by Dorothy Cascerceri
I wanted to try an Indian restaurant for a change of pace.
So I asked my friend, who has serious stomach issues, to come with me to Pongal on First avenue between 63rd and 64th streets.
Bad idea ... for her at least with the wide variety of spicy foods.
The menu was hard to decipher, which didn’t matter to me since I normally eat anything put in front of me (with the exception of mussels).
But once she carefully studied it, ordered, and the food came, she was able to find a few things she liked.
The Utthappam (traditional pancake made from rice and flour) was one of our favorites, thanks to the sweet coconut chutney that came along with it and the sambar (spicy Indian soup). Also noteworthy was the spinach pakoda appetizer and the dosai, which were like crepes made from lentils.
The dosai were a bit dry for my friend who avoided the sambar at all costs because of how spicy it was. But for me they were perfectly tasty once dipped in the sambar.
And from the bread menu, try the Alu Paratha, which is delicious flat bread (almost like funnel cake) with mashed potatoes (more like breakfast hashbrowns). I was skeptical of the Alu Paratha at first. It was really only ordered to the table because my friend was so afraid it would be the only thing she could eat, and I ended up eating more of it than she did!
The interior has a modern, clean, crisp look to it, and the waiters are all extremely friendly. They are constantly smiling and watching their customers like hawks, though in an attentive, good way.
Pongal is not for the carb conscious. It’s vegetarian so there’s not much protein to be found on the menu.
But it’s reasonably priced and absolutely delicious for an authentic taste of India – an authentic meatless taste of India.
Read the next Uppereast.com review:Vespa
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