#94 – MYSORE MASALA DOSA at MINAR

There are these little cafeteria-type ethnic restaurants all throughout midtown. They’re one step up from those scary steam tables at the corner deli. But some of them turn out really delicious food. However. it’s a little daunting to try to figure out which are worth stopping in to and which are a week away from being shut down by the Health Department. And sometimes, unfortunately, one place could fit both those categories.

As far as I know, that’s not the case with Minar. Both locations in midtown (one is just off Times Square and the other is a few blocks away from the Empire State Building) seem rather dirty and run-down. But once I got the approval from a trusted authority (ie, Time Out), I was more than willing to take the plunge.

We chose the 31st Street location for an early dinner. There were a few lingering customers, but the place was rather empty. It felt like we were in a small town in the middle of nowhere (and I do admit West 31st Street often feels like that). They also seemed to have a lot of serving areas, but only a few items on offer. I bet the atmosphere is much livelier at lunch.

Since we’re carnivores, we chose the Non-Vegetarian Platter. We got to pick two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and an order of rice. Not a bad deal for just under $10. The chicken masala was slightly spicy and had a great flavorful sauce. The lamb curry was also really well-spiced and tender. For the vegetable, we chose the stewed lentils (are those really considered vegetables?) and it was all complemented with some fragrant basmati rice.

The list item was the Mysore Masala Dosa and it was made to order in the kitchen so it took a bit longer than the platter (considering the counterwoman just scooped up the platter items from the steam table). They called me up when it was ready and I soon became intimidated by the awkwardness of the dosa.

I don’t have much experience with dosas and I’m sure I still eat them like a stupid American. But I’ve never seen one quite like this. A dosa is basically an Indian crepe, made from rice and lentils. The few times I’ve ordered them. they come wrapped up in a long circular tube shape. This one was a huge triangular pocket. I didn’t know how to break into this thing. So I pulled a bit of the pancake off from the edges and then just cut into the center with a plastic knife and fork.

Inside was a warm filling of potatoes, peas, onions, and lots of spices. It had a strong heat which was calmed by the earthiness of the crunchy and soft pancake. The filling was only about a third of the dosa, so when the mashed vegetable mixture got too hot for me, I’d give my tongue a break by tearing apart the crepe itself.

It was served with a spicy red Indian vegetable soup and a cooling white coconut chutney (which I found a bit too watery). One was useful in complementing the heat while the other was helpful in balancing it all out and preventing my belly from spontaneously combusting.

We had to surrender about 3/4 of the way in. Much like Ethiopian injera bread, the dosa was sneakily filling. While this was not the best Indian meal I’ve ever had, it was fresh and flavorful and makes me want to gain more experience in the world of dosas. And thanks to Time Out, I now have another no-frills midtown option whose food I feel safe to indulge in.

Would Minar’s Mysore Masala Dosa make my Top 100 of the year? The ingredients were fresh, the spices were hot, and the dosa was filling so it gets a 6 out of 10 although I’m not sure I need to order this again here.