Indian

It’s Thursday, I’m on my way downtown for a job interview, and decide I’ll head over the the Ace Hotel as my meeting is nearby. After a hair cut, shower, and getting ready I realize I’m hungry but don’t have time to eat lunch before I head out. Where to go… then it hits me, I recall a place I used to go years back, and its right across the street from the Ace.

Situated in the garment district along 29th sits Chandni. Up a flight of stairs, left through the doors and your ready to order Indian|Pakistani fare with efficiency. Prepared dishes of chicken curry, saag panneer, Samosas, Goat Pulao, and on and on from an extensive menu. At a loss for words? Don’t know what to order? In either case just point. The food here is simple, quick, and above both of these good.

I was happy to be back here, maybe it was a bit of nostalgia, but I found the atmosphere inviting. When I sat down I also realized, its patrons are a great cross section of New Yorkers from one walk or another. Its quite (enough for a young professional woman to be tapping away on her lab top), yet a good place to chat with your friends (I overheard some gentleman talking about a service dog that someone kept with them at all times, but only for emotional support).

Of course, I came for the grub, and I decided to get a bit of what I used to typically order. So I ordered the naan, a kabab, and a chicken role. I also opted to try something new, so I got the allo tikki, a ground potato patty with herbs/spices. Chandni has lots of vegetarian options, so its definitely a good choice if thats you. I would also stress that its extremely reasonable, and prices haven’t changed much since I was last here years back. In the book I keep on pluses, reasonable cost is big. As I sat and quietly ate my lunch, dipping each bit into the raita sauce that I requested extra of, I realized, my lunch time stars had aligned.