Moti Mahal in London: Excellent Indian Food!

This occasional blog continues! We are just back from London, where we and a large group of others visited the famous friends in London for an auspicious family event. Surprisingly, it didn't rain till our last night there! While London, despite its residents claims, will never be known for its excess of quality food, there is some stuff out there if you try (really try). Our best meal while we were there was at Moti Mahal (45 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5AA, T: +44 (0)20 7240 9329 ), which is right by Covent Gardens.

The restaurant is clearly an upscale affair, with prices to match (it is London, after all). The seats are great, and it is easy to carry on a conversation. About the only thing I didn't love was the menu, which is designed as sort of a Mogul travelouge but is sort of confusing. Fortunately, we were with some Indian friends, who took over the ordering process (and I would say did an excellent job). Unfortunately, even though I have a copy of the menu, I am trying to reconstruct what we ate as much as possible.

First the good. The dal, relishes (included with the meal), bread and raita are quite good. The grilled lamb (49 pounds per kilo!!) is excellent. I was not a huge fan of the chooza (butter chicken) but it is clearly the right choice for the under 18 set. Chauchori, which is a mix of potatoes and baby eggplant, is not to be missed. Nor is the Bhala Papadi Chaat, which is a mix of pastry bits, chick peas, yogurt and mint chutney. If you are a fish fan, the Meen Polichathu, which is baked seabass and crabmeat served in a banana rapper.

Now the not so good. Its a short list, but the biryani, at 19 pounds, was small, not very good, and, clearly, quite pricey.

If you are going to London and want a decent meal do not miss Moti Mahal. I don't think I've had Indian food this good in New York. If you do know a place, let me know.

Deshi Biryani: Jackson Heights Excursion I

I will state it now: I am glad that there is a Dunkin' Donuts next door to Deshi Biryani (75-18 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, NY 11372 telephone 718-803-6232). Not because the food was bad; in fact it was excellent. It was more to placate the children, who, having got in their mind that the Indian food was "too spicy" (even when what was made for them really wasn't), they proceeded not to eat too much of it. I also found out they sell something called and M and M's donut: the product name speaks for itself.

Back to the Biryani. Robin had suggested an out of Borough experience, and I wanted a change from Chinese. I remembered going to the Jackson Diner some years ago with friends (one of who collapsed from trying to eat the little pepper condiments on the table) and figured we could try something else. A quick perusal through Chowhound, a telephone call, and we were ready to go. If you have a car, getting to Jackson Heights from Manhattan is pretty easy, and if you don't you can take the R train to Roosevelt Avenue.

The restaurant is small by Queens standards, and sort of reminds me of a roomy 6th Street place done up in white and cream. And despite what the children thought, the food is quite good. Since they didn't touch most of theirs, we got to!

Deshi Biryani focuses on food from Bengal. In fact, not eating the biryani here would be a huge mistake, as it was a fluffy, flavorful proof that rice, shortening and spices can be pretty awesome before it gives you triple vessel heart disease. Tandoori chicken was moist and flavorful. None of the other tandoori dishes were as good (we tried the mixed grill), so I would stick with the chicken for this dish. Saag was good, but there are better dishes if you are not spinach crazy. A tomato based chicken curry dish was excellent, and chicken Bhuna was extremely good, as well. The appetizers, which usually taste like glop, all had distinct flavors and were well prepared. My surprise favorite was the "chicken lollypop," which were mildly spiced and well fried chicken wings. We bought them for the donut dreaming children but pretty much ended up eating them ourselves. The samosas, usually something I dislike, were also quite good.

For those of us used to getting nickled and dimed in Manhattan, it is a joy to know that the nan and raita are included in many of the dishes. The restaurant also has a liquor license.

There is now yet another reason to get out of Manhattan: Deshi Biryani.

On the Hunt for Papadum (Papad)

Anyone who has ever been to an Indian Restaurant is familiar with papadum, those flat, round crackers with the bubbled up appearance. I have always liked them, and with my recent forays into Flushing, have been trying many different brands and flavors. I have also been experimenting with various ways to prepare the papadum.

When you go to an Indian market, you are literally confronted with a wall of papad. For the uninitiated, deciding which one to purchase can be a confusing decision. But since papadum are cheap, I am off my diet, and I was also interested in various ways to prepare them, I bought several brands and varieties. After much consideration, I have decided that my favorite is jeera (cumin seed). Coming in a close second is plain, which is anything but. Both of these were Lijjat Brand, which is recognizable because of a green paper dot about 2" across displaying the papadum. Other brands include Ganesh and, unless you read Urdu, a brand only recognizable as the "Scare Bunny Brand." Some papad were almost too spicy to eat.

Cooking papad is a bit of a process. There is an excellent photo-essay on Instructables detailing how to cook papad over an open fire (a.k.a. a gas stove). There is also an excellent picture of scary bunny brand papad. Several posters on the website noted that they (or their mothers) deep fried the papad. I have pan-fried them, and it works but is time consuming. Cooking over a fire works, but I tend to have blackened papad more than I would like. I am a big fan of cooking papad in a toaster oven, at about 450 degrees, which allow you to make several at once without the burning. As you can see from the photo, there is excellent bubbling and minimal burning.

Main Street Flushing South of The Subway

I'm still not sure what the fan in the suspension system of my car does, but according to the little light on the dashboard, it needed to be replaced and I was car less. The good news: Tuesday was beautiful, I had a little time after working in Flushing, and I strolled North on Main Street towards the 7 train, looking to shop.

Although people associate Flushing with its Chinatown (and to a lesser extent the Koreatown centered on Union Street), as you go further South there is a small but vibrant Afghani, Pakistani and Indian area featuring clothing, videos and groceries. I stopped in Patel Brother's, about 6 blocks South of Roosevelt Avenue, where I bought some spices, papadum and rather tasty figs (Aahy Barah Brand). They also had a good selection of vegetables, rice (including SUV sized bags). One day, I will do an extensive examination of the different types of papadum: he number they sell is mind numbing. Most of the other stores on the strip appeared to be Afghani in origin.


Having enjoyed my little Southeast excursion, I soon realized how far Chinatown had extended since my last walk a few years ago. Within a block of Patels' Chinatown clearly began, mostly as a series of non food businesses with Chinese signs. But food loomed. In the interest of trying something new, I went to Pho Thanh Hu'o'ng, on the corner of Maple Avenue and Main Street (718-359-1120). The place was bustling at 1:30 PM: I got the last table. On the menu: Vietnamese dishes made by an all Chinese staff. I think I sat down because it sort of reminded me of Pho 32, the Vietnamese Restaurant near Madison Square Garden run by a Korean staff. In a similar vein, Thanh Huong signs are all in Chinese and somewhat mangled English. The only Vietnamese is on the condiments. Unfortunately, while perfectly acceptable, the Pho was not the best I have had (although it was quite edible) and I would certainly not recommend going there with all of the other excellent eating options in the neighborhood.

My final stop was a photo shop, for $7 passport photos. I look lovely.

Although I will be happy to get my car, as the 7 train is no way to get home on a regular basis, it was great to walk through Main Street. And I didn't even get a chance to get to the large Chinese Supermarkets. To get that many groceries home, I'll need to drive.

"New" Indian on Amsterdam Avenue

Last week I was returning to my office from the East Side and saw this Grand Opening sign on Alachi Masala, a "new" Indian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue and 84th Street (212-874-7420). I enjoy new things, so after going to a friends birthday party at the Dublin House, the lovely wife and I, along with two friends, headed a few block north to Alachi Masala.

I should have been a little suspicious when I asked the waiter how long they had been open and he told me "several months." Don't you have to take that sign down after a while? But we were hungry, and they were real nice. They don't have a liquor license, but were perfectly happy to let us run across the street to buy some beer. And all in all, the food is fine, if uninspired. The raita was different than what I normally get in a New York Indian restaurant, sprinkled with cardamon. Masala, Tandoori, vindaloo and saag were all acceptable, but nothing to write home about. The nan was tasty, but several pieces were a bit burned on the bottom. The lovely wife was a bit less charitable in her overall assessment than I was, as was one of our friends (and you know which one you are!).

I tried Alachi Masala because it was "new." While I don't dislike it, I prefer Tamarind more and will continue to get my Indian takeout from them. If you are willing to go a bit uptown from where I am, Indus Valley remains my favorite Indian on the Upper West Side.

Good Indian Food on the Upper West Side

I love Indian food but I do not love Indian food on the Upper West Side. Goopy, poorly seasoned, short of protein, brimming with grease: well you get the picture. But there is hope! The lovely wife and I were going to meet friends for dinner last Saturday night and were looking for a place to eat. A brief trip to Zagat.com (worth the annual fee, in my opinion) revealed to us that Indus Valley, at 100th Street and Broadway, received a 23 for food! If there was ever proof for the power of Zagat, it was our rapid decision to head to Indus Valley for dinner.

All four of us were impressed with the appearance of Indus Valley. To paraphrase our friend, it was like an Upper East Side Restaurant. The lighting was soft, there was room between the tables, it was tastefully decorated and it wasn't to noisy, despite the fact that every table was filled. The service was good, although the waiter tried to push the Chilean sea bass special on us one time too many. And although I think that the 23 for food is more out of shock that any Indian food up here is even edible, the food is good and certainly the best that I have had outside of Little India, Flushing, Jackson Heights and friends' homes.

The food is quite tasty, although some dishes are better than others. We ordered both the alu chat and chicken chat as appetizers. Both were good, but they were similar tasting and I would pick one (the potato (alu) was better) next time. The lovely wife loves saag, and the lamb sagwala was excellent. Also to be repeated were the black lentils (dal). Chicken tikka masala is very good. Nan tasted fresh, but were not significantly better than other nan I have had in the neighborhood. Rice is plentiful and flavorful. We even tried the paneer special. Their paneer comes as large pieces of the paneer cheese with flavorings added. It was different from what I was used to, but it was good. I would recommend sharing it so that everyone can have a small taste. The next time you need Indian in 10024 or 10025, I would strongly recommend Indus Valley.