Indian Summer Harlem — Restaurant in New York

This was my first visit to Indian Summer Harlem. You start with a tall bottle of water (plain or sparkling). The plain is served at room temperature. I also ordered lychee juice. I am used to lychee being sweet and slightly tangy, but it was bland. The waitress brought me sugar packets. Two Splendas perfected the flavor for me. The juice was served near room temperature. I didn’t mention it, but next time I’ll ask for ice. I don't like lukewarm juice.

I ordered the Ginger Mango Shrimp appetizer in a creamy garlic sauce. The color appears to come from the mango, which adds a delightful sweetness that partners well with the spicy sweet taste of the finally minced garlic. The garlic pieces were the perfect size to add flavor and texture to the sauce. Tasty shredded coconut flakes were sprinkled around the dish. There was also coconut milk in the sauce. The mango, coconut milk, and garlic married very well together to create an absolutely decadent dish. The only thing missing is a spoon, because you’ll want to pick up every last drop of that sauce.

They do need to do a more thorough job of cleaning the shrimp. The tail should be there, but there were some minor tiny pieces that were inedible. However, that is negligible compared to the powerful punch of flavor you get from this dish. You CANNOT visit this restaurant and not order this appetizer (unless you're allergic). My entrée came with bowls of rice, chicken tikka masala, and garlic naan. The rice was sprinkled with paprika and finely minced parsley or cilantro. The rice was bland, which is normal with Indian food because the entrée sauce provides all of the flavoring.

The garlic naan was garlic forward and cooked to perfection. The outer edges were browned and crispy while the inside was fluffy and light. Naan is pull apart bread - no knife and fork needed.

The garlic naan was also bland. Again, sauce from the entrée normally provides the flavoring. The naan was noticeably oily - more than I’ve ever seen before. However, it was still edible and did not feel greasy.

The tikka masala sauce provided a nice punch of flavor necessary for the rice and naan. The sauce was decadent. It was sweet, spicy, tangy, and sprinkled with basil. It was spicy as Indian food usually is, but not overpowering. The chicken pieces were tender and flaked apart easily. It was perfectly cooked.

My main issue with the entrée was there was not nearly enough tikka masala sauce. You HAVE to spread sauce on the rice and dip the naan in the sauce for flavor, so the sauce ran out quickly. I still had a third of the chicken left when the sauce ran out. I asked for more, which I had to pay for. However, it did let me finish the dish with flavor. When I finished, I still had bread and three pieces of chicken, but no rice. For me, they could have kept out five or six pieces of chicken and replaced it with more tikka masala sauce to flavor the full meal.

I spoke to the waitress about the rice and naan. She said salt is not normally added to these items, but she would have given me salt if I desired. I never salt rice after it's been cooked. It ruins the natural flavor. Adding a dash of salt to the rice water at the start of cooking would have be nice. I would never eat this rice by itself.

Overall, Indian Summer Harlem is a delightful find. It is a pleasant sit down restaurant in an area full of fast food places. It is just off the beaten path, so fairly quiet considering its location. It is relaxing, the service is exceptional, and the food is tasty and filling. I don't think Indian Summer has an equal in the area for Indian cuisine.

I'm giving it a four because there was a little something wrong with everything, even though everything was edible, cooked very well, and mostly adjustable to personal tastes. If I only ordered the Ginger Mango Shrimp, it would have been a...

If you want inauthentic indian food and a Restaurant that tries to cut corners to save costs then this is your place. We had a terrible experience at this restuarant. First of all when i ordered coca cola they brought it out in a wine class with probably 25% coke and 80% ice. I asked them for a can of coke and they said “sorry we dont serve cans” then they were reluctant to give me a glass of coke without ice. Eventually they took it back and we saw one of the servers remove the ice from the glass with a spoon one at a time ::gross:: Now lets get to their food— they basically cook the curry sauces and meat for all the dishes individually & then i guess whenver they receive an order from a customer they’ll just mix the protein with the sauce. If you cut meat with a knife you’ll see theres zero flavor penetration from the sauce. In real curries you gotta let the meat simmer in the sauce. However, in this restaurant theres just flavorless chunks of meat floating around some terribly bland sauce. Not sure how they have such high ratings but as you can see its mostly from non-indians who are not familiar with authentic south...

This was our first day in NYC, and after flight and too much of public transportation which New York is famous for (yes we are lazy here in LA driving cars all the time), we decided to search for an Indian food place. As huge fans of Indian food, that would have been very interesting to compare. What can I say - after Indian Summer, it feels like all the Indian food that we ate before, on the West Coast, is a knock off!

Mohammad and his team were accommodating, super friendly and polite, the portions size is just right, and the taste - it's not just tasty food. It's magically delicious food. MAGICALLY! The duck breast was cooked to perfection - crispy, but juicy. While there are lots of places that offer baked duck, very few of them do it right, and this is the best for sure. Try it yourself nd thank me later. Lamb tikka masala, naan, and the special Indian tea with milk - all is great! We will definitely come again when back to...