Midtown Lunch

The Jewish holiday of Passover is upon us this week. That mean no leavened food allowed in our diets- No bread! No pasta! No pizza! So what is  a Jew to do when the matzah pizzas get boring? Indian food may not be the first thing you think of, but it totally works- meat in sauce is fine  if you don’t strictly follow eating at only Kosher places. This was my chance to check out Minar Palace, a very clean restaurant with food available for take out or to eat in. The menu looks like what you would expect with, chicken, lamb, and veggies in various traditional preparations. You can also find shrimp and goat, which are a little less expected. Some dishes are ready to be served at the steam table up front, while others are made in the back kitchen.

I figured lamb would be a good choice, and the lady behind the counter suggested the popular rogan josh ($9) – a mild curry.

So it turns out this isn’t exactly kosher- there is yogurt in the sauce and milk and meat together is a no-no- but I meant well and Minar Palace is still a good idea for finding something Passover friendly (i.e. saag paneer). All meals come with a lame shredded salad, raita (yogurt sauce), and either rice or naan. The lamb in rogan josh comes in big tender boneless cubes and the curry sauce is tomato based, creamy (thanks to the yogurt), and without much of a cumin taste, which I prefer. Just as the menu said, it was “mildly spiced”, I could definitely taste a kick but it didn’t overwhelm the flavors, that is my ideal spice-level for Indian food. Passover or not, this dish is popular for good reason.

I really wanted to test out the mango pickle; I have like the Bangladeshi version. Cannot say I was a big fan of these though. The word “astringent” comes to mind and it was very bitter. I would say pass on this unless bitter strange tastes are your thing.

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

• Lamb that you don’t need a knife to cut sounds delightful
• I like curry that is medium spicy: with a kick but still allowing me to enjoy the flavors

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

• A few more pieces of lamb couldn’t hurt
• I like eyes-watering, mouth scorching spice

Minar Palace, 1304 Walnut St (@ 13 St), 215-546-9443