Brick Lane

Brick Lane Curryhouse
306-308 E 6th St
(212) 979-8787

Decided to try another Curry house on 6th St, hey why not. Again, we miss our curries from (no, not India itself) England. In London Brick Lane is famous for it's long row of curry houses, with everyone standing outside trying to entice people in to their particular restaurants. They keep adding more and more free "extras" to see if you'll bite... I was once out there for a girls dinner with about 9 or 10 girls, and wow was there a bidding war to see which restaurant would get to serve us... we ended up going to the one that offered 5 (yes 5!) free bottles of wine...

So anyway when we saw the restaurant aptly named "Brick Lane" on NYC's own curry-row, and it looked stylish, menu looked good, seemed to get good reviews, we decided we should check it out. We met up with some friends we went to school with in England, and the 5 of us took the round table by the window. On a weekday the place was empty, no trouble at all though we did make a reservation just in case. We had met the creator of Cobra beer during grad school, and some classmates even worked on a project for the company, so we've all become fans needless to say. I think they gave us all free beer at one point... but apparently they can't use the name "Cobra" beer in the US, so it's called "Krait" instead, which sounds a bit strange if you ask me. But hey we drank it anyway.

Great thing about 5 people is the potential of sharing curries. So we got 5 different options and shared, and overall they were very good curries.... chicken bhuna, lamb balti, chicken korma, saag, and chicken tikka masala (all were good, I think Bhuna was my fav!). Plenty of naan to go round, and some onion bhaji and samosas. Recommended!

Curry kicks

Angon on the Sixth
East Village
320 E 6th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 260-8229

After living in England for nearly four years, you develop a keen taste for Indian curry. In England, curry houses are everywhere, and even run-of-the-mill pubs serve Indian or Thai curry. So yum. I don't think I'd had a proper curry until I moved across the pond, as my Indian house-mate in college tried only once, and not very successfully, to cook for us, somewhat disastrous. Now that I discovered that Indian curries are also about flavor, not JUST spice, well needless to say I became addicted. So many great places in London, one of my favorites was right around the corner from my last flat in Little Venice, Akash, on Edgeware Road, tiny little place with divine curries. Then there was the place we rode our bikes to in Cambridge.... sigh, memories. But that is all besides the point!

So my husband and I decided to re-live our UK fondness for curry and try out one of the many curry houses in the East Village. With so many to choose from, we took a page out of the Shecky's Best of NYC book (literally) and followed it to their vote for best Indian on "curry row", Angon on the 6th, on 6th St of course. We passed many other contenders, including a modern-looking place called Brick Lane, named after London's curry-row, with a great-looking menu (yup look for that one in future entries!).

We arrived at our destination and went down a short flight of stairs to the lower level restaurant. It was dimly lit with many hanging lanterns, candles and strings of lights which managed to distract you from the fact that they sure do cram a lot of restaurant-goers into a limited space! It was loud and busy, but fun and festive at the same time. Pappadoms came with the meal, the kind with pepper in them, and the various dipping sauces. I'm used to the thick mango chutney in London, which didn't seem to be an option, but the sauces were good. Indian beers were just right, Kingfisher for only about $4. The chicken curry and lamb bhuna were delicious, very reminiscent of our UK curries, with chunks of tomatoes, onions, and in the chicken curry potatoes as well. The basmati rice was great, with a sprinkling of caramelized onions on top. The bhuna was a bit thicker, and the sauce had great flavor. The naan bread was a highlight, so warm and buttery and soft; amazing and fresh. Great for dipping in the curries.
Service was slow at the end of the meal, it seemed no one wanted to bring us the check for ages, but we would go back for sure for some more de-lish curry!

Na zdrowie... Polish cheers from Teresa's

Teresa's
103 1st Ave,New York 10003
Btwn 6th & 7th St
(212)228-0604

My first pierogie ever! (Am I spelling that right??) Even with a Polish stepdad! Oh, yeah, and half-polish husband. Forgot that I now have a Polish last name... DEFINITELY about time I had a pierogie then!

We thought it'd be a good idea to take the parents out for a Polish culinary adventure, something you don't really find in their home in South Florida. Well they fell in love with Teresa's, another suggestion by the husband. We showed up for an early dinner and were seated immediately, though it filled up quickly thereafter. Simple decor, Teresa's does not try to be anything other than a good, traditional Polish restaurant (despite the trendy-appearance of their sign outside). We had the Polish beer they served, and started with potato pancakes and applesauce for the table. Very good, warm and crisp. I tried to eat SLIGHTLY lighter, got a salad with pear, arugula, and smoked turkey, which was good, though HUGE (it could have fed a family of 7).

The men got the "Polish platter", how could you not-- it featured, kielbasa, saurkraut, stuffed cabbage and potato pierogis. I'm not as into the kielbasa and all, but the saurkraut was excellent (much better than any saurkraut I've ever had). My mom's roast duck was caramelized with fruit and it was awesome. I was really impressed with my pierogies though! In addition to the mountain of salad, I got a selection of pierogies to try them out, boiled, with a side of onions, in flavors such as mushroom & saurkraut, cheese, potato, and meat. My fav was the potato, but they were all good. Now I feel like a real Polish wife! ;)