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Tawa Tandoor - new Indian place on 34th/9th
Posted: 3:54 pm, December 4th, 2009 in Midtown Eating
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9 Comments
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What is with the US and crap Curry. Seriously - The vindaloo in this place was about as spicy as a korma. Please stop mislabeling dishes. I should NOT be able to finish a vindaloo without sweating profusely. Can someone tell me where I can get indian in NYC that is authentic?
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I stumbled on this place yesterday after a visit to B&H. They had an interesting chicken samosa but I was disappointed by the potato samosa - was very greasy all the way through, as if the frying had gone wrong somehow. Also the green sauce was pretty bland. I've been liking the Indian food (really Pakistani, I think) in the back of the place on 36th b/w 7th and Broadway recently. It used to be pretty bad but they've changed things up recently. They have samosas and I think kati rolls, but not chaat or medu veda.
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My favorite indian restaurants in the area:
- Dakshin: Stamford Conneticut
- India Passage: 74th & 3rd ave / Bay Ridge BrooklynBoth are americanized, but both will make the food as hot as you can tolerate. India Passage's vindaloo is more of a madras (IE, has tomato in it), but can be hot as hell. Dakshin however is the tastiest indian food I've ever had (spice beyond just "heat").
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i hear ya on the pansified vindaloo. my favorite place for the makhani and vindaloo is Jewel of India on w44th between 5th and 6th. Of course I don't really eat there often because of the prices but it's the real deal. you'll have to put up with some up-selling though because times are tough.
2nd favorite would be curry club way out in long island. ate there all the time when i could afford it in college.
brick lane's vindaloo on 53rd and 3rd ave is also really hot but i didn't like it much.
tadka, on the same block as brick lane, also has a good and spicy vindaloo but you won't sweat from it.
fyi, all of the places i've listed have an average price of $17. i guess you get what you pay for.
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I think the idea that vindaloo has to be over the top spicy is a British/Euro construct. I always thought of it as a sort of vinegary dish, with potatoes - I think that's the most common US variant. Most US restaurants will up the spice level for any dish if you ask, but vindaloo isn't assumed to be uniquely spicy. I never even knew it had that rep until fairly recently on talking more to Brits about Indian food. Regional interpretations of ethnic dishes vary, that's just the way of the world.
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I have to agree with midtownwest that authentic Indian food gets conflated with this idea of British Indian food, and of course it's difficult to even speak of an "Indian food." All that said I like my food spicy. I was surprised that after two weeks in India, eating from street stalls and everything, I never found the food spicy, even after making a point of requesting it that way.
I know the Brick Lanes do Anglo-Indian food, and offer a Phaal on their menu, which is a step up from Vindaloo in spiciness. Again midtownwest is right to pinpoint a vingery element in Vindaloo since its etymology is a corruption of the Portuguese for vinegar and garlic (when Goa was a Portuguese colony). For my money I've had an extremely spicy dish from Dhaba, mirch something or another, that made my face rain. I like the Indo-Chinese stuff like that found at Chinese Mirch, and they'll give it to you spicy. Finally, went to Southern Spice in Flushing for Diwali and had to wear a cap the whole time to keep sweat out of my eyes.
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so based on this thread and some surfing, i've concluded, possibly incorrectly, that an authentic vindaloo should be:
Spiced to taste
Have vinegar
Made with pork
Eaten in Goa -
Well, an authentic British vindaloo is usually lamb, in this red lava type stuff. But I'd really like to try the pork version someday. Are there any hidden Goan restaurants? I guess the chef at Tabla is Goan.
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I'm pretty sure "authentic" vindaloo from Goa is pork based as vindaloo is a portugese inspired dish and the portugese colonized Goa.
... and after typing that in response to steveroller, I just saw the above comments...
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There's a new Indian place slightly out of bounds at 34th and 9th, in the space that used to be occupied by a soul food restaurant (which thankfully moved, not closed).
Tawa Tandoor has steam table combos of various meat and veg for $8 or so, plus (this is the exciting part for me) samosa, bhel puri, kati rolls, medu vada (those savory donuts), and more.
A blessing in the Penn Station food wasteland, if not amazing. Infinitely better than the horrible "Taste of India" that just closed on 34th/7th Ave.
Almost no seats; basically take out only.