Last week in the forums, there was talk of Khodiar aka Taj Delhi aka the Newstand chaat place having moved. I didn’t remember hearing anything about this and immediately became concerned, naturally. I head over to 6th ave btw. 37+38th to confirm that, indeed, the establishment is still there… with yet another new name. Midtown Lunch’ers, meet Bombay Fast Food.

The operation inside looked exactly the same to me (except for the new menus). Pizza in the front and two Indian food counters in the back – one dedicated to vegetarian items and chaat and the other to non-vegetarian dishes.

I got some aloo chole chaat just to make sure everything was still intact. And sure enough, it was still delicious and a great deal at $5, though the debate rages on about if it’s as good as it used to be (I think the quality has dipped slightly in the last few years, but not enough to detract from what a great lunch it is).

More important than issues of quality, how many name changes is this place going to go through?

Related:
A Guide to the Best Indian Street Food in Midtown: Translating the Menu at Taj Delhi Chat
The Best Indian Food in Midtown Might Be Sold Out of the Back of a Newsstand

Lunch’er Carolyn sent in this terrible news yesterday: “As I was on my way to pick up my beloved samosa chat, I found that Indian Newsstand on 6th between 37+38th was shuttered! I didn’t see any notices, but I just thought I would spread the word. Also, just so the people know, they changed their awning in order to display their entire array of foods.” The Department of Health would be the natural culprit, and a quick search of their site uncovered this: last month they received a failing score of 38 from the DOH because “Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations.” That doesn’t sound too bad (i.e. no mention of rats or roaches)… hopefully they’ll get this sorted out soon so Carolyn can get her chaat!

Related:
The Best Indian Food in Midtown Might Be Sold Out of the Back of a Newsstand
A Guide to the Best Indian Street Food in Midtown: Translating the Menu at Taj Delhi Chat
Khodiar Lunch Services Loses the “Taj Delhi Chat” (And Some Quality Along With It?)

First up is Flavors, the generic deli in the passageway at the bottom of the Fox News Building (on 47th btw. 6+7th).  It looks like they’ve responded to the first grievance that was aired against them by shrinking the size of the plastic containers their salads come in.  Clearly, though, not everybody is happy about it.

“We all just trekked over to Flavors over on 47th as we normally do and found they reduced the salad bowl sizes to half the size of what we’re used to. They’re normally pretty awesome salads. Kind of like a bait and switch that radio stations do when they launch. They play all good music and then voila, one day it’s all commercials once they have their loyal listener base. All good, but prices didn’t reduce. So we decided to trek elsewhere, no biggy, but on the way out I asked the manager why they have decided to go with salad bowls half the size of the original ones. Their answer – Corporate says it’s to reduce our carbon footprint, but it still holds the same amount. We all failed to see how a bowl visually half the size could hold the same amount. Wish your team could have been there – priceless”

First people complain that you don’t fill your salad containers all the way up.  Then you shrink the container to fit the salad, and people complain about that.  Even I have a bit of sympathy for you on this one.  Clearly you can’t win Flavors. Maybe you should just give up on the whole generic deli thing and become a… I don’t know… Chinese buffet? (Just a thought…)

Lunch’er Winston had this complaint about AQ Kafe, on Broadway btw. 57+58th:

“I stopped by last week and asked for the smorgasbord and they wouldn’t let me order it to go. I was told it was available only for sit-in only. Needless to say I was pissed and took my business elsewhere.”

That is kind of weird… in this economy you would think they’d be happy to take whatever business they could get. Certainly not a horrible injustice, but I can see how you’d be annoyed.  Just think, it could have been worse- they could have let you take the smorgasbord to go, and spit in the bag.

“It depresses me to report that there is a spitting issue at Khodiar Lunch (on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th). I was picking up some chili chicken, and when the guy came out of the back with the bread, he loosed a long stream of what looked like tobacco juice into an open bag that was sitting on the floor behind the counter. I was crestfallen, this and Go-Go Curry are weekly spots for me. I got my money back, but there was no outrage on the part of the cashier (the spitter was one of the guys who go in and out of the back) , I had a feeling there wouldn’t be any repercussions at all. I know its a delicate thing to report something like this, but I thought M-lunchers deserved to know. It was disgusting. -Luncher Asher”

That is unfortunate.  I’m guessing the bag was just garbage (I don’t think they do many call in take out orders at the Indian newsstand), but even so.  That is pretty gross.  This place could definitely be on the downslide… the last time I went (with the Serious Eats: New York crew) the chaat was fine, but the vegetarian food- which I used to think was the best Indian food in Midtown- was terrible.  I mean, seriously bad.  Bland, not spicy at all… a complete 180 from the first 3 times I ate there. And I’m not the only one who has noticed:

“The quality (of the vegetarian food at least) has gone WAAAY down. I used to really love this place. I went to it several times a week. But the food is really crappy now. I think they got new management — the same guys are working there, but there are new people who look like the new bosses. The food is now tasteless. Maybe they decided to tone down the spicyness to appeal to a larger audience? Maybe they fired the old cook? Whatever happened, the quality is not the same. As far as I’m concerned, this is the worst news in Midtown lunching in 2009. -Lunch’er ‘imansingh’”

Agreed. These guys better get their act together, or else this is going to be a huge loss for Midtown Lunch’ing.

I noticed something interesting while walking down 9th Avenue this weekend… the original signs for Taj Delhi Chat (which used to hang in the window of the former newsstand on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th) are now hanging in the window of an Indian steam table place on 29th and 9th.  Apparently the lady who started “Taj Delhi Chat” was kicked out of the Khodiar (aka Newsstand) space, and is planning on reopening at this new location in Chelsea.  She’s not up and running yet, but plans to be selling chaat from that location at some point in the next two weeks.

So, what does this mean for the chaat being served out of the newsstand on 6th Ave.?

Yesterday, I ventured over to our favorite former newsstand (turned food court) along with Ed Levine, Robyn & Alaina from Serious Eats and we are happy to report that the chaat is still very excellent.  They’ve changed the name on the menu to match the menu of the Gujarati food (Khodiar Vegetarian Food) but the actual chaat menu itself remains the same.  Sadly though, the Gujarati vegetarian food we tried- which has been so amazing in the past- was kind of terrible.  I was really embarrassed because I had sung its praises to Ed and the gang, only to have it fall well short of expectations.  Anybody else notice a lapse in quality recently?  We got 2 lunch specials (the thali), for a total of four different dishes, and not a single one was what I would call good.

It looks like the quality may have been transferred over to the regular Indian steam table where they serve the meat dishes.  We tried the goat and the chicken curry, and both were surprisingly good.  (As much as I love meat, I had never tried this part of the food court, because the Vegetarian Gujarati food- which is what this place became famous for- is so good.)  We also had a plate of stewed beef and stewed pork from the spanish food steam table (that used to be in the now shuttered Blimpie next door) and that was really good as well. Ed will be posting his full review soon on Serious Eats: New York.

Hopefully I hit the Gujarati food on a bad day, and they’ll bounce back… but even if they don’t- thankfully the chaat is still the best in Midtown!

Khodiar Lunch Services (6th Ave. Tobacco & Magazine Shop), 1013 6th Ave. (btw. 37+38th), 212-840-3767

Related:
The Best Indian Food in Midtown Might Be Sold Out of the Back of a Newsstand
A Guide to the Best Indian Street Food in Midtown: Translating the Menu at Taj Delhi Chat

More news from Khodiar Lunch Services (aka Newsstand Indian) on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th.  They’ve introduced pizza to the “food court” which already includes vegetarian Gujarati food, regular Indian food with meat, a chaat counter, and the latin food that used to be in the Blimpie next door.  The chaat counter moved to the back awhile ago, along with everything else, and now the pizza is in the front right hand corner where the chaat used to be. They’re having a “Grand Opening” special, with slices for $1.50- so I felt compelled to see what pizza from an Indian newsstand would taste like (it doesn’t appear as if they have outsourced the pizza to an Italian family.)

I don’t know why I ever bothered trying this… it’s exactly what you’d expect to get from an Indian newsstand for $1.50.  It was fine (especially for the price) but I think I’ll stick to the Indian food or even the latin food.

The former newsstand that houses Taj Delhi Chat, Khodiar Lunch Services gujarati food, and the latin food that used to be in the Blimpie, has reopened… but strangely enough, it is possible that they never even closed.  The tip we received was not confirmed with a photo, and the owners of the newsstand claim they were never closed (except on Thanksgiving.) It would normally be suspicious (places have been known to hide their DOH’ing), but the claim is confirmed by the Health Department website, which shows that they passed their most recent inspection.  Just wanted to set the record straight, and let you know there is clearly nothing wrong with the best Indian food place in Midtown! Plus, as one commenter remarked a few weeks ago, they have redesigned the space.

The photo is after the jump… 

Rupa’s Special bhelpuri from Taj Delhi Chat

Today’s Village Voice features a piece on where to find the best chaat in New York, and three of the four choices are Midtown Lunch mainstays: Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th), Sukhadia’s Gokul (on 45th btw. 5+6th), and of course, Khodiar Express (aka Taj Delhi Chat), the Indian food in the former newsstand on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th.  I knew it was only a matter of time before that last one got discovered by the “real” NYC food media… if you haven’t been, you really need to hit it up.

Related
A Guide to the Best Indian Street Food in Midtown: Translating the Menu at Taj Delhi Chat
Snapshots: For Those About to Chaat…

It may not actually be on the street, but don’t be fooled- Taj Delhi Chat, in the newsttand that’s been converted into a Midtown Lunch’ers paradise, is the best Indian street food in Midtown.  I’ll admit, before Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th) and Taj Delhi Chat opened, I didn’t really even know what chat (or chaat) was.  I was quickly schooled by more knowledgeable Midtown Lunch’ers, who graciously donated their food porn to the cause.  

For those who are still in the dark, chaat is actually just a generic term for a savory Indian snack, usually sold on the street, and consisting of cumin, amchur (mango powder), red chilies often mixed with some fried snack in combination with any of the following – potatoes, onions, tomatoes, yogurt, tamarind chutney, cilantro, cilantro chutney, and mint chutney. The “fried snacks” that get mixed in can be samosas or pakoras (both well known here in the states) or more commonly, papri (flat, round cracker looking things), bhel (puffed rice crispy looking things) or sev (the little crunchy noodle looking things.)

There is some tasty looking chaat at Indus Express, but reviews have been mixed.  For the best in Midtown (and possibly all of New York City), you’ll want to hit up Taj Delhi Chat.  When I went, I brought along my friend Chandrika to translate the menu for me (and conversely all of you).  What we got, plus a full translated menu, after the jump… 

As I watched this former newsstand on 6th Ave btw. 37+38th morph into a full fledged Flushing style food court, I thought there was nothing that could drag me away from the original Gujarati food served there.  It’s easily the best Indian food in Midtown (despite being vegetarian only), and although I like the Latin food in the back, the Khodiar Lunch services offerings were just too damn good to order anything else.  That is, until I tried Taj Delhi Chat.  Now, everytime I go- a choice will have to be made.  This particular visit, however, was a chat trip.  We ordered three different plates:

#1. Rupa’s Special Bhelpuri ($5). It’s number one on the menu, and has the owner’s name in it. How could we not right? The plate is mostly bhel (those little rice crispy things) mixed with onions, potatoes, tomatoes, cilantro and spices all topped with a special spiced water. Don’t be confused by the few pieces of papri (those cracker looking things) lining the outside.

#5. Papri Chat ($5). Those round crackers (papri) are the main ingredient in this one, and much of the same is mixed in with them (tomatoes, onions, cilantro, chickpeas, and potato.) But the thing that makes this taste most different from the #1 is the yogurt and tamarind sauce, which gave it a creamy and sweet/tangy flavor. This was my favorite one of the day. Spicy but refreshing, and the perfect lunch on a super hot day.

#4. Samosa Chat ($5). We rounded off the lunch with a samosa chat. Most people know what samosas are (those large crispy turnovers filled with potato), and samosa chat is two of those topped with the same thing mixed into the papri chat (tomatos, chickpeas, cilantro, yogurt and tamarind.) No potatoes, because they’re in the samosas.

With 31 items on the Taj Delhi Chat menu, it can be kind of intimidating (even for the most adventurous Midtown Lunchers.) So my friend Chandrika graciously agreed to translate the menu for us. Keep in mind, we only tried the dishes above, so the translations may not be entirely accurate. As with any ethnic cuisine, there are variations from region to region, so don’t get on her case if #22 doesn’t turn out to be exactly what is described below. She’s doing a huge service for us, and deserves only praise. With that being said, if you have tried any of these dishes at Taj Delhi Chat, and know exactly what is in them, please feel free to comment below…

Without further ado, I’m proud to present:

THE MIDTOWN LUNCH GUIDE TO NAVIGATING THE TAJ DELHI CHAT MENU

1. Rupa’s Special Bhelpuri – Puffed rice (bhel) with potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cilantro and spice. (Seen above.)
2. Aloo Chole Chat – Aloo is potato, Chole is garbanzo beans. Chat means it is probably mixed with the same things seen in the #5 above. Tomatoes, onions, yogurt and tamarind.
3. Vegetable Cutlets – We saw somebody else eating these vegetable filled patties. One of them was made with beets (and beet juice) giving it a reddish purple inside. Looked amazing! Not sure what they serve it over
4. Samosa chat – Crispy fried dough turnover filled with potatoes and peas. (Seen above)
5. Papri chat – Papri is the crispy fried dough in small flat round pieces (looks like crackers.) Comes mixed with potatoes, tomatoes, cilantro, chickpeas, yogurt, tamarind and a number of spices. (Seen Above)
6. Pani puri – Puri are these puffed up fried pastry looking things, that get stuffed with numberous ingredients and served in a special spiced water. It’s so popular it has it’s own article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panipuri
7. Sev Puri – Sev are these little crunchy gram flour based deep fried small noodle looking things. I’m guessing this is the same spices as #1, but made with sev instead of bhel.
8. Dahi puri – Dahi means yogurt, so this is probably the same puri as above, filled with potatoes and other spices and covered in yogurt.
9. Garlic pani puri – Don’t know? Maybe the water they use on the pani puri is garlicky?
10. Mithi Pani puri – Pani puri made with sweet water (mithi)
11. Dahi Batata Puri – Batata is a kind of potato, and batata vada is a potato based doughnut type thing containing potatoes, lentils and spices all deep fried together. This puri gets topped with yogurt (dahi).
12. Dry fruit batata vada – Self explanatory? (see #11)
13. Green spicy batata vada – Self explanatory? (see #11)
14. Jera Batata Vada – Jera is cumin, (for the rest see #11)

Pakoda are vegetables covered in gram flour batter and then deep fried, known more commonly in the states as “pakora”

15. Trirangi paneer pakoda – Trirangi means three colors, and paneer is a soft cheese.
16. Cashew Paneer Pakoda – Cashews and cheese
17. Bread Sandwich Pakoda – Self Explanatory? (I think this might be pakoras served in between slices of white bread.)
18. Panch rangi pakoda – Five color pakoda (no idea what’s in it)
19. Bombay Bhaji Pau – Pau means bread, and bhaji refers to a vegetable/potato curry dish. It usually comes garnished with onions
20. Chatpati Fooska – No idea (although they probably meat chapati, the flat bread that gets served with the Gujarati food at the Khodiar stand right/)
21. Ragda Patties – Fried potato patties served with a yellow pea soup? Don’t know if you just get the patties or the soup with patties?
22. Sev Ragda – See #21. Maybe this is the soup with sev instead of the fried patty?
23. Patra – Vegetarian dish made from the leaf of the taro plant
24. Sev Khaman Chat – Khaman is a yellow square salty steamed cake made from chickpea flour, popular in Gujarati cuisine. Sev and chat you should know from above.
25. Baigan Bharta (puri) – Mashed eggplant puri
26. Methi pakoda – Pakoras made form fenugreek
27. Methi vada – Vada is a doughnut shaped fritter made from lentils and deep fried. These are flavored with fenugreek (see #26)
29. Dahi vada – Vada soaked in yogurt
30. Aloo tiki chat – Chat made with potato patties
31. Samosa – You should know by now

Since Taj Delhi Chat opened up, they have added Israeli Falafel and Indian food with meat to the growing list of options being offered out of this former newsstand. But looking at the list above, I think it’s going to be awhile before I get to try anything any of those new places.

Taj Delhi Chat, 1013 6th Ave. (btw. 37+38th), 212-840-4810