Surya on Bleeker St in downtown Manhattan belongs in the category of impostors that cast a dark stain on the reputation of fine Indian cuisine.While Surya lays claims to offering Indian cuisine, its place belongs in the dungeons of Indian restaurant wannabes. Our lunch at Surya the other day was a series of unrelenting assaults on the tastebuds. A fixture at virtually every Indian restaurant in New York City, Chicken Tikka Masala shouldn't be hard to master. But not so apparently for Surya's kitchen. Hopelessly bland in taste, Surya's Chicken Tikka Masala was a travesty of the real thing. The rubbery texture of the Lamb Curry left us in high dudgeon. Tandoori Chicken had a forlorn look and an equally hopeless taste.Since the regular Naan bread was unedible, we ordered Garlic Naan. They were not bad. Surya is an equal opportunity offender to the tastebuds. Vegetarian or non-vegetarian, the so-called Indian food at Surya gets the same shoddy treatment. Even desserts are not spared. Sag Channa was a bland mess while the Alu Baingan tasted sour. The flavorless Dal Makhani and Mushroom Alu Mutter didn't do much to improve our mood. With all hope turning into despair, we now turned our attention to dessert only to encounter further misery. Besides lacking the mango flavor, the Mango Halwa ($5.00) was also lacking in sugar. We found the Vermicelli Payasam so sweetless that we wondered if it was directed at diabetics.
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