Reviewer's Summary: Good Indian Food; Average Service
Making Garlic Naan is a fine art that few Indian restaurants on the East Coast seem to have mastered.
Either they overdo it with a mass of tiny garlic pieces sticking out of the Naan bread or underflavor the Naan depriving diners of the joy that comes from every bite of a fine Indian delicacy.
Brick Lane Curry House is one of the few Indian restaurants in New York City that makes tasty Garlic Naan ($4) with just the right amount of garlic. Ah, how we succumbed to that flavorful Naan.
Located cheek by jowl with a bunch of ugly-looking Indian (Bangladeshi?) eating houses on E.6th St in the East Village section of Manhattan, Brick Lane is a different kind of Indian restaurant.
Brick Lane is different not merely because it chose to have a British sounding name rather than the banal Taj Mahal, Taste of India, Maharaja, Bombay Palace etc. The restaurant is named after Brick Lane in East London, NYIndia Home of several curry joints.
Besides good Indian fare,Brick Lane also distinguishes itself by being one of the few Indian restaurants that knows the meaning of the word service - an alien word to most desi restauranteurs in the Big Apple - and a Manager who speaks clear, understandable English.
When our Manager Raj realized that one of our party was strictly vegetarian, he took care to point out the vegetarian dishes at the Buffet table. An Indonesian of Indian origin, Raj is a graduate of the hotel management program from Ooty in South India.
During our visit to Brick Lane, we opted for a combination of Buffet and a la carte menu.
The Buffet ($9.99) had a choice of Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian curries, Mulligatawny Soup, Salad Bar, Fruits, Rasmalai and Masala Chai.
Our meal began on an inauspicious note with the Mulligatawny Soup. It tasted more like Dal soup than real Mulligatawny soup. Surprising that a restaurant whose name has its roots in Britain can't make a decent Mulligatawny soup. Luckily, the bad Mulligatawny soup was an exception than the norm in our meal.
Among the many fine items that made their way into our hungry stomachs that chilly morning, Panner Makhani was the tastiest with right proportion of spices.
We also loved the Fish Goan Curry, a delicious concoction of green chilies, coconut, coriander and vinegar. Apparently, this is one of the specialties of Brick Lane and is also available with Chicken, Lamb, Goat, Shrimp and Vegetables.
Dahi Vada with chillies and green chutney dressing looked and tasted good.
Methi Malai Matar, Lamb Pasanda and Chicken Kadai were impressive.
But Pulav rice was a misnomer, just plain Basmati Rice with a few green peas.
We also tried the Onion Kulcha ($4). It was good but not outstanding.
There was another jarring note during our meal. We had ordered Voss sparkling Water ($5). But without even checking, our friendly Nepali waiter Krishan sprang out of nowhere and quickly poured regular water into the glasses containing sparkling water before we could say anything. Barring that incident, Krishan was a helpful and attentive soul.
We topped off our meal with Rasmalai sweet and Masala Chai. No complaints with both.
Mango Lassi ($3.00) and Ice Cream ($5.00) were OK but not spectacular.
Either it was oversight on his part or just maybe it was the pleasure of our scintillating company, Raj did not charge us for the Garlic Naan and Onion Kulcha. We didn't protest.
During our visit, Brick Lane's main chef Karthik Kumar was not around, leaving the kitchen in the care of Vasant. Raj mentioned that the sauces were all made by Karthik.
Brick Lane Curry House is an Indian restaurant we'd want to visit again in New York, if only we can get away from our self-appointed task of eating at the scores of Indian restaurants dotting Manhattan.- © NYIndia.us
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