AlwaysInformed: Teatime at Tamarind’s Tea Room

The Gluttoness — October 26, 2009

Clockwise from left, tea sandwiches at Tamarind’s Tea Room: Lamb Sholley, Malai Tikka, Saag Paneer and Portobello Mushroom.

It wasn’t surprising to see The Village Voice’s Best of NYC list single out Aamchi Pao and Mumbai Express for “Best Kati Rolls,” and “Best Sammys,” but it got me thinking about Tamarind’s Tea Room, a casual, lunch-only café (daily, 11:30am-3:00pm) whose menu doesn’t offer anything more than $10.

With more than a dozen teas to choose from, and suggested pairings for each dish, this small tea café adjacent to Tamarind is as much about tea as food. But the six sandwiches are worth the visit alone. The owner, Avatar Walia, explained that in India, high tea is enjoyed with “wraps” and cookies. Indian teatime can be experienced at the cafe with its $32 “Tea for Two,” which includes two pots of tea, two sandwiches, and an assortment of pastries (“Tea for One” includes a teapot, a sandwich and pastries, $15.00). Sandwiches feature warm, house-made, blistered whole-wheat paratha with room temperature ingredients, and include lettuce, tomato, and raita (mango chutney is also excellent). “People don’t have much time, so the idea is to roll everything into one bite,” Walia said.

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FirstLook: Aamchi Pao

Arthur Bovino — June 17, 2009

“There’s always a right time to reinvent yourself,” Chef Surbhi Sahni, told us recently at Aamchi Pao.

No, Chef Sahni isn’t leaving her post as Devi’s pastry chef. But she has joined Nandini Mukherjee as co-owner at the reincarnation of Mukherjee’s West Village restaurant of almost six years, the Indian Bread Co. As previously reported, the Stuffed Parathas and Naanwhichs (grilled Indian “panini”) are gone. There are still Kathi Rolls, but the Naan sandwiches have been replaced by “Pao,” renditions of Pav Bhaji, a Mumbai street food that is essentially an Indian Slider. The word “Pav,” in Marathi (the language of southwestern India), is said to come from Pão, the Portuguese word for bread.

Click here to read more about Aamchi Pao's Mumbai Sliders >>