While New York broadly has excellent food from across the world, one cuisine we are frequently disappointed with is Indian (I concede I have not tried some respected places in Queens). With one of us being Indian and both of us traveling in India, we have an admittedly high bar but none the less, never found a particularly good place. Always on the lookout for a good place and to quench our (and especially my) constant desire for spice, we tried Brick Lane Curry House and I attempted its Phaal Challenge. Phaal is reportedly the spiciest curry dish and the challenge entailed eating an entire order on your own for the grand prize of a free Kingfisher, a certificate of completion, and your name and picture on the Phaal of Fame.

Before the Phaal we split the Onion Bhaji, a chickpea battered fried onion appetizer. These were quite good and far different than the traditional pakoras served in American restaurants. However, I was admittedly a bit worried while I ate the Bhaji given the spice level. Bhaji is traditionally not very spicy but this had a decent kick so I figured I was in for some trouble with the Phaal.

The Phaal arrived (i had opted for chicken) and I established a gameplan. Having read a bit about the right approach, I figured I should try to eat the dish relatively quickly so the spice didn’t linger. Unlike some other spice challenges I had seen, this was fairly lenient as I could also eat rice, naan, raita and drink what I wished. So, I ordered myself a beer and mixed most bites of the dish with rice or naan.

Now, I’m a bit of a glutton for spice so my impression of the dish should be qualified by that. However, the curry was excellent, albeit it fairly spicy. The first few bites were not too tough to take at all and had a strong cayenne and black pepper flavors. I comfortably ate the first half of the dish and was actually thoroughly enjoying it.

By the second half of the dish I was admittedly starting to struggle a bit. I had run out of beer and was downing both of our waters as I trudged through. My face definitely got red and I was sweating by the end but ultimately finished about 15 minutes in. This was probably about 5-10 minutes faster than I normally would eat the dish as I had to eat quickly to avoid the spice getting worse.

I won my second Kingfisher for free, got a nod of appreciation from our waiter and walked out with a certificate and the option to email in my photo for the Phaal of Fame. While the challenge wasn’t actually that challenging, I was really impressed that a dish that spicy also tasted so good. The flavors were amazingly pretty well balanced and honestly, I would consider ordering the dish again just to enjoy. In light of the bhaji and the other curry at the table, I definitely recommend Brick Lane beyond the fun of the challenge. The service was quite friendly and prompt and most importantly the food was appropriately and well flavored. While it’s slightly more expensive than some of its counterparts, I believe it to be one of the better (if not best) Indian in Manhattan.

dpetc Uncategorized