Cardamom Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in New York

I've never had Indian food, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be too different from what I imagined? Thankfully, this restaurant has what I assume are all of the menu items listed online. While that's true, some of the items were missing a price, and though they each had a description, pictures would've helped. Due to that, I felt overwhelmed and confused with what I should order. In the end, Google helped me out.

To start, the prawns I had were great. As with the other dishes I had, the sauce that was slathered on really stood out. It was thick, offered a slightly spicy aftertaste, and just had a rich flavor. As someone that really enjoys their food to be pretty saucy, this was a great start to this meal.

This place has many kinds of rice, but since I didn't order one in particular, I'm not sure what I got. Either way, I was very satisfied. It had a very soft texture while managing to balance that with a lot of flavor and coming off as very light. It made me think that I could have a whole plate of this rice by itself and still be ready for more.

I ordered the chicken tikka salad because it was one of the most familiar items I saw, but it turned out to be more than I expected. I would've liked to have had a bit more of it, but I assume they're meant for a single person, and not three. I thought it was pepper heavy, and yet it gave you an idea of what it wholly had to offer. The flavor wasn't too strong and in general, it was meant to showcase the natural flavors of its different vegetables.

Much like with the salad, for the naan I went with what seemed most familiar to me, garlic and cheese. I love cheese, so you'd think that cheese naan would be my favorite, but it wasn’t. If anything, I thought it was too cheesy and I wasn't able to fully enjoy the bread. The garlic naan on the other hand was great. The garlic wasn't too overpowering, so I was better able to get an idea of what Indian bread has to offer. Overall, I liked it. It was like a very soft and airy pita bread. I'm sure that it being fresh helped a lot, but the garlic naan definitely left me wanting more.

By the time I was getting to the main course, I was starting to feel full. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this was very heavy food, but it was more so due to its rich sauces and simply because I ordered a lot.

With the main course I had, I'm sure that some would say that it was more like a soup due to the amount of sauce it had, but I was fine with that. If anything, that just meant that I'd be able toss in some rice and dip naan in.

What I ordered for myself was mallai kofta. They were soft and chewy dumplings that didn't offer a strong flavor, but seeing as how most of the work was being done by its sauce, I was fine with that.

Since I wanted to go all out with this meal, I ordered multiple desserts. I was expecting a bit more when it came to the serving size, but I was satisfied with what I ended up having. The cottage cheese dumplings I ordered had a firmer texture unlike what cottage cheese has to offer, and on top of that was the not too sweet or heavy syrup.

The brown dumplings I had were a different side of the same coin. They were still dumplings, but these were sweeter, had a heavier syrup, and were generally just a bit firmer and doughier. If I had to choose, I'd stick with the cottage cheese dumplings.

The mango lassi was a mix between dessert and refreshment. What I liked was that it maintained its rich mango flavor and wasn't too thick at all. I liked that because others would force you to finish it off with a spoon. The result was a refreshing and sweet beverage that was good.

Overall, I was surprised in more ways than one and I liked that. At no point did I feel as if the food's spices were overpowering or lacking in any way. If anything, this food overdelivered not only because of its flavor, but also thanks to how filling it was. I definitely got my money's worth and I'd like to...

Picky Desi (Indian) here. Husband is Goan so he's even pickier about the dishes from his state. My sister-in-law who lives in Forest Hills brought us here as her husband knew that it had recently opened and that his Goan wife and brother-in-law would appreciate some authentic Goan dishes. Appreciate, they did! And so did we all. We started with the shrimp balchao. Amazing. The sauce looks scary and spicy, but it has flavor and no raw chili taste or chili powder taste which seems to be the only way some places know how to spice things up. This sauce was so good, we used our naan or rice or fingers to get every last bit. Shrimp were perfectly cooked. The chicken xacuti was so different, so rich, so flavorful without being spicy in the fiery sense. Yes, it was laden with the right amount of spices, coconut and love, but not all Indian food is spicy nor does it have to be to be delicious. According to my Goan husband and his sister, it was not only authentic, but better than they've had in Goa. The lamb vindaloo was amazing. The perfect vindaloo sauce cooked with tender lamb and a hint of the special Goan tang from the vinegar. It's funny because my husband and his family are always raving about how good Goan cuisine is, but every time I have tried it, I am always left thinking I can't trust these guys because the Goan food I have tried in the past never blew me away. But that's not all. Even the butter chicken, every child's go to dish, was so flavorful, probably the best we've had. Before ordering, we asked for the chef's recommendations. He came out and greeted us, spoke a bit of Konkani with my husband, even. Then I asked him what his good name was. He said Alwyn. It was indeed a very good name, because that is also my husband's name, and spelled the same way, which is unusual. We could tell Chef Alwyn takes pride in everything he creates and really puts his heart and soul into it. Even the garlic naan, lachha paratha and rice were perfect. The real shocker was when we found out he also makes the gulab jamun and ras malai in house. The gulab jamun was just how it should be. Didn't expect the desserts to be fantastic, too. From CA to NY and in between, we have tried many Indian restaurants. We wish Chef Alwyn all the success in the future and cannot wait to return. The cost is so moderate for such high quality, expertly prepared fare. Thank you for warm, attentive service and of course a very...

9/21/22 my family an I went to Cardamom Indian Cuisine in Queens. My son-in-law had raved about this place and how good the food was. Liking Indian food I was excited about going. First and foremost we were quickly seated and our server was extremely helpful. Both my daughter and her husband have been there several different times so they knew exactly what to order. The owner came out and spoke with us and he was such a nice gentleman. Overall I saw the service was excellent For starters we got the vegetable Samosa they definitely did not disappoint it was a crispy turnover that was stuffed with potatoes and green peas the flavor was outstanding and the sauces to go with it were absolutely marvelous. Next we added the spicy lamb dish of Nilgiri Korma this dish absolutely just melted in my mouth the fresh ground met the coriander leaves in the coconut to finish it off was just one of the best dishes I’ve ever had. And Indian food. Next kind of butter chicken which is my daughters favorite dish it had yummy cubes of chicken and it was cooked in a creamy sauce I think tomatoes and yogurt gravy oh my goodness it was just lovely. Another dish with the Vandeloo spicy ham oh it had curry and rice coconut finish we got every one of these in spicy because we love the hot spices. She cut me a meal we got the garlic naan bread with cilantro and then again we got one of my daughters favorites which was the tomato rice basmati rice was flavored very well and was also excellent. If I could give Michelin ratings this would be one that I would write about and give stars to. I know Main‘s to we finish all of this meal. So of course we took home leftovers for later. And I said a touch the meal was a wonderful little ice cream dessert with that little round cake tasted like it had been soaked in honey. Which only complemented the mail more. Thank you for a Memorable meal and...