Junoon
September 10, 2012 by Feisty Foodie
Filed under Around NYC, Asia, By Name, Chelsea, Cuisine, Indian, Manhattan, Restaurants
Many months ago (sometime in May), I was chatting with my friend Cookie. I mentioned to her my experience with gDine, and she checked out the website. When she saw Junoon on the list, she got super excited; Junoon is the only Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in NYC, and she’d wanted to try it for a while. At $49 for a 3-course menu, she immediately snapped up a reservation for two (noting her dietary restrictions), and insisted I go as her guest. You don’t have to twist my arm – especially when, just a week or so earlier, we’d gone to ilili together and had a fabulous time.
We explained our dietary restrictions to our server, who actually took the time to go through the entire menu with us, item by item. Cookie is a gluten-free pescetarian, while I’m allergic to coconut (and that shows up frequently in Indian cooking), so it was greatly appreciated. It’s been many months, so I’m not entirely sure of the full contents of each dish… I do know this was a pakora, and we were informed that only I could eat this. Light, crunchy, chewy, delicious – I greatly enjoyed both bites.
For her first course, Cookie enjoyed the piri piri shrimp a lot.
My starter of murg tikka was super tender and delicious, though huge for a starter. I greatly enjoyed how juicy each piece of chicken was, and the flavors were absolutely spot on for something I enjoy… I wound up taking half of this home.
For Cookie’s main dish, a fish dish that I didn’t try, though I know she thought it was wonderful.
Our server also brought out a side of… it wasn’t naan, but a special type of ‘bread’ made with chickpea flour. He explained that it’s normally made with half chickpea flour and half whole wheat, but as she is gluten-sensitive, they’d made it entirely with chickpea flour. Cookie enjoyed it a lot.
Though I normally avoid ordering the same protein throughout a meal, I truly love korma, and only chicken korma was available that night. I didn’t regret this decision at all: again, juicy, tender chicken, with a creamy almond sauce that was absolutely glorious – especially when mixed with the delicious basmati rice. Again, it was a huge portion and I took some home.
My naan – fabulous swiped through that almond cream sauce.
And of course a photo of my rice and chicken korma. So good… I wouldn’t mind having some right now 
When dessert rolled around, Cookie opted for the kulfi trio. I believe the flavors were cardamom, mango, and … hmm… not sure. It’s been too long, I’m sorry. But the mango was definitely my favorite! Cookie liked all of it.
Surprisingly, I opted for a fruit based dessert… probably because of the caramel. I wasn’t too enamored of it – but I was also super stuffed at this point and ready to just roll home. (We didn’t, though; our night continued for a bit!)
Our service was absolutely fabulous once again, and our food was fantastic. Cookie and I thoroughly enjoyed our entire meal – from start to finish, we were completely taken care of, and the food was great.
Yvo says: There are several prix fixe menu options in addition to the gDine deal – I highly recommend you check them all out before making a decision. The food is lovely, the space is huge, and the service is wonderful. Definitely check it out if you can!
recommended
NIIIIICEEEE!
This looks great. I may have to nudge my parents into coming here…
Also, ilili was quite baller. Would go again.
Glad you liked ilili too! I love that place. It’s so good, not that expensive, great atmosphere and fantastic service. Just all around tops.
Let me know what you think of Junoon if/when you get there!
It’s great to finally see new posts on the site. Didn’t want to speak too soon, but it seems like they’re going to continue?
Hi Sherm! Not sure you saw my post “The Way We Were” – I definitely intend to continue! The site has been experiencing outages due to my extremely horrible web host (I am firing them as soon as I can figure out how to migrate the entire site with as little disruption as possible), but outside of that, expect to see updates regularly. Not daily like before, but definitely regularly
Thanks for your patience!
I did see “The Way We Were” but I wasn’t entirely sure about the direction you planned to go, etc. Is it just you solo now, no TT and the gang?
It is just me, yes. The direction is still a bit of a question mark… probably a mix of everything from before and some new stuff too
Wow, gracias, hav to go as it is within my area! menu sounds like a kaboomie of a winner!
It totally is – this place is great!
The service and the accomodation for a gluten free pescatarian are beyond the pale. WOW. I am impressed and a wee bit envious.
I have close friends who are gluten free and I would love to take them to a place that takes the time and makes bread especially for them. That was so sweet! Especially when naan [or naan type bread] is so dang yummy.
I haven’t been around so I didn’t realize you hadn’t either. heehee But glad you are still here. I think of you every night when we watch baseball. Honest! [and that isn't gloating, I promise. I just wish we could get to a game together.]
This and ilili both accommodated us so well that I can’t stop raving about the excellent service. Food was great at both places but excellent service really brings it to another level, you know?
Ha, I’m onto football already. BTW, are you near Roanoake at all? Have a very good friend out there for work right now and he’s in desperate need of good food
I found out not too long ago that chickpea/gram/garam flour is very popular in Indian cuisine. I found out my snooping around my in laws’ kitchen. Hahahaha!
Also, that last kulfi is probably pistachio since it’s the most traditional. My FIL makes them from scratch.
Anyway, this place looks really good and am glad that you received that type of service. Fantastic! I haven’t gone yet though because I find the menu pricey.
That sounds right – pistachio. Thanks! Ooh, from-scratch kulfi. I bet that’s awesome!
The menu is a bit pricey, but the gDine menu is pretty reasonable. I’m not always into ‘fancy’/expensive Indian because there’s so much very good, very inexpensive Indian food in the East Village, but sometimes it’s sooo worth it. This was one of those cases. If you look at the gDine menu, though, the options have changed, so do take a careful look before assuming everything I ordered is available! (This part of the comment goes for everyone who comes by here!)
My wife was almost full after the starter. 9 out of ten.
Nice!