Curry Dream
“They have lunch buffet which also has a very good selection and very reasonable price.”
“Decent food, a slightly cafeteria vibe but still rather flavorful and satisfying.”
“I haven't had anything quite like this before, and was compelled to get seconds even though I was super full by this time.”
Curry Dream
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Curry Dream is about as unique as it's name. Nothing much new happening here. The same traditional Indian food that you will find in any other restaurant. Now that doesn't mean it's a bad place.
The food has good quality and the portions are of a good size. The prices are what you can expect from a regular Indian restaurant like this. I've been here twice and walked out happy, but not thrilled. There is not much decor, but it's clean enough, so no complaints there.
Alu gobi and prawn vindaloo are tasty dishes here, the naan is pretty good too.
The service is OK, perhaps a bit curt. You get served pretty quickly, getting the check takes longer. But both times I have been here they have mixed up the drink order. Once I asked if there were nuts in the dish I ordered, because of allergies, the waiter put up a finger in the air and told me: "Nooo, we can't put nuts in the food, nuts are very expensive!"
Probably wouldn't make a trip here just for having dinner, more of a place you go to if you happen to be in the area anyway and don't want to spend too much on dinner but still want a decent and filling meal.
I would consider coming here again, but with all the other Indian options there are in the city, you're not really missing that much here.
buffet was great, I liked everything they offered. they had a great vaiety and lots of actual food in the trays.
When I ordered from Seamless web again, I got nasty looks for asking for another fork, and knife packet. I really dont like these people anymore.
Curry Dream is located on a street with several restaurant and bar choices. From what I could see, it's the only Indian restaurant on 39th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. The entrance is on the south side of 39th, closer to 6th Avenue. I liked Curry Dream's dining room very much. It is a shade of red, decently lit with lots of artwork hanging on its walls. The dining room is a long rectangle and can easily seat large parties.
As with many restaurants, there are some things that are done here better than others. My sample size consists of only one visit. We had the Chicken Korma (according to a sign outside, it was on a "the best of" list), Lamb Bhuna, Chicken Tandoori, nan and poori breads.
Starting with the Chicken Korma, the sauce was a bit unimpressive with the lack of sweetness and coconut flavor a good korma should have. The chicken was white meat, which is not a personal liking of mine. As for the Lamb Bhuna, we got this dish in error as we had originally ordered a chicken dish instead. We didn't bother complaining. Again, there was nothing really exciting about this dish. The aroma and spices didn't jump off of this dish. Having large bell peppers in this dish didn't help.
Now for the good stuff, the chicken tandoori was fantastic. Portions were good for a half order and the chicken arrived nice and hot and moist! Most of the pieces were dark meat and seasoned well. I would gladly order the whole chicken in another visit. Another great dish at Curry Dream was the nan. It had the crispy, piping hot fresh from the oven taste you would expect and it was done right. Unfortunately, the poori was a fried doughy bread. It wasn't light and airy as a good poori would be.
Here are a few other things to look out for if you plan a visit. The service is a bit slow. It took us nearly 30 minutes to get our food. There's also no rice provided for free with the entrees.
In summary, I wholehearted think that if you're coming here for excellent tandoori, this is a great place to be. The two curries I tried were not impressive, but if you want to be adventurous try the curries that I didn't try. Perhaps they'll be better.
Indian food is supposed to be flavorful and hearty. Lots of spices, fresh and tasty meats, fragrant basmati rice, etc.
This place misses the mark on all levels except the rice.
If you like good indian food…do not come here. The curry is bland, the saag paneer is watery and devoid of flavor with the paneer broken apart into tiny pieces. The rice is well seasoned.
Sooo do yourself a favor and check out another place, there are plenty on this block.
What do I know about curry? Absolutely nothing. But I do like it. I'm your typical New York City yuppie with an European pallet that probably does not like "real" Indian food; and I mean real Indian food like in India, by Indians, for Indians. I like more watered down Indian food for – you know – Americans. I don't think a real Indian would like my white pizza with broccoli, either.
All that said, I enjoyed Curry Dream. The food wasn't super spicy, but spicy enough for me. The naan bread was, well, naan bread, which I always like, but my socks weren't wowed off.
I enjoyed it. $14 per person for a buffet.
Meh. Had the lunch buffet. Nothing was very well seasoned but there were chilies and pickle available to spice things up. The daal mahkani was pretty good, as was the chana saag. If you hate the pervasive smell of curry (which I love) don't eat here.
I came here for the $11.95 lunch buffet and was very impressed – I definitely will be back.
So, I think that it is true that this is not the best Indian food ever, but small things about each of the dishes really stood out to me. Details to follow, though I'll admit I'm no expert and am just going off my personal impressions:
– Tikka Masala – standard, but the chicken was a little juicier than I'm used to getting and the sauce had the slightest hint of a kick
– Goat Curry – very good. The meat was tender enough that it slid cleanly off the bone with just a push from my knife, and like the Tikka, had a hint of a kick
– Tandoori Chicken – IMPRESSIVE. Usually when I have tandoori chicken, it always looks and smells super good, but the flavor does not fully penetrate past the surface into the meat itself. Plus, the meat can be dry. That was not the case here. The chicken was very flavorful and not dry at all.
– Saag Paneer – good but a bit blander than what I am used to
– Some type of mixed vegetable curry – super tender veggies, light sauce with a tomato flavor
– Some type of stewed cabbage – I've never had this before, but I really enjoyed it. It had a meaty flavor and was a great balance to some of the more higher flavor dishes in the buffet
– Some type of bean stew – also very tasty. The sauce was light but high umami flavor. Another great dish
– RICE PUDDING – WOW! Okay, so I was just expecting your standard post-buffet rice pudding, but this blew me away. The broth/pudding was just so creamy and subtly sweet. I haven't had anything quite like this before, and was compelled to get seconds even though I was super full by this time.
– Naan – They bring out the naan after you sit, which is great becomes that means that each naan basket is fresh. The naan is not quite as fluffy as what I am used to, but still had a dense and rich flavor.
I also liked the service and ambience here. Everything felt really chill, quiet, tranquil. Muted color scheme. Unobtrusive waiters. It's hard for me to put into words, but it just felt like a super-relaxing, laid-back, quiet place to have lunch. A total respite from the hustle and bustle of the street outside.
I had not read any reviews before coming here and was a bit surprised considering what a positive experience I had. To be fair, I understood that I was coming here for an affordable weekday lunch buffet, so I inherently probably adjusted my expectations accordingly beforehand. But, if you're looking for a reasonably-priced, tasty lunch option and are hungry enough for a buffet, this is a great option.
Separately, I saw that they had ready meals for people in a hurry – those were priced around $6.
Separately again, they have free wifi.
Came here with a groupon and we had to make a reservation, which was kind of silly. The place only had one other table when we got there
As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a strong weird odor. Sort of old carpet mixed with old curry kind of smell. And the carpet felt sticky
We had the chicken tandoori for appetizer, which probably took 30 mins to come out.
The portion was incredibly small and the presentation of the food was terrible. It was served on a super small plate and the chicken were cut so small and just thrown randomly on there with some pieces of brown lettuce. I seriously didn't want to eat it..the taste was just ok
For entree we had the chicken tandoori again and some curry thing with crab meat.
The curry with crab meat thing tasted decent but the portion again was super small..
oh, and the entree doesn't come with rice, so you have to order extra rice on top
Overall, the place felt shady and dirty…the waiter kept on wanting us to order more than we wanted. and the portion was super small with average price per entree from $15-20 dollars…I think not