Indian Tanpura Weekend Lunch Special

This past week was the first week of classes, and let me tell you, PhD school is hard. As a result, my diet has consisted largely of protein bars, whatever I can graze from my kitchen, and some eating out. Since I have been such an irresponsible blogger, you might even get two posts today, but this one is about my surprisingly good lunch at Indian Tanpura on the Upper West Side.

My brother Patrick and I originally planned to go to Saigon Grill, a Vietnamese restaurant where he had eaten before with his girlfriend. They may have good food, but it turns out they don't have good labor practices. There was a picket outside, and it turns out there's an entire community organization focussed on trying to get them to change the way they treat their employees. They even lost a court case to former employees and were required to pay damages, which have apparently not been paid. You can learn more about the dispute here: http://sweatshopfreeny.tumblr.com/. Needless to say, we decided not to eat at Saigon Grill.

Instead, we walked a bit further down Amsterdam where we found a tiny Indian restaurant called Indian Tanpura at 564 Amsterdam Avenue between 87th and 88th Streets. It looked a bit pricy for lunch, but hey, it's Indian food, so we figured why not.

Indian Tanpura is located at 564 Amsterdam, between 87th and 88th Streets

Once inside, it turns out that Indian Tanpura has great, very affordable lunch specials 7 days a week. There were lots of vegetarian options including Aloo Saag (spinach and potato curry), Channa Saag (chickpea and spinach curry), Mixed Vegetable Curry (self-explanatory), and Mattar Aloo (pea and potato curry), all of which were $7.95. The various meat dishes included Chicken Curry, Beef and Vegetable Curry and Lamb with Spinach, and were all priced at $8.50. The lunch specials include rice, a salad dressed with lemon juice and spices, and a pakora, which was particularly exceptional. I don't typically like pakoras except in the sense that everybody loves fried dough, but this one was fragrantly spiced and really delicious.

Indian Tanpura doesn't deal in high end, gourmet Indian food. It tastes the way I imagine the food would taste if it was made in somebody's kitchen for a weekend lunch. In fact, I think that is approximately what you are eating. The place is tiny, and there was a bit of a wait for them to prepare the food, but it was seemingly very fresh.We ordered the mixed vegetable curry and the aloo saag (a curry made with spinach and potatoes), and neither was a disappointment. The spices are not quite as subtly balanced as in some higher end places you may have eaten, but the bold assertive flavors work, and take any pretension out of the food. While both dishes were good, I think that my aloo saag was particularly great. I asked for medium, and it was perfectly medium, just enough kick without overwhelming the flavor. The gravy was flavorful and warming, and the entire meal left me feeling full and comfy. Perfect for the end of a stressful week.

Patrick's mixed vegetable curry was more truly mixed vegetables than in many Indian restaurants I have tried. Often you get a somewhat disappointing mix of mostly carrots, peas and potatoes. This version included green beans, big pieces of carrot, potato, broccoli and tomato, for a really healthy mix!

Look at Patrick's face and decide for yourself how the vegetable curry was. ;-)

The service was also particularly nice. Admittedly, we were the only ones in the restaurant (we came a bit on the late side for lunch, but they serve the specials until 3:30), but the server, who seemed like he might also be running the place, was both friendly and attentive, without overdoing it. I asked, and at least he is from Bangladesh, not India. I wonder if some of the spice differences I noticed were regional, but don't know enough about regional variations in South Asian cuisine to comment for certain.

If you are around the Upper West Side, I recommend giving this little place a try. With the lunch special prices, we paid $10 each including the tax and tip, making this a tasty and affordable option. The dinner prices also seemed reasonable, given that it is Indian food, but were slightly more than what you would pay at lunch. If you're in that neighborhood, they also deliver.

Enjoy your meals!