Chutney Masala - the good, the bad and then the hype...

Twas a cold rainy day in fall, my MIL was visiting and we wanted to eat out. This left us with limited choices by way of cuisine - Indian, Indian and let us try that again, Indian. It is hard to believe that my husband and his sibbling and mother are related when it comes to food. My in laws are not very adventurous. Anyhow, Chutney Masala, was on our list of places to check out and there we landed on this cold, rainy blustery fall weekend.

The first thing that catches your eye is the decor and set up, they have done a good job of preserving character, introducing a touch of old India, while adding warmth and some fairly home bistro touches - they do call themselves a bistro.

As you can see, lovely yellow and green coloring with nice stone walls, the windows do give you a view of the water if you are lucky. The wait staff were very prompt and attentive, engaged the kids well. Now down to the food, the food was a combination of north and south Indian dishes, the restaurant should really stop at the northern side of the country. The palak paneer was just amazing, fluffy not too creamy spinach enveloping well seasoned pieces of paneer cheese, the lamb was succulent and cauliflower and chaat pretty decent.

An interesting touch was a sprouted bean salad with finely shredded lettuce, crisp and flavorful.

The above was where the problem began, the masala dosa rolls were cold and not crisp. The sambhar (lentil soup was pretty mediocre as well). I will however say, it is hard for a chef to do justice to both South and North Indian cusines equally, but this being said you can do a better job.

So the bottom line, I would go back again, but this certainly does not make my top 5 dining experiences for the year.

The details on Chutney Masala

4 Main Street

Irvington, NY 10533

914 591 5500