Taj in East Village, NY

Another night in New York and I found myself looking for dinner again. This took me to the Little India section of the East Village where I ate at a restaurant called Taj.

 

They had musicians providing entertainment with sitar and drums near the entrance of the restaurant.

Taj offered a six course dinner for under $10, so that's what I went with. Course number one was a bowl of red lentil soup. The bright orange color of red lentils make soup look more enticing compared to their brown counterparts.

Course number two was a samosa appetizer. The vegetarian samosa contained potatoes and vegetables, wrapped up in a pastry-like shell.

The third, fourth, and fifth courses were all served simultaneously. These included a basket of naan and a big plate of rice for the table to share. The main course also came out at this point. This was the chicken tikka masala in my case. Cubes of chicken were served in an orange, yogurt based sauce and was very tasty. The vegetables that were also supposed to be in the dish were unfortunately nowhere to be found.

Course number six was rice pudding for dessert. I honestly wasn't counting how many courses we were served for the entire meal, so it was an unexpected nice surprise when dessert was served. It was an even nicer surprise when a second serving of rice pudding was brought to the table after we finished the first!

I enjoyed my meal at Taj. I really like these multi-course meals that all of the Indian restaurants in this neighborhood seem to all serve. They end up being a really good deal for the price, and I would much rather eat Indian food like this as opposed to the much more common Indian buffets.

Surya Sweets & Snacks in Bellrose, NY

While up in New York, I found myself in the Bellerose neighborhood near the border of Queens and Floral Park. This part of town had what could be described as a Little India. For blocks, everything was Indian, Pakistani, or from another country in the surrounding area. Seeing all this, I knew where I would be stopping for dinner.

I chose a restaurant called Surya Sweets & Snacks. This place was fast food and had a large selection of desserts near the entrance. As for the the food selections, everything was vegetarian and also very cheap. The most expensive food on the menu was $8.00, with most everything else around $4 or $5.

The menu was initially confusing for the uniformed. With only names and no descriptions, we had no idea what exactly some of the menu items were beside the typical Indian foods. Someone ordering in front of us saw our confusion and gave some recommendations. That's how the Papdi Chat was ordered. This bowl had interesting flavors, somehow being sweet, sour, and spicy at the same time.

The Samosa Chat had a few somosas buried under potatoes, chickpeas, and many other ingredients all drenched in a spicy sauce.

I always like dosas at Indian restaurants, so I had to try the Masala Dosa. The huge crepe was filled with a potato based filling and was served with various sauces.

We also tried some assorted desserts from Surya. These were very different than a typical American dessert and had some interesting flavors and textures.

I never knew this section of New York existed, but it was well worth a visit for Indian food. When it's exotic, vegetarian Indian food, that's even better!