11.18.09
Review of Amma, lunch Tuesday September 2009
246 E.51st St. & 2nd Ave., 212-644-8330
Great for: a nice quiet meal of upscale Indian food in a pretty townhouse
I earned this meal by walking thirty blocks from the Upper East Side. Lunch is quite a good deal – I got the North Indian one for $11.95. There are tons of apps and entrees to choose from, maybe fifteen to twenty in both categories, which is very unusual. I got the Indo-Chinese chili shrimp on the waiter’s recommendation. The soft, breaded shrimp in super spicy and a little bit sweet sauce could have been cooked a bit less with crispier breading, but overall they were pretty good. I think the sauce quickly made them limp.
I got my lamb rogan josh (an onion-based sauce) made spicy. The portion was quite small, I think because it was lunch – I remember things being bigger at dinner a couple years ago. There were good cuts of meat and the sauce was not too heavy, nor was the meat drowning in it. I was surprised that the rice that comes with it was normal and not basmati. The accompanying naan (bread) and dal (mashed lentils) were both lovely. I found it a good amount of sides for the size of the main. The strength of this dish bumped up the restaurant’s overall rating to 7.5, from 6 for the app.
My waiter helped me a lot and was attentive. Initial incongruous salsa music soon gave way to soothing Hindi instrumental music. I like the décor; it looks well taken care of inside, not rundown as so many Indian restaurants seem to be.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
My cost: $15 (lunch special. Entrees are about $24 on average I’d guess.)
Noise level: hush
Chance of walking in: decent.
