room, we were accompanied by a couple of tables filled with diners. As the night progressed, several more diners came in, many of them opting to eat in the patio area in the back.

The menu was brought to us by the other owner Ram who was friendly and enthusiastic about his new venture. He has lived in many parts of the world and is trying to emulate that in some of the dishes on the menu.

Before I went I had read about the scotch egg which I was excited to try.

It arrived, one on a plate with a crunchy minced lamb exterior and was everything a scotch egg should be. When I complimented the scotch egg – Ram first told me that the mix was a secret and then promptly told me that the crunch came from panko crumbs. I could’ve guessed that but it was sweet how enthusiastic he was about it. I would definitely order it again – maybe two on a plate would be nice for a few extra dollars.

Next we ordered the calamari and chicken livers. The calamari was great – crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. There was no discernible coating which was nice and the calamari flavor was prominent. The chicken livers were tasty too, reminiscent of how my mother would make them for breakfast that we would have with parathas.

Now for my complaints or lets call it constructive criticism 🙂

Everything had an undressed mound of mesclun salad on the plate, which irks me so. To make it worse the lettuce was wilted. I don’t see the point of that. Many Indian restaurants seem to do this and it is a total waste of lettuce and is entirely unnecessary. If nothing else, at least dress the salad so one could eat it. Indian cuisine has so many other salads one could make – how about a simple kachumber salad, which is a chopped salad of onion, tomato and cucumbers. Or a nice cooling slaw of cabbage. I would highly recommend that the chef do away with the wilted greens entirely or take one of my suggestions.

Because I think of food all the time, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought to myself – when I go to other restaurants and order calamari for $9-$11, it is a large plate full of calamari. This wasn’t the case here. I think the portions could’ve been more generous.

My dad is obsessed with Samosas, which are deep fried turnovers filled with various fillings – most typically – potato and peas. They had lamb samosas which we ordered. I apologize if I am wrong but either they were the frozen kind from Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s or were damn close to them. I cannot say this with any authority except that I have had those frozen samosas so many times that I feel I can recognize them when I see them.

While we were having our mini lamb samosas, I saw what I assume were potato samosas going to another table. Those looked like the normal size and also house made. I would urge the chef to consider making the lamb samosas in the same manner instead of those that were served to us.

As I was ordering the crab cakes, I told Ram that I make the best crab cakes and want to see how they make theirs. He hesitated a little, or so I think. If he did, I think I know why. The crab cakes were more potato than anything else. I will often use crab from the claw which doesn’t look as lumpy as jumbo lump – but I had a tough time finding any crab in these cakes. As a cake of potatoes – lets say, they had a nice flavor. I think I tasted some ajwain (carom seeds). My advice: either add more crab with very little filler or do away with the crab cakes all together.

There is a nice variety of appetizers and why put something on the menu that one could possibly complain about?

We also ordered a mint laccha paratha (Flat bread with many buttery folds like those in puff pastry) with our appetizers and it was one of the best parathas I have ever had.

We had eaten enough food thus far that we could’ve concluded our meal and be satisfied. I however wanted to try at least one main entree. I wanted the pork vindaloo but that idea was nixed by my mother.

When Ram came to our table for our entree order, I asked him what he would recommend. He said the beef curry. Beef curry it was, and we added the yellow lentils to our dinner.

I really enjoyed the lentils. They had a strong garlic tempering which was great. These are a good change from the daal makhani (creamy black lentils) that I order often in Indian restaurants.

The beef curry was, well, beef curry. I wish I could say more. We had been informed before hand that it is boneless pieces of meat in the curry, but I really think they should consider making the curry with meat with bones. It adds so much more flavor and makes it more interesting to eat – for me.