Cafe Spice

Carlota texted me one random night when I'd worked a super long shift and was about to go home for an exciting night of nothing. Her text hit my phone JUST as I was walking down the subway steps. I zinged her back and we quickly made plans for dinner, as it was 6pm and I hadn't eaten since, oh, 11am. Yeah, I was hangry. She was already in Union Square and also ravenous, so we ended up at an Indian spot we'd both hit in the past: Cafe Spice.

We started out with samosas, getting 2 lamb and one vegetarian. I normally just get the veggie version anyway, packed with potatos, peas, and mucho spices, but hey, try something new! Instead of the usual trianglur shapes, these samosas came in precious little package shapes, beautifully displayed and as delicious as they were pretty. The veggie ones were okay, but the lamb versions blew us away. I will definitely get these again. Sorry, peas & potatoes, you just got replaced!

When I go out for Indian, I usually gravitate to two of my favorite dishes: Chicken Tikka Masala (cubes of boneless chicken in a rich tomato sauce) or Lamb Rhogan Josh (spelled Gosht at this place). I went with the lamb that night--I wanted the darker, spicier sauce that came with it. I also just don't eat lamb that much, but was in the mood for it that night. My dish was pretty good--some of the lamb chunks were a bit cumbersome (I prefer it when it's so soft and tender you don't even need a knife), but overall it was great. I had no idea Carlota's order was about to trump mine!

I now have a new favorite: Chicken Korma! It was described as chunks of boneless chicken in a cashew and almond sauce. it . is. scrumptious. Carlota kindly shared some with me, and I couldn't believe how wonderful it tasted. The cashews and almonds are not noticeable--they must be completely puréed, and the sauce has a great kick of coriander to it. When we finished with our meal, we had about 4 cubes of the lamb and one cube of Carlota's chicken left. We asked them to pack it up, and the server said "Even the chicken?" and I said "Yes, especially the chicken." I had to laugh 2 days later when I opened the leftovers and saw there really was just ONE lonely cube of chicken left, along with that awesome sauce. Irrelevant! I heated it up, along with the lamb, and it was EVEN BETTER. Carlota--when are we going back so I can get a whole bowl of the korma!?