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Earthen Oven 53 West 72nd Street (at Columbus Avenue) Range: $35–$40 per person including taxes and tip Rating: |
When I saw the sign announcing the imminent opening of Earthen Oven, I immediately thought Does this city really need another generic Indian restaurant? And I got my answer a few weeks later. Earthen Oven does transcend the generic, but it doesn’t quite reach nirvana.
Master Chef Durga Prasad ran the kitchen at Bukhara and later opened Dumpukth (both in Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton). Chef Alexander Paul Xalxo, a Delhite and graduate of Stephens college, underwent rigorous (12-hours a day, 6 days a week) training in Mumbai under Sanjeev Kapoor. Both chefs spent several years in New York’s Tamarind before embarking on this venture.
The point of this story? Prasad and Xalxo know how to make Indian food. When you eat at Earthen Oven, you won’t find yourself staring into a bowl of mysterious orange curry, which seems to be served at so many other Indian restaurants.
(Side note to non-Indians: The only curry that should be orange is butter chicken or butter paneer, and it should be orange-red in color. If someone plunks a plate of orange curry in front of you, they aren’t serving you authentic Indian cuisine.)
But here’s the twist. How well you like Earthen Oven will depend on your concept of Indian food.
Overall, their offerings are above average. The dishes look genuine when plated (no scary orange curries), and the aromas that permeate the dining room could come from any home kitchen, but the flavors are clearly geared toward the Western palate. Those seeking home-cooked comfort food will be disappointed.
That’s not to say the dishes are awful; they just need a little more spice. The paneer Anardana ke tinke skewers are grilled beautifully, but they could use a splash of nimbu (lemon) juice for some zest and maybe a sprinkle of chaat masala. The seekh kebabs are tender and moist, but their red color and lack of flavor suggests they were seasoned with bland tandoori masala; some black pepper and zira (cumin) would add a nice zip.
You can taste the fresh tomato, ginger, and garlic in the baingan bhartha, but it contains way too much garam masala, which obscures the smokiness of the eggplant, and a dash of lal mirch (red pepper) would give the dish some heat. The regular naan and tandoori roti are average, and you can find nicer, less pricey Indian breads elsewhere. On a positive note, the mango lassi was perfect, not watery and not too sweet.
Perhaps I wouldn’t be so critical of Earthen Oven if the prices were a little more in line with the quality of the food. The prices aren’t as steep as they are in Bukhara, but can I really justify paying $13.95 for baingan bhartha and not expect to receive something as good as I would get in Bukhara, especially since Chef Prasad once worked there?
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