Sherkaan Indian Street Food — Restaurant in New Haven

At a time where modern Indian cuisine often veers between reverential tradition and fusion confusion, Sherkaan, established 2019, charts its own path through the streets of urban India - almost literally, with bicycles suspended from its industrial ceiling.

The experience begins with a striking facade featuring the restaurant's namesake tiger, "Sher" in Hindi, alongside their playful tagline "totally bindaas." Inside, the space masterfully blends exposed historic red brick, vintage-industrial fixtures, and Edison bulbs with dramatic wall murals depicting Indian cultural motifs.

The menu delivers creative riffs on street food classics. Their Chaat Dog ($9) reimagines the classic hot dog with a vegetable seekh kebab, garnished with pomegranate and dry garlic chili chutney - add lamb seekh kebab for an additional $5 if you're feeling carnivorous. The garlic and cheese stuffed naan ($5) arrives pillowy and generously herb-flecked. The lamb seekh kebab ($15), while expertly spiced with a beautiful char, could benefit from a touch more moisture.

The surprise standout was their Chinese Cabbage Salad ($9) - a clever nod to India's own Chinese-inspired street food culture. The combination of green chili heat, crunchy cashews, and coconut shavings, all unified by a blood orange-ginger vinaigrette, creates a texture-rich dish that feels both novel and somehow traditional.

For more substantial fare, the Indo-Chinese Pork Ribs ($19) showcase the kitchen's ability to bridge cultures, with St. Louis style spare ribs getting a makeover via tamarind treacle glaze and crispy okra. The Dum Biryani ($19), sealed with naan dough in a cast iron pot, delivers aromatic rice layered with yogurt-marinated chicken, saffron, and kewra.

The portion sizes throughout are huge, making the lunch bill feel like a reasonable value proposition, especially considering the quality of ingredients and thoughtful preparation. A lunch for one, featuring a kebab, naan, and salad...

Disorganized, dysfunctional restaurant. I placed an order early in the day for delivery at lunchtime - the order never showed up, so I called multiple times with no answer. Having now missed my window to eat lunch before driving to an appointment I drove by thinking perhaps some emergency had caused them to close, or that my food was ready and the delivery driver was delayed. No, they were open and I was told the Internet was “having problems” so they never received my order. The VERY first thing they should have done with that knowledge is shut down the online ordering function. The next best thing would be to answer their phone when customers call. I was looking forward to trying Sherkaan, but I will absolutely not risk a similar scenario happening again - it shows very poor management that undoubtedly bleeds into other aspects of their business.

Edit: The response from the restaurant is not accurate. Eileen called me 10 minutes after I had left the restaurant (they were already aware of internet issues when I stopped in) to let me know that my order had miraculously appeared and was ready for pickup. Not only was my order placed for delivery, not pickup, I was already on the highway having used my available time for eating waiting for my food and then trying to get in contact with the restaurant. Further, on the phone Eileen attempted to make it seem as though I was the one who had done something wrong by stopping in to check on my food, accepting her word that they never received my order, and then being unable to return a full 40 minutes after my delivery was scheduled to pick up my food myself. I’m upset at missing lunch during a busy day, but more so baffled by the farcical pattern of incompetence that led to this. Everyone there seems...

I'm deeply disappointed with my recent experience. It was our mistake that we were going here for this long, but when it comes to self respect we won’t be going here anymore. They need to prioritize customer service and treat their patrons with dignity, morality, Manners and respect.

The owners and the workers are the liars. I literally order the same thing from them like every alternate days Because I thought they are the best with food but they as a business and person they are poor. However, today's order was incorrect they messed up and I just called them to let them know what it was. When I called to address the issue, I was met with disrespect and an unacceptable attitude from the staff. My friends and my family were are going here for very long time here. But now we won’t their attitude, manners and the behaviour is not good.

This lack of respect for a long-time customer is unacceptable. While their food may have been good in the past, their poor customer service and lack of professionalism outweigh any culinary merits. And one of the servers was good she tried to make it up but in front dignity, manners, disrespect. Once’s the glass is shattered you can’t make it same as before.

I have never said anything because I didn’t saw any issue but this time , Sorry I just trashed your food I should not do that as part of my culture and manners but I don’t know if you people had given me someone else’s eaten food?

Thankyou so much for showing your true colors I, my friends and our families will no longer be supporting this establishment and advise others to...