Indian Table — Restaurant in New York

tl;dr - Not worth another visit due to obscenely slow service, poor menu communication, and overpriced food

Food ordered - 2 appetizers (Samosas and Kolmi No Patio shrimp), 4 mains (Chicken Tikka Masala, Mutton Dhansak, Kalchi Kodi fish curry, and chicken biryani), 3 sides (chickpeas, garlic naan, regular naan), and 1 dessert (Lagan Nu Custard)

Cocktails ordered - 1 Bollywood Masala Punch and 2 Chhato Pani

Food - 2.5 out of 5 Drinks - 4 out of 5 Service - 1 out of 5 Ambiance - 2 out of 5

Full review - The restaurant was completely packed when our group of four arrived for a 7pm reservation. There appeared to be a full waitstaff working, as well as a dedicated host and bartender. We were promptly seated and served water. However, it quickly went downhill from there. It took 10 minutes for a waitress to acknowledge that we were ready to order. We finally placed our full order of drinks and food, and received our drinks within the next 10 minutes. The drinks were beautifully presented and tasted delicious. They were definitely a good value. Drinks were a 4 out of 5.

It then took 40 minutes for our appetizers to come out. There were two samosas and two pieces of shrimp for each of the appetizers. We would have appreciated being told this when ordering so each person could have their own piece of appetizer. Instead, we each ate half of a samosa and a half inch piece of shrimp (not even kidding...). The samosa was good, but the shrimp portion was too small to rate. I would give the appetizers a 2.5 out of 5.

15 minutes later, we received three out of the four mains and the sides. They forgot to put in an order of the Mutton Dhansak, so we had to wait a little longer for that to come out. The portion sizes were decent and all mains came with rice, but the food quality was lacking a bit. The Mutton was essentially all fat. The Chicken Tikka Masala was fine, but not worth $24. The fish curry had an okay broth, but the actual piece of fish completely lacked flavor. The biryani was easily the best dish on the table, with excellent flavors and tender pieces of chicken. The sides / Naan bread were nothing special. Overall, we all agreed that the mains were filling but not anything to write home about. They all seemed grossly overpriced in the mid to high $20s, when you can get arguably better Indian entrees at nearby restaurants in the $15-20 price point. I would give the mains a 2 out of 5.

When we finished eating, we continued to wait and wait for a waiter or waitress to come over to finish the dinner service and offer our dessert. However, after another five minutes of waiting, we gave up. Given that we had now been at the restaurant for two hours, we walked over to a waiter and asked for the check. Another 5 minutes go by, no check. We then call a different waitress to our table and ask again for the check. Finally, we received our check, with absolutely no recognition for our dessert never arriving. We decided against disputing the dessert remaining on our check because we didn't know how much longer it would take.

Overall, this was a major disappointment given the chef's strong background (worked at Tamarind and has a few Michelin stars in his back pocket) and generally good reviews. Hopefully this was a one-off situation with a new staff working, as it does not sound indicative of the...

Indian Table is a Goan restaurant, imagine Indian food with Portuguese influences.

Overall was a decent experience, we grabbed the restaurant week menu to try the highlighted Goan dishes. For appetizers, we got turnovers and fish croquettes. For our entrees we grabbed the fish curry and the beef entree. We tried both of the available desserts: ice cream and the tart.

Appetizers were great! Both were nice and crispy and full of creamy flavor. Though, If you told me the croquettes had cod I wouldn't be able to tell. The turnovers had very little shrimp also but tasted good.

I overall liked the beef entree, it came with lots of food and overall it was an interesting experience. The food definitely is different, the spices of this Cuisine are very intense and might be much for most people. It's very spicy overall so be warned if you have heartburn. I liked the beef in the curry it's like a brisket and also is very intensely flavored, definitely pairs well with the red rice which had very little flavor (thought it would some kind of seasoning).

The curry fish dish was less impressive as the mackerel fish has lots of tiny bones you need to pick out which makes you nibble on it super slowly to avoid choking. The curried mackerel is pretty fishy which I personally strongly dislike (I'm extremely picky about my fish, the curry isn't strong enough to cover that up). The other dried fish (not sure what it was) tasted a lot better but also had lots of little bones. Again not really my thing. I did really enjoy the clams though, it was nice, savory with a rich creamy curry flavor and texture.

On the other hand, the dessert was not bad! The apple ice cream though small, was very flavorful and spicy, never had anything quite like it. The Portuguese egg tart was like a nicer version of the ones you can get at certain Chinese bakeries. I liked that one too as I love those.

My only nitpicks were that the servers seem to be very inattentive to us. We often had to wave them down to even serve us. Also, when we left they didn't say anything like a good bye or asked if we enjoyed it. There were also a lot of flies in the restaurant which is not something you'd expect at a slightly nicer place at this price point. Definitely needs improvements on these aspects.

All in all, it was nice and interesting to try. Personally, the food is probably too intense for me and the person I went with, but I'm glad I tried it out if only to cross it...

Here are my specific comments: 1. Kalchi Kodi: The dish was swimming in oil to the point where the delicate flavors were completely overwhelmed. Good fish curry should have a balanced sauce that complements rather than drowns the fish. 2. Paneer Kundan Kalia: The paneer appeared to have been excessively fried, resulting in a tough exterior rather than the soft, pillowy texture that quality paneer should have. Additionally, the sweetness level was inappropriate for this traditionally savory dish, suggesting a fundamental misunderstanding of the flavor profile. 3. Parathas: All varieties arrived burnt, with distinct scorch marks and an unmistakably rancid taste that suggested the use of old oil or ghee. Properly made parathas should be evenly cooked with a pleasant aroma. Biryani: Both the Goat Biryani and Jackfruit Biryani were excessively slathered with spices, particularly the overwhelming presence of Kashmiri chilies and other added colors. While Kashmiri chilies can add beautiful color and mild heat, their overuse in this preparation obliterated any nuance or aromatic qualities that make a good biryani distinctive. Jackfruit doesn't need to be dipped in spices to be flavorful - its natural taste can be enhanced with proper,...