Move over London. New York City may now get the honor of having the world’s best Indian restaurants. While London has long been renowned for its destination-worthy Indian dining, lately, New York has been giving it some serious competition. In the last few years, the city has seen several noteworthy spots open which are run by renowned chefs and have a vibe that will make you want to linger a few hours and come back again and again. Here are five of our top picks that are deserving of the hype.
Tamarind Tribeca
99 Hudson Street
212-775-9000
Set in the heart of Tribeca, this posh restaurant has been open for nine years and never fails to please. It’s a mainstay for the glamour set, including celebrities like Robert DeNiro, who come for the superbly executed dishes, refined service and elegant but not stuffy vibe. Although the meats and vegetarian dishes are both noteworthy, the seafood is downright otherworldly. Stars include the buttery Chilean sea bass with green chili, mint, coriander and tomato kokum sauce and the malai halibut with mace, cardamom, coconut and ginger sauce, which was the grand prize winner for the 2004 USA Fish Dish Awards. Tamarind’s wine list is also exceptional and includes choices from around the world, – the talented sommelier team are pros in helping diners find the perfect pick, no matter their budget.
Average Meal: $40-$60 a person with a glass of wine.
GupShup
115 E 18th Street
212-518-7313
Open since November, this bi-level Gramercy spot has kitschy, colorful décor complete with vintage Indian posters. With its large, shareable plates and inviting atmosphere, GupShup seeks to invoke its namesake- which roughly translates to fun conversation- in its diners. Executive chef Gurpreet Singh honed his skills as the chef de cuisine at Indian Accent in New Delhi, and his menu is a mix of classics like chicken tikka and saag paneer and the unexpected- think maitake mushrooms with Turkish aleppo chili and tava asparagus or lamb shanks with burrah and rogan josh jus. To imbibe, there’s a killer cocktail including the double-decker tiffin container called the Tiffin Walla, made with gin, basil, lime.
Average Meal: $30-$40 a person with a glass of wine, $30-$50 for shareable plates.
Saar
241 W 51st Street
646-609-2142
Bang in the middle of the Theater District, Saar is the latest venture from renowned chef Hemant Mathur. The first Indian Michelin-Starred chef in America, Mathur made a name for himself in a number of other Indian eateries in New York, including Devi. Here, he uses his culinary genius for creative dishes including several gluten-free options like the crispy New Zealand lamb ribs with onion and mushroom pilaf and tandoori tiger shrimp with rice, lentil porridge and lemon chutney. Don’t miss the cocktails, especially the Saar Bourbon Sour, made with Bulleit bourbon, homemade lemon chutney and candied lemons. For value seekers, Saar offers a two-course, $35 pre-theatre menu, which includes a glass of wine.
Average Meal: $30-$50 a person with cocktail.
Baar Baar
13 E 1st street
212-228-1200
A meal at this trendy East Village spot is a fun way to spend any night, whether you’re with friends or on a date. With Chef Sujan Sarkar at the helm, who’s responsible for India’s first artisanal cocktail spot in New Delhi called Ek Bar, the traditional flavors of the subcontinent are modernized with inventive dishes like veal sweetbread koliwada with lemon aioli and pickled onions and vegetable pulao with cashews, currant and avocado raita. The cocktails are just as one-of-a-kind: the Hyderabad Collins, for example, named after the Indian city, uses gin with young turmeric, Chartreuse Jaune, in-house made orange syrup and ice infused with mace.
Average Meal: $20-$40 a person with cocktail.
Adda
31-31 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City
718-433-3888
Restaurateur Roni Mazumdar and acclaimed chef Chintan Pandya, of Rahi in the West Village, have brought homestyle cooking to the Long Island dining scene by serving dishes that the two enjoyed themselves while growing up. Picks include Lucknow dum briyani, made with spicy goat meat, basmati rice, saffron and even more spices sealed with naan bread into a bowl, a creamy prawn curry with coconut and cloves and kale pakoda- crispy chickpeas fritters with kale and chaat masala.
Average Meal: $10-$30 a person.
Interview with Avtar Walia
Seasoned restauranteur Avtar Walia is a leader in New York’s Indian finding scene and has had wild success since establishing the Tamarind brand 20 years ago. Here, he tells us why.
- India isn’t well known for seafood, but are there any regions that do it very well, and did it influence the halibut recipe that won gold?
India has a lot of coastal areas, like Goa or Mumbai. There, you can get the absolute freshest seafood. Both cities have a number of great seafood restaurants. Over here, people tend to believe that India isn’t known for seafood, but we prove them wrong and have so much of it on our menu. We have lobster masala, which is very unique, we have scallops, Chilean sea bass, and we sell it all like hotcakes. We make it in the [tandoor] oven, on the grill and in sauces as well.
- New York City has a lot of restaurants that have come and gone, but you’ve been going strong for decades. What’s the secret sauce (no pun intended) for your success?
Firstly, it’s the quality of the food, which has to be the best every time. For example, one time one of my chefs came to me and said “Mr. Walia, the cases of tomatoes we get went from $10 to $75! What do you want me to do?” I told him not to waste it, and make the best use of every last bit of it. The preparation of the food is also very important. Three of my main chefs have been working with me for 35+ years, and they know that I don’t allow anything to be pre-cooked. If you do that, it can just be reheated and served again. That dish is gone. Particularly with seafood, which is so sensitive. As soon as you finish the dish, it should go right out to the table.
- What inspired you to create a fine dining experience for Indian food when experiences like that are hard to come by?
When I looked at other culture’s restaurants like Italian, French, Japanese, all of them Michelin starred, that drove me to create one of my own. I felt that the Indian culture has the knowledge, the rich culture, and the innovation to do it too. When I opened my first restaurant in 1986, I said I wanted to own a place just like any French or Italian restaurant. My competition will be with those people. I want to compete with places like Jean-Georges. We have the know-how, and if they can do it, why can’t we? This is the only Indian restaurant where everything is silver plated. We gathered an extensive wine list to cater to every type of person who comes to us, from the average diner to the high-class. We have reds that can be paired with lamb chops, white wines for the seafood, and we’re always searching for the most top-notch bottles. It’s all about class.
(Vincent Caputo contributed to this article.)
