When I used to go to  NY it was always for work and didn’t have time to see my friends. When I decided to leave my job, I booked a trip to NY to see friends. My dear friend Ilka had a baby who is will be a year soon and I still had not met him. So, we made plans to get together and then head to dinner with our friend Val. Her fiancée Asher then decided to join our girl’s night, which made it even more fun. He is definitely more stylish than most people I know!

We last minute decided to go to Babu Ji as they raved about the delicious meal they had at the restaurant before. London made me spoiled with good Indian food so I was skeptical.

We arrived at 9:15 and they didn’t have a table for an hour unless we agreed to the tasting menu and then we could have one at 9:45. We chose the tasting to sit earlier. When at 9:45 we were sat in Siberia-the part of the restaurant they never open we complained to the manager. He was incredible and said we could order a la carte or would move us to the better part of the restaurant as soon as possible. He also gave us a round of drinks.

We were quickly moved to the noble table by the window. Asher even commented how suddenly setting was playing a big role and the experience changed dramatically.

We still went for the tasting as we were lazy to make decisions and the set menu seemed to include all the must eat dishes they loved on the prior visit.

Colonel Tso’s Cauliflower: Indo-Chinese style cauliflower in a tomato & chili sauce. Fried but not greasy, spicy but not too much -a must order dish. Yum!

Manager sent us the giant prawn and a salad that were both awesome.

We also loved the tandoori chicken. It was so tender it fell from the bone. Almost as good as the one from Gymkhana in London.

The other starters were excellent too and then we got the big platter with loads of curries, naam, raita and all. The stand out was the butter chicken. So good!

The chai flavor kulfi was awesome too and a perfect finish to a delicious meal.

In sum: best Indian I’ve had in Ny and would return for sure! My friend Manas who is Indian said it’s his favorite too.

ps: I would say 5 on the service pre-manager intervention and 10 post!

Same on setting, Siberia was a 3 setting but the table we were moved to was a great one by the window.

Babu Ji

22 E 13th St, New York, NY 10003

+1(212) 951-1082