Who Needs More Burgers? Taste of India Works Just Fine

tasteofindia

Last month we brought you word that Taste of India had opened next to Carribean Kitchen in 1 Penn Plaza, replacing Bruce’s Burger. While some may lament the loss of a hamburger place, we all know there’s more than enough new burger places popping up in New York these days (ahem, Shake Shack). Some of you in the comments section mentioned that Taste of India is serviceable and it was worthy of investigation because there’s a shortage of Indian options around the Penn Station area. So investigate, I did.

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The meal comes with dal, rice, and naan. You can either get two vegetable entrees ($7) or one chicken and one vegetable entree ($8), or one lamb/seafood and one vegetable ($9). Even though the sign mentioned seafood and lamb, I didn’t see any seafood there, and instead of lamb I saw goat vindaloo.  I think the meat options vary slightly day-to-day, with chicken tikka masala being the mainstay. There was also butter chicken, if tikka masala isn’t your thing. For vegetables you get to choose from Dum aloo (potatoes), vegetable korma, bhindi masala (okra), chana masala (chickpeas), or cauliflower. The vegetables seem to also vary a little day-to-day because they have limited steam table space. I went with cauliflower and the chicken tikka masala.

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To be completely honest, I thought both the chicken tikka masala and the cauliflower leaned towards a dish that your cardiologist might approve. That is to say, it’s low on sodium. What is healthy isn’t always the things for which your taste buds beckon. One redeeming aspect of Taste of India is that the naan is pretty fresh. They’re making it at the restaurant and it’s not store bought or from a package. When I was there, I had to wait for them to make fresh ones because they were out. They brush some butter/oil/ghee (?) on it right after it’s done. The thinner parts of the naan were on the warm and crispy side and the thicker parts were chewier.

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To the right of the steam table where you order is a fridge that contains cups of mango lassi. They’re $2 dollars a-piece. The yogurt-based drink was sweet and refreshing. It’s a small cup, maybe 8oz or so, and you could easily down a cup without realizing it. I highly suggest it during the heat waves, as the inside of Taste of India isn’t accompanied by air conditioning (as far as I could tell).

THE +

  • Fresh naan FTW
  • There’s no other decent Indian food in the area
  • Curry Hill is too far East!

THE –

  • Could use some salt…
  • I like my Indian food flavorful and spicy.  This is neither.
  • Screw this.  I’d rather walk to Lex. (or South to better places in the 20s)

Taste of India, 1 Penn Plaza (in the alley on 33rd just West of 7th Ave.)

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