I'm always skeptical about the authenticity of ethnic restaurants in touristy areas. Given that New Delhi Indian Restaurant is just 1 block from the Union Square madness means it's a pretty big red flag for me. However, I was recently here on a business dinner with some out of town co-workers who love Indian food, and the restaurant didn't disappoint. Most of the dishes ordered seemed to be very flavorful and had spice (usually restaurants wimp out on the spice because they think people can't handle it). That was a refreshing surprise!
We ordered the mixed vegetable pakoras, papadum, and samosas as appetizers. All were solid, and a really great way to begin an Indian meal. For the main dish, I chose to go with one of the Ranjan's Specials, namely the spicy madras tamarind chicken. Being a huge fan of tamarind and never seeing such a dish on a standard menu at Indian restaurants, this was a no brainer! It was delicious!! More on the sweet side than the tangy side, so it was an explosion of flavor for the taste buds. Loved every bite of it. The others ordered a variety of chicken, lamb, and seafood curries, as well.
What I noticed was that the restaurant does not cheap out on the quantity of meat in curries. Usually you go to an Indian restaurant and they've got about 4 pieces of meat incorporated into a whole dish of curry and charge you about $12 or so for it. The dishes here were averaging about $15, but the amount of meat in the curries was fantastic! None of us finished any of the curries, because everything was so plentiful!
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