Gazab

"Hopefully, we've gained enough of your trust for you to hear us out on this one. Gazab has a bok choy chaat, and it’s very good. “Fusion food” is often suspect in the first place, and Indian food has so much going on already that it doesn’t really need more in the mix. But this fried bok choy topped with yogurt, chutneys, and sev is something psychedelic—by which we mean, expand your mind, man. It turns out, the tender bok choy is just meaty enough to soak in the sauces and yogurt to create silky, sweet vegetable steaks that are really something special. A full plate is filling enough to be a good lunch on its own. " - neha talreja

"If Dhamaka is the special occasion, go-all-out Indian spot on the LES, Gazab should be your destination for a casual weeknight dinner. Some of the standout dishes include spicy parsi lamb salli boti that has falling-apart chunks of meat swimming in a rich tomato-based gravy, kale-spinach paneer, and small plates of charcoal-grilled, juicy chicken tikka. Most entrees are under $25 and the dining room usually isn’t too busy. The next time you’re thoroughly craving biryani (and don’t feel like existing in public for more than 20 minutes), stop by for a takeout order." - Carlo Mantuano

New "nice" Indian From the NYM food newsletter: A few days earlier, I had been similarly captivated by a different restaurant, Gazab. The food is completely different from Rowdy Rooster’s, but there seemed to be a strong overlap in the crowds that gathered at both restaurants. Under the gaze of Gazab’s floor-to-ceiling dining-room mural — a woman with a Champagne flute staring out over her sunglasses — a guy wearing a Polo teddy-bear sweatshirt and a turban split some biryani with his partner while three women sipping mango lassis asked for an extra side of ghee. I didn’t ask anyone where they were from, of course, but I took it as a good sign that they all seemed to know their way around the food. I took cues from all of them and ordered the chicken biryani and lamb. When the women asked for an extra side of garlic naan, I ordered that, too. A hungover-looking group of three waited for a table, and I overheard two guys on a date talking about how the food was “just like India.” (I skipped the dish called ’70s Tikka Masala, though I appreciated the way the owners seemed to nod to its undisputed ubiquity while embracing its populist appeal.)