Hungry Bird

When you look at your menu, you won’t even know where to begin.  I mean it’s huge.  Not including the lunch boxes to go, there are 118 items to choose from whether it’s an appetizer or entree. There’s something for everyone and if you live or work in Melrose and the South Bronx, you know that vegetarian options are a hard find being surrounded with so many fried chicken joints, African restaurants, and Latin American cuisine — and forget about vegan.  Hungry Bird has filled that void with a plethora of selections for the vegetarian and vegan lovers out there.

We started out by ordering the Family Bread Basket which came with four different naan breads — plain, cheese, garlic, and a decadent coconut naan known as Peshwari.  Each naan was cut up into four very sizable pieces and accompanied by 3 dipping sauces:  Onion Chutney, Tamarind, and a spicy Green.

Drinking our thick mango lassis and noshing on the naan, we continued to pour over the menu wondering what to choose. With so many choices we didn’t even know where to begin so we did the next best thing and focused on appetizers.

The vegetable samosas and the aloo papri (a mix of potatoes, chickpeas, yogurt, tamarind, and mint) were delicious, although we weren’t aware that aloo papri is a cold dish but still we ate it anyway and it was quite tasty.

You would think that all of this was enough (and believe me it definitely was) but we wanted more and that’s when our entrees arrived.  I had the lamb biryani (biryani is a basmati rice dish with vegetables and traditional spices) , my friend had the vegetable one and our other friend ordered the vegetarian aloo gobi, a dish made with potatoes, cauliflower in cumin and other spices with green peas.

None of the dishes we had were disappointing and needless to say, we couldn’t eat everything so a doggy bag was in order to take home the leftovers (we weren’t letting anything go to waste).

Our hosts insisted that we try one of their deserts so we had the gulab jamun which is basically a fried ball of dough dipped in a sugary clear syrup and it was the perfect way this food-fest.

There is no doubt in my mind or my friends that we’re going back (in fact, this was my second time eating there already) and bonus:  They deliver within a 2 mile radius and go as far South as Bruckner Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue in Port Morris and delivery is free.

I would definitely recommend a trip to the spot since the service is very good and makes you feel like you’re being served straight from someone’s home kitchen.  The owners and staff are super friendly and patiently explained some of the dishes we weren’t familiar with.  Each time they came out with food they carefully explained what we were getting (Indian food can be overwhelming for those not familiar so this is definitely a bonus for eating in).