Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, I was not obliged to post and the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

I was recently invited at Brick Lane in Jersey City, not to try their phaal, but to try their buffet. If you do not know what the phaal is, you are missing out on the spiciest curry in the world. Made with Carolina reaper, ghost pepper and habenero, among seven different kinds of chili, whomever prepares it needs to wear a gas mask because of the fumes that would burn your eyes as this dish is made. Only few people are able to eat it, approximately 5%, after signing a release, and, if you do within 30 minutes, you get a free beer and your name on the “Phall of fame”, with a certificate. I admit that I only tried a side of it, a very little taste: at first, it was fine, and then, it hit me…and hard! My mouth was on fire and it took quite a lot of mango lassi and naan to tame that heat. But I was not going back for the phaal, but to try their buffet that they serve on weekends from 12pm to 4pm. I love buffets because they offer a unique opportunity to try several dishes and I was not disappointed: the buffet at Brick Lane is a great deal.

For $26, you get several appetizers, a mix of entrees, vegetarian and non-vegetarian, a selection of breads and a plethora of desserts that you can eat with chai, coffee or regular tea. Let’s start with the appetizers: my favorite is their dahi puri, an Indian snack that originates from the city of Mumbai, that are mini-shells filled with potato, tamarind, and yogurt among other things. Sweet and savory, crispy on the outside, it is packed with flavors. A must have that they make to order, so you do not have to wonder how to make them. As expected, they had samosa, but smaller ones, as well as desi fried chicken and Tawa aloo or potato fry that were quite good, getting some crispiness from the hot dish they were served on. My least favorite was the fried fish (Tawa fish fry) that had a fishy taste I did not like.

For the entrees, they have a nice selection of vegetarian dishes. I loved the maa ki dahl, and the Baingan Bharta that is like an eggplant mash from North India. This dish definitely has some heat and I appreciated some of the rice they had, my favorite being the saffron rice or zafrani pulao, or some of the breads. I should talk about these breads: usually, when you go to an Indian buffet, they only propose naan. At Brick Lane, they had butter naan, garlic naan and a delicious paratha that was nicely crispy. Their naan was superb: fluffy with a nice char, I could not stop eating it with the butter chicken that was definitely on my list of dishes to try. I admit that I would have preferred smaller pieces of chicken, but their creamy sauce was so good, that was my favorite entree, over the chicken curry and Rajasthani Laal Maas (mutton curry) that were also good, but had too many bones.

With my meal, I had a mango lassi that was well made and was great to counter any heat from some of the dishes, and finished with a chai that was perfect on a cold day, and to go with the many desserts we tried. Another difference with Brick Lane is the amount of desserts in their buffet, with not all of them classic Indian, like the chocolate cake or apple pie, but with a nice selection of traditional ones like gulab jamun that are some of my my favorite, or Gajar halwa that is a carrot pudding surprisingly good (I do not like carrot cake, but always loved this dessert). Less known is the Sevaiyan kheer that is similar to rice pudding, but with rice replaced with vermicelli. If you never had it, I recommend you try: it is delightfully sweet, but not as much as the gulab jamun.

We left full and glad we had a walk after such a meal. The food at Brick Lane is delicious and the buffet is a nice addition, allowing to try many dishes from various regions of India. And for $26, this is a very good deal! Sadly, their location in New York just closed, but know that their outpost in Jersey City is easily accessible as few steps from the Grove Street path station.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Brick Lane - 136 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07302

Buffet at Brick Lane, house of the spiciest curry in the world

I Just Want To Eat!