Basera Indian Bistro NYC: Indian Spice But Not Everything Nice!

Basera Indian Bistro 9th Ave bet. 50th and 51st

I caught with my teacher friend, who was in town for the weekend.  In an unorthodox coup on education, Teacher transitioned to Teach for America after spending a year in finance and a year as a fellow in a school.  This was my first time seeing her since she moved south.

She wanted to grab food that had lots of flavor to offer the palette and I thought Indian.  Rather than visit Mint, my go-to Indian spot in Midtown East,  I decided to take us to Hell's Kitchen and try out the newly-established Basera.

Basera is a Hindi language word meaning meaning "Abode,"  and the location is true to its name.  The restaurant is about 35 tables large and there wasn't a ton of people in the place, so it was just the right ambiance for a private dinner. 

Vegetable Samosa - potatoes and peas wrapped in a light pastry

Miss Teacher said that this was the best vegetable samosa she's ever eaten. She raved about its flakiness and the appropriate blend of potatoes and peas.  I had to agree with the educator, as the texture of the peas remained intact in the pastry creation. 

Chicken Tikka Masala - cubes of grilled chicken in tomato and cream sauce

Teacher decided to go with what she knows best. That's probably why she's doing such amazing things in DC's school system.  Chicken tikka's literal translation is "chunks of chicken" and masala means "mixture of spices."  Usually marinated in spiced and yogurt, the chicken is then baked in a tandoor oven shown below:

Tandoor oven

It is then served in a sauce usually made with tomatoes and coriander.  Basera's rendition of the dish was good.  It didn't really blow my mind but was solid.

Chicken Korma - Chicken Tikka Masala only served with a saffron almond cream sauce

Wait a minute, isn't this like the same dish I showed you earlier?  It was basically chicken tikka masala except with the sauce substitution.  I got the korma for myself and made them make that joint really spicy.  It was good and I could taste the hints of almond, but, again, not anything incredible.

But that Naan was the truth!

These peas are literally popping out of the picture

We took all of our ingredients and hooked up chicken tikka pizzas..

So while we ate and caught each other up on our respective lives, we did have some Bollywood entertainment...

Someone tell this chick to get off her knees, please.

I thought it was pretty cool...

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:  The service was very amateur.  We were really excited when our server/manager, Raj, started to take our orders, as his opinions on menu were thoughtful, He also seemed generally cool.  But then mid way through the dinner, he went home!  I understand that it was close to closing time, but as the server/host, you don't just leave mid way through managing a table, let alone while your restaurant is still open (another server confirmed that he had gone for the evening).  The dude that replaced him was not good.  Example:  Mid-way through taking my drink order, he tried to bounce and come back with my drink.  Only problem was that I wasn't done ordering.  So when I ordered a Ciroc Coconut and Sprite, it wasn't surprising that what came back was a Ciroc Red Berry and grape juice (who drinks that??), and it was brought by our third server of the night.  It was just logistically dysfunctional.  At least they did correct my drink order gratis.

Overall, the food is pretty good and the environment is relaxing, but the restaurant has some logistical kinks to work out.  I say that if you're thinking about this restaurant, it's okay to pass until they get the service right.  Furthermore, Raj the manager should not be leaving early on a Saturday night to go get his freak on.  The manager sets the tone, and it wasn't surprising that the service, and ultimately the restaurant, fell short.

Rating: B -
Food: B
Service: C+