Ahimsa Garden

Cuisine	Indian / SA
Price	$$ (16-30)
Rating	6/10
Last Visit	July 22, 2019
Location	New York: East Village

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General Notes

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Ahimsa Garden is a vegetarian Indian restaurant, with locations in Greenwich and East Village. I was a little bit skeptical about this restaurant at first, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Many Indian restaurants end up somewhat heavy and oily, but the food at Ahimsa Garden was relatively light and refreshing. From my limited experience with Indian food, the food feels very homey and is very similar to home-cooked food. A good option for vegetarian Indian food; I'd recommend giving this place a try.

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Positives

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> Ahimsa is one of the few restaurants that offers a Thali option, which is essentially a sampler of all kinds of items. I've tried both the North Indian Thali and South Indian Thali. I personally prefer the north Indian Thali (thicker curries), but both are great ways to explore Indian dishes you probably have not tried before.
> The atmosphere of Ahimsa is really nice. The decor gives a quaint vibe, and relaxing saxophone music was playing in the background while I was there.
> Pretty affordable and a generous portion of food for each dish.

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Negatives

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> Ironically I found the food to be slightly underspiced. I would have liked to see somewhat bolder, stronger flavors, with slightly more seasoning.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★☆☆ Ahimsa South Indian Thali -- Idli, medu vada, masala dosa, uttapam, sambar, rasam, coconut chutney, and dessert of the day. Certainly much more bread and soup-focused than the north Indian thali. Not a huge fan of the soups. The masala dosa and medu vada (doughnut), and uttapam (pancake) had excellent flavor and texture. The coconut chutney was weird - kind of off-sweet and an unpleasant mealy texture. The rice pudding dessert was good.
• ★★★☆ Ahimsa North Indian Thali -- Excellent! Served with pappadum, palak paneer, chana masala, yellow daal, raita, chapati, basmati rice, and gulab jamun. The (what I think was the) mung salad was a little weird, but every other item was great! It could have used slightly more spice, but otherwise the flavors and textures were on-point.
• ★★☆☆ Pappadam -- Complementary, served with a sweet sauce and a cilantro sauce. The pappadam was nice and crispy, and I love the sweet sauce (not sure what exactly it is). The cilantro sauce is a bit bland; could use a bit more seasoning or acidity.