Julian and I had a Groupon for this restaurant, and decided to make Sunday a date night (yay for spontaneity!) of Indian food and laser tag. Generally, I don’t imagine Albany as a place I would live (it has some pretty crummy areas), but since I’ve been thinking about Grad School there, I’ve been looking at the for rent buildings differently, and so has Julian. This little neighborhood where Jewel was, is so charming. It has brownstones and loads of restaurants, and is just the kind of place we could imagine ourselves living next year. Julian thought it was an even better than Rochester (where we always talk about having a loft), and a less expensive version of a Beacon Hill–Brooklyn combination. But onto the restaurant itself. When we walked in, I was immediately drawn to the TV, which was playing lots of promiscuous Indian music videos (since when is pole dancing Indian?). The menu has on it a girl with a very large nose ring, and the ceiling has cut-outs where lights sparkle on and off. We ordered Singara Samosa Chat as our appetizer, and Chai. The chai took forever to come, which we thought would be a very good sign as to it being actual chai, but it as soon as the waiter brought it, with sugar packets on the side, we knew it would not be authentic. It was also luke warm almost to the point of being cold, which was disappointing, but I thought that Samosa Chat was excellent. It was the perfect mixture of warm and cold, and a bit spicy. For our entrees we ordered Bhindi Masala (okra) very hot, and Channa Dal Masala (chick peas) hot, Butter Naan, and Poori (Julian’s absolute favorite). Both entrees were good, but the chick peas were absolutely wonderful. I actually found that that was spicier than the okra, and I loved it. The breads were not comparable to what we had in India, but still satisfying. We both agreed that it is definitely some of the best indian food that we’ve had in the U.S. and I can’t wait to come back here.
Jewel of India on Lark
187 Lark st
Albany, NY 12210
Phone: 518.512.5600
http://www.jewelonlark.com/
