Restaurant Review: Anjappar, New York

Chilli Onion Uthappam

One of the best things about going to NY is the chance to catch up with friends while I'm there. Sadly the number of people I know the city has dwindled in the last few years, but good friends Rohit and Priyanka (whose wedding I went to in India back in 2010) still live there and we arranged to meet for dinner on the Thursday night.

Rohit chose the restaurant of Anjappar located in 'little India' at the bottom of Lexington Park. It was a 'fresh' minus fourteen degrees celsius as I walked down Lexington avenue from the office. I had to pop into the hotel for an extra jumper on my way as I wasn't prepared for it to be sold cold!

Kulipaniyaram

Anjappar specialises in food from Chennai and is one of Rohit and Priyanka's favourites so I let them order from the menu.

We started with a dish of Kulipaniyaram, small fried idli served with coconut and a coriander chutney. The kulipaniyaram themselves don't carry much flavour and I found that the chutneys didn't carry as much punch as I hoped for.

Masala Dosai

After the kulipaniyaram our three main courses arrived to share a chilli onion uthappam, masala dosai and vegetable kothu parotta.

The chilli in the uthappam had quite a kick which I felt justified in picking out after I saw Rohit doing the same. The potato filling in the dosai was fantastic, but there wasn't enough of it for me, being concentrated in the centre of the triangle.

 

Vegetable Kothu Parotta

The kothu parotta was the only dish of the night I haven't had before, a popular street side snack from the state of Tamil Nadu. It's a dish chopped parotta (a type of bread) which was served a with curry sauce on the side.

To my uneducated palate, I found the food similar to that served at Saravanna Bhavan which I tried last year, and whose NY branch was just round the corner. I didn't think the food lived up to the heights of Saravana Bhavan or Dishoom, both of which I've enjoyed in London, mainly because the accompanying chutneys and sambals weren't as good.

Restaurant Review: Junoon, New York

Nadru Kofte

While in New York I wanted to catch up with my friend's Rohit and Priyanka who I haven't seen since their wedding in India at the end of 2010. We agreed to meet for a beer at the student pub of The Globe in Gramacy and decide dinner plans from there.

Rohit had reserved tables at five different restaurants, which seemed a little extreme  to me. Is it really that tough to get a table in NYC? I chose Indian as the cuisine and left Priyanka to decide on the restaurant. She selected Junoon which I later discovered has a Michelin star. Win!

Carrot and cumin soup

When we arrived at our table their were beautiful gold plates at each place setting. The plates were sadly cleared from the table when we ordered, replaced by more regular white crockery.

The dining room was a little more flashy than a British fine diner. I'm not sure if this is typical of NYC or just Junoon's style. I clearly need to hit some more starred restaurants in NY to find out....

We ordered from the vegetarian sections of the menu where dishes were priced at around half that of the meat and fish options on the menu. It made a fine dining experience very reasonably priced.

 Yellow Daal Tadka

We started with a palate cleanser of carrot and cumin soup. It was smooth and delicately flavoured with the cumin building as an aftertaste in the mouth. We all enjoyed it as a start to the meal.

The nadru kofte ($18) was the spiciest of the dishes we ordered. Annoyingly I've developed the habit of getting the hiccups when I eat something spicy and true to form I had an embarrassing bout of hiccups as I was trying to make polite conversation at the table.

Hiccups aside I enjoyed the dumplings made of lotus root served in a creamy sauce spiced with fennel and fennugreek.

Punjabi Kadi

The Punjabi Kadi ($18) was a milder dish of chickpea pakoras served in a yoghurt sauce with a house made garam masala.

We also ordered a couple of naan breads and roti ($5 each)  to share. The breads at Rohit and Priyanka's wedding being freshly churned out of tandoors were one of my favourite things. While there was nothing wrong with the breads at Junoon I think they could learn a thing or two from India's wedding caterers.

 

Naan and roti

They day after eating at Junoon I did a quick internet search and saw it being described as a 'weak' Michelin star. I think that is probably a fair description, but at the prices we paid (eating vegetarian dishes) it was definitely a good value. A star is a star though, so I'm going to count it.

Junoon
27 West 24th Street
New York
NY
10010
USA

Restaurant Review: Shake Shack, New York

Shake Shack Theatre District

Five years ago I had a three month stint working in New York. In my final week in Manhattan I discovered the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Gardens with my friend Clint. We loved the burgers, and although I only had the chance to sample one, we declared them the best burgers we'd ever eaten.

Time made the burger memories even sweeter. Clint embarked on a project to re-create the perfect burger and it even led me to fly a special beef mix from Sydney to Melbourne for a weekend of burger cooking.

When I learnt I was going to NY a couple of weeks ago I didn't think I'd have a chance to sample another Shack Shack burger, until I discovered the Theatre District branch not too far from my office. I made a quick visit with my colleague a few hours before my flight.

A pair of Shack Burgers and fries

We arrived to see the queue reaching out of the door, but it was well organised and moved pretty quickly. We must speak a different language to the Americans as the waitress couldn't understand me when I said the word 'half', in trying to order a half size concrete (ice cream).

So did the burger live up to the best ever memory? The Shack Burger ($4.60) was as soft and as melting as I remember. It just seemed to disolve in my mouth. The bun is equally light, although I'd prefer it to be a bit less sweet. (This is common complaint from me and I think my preference away from the mainstream.)

If I were to suggest an improvement it would be to add some pickles to the burger or add some extra bite to the ShackSource. I would have liked a bit contrast to the flavour and texture.

Is it the best burger in the world? Definitely the best value burger I've eaten at a mere $4.60. It certainly comes close to burger perfection.

Shack Burger

Shake Shack, Theatre District
691 8th Avenue
New York
NY 
10036
USA

Running in New York

I was lucky enough to be sent on a quick three day work trip to New York last week. I packed my running gear as I was keen to run in warmer weather than the chilly easterly winds that were battering the UK as I left. Heading out for a run would also burn off the calorie onslaught that a trip to the US invariable entails!

On my first morning my jet lag has me up at 5am. I read online that Central Park didn't open until 6am (although I don't think it ever really closes) so ironed my shirts before strapping on my running shoes and heading for the 10km outer loop of the park.

I jogged past a police car on my way into the park and saw a pack of cyclists as I joined the Grand Drive loop. The park was busy for 6am on a Wednesday morning with runners and cyclists using the park.

The run was hillier than I expected with quite a few undulations sapping my jet lagged legs. I was pleased to spot some water fountains on my way round that I was able to grab a quick drink from. A local runner told me that they'd only just turned the fountains back on after shutting them off during winter.
On the Thursday morning I decided to run along the Hudson river after it was suggested as a good route by a fellow runner from the office. As I joined the river from the city I saw a US Navy Aircraft Carrier docked in New York. I ran south down towards Battery Park. The Hudson River park is enjoyable, but the rest of the run was pretty dull running alongside the cars on 12th Avenue. I'm fairly sure I spotted the High Line at one point, but it was other side of a busy road and I didn't fancy risking life and limb to investigate. Definitely one for next time. Sadly the water fountains along the Hudson hadn't been turned on for spring yet.

On my final morning I decided to do a second run around Central Park. The park was a lot quieter on my second visit and I only counted eight cyclists going past me, instead of the large pace groups that were flying round on Wednesday morning.

My heart rate was much lower the second time around the park (I think it must have been the jet lag) and was able to enjoy views of the lakes, museums and large brownstones which surround the park a lot more.

I'm pleased to report that I represented the UK well during my runs in NY and wasn't over taken once on any of my three runs!