Indian Summer (***)
239 Lenox Ave New York, NY 10027 (Harlem)
Holey Moley. I realized that I have not made a Food Pic(s) of the Week (FPOTW) since April 1st!!! While I have not been posting on this topic, my expanding waistline and belly definitely confirm that I have been eating.
The other day I walked about 1.5 blocks to the nearest Indian restaurant. Back when I arrived to NYC in 2002, Indian food used to be one of my favorite cuisines. Come to think of it, I do not think that I ever had Indian food before moving to NYC. In those days, I probably had Indian food 5-10 times a month. During my grad school years, my lab and housing were located in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan. For folks in the know, Murray Hill used to be known as Curry Hill because of the significant number of Indian restaurants in the area. In fact, my main go-to spot (primarily because of the really cheap lunch specials) was called Curry in a Hurry. I wonder if it is still around. HA! According to Yelp (link: ***), it’s still in existence. Perhaps, I should take a trip to my old stomping grounds.
Ok, back to the topic at hand. Since my mind was all over the place, I decided to go with the:
Indian Summer Mix Grill
Since I was trying to be somewhat health-conscious, I decided to go with a Tandori-style meal. Because I love the eclectic mix of spices and sauces, I tend to go for more of the heavy creamy-based Indian dishes. While I like Tandori dishes, I feel like they miss the mark in terms of spices and general feel-goodness (yeah, I think that I made up the last word). Overall, my dish was very delicious as always is the case with Indian Summer. Since the dish came with pieces of chicken, lamb, shrimp, and salmon, it definitely kept me full for the rest of the evening. Actually, I did consider doing portion control by eating half of the dish and taking the other half home, but my greediness prevented that. Ugh, going forward, I have to start remembering to ask for a takeout container immediately after placing my order.
Weird thing: Although I have not been to Indian Summer for at least five months, the co-owner/hostess remembered me. Hopefully, my last impression was a good one.