Darbar Grill

5 stars can’t come close to explaining how great and delicious the food is, how kind the service, and what calm atmosphere they have! Perfect for a conversation, with calming Indian soundscape and music. As a French chef I appreciate the depth of flavors, the artwork and passion, cooking understanding and techniques passed down through centuries, deep seeded knowledge of the foods, and spices! But you don’t need to be a Chef to understand and appreciate good foods!! The chef is a magician in his kitchen, a pharmacist of spices and flavor combinations: took me through a story with his foods, and presentation, the server explained about the foods, the flavors, and how to eat it…. This is a Charming meal with a loved one, business or family and friends. I absolutely recommend this place! If you like exploring good foods, enjoy this Gem. Very reasonably priced.

The food here is decent, but nothing outstanding. The restaurant itself is dimly lit. To get to restrooms, you have to go upstairs into a completely dark room and find the restrooms in the corner. For food, we started with gobi manchurian (fried cauliflower in a sweet sauce). This was not sweet or crispy as it normally should be. This was soggy and very bland in flavor. Additionally, they only gave 6 pieces of cauliflower! Definitely not worth the price. We then had their beetroot malai kofta. The sauce itself was very creamy and heavy albeit very tasty. The issue was the balls of beetroot themselves that had too much dough and not enough actual veggies. We also had their matar paneer (cheese and peas). This was good. I wish they gave more paneer for the quantity of sauce, but the flavors were there and solid. My favorite item was the garlic naan that was extremely fresh and covered in butter. That was excellent. Our entrees also came with rice. Overall, I think the quality and quantity of the food compared to the price is definitely not worth it, but if you have to come here, stick with a matar paneer and garlic naan.

We booked quite spontaneously for 20 people online, since we had many troubles finding a place to celebrate a birthday in a quiet, nice and affordable (grad students) dinner atmosphere on a Saturday evening and were very unsure what to expect. All in all, the evening was amazing. They have a separate room upstairs and took us there, were incredibly friendly and accommodating! The food was also quite good, nothing extraordinary or unique, but decent South Asian food with a lot of options for vegetarians and vegans. The prices might be a little high for what you get, but none of our guests complained about the food quality. Food would maybe be 4 stars, but since the staff was so nice, I happily give 5 stars. Thank you very much for this nice evening.

I always look forward to going to Darbar each time I visit New York! I have tried almost all their menu items and enjoyed them ALL! Their specialty fruit punch is extremely delicious! I live in an area where there are no Indian restaurants, and always freeze some food from Darbar to take back home! Their food is that delicious! The staff is always helpful especially in packaging all the food, so I can take it all back during my long journey home! Best Indian Food in NYC!