Utsav Festive India

02/17/09

good time

by AshishM84 at Citysearch

Utsav

I went here for my friends Birthday. We were about 20 people back in December 08.

The look was very nice and very diff from other Indian places. We were seated on time and started looking through menu. saw the typical menu that all places have and some other items.

The service was verry good as the waiter helped us choose items off the menu.

The food was Average-Good. I guess after eating at Dawat and Bukhara its hard for one to really like another place.

good time and had a nice birthday

01/07/09

So much flash ... such DISAPPOINTING food... and way over-priced.

by snowman69 at Citysearch

I've eaten hundreds of curries in NYC and London. You can measure a good Indian by so many different clear factors... some of the most basic are papadam, naan and somosas...to start with. ALL of which were some of the most average and below average. Papadams were excessively toasted/burnt but of course they arrived in a nice basket and the chutney was in nice glassware, etc...

Then came the Chicken Vindaloo... yes, I like it very spicey... and it was...but it was just that...hot and no flavor. I've had many truly gorgeous vindaloos and madrases that were hot and absolutely exploding with flavor! The curry sauce was thin..not a nice thick oniony-based sauce but a thin watery one... Service... very polite but they barely checked on the table!

$10 for a beer, $6 for rice...$5 for naan... hey, I'm game with pricey curry but this is not a $40/person quality.... I can easily have pulled this from a small Indian side-street cafateria type place for $10, no questions... in fact, three nights ago I had one like that in an adventure to try a low-end...it was superior to this curry.

Nuff said... I haven't been this disappointed in a long while and haven't paid this much for so little.

Lots of glam though! HAHAHA.

• Pros: Very posh and glammy interior...pleasant eye candy restaurant ambiance...
• Cons: Absolutely disappointing quality food...thin sauces, low-end flavor... poor naan, etc.

12/21/08

Went right through me

by foodienyc08 at Citysearch

I'm a New Yorker and we thought an upscale Indian prix-fixe would be a nice pre-theater pick. Bad move. The food here is several steps below many of the take-out Indian and Pakistani joints throughout the city, - (Pakistani Tea House, Lahore, 5 Star Punjabi), and about 6x the price. The lamb and chicken dishes were both drowning in sauce, while the meat itself was dried out and not flavorful. Though the indigestion was certainly memorable.

The setting is pleasant enough, but does not warrant the price. While the waitstaff were dressed in suits, I found them condescending and the pacing was poor... they came by about 5 times before we were ready to order, and then took a very long time in bringing our food - which was especially suprising because I surmise it comes straight out of chafing dishes.

• Pros: nice lamps
• Cons: bad food, poor pacing, ungracious waitstaff