One of my favorite nights of the year is when the volleyball team I coach plays Sleepy Hollow because it is the only game I can get my wife to to attend. I'm sure the only reason she attends is because it gives her a chance to work to some neurotic hour without my condemnation and because we go out for a midweek dinner. This year we decided to try the new Indian place in Irvington, Chutney Masala.
Located over the train tracks in the building that formerly housed Flirt, Chutney Masala finds itself in good company with One across the street and The Red Hat a short stroll away. There is something about a properly proportioned bistro that I like more than any other dining room. I immediately felt comfortable in Chutney Masala. While I would assume Chrisse would find the room cold, she agreed with my assessment. The brick walls, square wood tables, and well placed photography create an atmosphere that is both refined and meant for food and drink. The only aspect of the room I did not like was the backless seat I was originally seated in. I didn't think I needed a back, but before I'd finished my cocktail I opted out and asked to switch to a full chair.
Making the meal more fun was being greeted by two former students in the roles of hostess and waitress. After shortly catching up we ordered drinks and I felt a little naughty for imbibing on a school night.
Since it was a week night, we split one appetizer, the lamb samosa. The samosa is one of Chrissie's favorites and since we usually order a plate, it allows us a starting point for comparison. The shell was flaky and thicker than most we have tried, but what separated this samosa from the others was the sublime filling. The spices in the lamb married for a balanced delight. We were thouroughly impressed and eager to try the main courses.
Chrissie orded the keema matar masala, a chopped lamb dish with peas. Like the filling of the samosa, the lamb was wonderful and exotic, but in no way inaccesible for anyone who enjoys flavors. I had the Goan shrimp, a slightly spicy dish in a traditional curry. The dish started with a decent amount of heat that I amped up by eating some of the whole chiles it contained. The flavor profile was rounded out by a small handful of bay leaves.
We both agreed that it was some of the best Indian food we have tried. Of greater interest is the menu itself. It seems the typical Indian restaurant manages its menu in the mix and match fashion. Chutney Masala has a menu that offers the instantly recognizable, but it also includes choices for the more adventurous or for those better versed in Indian cuisine.
Highs-
Lows-
Will we go back? In a heart beat. We really like the idea of an Indian restaurant that presents itself as a bistro and not a lunch trap for those who are sick of the deli and the Chinese restaurant. The food was fantastic, I completely approve of the design and menu philosophies, and they were wise enough to employ one of my all time favorite students.
Chutney Masala is located at:
4 West Main Street
Irvington, New York 10533
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Chutney Masala
Saturday, August 30, 2008
QuickBites- August
Our dedication to writing about reasonably priced Westchester restaurants took a hiatus this summer when we blew our dining budget with two dinners. Our trip to Craft for Cara's birthday and an anniversary dinner at Daniel meant we've been eating at home a lot this August. With the school year starting and paychecks coming in again, we are excited to restart our narrative descriptions of the Westchester dining scene. August's installment of QuickBites summarizes our anniversary dinner, a meal out with the Journal News' Rockland restaurant reviewers, and a summer ending appetizers only dinner at Half Moon.
Daniel
For our fifth wedding anniversary Chrissie and I wanted to try something opulent and excessive. After narrowing our choices we settled on Daniel. We'd never eaten at any of Daniel Boulud's establishments and the pictures on the website suited what we envisioned for a very special anniversary date. To help us make the choice, the restaurant would be closing the next day for six weeks for a redesign in anticipation of their tenth anniversary. There was something perfect about us and the restaurant both celebrating milestones and starting new phases.
As we exited our cab and walked down the stairs into the massive foyer I was dwarfed by the scale of the restaurant. A gentleman opened the door, asked if we had reservations, and escorted us to the hostess desk. The hostess guided us to a table overlooking a dining room that felt reminiscent of a movie scene. We at A Man Has Eat are not easily impressed by fancy dining rooms and large fleets of waiters, but Daniel was the most overwhelming room we'd been in a long time.
The six course tasting menu offered two choices for each course. Not by design, Chrissie and I each chose the opposite dish. This led to one of two low points of the evening. Our waiter, upon hearing we were each ordering one of the two choices left the table before finding out which dish we'd each like. This confused the back waiter and led to a problem when the dessert courses had different wine pairings. The captain initially poured me a glass of wine to go with the chocolate-prailine cremeux Chrissie was having. When he realized what was going on he left the wine for Chrissie and immediately retrieved the appropriate wine for my mango based dish.
The other troubling spot of the evening came when our first course arrived before I was half way through my cocktail. The captain came by to see if everything was o.k. because we weren't eating. When I asked if there was a rush for the table he apologized, informed us that he would tell the kitchen to slow down our ticket, and assuaged my fears by generously refilling my wine tasting when we began the first course.
Fortunately, the rest of our experience at Daniel was perfect. The pacing, the cooking, and the dishes cemented a sublime anniversary experience. We chatted with the captain about the renovations as we took care of the check. He suggested we come back when the room was finished in six weeks. We joked that it would probably be another five years before we were able to return.
Priya Indian Cuisine
I woke up one day this summer to an email from Deven Black, the Rockland restaurant reviewer for the Journal News, asking if the Chrissie I write about was the same one he went to graduate school with. She was, and after a few email exchanges we made a date to meet for dinner at Priya, an Indian restaurant in Suffern.
Deven and his wife Jill share the byline and responsibilities that go into crafting the newspaper reviews. It was fascinating for me to find out what goes on behind the scenes of a print review and to learn how the Blacks wound up at the Journal News. Chrissie had a great time reconnecting with a classmate.
Priya presented an interesting Indian menu. The number of seafood dishes led to a detailed discussion with the manager about the influences on the menu and the geography behind the restaurants cooking. My ability to assess Indian food is still in its infancy, but Chrissie and I both liked the food. A low would be the overcooked chicken in the appetizer sampler and a high for me would be the balanced heat in my lamb Vindaloo. If we lived closer, Chrissie and I both agree that we would try Priya again.
Half Moon
To celebrate the end of summer, Chrissie called for an appetizers only dinner on the water at Half Moon. Our intention was to blend an extended happy hour with a gluttonous tasting of as many small plates as we could eat/afford. I am writing about Half Moon in summary instead of a full review because it is owned by the family of a student whose been in a number of my classes.
The restaurant is located in the same space as the old Chart House, but that is where the similarities end. Extensive work was done in the dining room and kitchen to create a new space that does more than offer terrific views of the Hudson.
We began our meal with an assortment of ceviches. The table found the scallop with fennel, oranges, bell pepper, and mint to be our favorite.
We continued to work our way through most of the first page of the menu ordering 3 more rounds of food. Since we didn't order any entrees I can't say for sure what goes on in the kitchen, but the huge assortment of appetizers and the view make Half Moon ideal for tapas-ish dining. Two standouts from our meal were the fried Ipswich clams (we had to order a second basket) and the lamb ribs.
It is too bad they don't open the kitchen and bar earlier on Fridays so like minded eaters can take advantage of the sun and share plates after work before the dinner crowd shows up and the dining room gets busy.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
QuickBites- May
Quick Bites is a new section where I will write about restaurants that we go to all the time or restaurants that, for some reason, I am not writing up in a full review. This month we went back to Encore, had the $99 special at Morton's, and ate at Tandoori.Encore
Encore has unveiled their summer menu. I was very excited to see a whole red snapper. Mine could have cooked for a moment more, but I'm sure by now they've worked the kinks out. We were there for the inaugural service of the new menu. Next time we are there I will certainly try the snapper again and I'm sure it will be perfect. Encore's kitchen is incredibly consistent.Morton's
Morton's tempted our curiosity with a surf and turf dinner for two for $99. I'm usually disappointed by steak houses because I find them to be a pretentious, culinarily boring, and a poor value. The $99 special was enough to get me to try again. The deal included salad, a seafood side, a starch and a vegetable to share, a single cut filet, and a dessert.
The asparagus were incredibly overcooked, the baked potato was fine, as it should be for those prices, and the steaks were over done. My scallop side was also over cooked. Chrissie didn't love the flavor of her crab cake, but she was impressed by the quantity and ratio of crab meat. Chrissie did really enjoy her molten chocolate cake.
Add tax, cocktails, and a bottle of wine and the $99 deal topped out over $200. Great job on their part getting us in. The truly disappointing part of the dinner was that we wanted to like it. The deal runs through the end of June and we love steak. We both wondered if they sent out less than perfect cooking because we were ordering the bargain special.
High points of the night included a sommelier who was pleasant and informative and a waitress who clearly deserved her tip. A low point in staffing was a maitre de who I found condescending.
If you like Morton's, the deal is good. If you, like us, aren't into chain steak houses, I'd be careful not to get drawn in by the promise of an affordable steak house dinner.Tandoori
Last night my aunt and uncle took us to Tandoori in Port Chester. I don't feel that qualified to rate Indian food, but of the Westchester Indian restaurants, I find Tandoori to be one of the most comfortable and consistent. Since I'm not talking about the food I'll critique the staff, which was superb.
The waiters make it their business to know my families drink orders and to remember that my uncle doesn't like to order until he's had his second drink. The one mistake of the evening, when they brought my appetizer out late, was remedied, with no prompting, with another bottle of Taj Mahal beer and coffee and ice cream after dinner.
Please comment on the food if you know Indian and this restaurant.
Posts
