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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Perfect Jersey City Lunching: American Masala


A new American-Indian fusion restaurant has landed upon our shores and it is well worth a visit.

American Masala, located near Exchange Place, is owned by Suvi Saran, who also owns Devi in NYC. Many of the restaurant's dishes come from the owner's cookbook, for which the restaurant was so named. The innovative menu is chock full of comfort food with an Indian twist. I had been eager to try it since I read it about it here.

We took Izzy and his friend J., for an end of summer lunch, as they hadn't seen each other since the middle of July. It was the perfect choice for a sunny afternoon.

We seated ourselves on the terrace given the lovely weather, and the boys got reacquainted with one another while my friend G. and I perused the menu. It's always a good sign when too many things are appealing.

We ended up choosing the lamb burger and the house made veggie burger. The large burgers were enough for mother and child to share and both were accompanied by delicately spiced, ultra-crispy fries. We shared a fattoush salad which was fresh and colorful. G. and I were thrilled with our meal. We lingered at the table, nibbling each morsel as the boys played.



Throughout our meal, the staff was friendly and accommodating, especially the owner's sister Seema who came over to check on us as we were finishing up. We chatted a bit with her and she brought over some small servings of Firni, a rice pudding spiced with cardamom and pistachios. I have always been a fan of this fragrant pudding and it was the icing on the cake to our wonderful meal.

Right now the restaurant is only open for lunch from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. but come fall, they have plans keep it open for dinner as well.

1 comment:

Lets said...

wow. i can't wait to try out this new place. being Indian myself, Devi is THE only indian restaurant i recommend besides my kitchen of course.