Downtown Lunch: Indian Food Festival

Imagine my surprise this morning when I was reading my normal sites through my RSS and came across an Indian street festival near me!  Well, of course I had to go check it out.  A big thanks to Zach of Midtown Lunch for putting the word out!!!

I snagged my coworker – a replacement food buddy, if you will, for the irreplaceable Orzo – hmm, what shall I call him?  How about – Linguine – ok – and off we went for his inaugural eating expedition avec moi. 

Unfortunately, though it was a two whole blocks long, there were way more clothing/accessory/music/etc. booths than food booths, and only a small portion of the food booths were even Indian food (you had your standard fruit booth, gyros – 2 or 3 of these, actually – and a zeppole booth, arepas, at least two booths, falafels, event, and an Egyptian food booth whose sign looked interesting but they were serving macaroni & cheese!!!, and a Brooklyn Soul Food booth that I was tempted except I went over and discovered all they were serving was fried chicken wings and creamed collard greens…). 

So, I went with the booth associated with the restaurant I’ve actually been to before – Brick Lane Curry House!  Home of the hottest curry in the city; it’s so hot that you have to state a verbal disclaimer that you won’t hold the restaurant liable in the event you burn your face off, and for finishing the whole dish, you receive a free beer.  I’ve actually witnessed someone eating the whole dish like it was nothing; he said it was just very vinegary and it disappointed him.  I’m too wussy and didn’t try any. 

Here’s a shot of the offerings – paneer masala closest to us, and the next one, chicken tikka masala, then rice, veggie samosas, and tandoori chicken.  There’s Linguine, jumping straight into a photo his first day out – rookie! leaning over so the guy can hear him (there was Indian music playing loudly at the booth directly across from this one). 

I followed suit and ordered the chicken tikka masala, despite not really liking masala usually.  Once I’d moved up in line, though, and saw how juicy and moist the tandoori chicken looked, I had to order that!  Unfortunately, I asked for a small, and got this:

Two pieces of chicken and loads of rice.  Each container cost $5, so my lunch was $10 total.  Not bad, but way too much food for me!  I wound up dumping most of the rice and just eating all of the chicken. 

As for the flavor?  Oddly enough, I found the thinner parts of the tandoori chicken to be bursting with flavor and super juicy; the thicker parts were a little dryer, even though it’s usually the other way around.  Delcious none the less, and a tang of spiciness ran through the meat.  I would expect nothing less from the home of the spiciest curry in the city, though admittedly I’m a complete wuss when it comes to spicy, so perhaps it wasn’t spicy at all.

I’d asked the guy if the tikka masala was spicy, but he said no, and he LIED!  I was surprised at the slow burn on my tongue; not entirely unpleasant, just unexpected because, as I said, I’m a total spice wuss.  Still tasty though and the rice easily calmed my tongue a bit.

In any case, the festival ends at 6 pm, so if you’re reading this and are still in the area, head down and check it out!  I heard the lines were crazy earlier, but Financial District after 5 on a summer Friday should be absolutely dead.

Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone!!! 

Before I forget, I will be emailing the winners of the PUMP Energy Food contest tonight, so look for it to see if you’re the lucky winner!!!  Also, check back on Monday for my next contest!!!