I was really excited when we got to go to Saar Indian Bistro Midtown Manhattan: this place is one of the many restaurants of Chef Hemant Mathur who I met few times in the various places he opened in the city, some of them unfortunately closing such as Haldi. This Michelin starred Chef knows how to give a modern twist to Indian cuisine and eating his food is always a festival of flavors. We started our meal with some snacks and a mango lassi that is my go to drink when eating Indian food: nicely sweet, it is a good way to cool your mouth when on fire…
The first appetizer was the paneer fingers made with chickpea flour and served with a pickle aioli. You need to like chickpea as the batter had that taste and if you do, you will love it: crispy and not greasy, quite comforting.
The second one was the cauliflower latkes that was topped with a cranberry chutney. This was like an homage to jewish deli with their potato latkes, and I love the twist Chef Mother gave to this dish, adding Indian flavor to it.
For the entrees, Jodi settled for some sides: dal makhni (delightfully creamy) and saag paneer made with spinach and Indian cheese. I admit that the latter is not my favorite dish, as I am not a big fan of spinach, but the dal was fantastic, perfect with some butter nan.
I also tried their Saar lamb kebab that was succulent: if you love lamb and do not mind spices, I highly recommend it.
Last was dessert. They definitely have interesting options and although I was disappointed not to see my favorite Indian dessert, the gulab jamun, I was thrilled to try their shahi tukra or Emperor’s morsel, a crispy brioche smothered by a reduced milk cream and almonds. Very good and not too sweet, it had something comforting.
After such a meal, we were glad to have a little walk and were delighted to have dined at Saar Indian Bistro: Chef Mathur never disappoints for sure!
Enjoy (I really did)!
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Saar Indian Bistro - 241 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019