Curry & Tandoor Corner: Kebabs On The Fringe Of Chinatown

Most people know about the dirt-cheap cabbie favorite Lahore Deli located in a closet-size space on Crosby St. in SoHo, but were you aware they have a competitor a short walk away? Right next door to a Vietnamese restaurant is Curry & Tandoor Corner (listed online as Welcome To India). It’s the place that looks like a bodega but isn’t. When I went in for lunch there was no one eating there – only the proprietor waiting for customers and a bored looking man reading the paper. This is sort of sad because based on the lunch I had here the food is great, cheap, and sometimes you’re just in the mood for a kati roll.

A sign on the awning and door says they have a $9.95 all you can eat buffet from 12:30 to 2:30 during the week, but it wasn’t happening when I was there. I guess it doesn’t really matter because most everything is so cheap that you’re still going to spend less than $10 and leave full.

It was tough deciding what to order. Did I get a kati roll ($4.95), one of the standard curry/meat combo platters with rice ($7.95-$9.95), or the sheek kebab ($4.95)? I ended up going with the kebab and an order of samosa (2 for $3). All of the combos, kati rolls and kebab come with a free soda so I got a ton of food and drink for $8. Another bonus is that my food was made to order which I was thankful for since it was clear there wasn’t a high turnover.

The kebab was the star of this lunch. I’m almost certain it was chicken flavored heavily with curry and something than may have been fenugreek, molded onto a kebab and cooked. This meat spear was so good I found myself picking chunks of it out of the sandwich that also contained some lettuce and a sauce that was pink and faintly sweet. The naan that everything was wrapped in was also fresh and humongous. In case you can’t tell from the photo, this thing is the size of a burrito.

The samosa were freshly-fried and sported some cumin seeds in the outer shell, but offered only disappointment after I bit in. There was no curried potato in here – only that mix of vegetables you find in the freezer section that includes peas, carrots, green beans and corn. It was sort of curry-flavored but definitely not the best samosa I’ve ever had.

Since cheap Indian options are few and far between around here, you might want to give this a chance if you’ve had your fill of Chinese.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • The food is cheap and at least some of it doesn’t come from a steam table.
  • Sometimes I want Indian instead of Asian or Italian.
  • If the $9.95 lunch buffet ever happens it’s such a good deal.

THE — (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Why isn’t anyone eating here?
  • I’d rather just go to one of the insanely cheap Asian places nearby.
  • My allegiance is with Lahore.

Curry and Tandoor Corner, 369 Broome St. (at Mott), (212) 334-9144

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1 Comment

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    U dun know about taste, u dun even know lahore deli is on the top of the list in taste and price, if u cant say anyone gud then dun say bad, i work on lahore deli, so plzz,

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