Indian Accent
“- Tamarind sea bass (10/5): you can pick which main you receive for the tasting menu, and I got this while my boyfriend got the lamb.”
“Amazing amazing amazing Indian food
I am from Delhi and I am a big time foodie.”
“Chef Manish Mehrotra takes the best of Indian cuisine and makes it a notch better.”
Indian Accent
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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Delicious fancy Indian food, in a beautiful setting. A far cry from sitting in a backyard in the east village BYOBing – which is still my fave way to eat Indian food.
I dined with four average-sized NY people, and we found that four courses (plus a small, incredible mushroom dish) was WAY too much food. Next time, I will definitely get three courses, and add on the Papadam sampler, which looked totally awesome.
The highlights were the sea bass, the rib, the potato chaat, and (based on just tasting the sauce) the beef. Gimme that bone marrow curry recipe. Or just a bowl of the sauce. Also, the amuse was really great. Wish I had a plate of those little blue cheese naans right now.
I loved that they allowed picking and choosing from the different courses to create the meal you want. I hate when dessert is part of the limited number of courses, so I was thankful to avoid that here.
Cocktails were outstanding! The spicy one, and the bourbon one were my favorite, with the chai one coming in close.
Service was excellent! Our young server/NYU student was a lot of fun, and the taller, pony-tailed woman server was very friendly and helpful. That perfect balance of lively, laid-back fun you want on a night out, combined with the terrific attention to detail you'd expect at a finer dining establishment.
4.5 Stars. This place was great, I will be back!
Maybe I just need to get used to the idea that there can be such a thing as an upscale Indian restaurant solely with tasting menu and no shareable family style dishes.
Each dish was more sumptuous than the one before it. I suppose one star deduction is for extremely small portions that left me wanting more, based on the prices we paid. Otherwise, absolutely no qualms whatsoever. Every aspect of the experience is exactly what you would expect from a Michelin star worthy establishment.
Potato sphere chaat, duck chettinad and tamarind sea bass happened to be my selections, but judging from what my friends ordered, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Complimentary soup was a nice touch, though a bit too salty for my tastes. That was literally the only thing that was slightly off, as far as my tastes are concerned.
First off the service is impeccable, super friendly and accommodating without being overbearing. The food is certainly innovative, interesting, fresh and unbelievably tasty but the reason I held back a star is as good as it was, I'm not sure I'd rush back because of the non a la carte factor. Your only choices are 2,3 or 4 courses. The menu is a bit confusing because you can chose your courses from any of the different categories so I'm not sure why anyone would chose from the starters? The decor is understated elegance and very comfortable. There were 4 of us so we decided to each get the 2 courses and try all different dishes. You definitely won't find such innovative Indian cuisine anywhere in the city. Here were the highlights.
1. sweet potato shakarkandi, kohlrabi, crispy okra – this was outstanding, must order.
2. shiso leaf chaat, water chestnut – another winner
3. kolhapuri chicken, peanuts, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado – I'm a vegetarian so I can't really speak to this although the bite I took eating around the chicken was sublime.
4. tamarind sea bass, herb barley, spinach poriyal, kerala moile – although I thought the fish was a tad overcooked this dish was still outstanding.
5. silken tofu kofta, quinoa pulao, bottle gourd curry – I'm not a tofu fan but not only was this beautifully presented but the flavors were unbelievable.
6. paper roast dosa, wild mushrooms, black truffles, water chestnuts – if you like mushrooms, you'll love this.
I would like to give 5 stars to the Somm and the wine list, both are pretty much perfect. We started with a German Sekt that was exquisite followed by a light Austrian red that she recommended and they couldn't have been a better match, all at very reasonable prices.
In conclusion I would say you have to try Indian Accent because there's nothing like it and it's fantastic but I would reserve it more for a special occasion place than a Tuesday night out with your friends.
I recently had the opportunity to go to Indian Accent for dinner. My group had heard great things about the restaurant, so we were very excited to go.
The restaurant is under the Parker Meridien. The space itself is small but is a very beautiful environment. The decor is simple, with lots of white and neutrals. The service was also excellent — our waitress was very attentive, with lots of suggestions on dishes. The other staff were prompt in filling our waters and other drinks as well.
Our dining party opted for the four course. The chef's tasting did look good but required the participation of the whole table. The menu is set up with "first, second, third, fourth" options, but in choosing courses, you are able to choose from any section of the menu. I really liked this aspect of the menu.
The meal started with two amuse bouche offerings — a pumpkin soup and naan stuffed with blue cheese. Despite not really liking blue cheese, I really enjoyed both.
I tried the following dishes:
Shiso leaf chaat, water chestnuts (3.5/5): Interesting take on chaat, with a nice combination of crispy and soft textures.
Soft paneer, crispy quinoa, ramps (3/5): I was really excited to try this, but it was a pretty average paneer dish. The paneer, while a nice consistency, was not spicy enough for my taste.
Soy keema, quail egg, lime leaf butter pao (4.5/5): Hands down my favorite dish of the meal. The soy was made into a consistency similar to that of ground beef, and it was very well spiced and flavorful. If going to Indian Accent, I would consider this a must order for me.
Paper roast dosa, mushrooms, water chestnuts (4/5): A really nice take on dosa. The dosa itself was very crispy, which I like a lot, and the filling was good as well. I wish it had been a bit spicier, but overall quite good.
Silken tofu, quinoa pulao, bottle gourd curry (3/5): An okay tofu dish with quinoa. Like several other things in the meal, it wasn't spicy enough.
Tamarind sea bass, herb barley, spinach piroyal, kerala moilee (3.5/5): Decent sea bass. I enjoyed the interesting mix of flavors and the addition of the barley. The bass itself was really nice quality, but it was a bit dry.
Makhan malai, saffron milk, rose petal jaggery brittle, almonds (2.5/5): An airy, silky, mousse-like dessert made from milk cream and topped with sugar and almond pieces. This dessert was just okay — it was the one I ordered, and it was definitely not my favorite.
Kesri mango, almond shrikhand (3.5/5): Our waitress was very insistent about our trying this dessert and mentioned that it had been lauded in reviews. I was pretty let down by this dish. Although I enjoyed the mango, I did not find the dish to be groundbreaking.
Chur chur paratha (4.5/5): Very tasty paratha. Crispy and fluffy all at once, a nice complement to the meal.
Wild mushroom kulcha (4/5): Kulcha stuffed with mushroom that was very good. The mushroom was soft and flavorful and went very nicely with the kulcha.
I enjoyed my experience at Indian Accent. I wish that there had been spicier options available, and I was not impressed with the desserts. However, overall this was a very good meal with excellent service.
What a place! I am a big fan of Indian food and so I was excited to try this place. It surpassed my expectations. The menu came from a foundation of classic Indian flavours and dishes, but those flavours were taken to a new intensity: this was Imax surround sound Indian food, and just about every other Indian restaurant I have tried in NYC , or in India for that matter, was a dodgy black and white bootleg in comparison.
We had the tasting menu. They were very flexible about what we could have on it and ended up trying a bunch of stuff between us. A lot of food but perfect – small – portions – that were well spaced out. There were some great non-Indian twists on many dishes: water chestnuts with the dosai, or a desert that was part something Indian and part treacle tart (a British pudding that, spoonful for spoonful, might well break the world calorific intake record) and was utterly delicious. Other standout dishes were the baby squid with crispy rise, the sweet pickle ribs and the tamarind sea bass.
Great service, and nearly all of the staff who came to the table seemed to be glowing with pride at how good the food was and by how much we were enjoying it (hard to miss from our glassy eyed and open mouthed grinning faces …imagine Mel Gibson locked in a whisky distillery and you get the idea). Interesting wines too and some creative cocktails to start (The Goa Ahead – with sparkling vouvray and sherry was a real taste of the tropics) .
Yes it is expensive, But I would rather go there once for a 3 hour feast, than spend a similar amount on 3 meals somewhere non-mindblowing. Bring on the Michelin stars
KenScale: 8.5/10
I am always a sucker for hearty Indian food, but it's not often that you see a lot of modern Indian restaurants trying to showcase the range of flavor of this huge country across different regions and influences. Beyond all the chicken tikka masala curry dishes, India displays so much versatility in its food and yet that attribute has not been really translated to a fine dining-type restaurants. Sure, I liked my experiences at places like Tamarind or Junoon, but it's hard to name one go-to game changer if someone asks me where they experience modern Indian dining. The team behind the acclaimed New Delhi restaurant Indian Accent decided to change that by opening a New York outpost in Le Parker Meridien Hotel (that place with perennial tourist brunch trap Norma's and perennial tourist burger trap (although a very good one) The Burger Joint) earlier this year. My recent experience at Indian Accent showed a lot of promise and I had a very pleasant dinner.
The price tag at Indian Accent doesn't come cheap (starting at $75 per person for three courses, $90 for four and $110 for chef's tasting) and there are also additional dishes that you can only get as supplements (i.e. extra bucks). I obviously wished the hefty price tag of $38 were reduced, but otherwise had no complaint about the supplement of ghee roast lamb that you can wrap in roti pancakes with four different types of sauce. It was quite a marvelous dish that displayed very nice balance of flavor. I just couldn't stop eating shell after shell of this delicious starter. Sweet potato shakarkandi with kohlrabi and crispy okra also had different vegetables working together for an elegant dish. While the spice of Indian cuisine tends to be on the stronger (and hence very addictive once you get hooked into it), the kitchen at Indian Accent has done very well to moderate that potent flavor often to great effect. Soy keema with quail egg on top was a delightful treat, as were the juicy, tender sweet pickle ribs with sundried mango and onion seeds that my dining companion and I quickly disposed of. The soft-shell crab at Indian Accent is definitely one of the better self-shell crab dishes in the city in terms of texture (the crunchy sensation was quite memorable), and I could totally eat pork belly vindaloo with goan red rice almost every day for a take-out if it is available, again displaying rich but not heavy flavor that was different from what I typically understand as the strength of Indian spice. For dessert, don't skip muskan malai dish with saffron milk; this airy dish at first tasted somewhat funky but over time my dining companion and I couldn't stop digging this delightful dish that wasn't overly sweet to my liking.
Getting a reservation at Indian Accent is manageable, but it's always preferable to book in advance given that the restaurant is located inside a hotel so there will always be hotel guests. There is a full bar with some Indian-inspired cocktails on the menu. I liked the modern vibe of the dining space that was bright and trendy but not stuffy at all. I'm really glad that New Delhi team decided to invade the Big Apple with this winner that could really become a champion of modern Indian cuisine in the city. A repeat visit will definitely happen sometime in the future.
My guy and I were excited to try Indian Accent, as we're huge fans of Indian cuisine and have heard of its stellar reputation in New Delhi. It's a very upscale restaurant that offers a modern take on Indian food in the form of tasting menus. You can choose a two, three, or four course, or the Chef's tasting menu, which I believe is 6 courses. We opted for the three course, which also included an Amuse of pumpkin coconut soup and blue cheese naan. The soup was delicious, but neither of us liked the naan-way too blue cheesy!
Overall our courses were all superb. Some favorites included the Duck Chettinad with Fois Gras, Sweet Pickled Rib, Kolhapuri Chicken, and Tamarind Sea Bass. Everything was very full of flavor, except my boyfriend thought the pork belly was a bit bland, and the baby squid was actually a fried dish which he wasn't expecting and found a bit heavy. We also got a side "to share" of Papads, which was a variety of sauces and chips. These were disappointing and not worth it. We didn't really love any of the dips, and the chips were meh. Drinks, however, were fantastic. I got two of the same cocktail, the Transcendental Meditation, because it was SO GOOD.
Service, I believe, is still getting some kinks worked out, as it's still a relatively new establishment. While we loved the Chicken Kolhapuri, we actually didn't order it, but were allowed to enjoy it when it was served by mistake. This worked for us! Our waiter was very attentive and helpful, but the other helping servers were a little off their game in terms of organization. Overall a delicious, albeit EXPENSIVE Indian meal!
Indian Accent is a fancy indulgence–on a regular basis when money is no object (read "nerdy Indian hedge fund manager") or occasionally for the rest of us who can only aspire to go there after subjecting themselves to a steady diet of Progresso soups to make room for their fine dining adventures (read "frugal foodies").
I have tried the three-course, four-course and chef's tasting menus (on three separate occasions, of course). It is easy to be overwhelmed by these choices. But with the n-course menu options, it is good to know that you can substitute without any restrictions. Tell them what you like, and so long as you stick with the total number, it is fine.
The chaat with potato, paper roast dosa, black dairy dal, dal moradabadi (my absolute favorite), chur chur paratha are notably good. From the dessert options, the malai is fluffy and unique, and the mango shrikhand is perfectly executed. Everything is presented with panache, and the service staff is attentive and accommodating. On a side note, I talked to Chef Manish Mehrotra, the brain behind both the New Delhi and New York menus. He is very understated and poised and seems to enjoy his work.
Indian food should never be so pricey, unless it is so good. Indian Accent is a welcome addition to the ranks of Daniel and Gramercy Tavern. I will return for a special occasion–like winning the Nobel prize or the lottery.