Terrific Takeout: Benares Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Executive Chef of Benares, Surjeet Singh Rajput
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It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we met Inder Singh earlier this summer at another one of his venues, Minar, which we also enjoyed in our inaugural visit. As a super-American meat and potatoes person, Peachy Deegan has not always been a big fan of Indian food; in fact, earlier on Whom You Know in our history when we heard India we thought Hicks because we were lucky enough to interview India Hicks (related to the last Viceroy of India, named after the country) when she also was collaborating with Crabtree & Evelyn.
Our eyes and stomachs have been opened by our friends Ashok Bajaj in Washington and Avtar Walia in New York, who do amazing, phenomenal Indian. Before, we were not eating the right Indian apparently. We found the cuisine at Benares to be commendable on our first visit as well, and it's been open since 2012, and we hope to learn more about the talents of Inder Singh in time.
We began with a Harabhara Salad. What's that? It's lettuce, diced cucumber, red radish, carrots, cherry tomatoes and guacamole! Every component was laudably fresh and attractively arranged. This salad was different as the parts were segregated: the radishes have their own cocktail party in the front while the carrots confer in the back. An interesting look that we enjoyed! The chef's special dressing was graciously placed on the side per our request from the picky editor here.
Oooh how we love love love crab and it is always exciting to find a new way to love it! Peachy is naturally super-crabby. Look at how beautiful the Crab Milagu is: feast your eyes on it. Better yet, feast your stomach on the tremendously flavorful lump crab seasoned with spiced peppers, roasted tomato and garlic sauce. We loved the dill on the side, and think this is a knockout version of a crab cake.
We're featuring Benares in the fashion week season because just look at how gorgeous it all is!
The next player in the lineup we met was the Parsee Salmon Tikka. Salmon spiced with green pepper and parsee style homemade green chutney skewered and char grilled awaits you. Fish at Benares we understand is supplied by Sea Breeze, and Benares means holy place in the Indian language.
It's no secret that Peachy loves spinach pie and orders it at every greek place she visits, so when in "India" she did as the Indians do: She ordered the Murgh Pateeli Saag. Hiding in the depths of green you will find delicious spiced chicken pieces sauteed with fresh spinach, enhanced with spices. The spinach was pureed to perfection and oh so smooth. Two thumbs up!
Our crab delight continued through the entree, when we found a new way to eat crab again. Please now meet the Kekada Kari: Traditional nadan kerala style jumbo lump crab curry, simmered in mustard, curry leaves and kokum. The flavor was absolutely tantalizing and this dish was by far our most favorite component of the night. It was just spicy enough to intrigue us without creating a situation of a fire-breathing Peachy! The texture, the flavor and the composition was exquisite and we reveled in its splendors during every bite. We can't wait to meet it again!
And of course, the garlic and rosemary naan were just terrifically fresh and warm, and were quite short-lived due to our enthusiasm for them.
Benares is Terrific Takeout!
