#24 Restaurant Week- Devi

365 Blog Challenge: #24

This week is restaurant week in NY, and Scott and I decided to take advantage of it for the first time and had lunch at Devi on E 18th Street.  I think Scott and I played Tom Colicchio and Padma (of Top Chef) very well as we dined on this fancy, gourmet Indian food by chefs Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur.  (Actually, rumor has it Padma actually dines here.) The restaurant itself is gorgeous, and my picture of the table setting below doesn't begin to do it justice.  It is decorated with lush, warmly shaded upholstery; flowing, transparent cloths; and beautiful colored lamps hanging from the ceiling. (The website has better pictures than I can provide.) It feels elegant, but otherworldly, the moment you walk in. 

Let me begin by saying I am not food critic.  In fact, I may have one of the most simple palates on the planet.  However, I could appreciate the quality of this food, even if not all of it was my favorite. 

I loved the silver plates on the place settings which we
didn't actually eat on but were beautiful anyways.

We ordered from the Prix Fixe restaurant week lunch menu and both started with the Chicken Apricot Seekh Kababs.  These were delicious, a little spice in the chicken with sweet, delicious apricot chutney underneath.  (All of the chutneys at Devi were amazing, sweet and not too savory.)

For our main course, Scott and I went in different directions.  He ordered the vegetarian Paneer Stirfry which had the most amazing sauce, buttery and so smooth, and I ordered the Tandoor-Grilled Lamb Chops with Spiced Potatoes and Sweet and Sour Pear Chutney (yum chutney).  Mine may have been a mistake.  I don't doubt the quality of the dish, but I learned very quickly that I'm not quite a lamb chop kind of girl.  I'd only ever had lamb in gyros (not just street meet, from actual quality Greek restaurants) and am used to the tougher slices of meat with that earthy, lamb flavor.  The lamb chops at Devi were very tender and I could tell beautifully seasoned, but the actual flavor and texture of the meat did not agree with me.  I felt like I was eating one of little Bo Peeps sheep and Scott (surprisingly) ate most of my chops.  Luckily, we also ordered a side order of Butter Chicken (tikka masala), which had a similar sauce to that paneer stir fry but a little less rich.  We happily dipped our naan (the best naan I've ever had) in the extra sauce.

Pistachio Kulfi

Mango Sorbet and Mango Panna Cotta

Finally, we had dessert.  I ordered the Pistachio Kulfi (kulfi is "traditional Indian ice cream") and Scott got the Mango Panna Cotta

with mango sorbet.  Again, I preferred Scott's dish to mine, though mine was extremely interesting.  A pistachio ice cream, strong hints of ginger with caramelized pistachios and cream.  However, I think Scott's mango sorbet was the best thing I tasted there besides the naan.  It was so refreshing and tasted like the ripest, most delicious mango ever.

Devi was definitely a good experience and maybe some day, if we have lots of extra money hanging around, we can go back.  At the least, it was an adventure for our taste buds and I recommend it to any foodie in NY.