Brick Lane Curry House

When this restaurant opened in 2002, the verdict over at eGullet was: “Spicy food and slow service”. Three years later, Brick Lane Curry House has its act together. My friend and I arrived at 6:20 Saturday night and were out by 7:35, which was sufficient time for us to order drinks, appetizers, and entrées. The restaurant is now on OpenTable, which was what brought it to my attention.

I started with Aloo Chaat, which is described as: potatoes tossed in a yogurt and mint sauce with spices. At $6 this is a bargain, as the portion is almost big enough to be an entrée. My companion ordered the same thing with chickpeas, rather than potatoes. It has a lively flavor, and just enough heat to prepare the palate for the curry to come.

Most of the curries come in a variety of preparations, usually chicken, lamb, goat, fish, shrimp, paneer, tofu, and vegetable, priced from $12–19. We both had vindaloo: she the lamb ($17), I the goat ($18). I’m not a curry expert, but there was enough heat to bring sweat to the forehead, water to the eyes. I found the bones in the goat a bit annoying. We ordered two preparations of rice and another of spinach to round out the meal, and had more food than we could eat.

For the record, vindaloo is the restaurant’s second-hottest curry. The hottest is Phaal, which is described thus:

An excruciatingly hot curry, more pain and sweat than flavor. For our customers who do this on a dare, we will require you to state a verbal disclaimer not holding us liable for any physical or emotional damage after eating this curry. If you do manage to finish your serving of curry, a bottle of beer is on us.

Brick Lane Curry House (306–308 E. 6th St. near Second Avenue, East Village)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: Satisfactory
Overall: *