Copper Chimney NYC Indian Restaurant

Address:

Copper Chimney, NYC

126 E 28th St
(Btwn Park & Lexington Ave)
New York, NY 10016

Closed

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Copper Chimney NYC Review: Good Food; Poor Service; Clueless Wait Staff

Even after a lifetime of eating Indian food, we were dazzled by Copper Chimney's standout dishes.

But we were also dismayed with the restaurant's careless and clueless service.

Copper Chimney's fine kitchen is let down by mediocre wait staff in the dining room.
Located on E.28th St (Off Lexington Avenue) in Manhattan, Copper Chimney serves a combination of South Indian and North Indian curries along with with exotic sounding non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks.

We relished almost all the food items laid before us and took our pleasures hoggishly.

After an exhausting day, it seemed right to start the meal with Mango Lassi ($6.00) and Copper Coller ($6.00). Mango Lassi - a wildly popular Indian drink with mango and yogurt was so-so and had a strong flavour of yogurt than mango. Copper Coller (concoction of mango juice, mango tea, lime juice, tamarind syrup and soda), a non-alcoholic beverage was invigorating.

Yummy Appetizers

We struck gold with our choice of appetizer - Gobi in Honey Garlic Sauce (10 pieces for $7.95). Fried to the right texture, the cauliflower florets were crispy and served with a toss of spring onion, green chilli and zingeli seeds.

Main Course

For the main course, we picked an assortment of dishes including Chicken Chettinad ($13.95), Navrattan Kurma spicy ($11.95), Garlic Naan ($4.00), Onion Kulcha ($4.00), Subzi Pulav ($6.00) and Mint Raitha ($3.00).

Chicken Chettinad (boneless chicken with ground spices and coconut) sent us into raptures. As requested, it was spicy and had the right thickness for the gravy.

We swear the Chef must have worked some Jadoo (Indian word for magic) on the onion Kulcha he sent us. we are usually fans of Garlic Naan but this time the Onion Kulcha wowed us. It was heavenly.

The Mint Raitha (shredded cucumbers in mint flavored yogurt) was delicious as was the Navrattan Kurma.

Subzi Palav had the aroma of being cooked on a charcoal fire and was delicious. So good, as a matter of fact that when we finished there was not a single grain of rice left in the bowl.

Poor Service

It's a shame that such fine food as comes out of Copper Chimney's kitchen is marred by poor service.

Copper Chimney's waiters are clueless on the basics. They did not even know their own menu - what the dishes were or what was available and what was not.

Our hostess did not bother to take our coat although we saw her doing it with some Caucasian customers later. After handing us the drinks menu in a desultory fashion, our hostess returned some 20 minutes later and asked us peremptorily what we would like to drink without bothering to check that we were already sipping our Lassis and Copper Collers (after waiting - for what seemed like an eternity - for her to reappear we'd ordered our drinks through a different waiter).

Another waiter laid before us Mint Raitha (shredded cucumbers in mint flavored yogurt) without bothering to include a spoon. How are we supposed to eat the Raitha - Dip our fingers into it? When we finally corralled a waiter and asked him for a spoon, he quickly got us one but vanished without even a sorry.

In an unending chronicle of missteps, our waitress twice took orders for items that the restaurant did not have that day.

What Copper Chimney needs is basic training for the clowns masquerading as wait staff. Pronto.

Besides the poor service, the Chickoo Shake ($6.00) turned to be a disappointment.

We were also disappointed that some of our dessert choices were not available although they were listed on the menu. Finally, we ended up with Trio of Ice Cream ($8.00), which we enjoyed nevertheless.

Copper Chimney Rating

Go to Copper Chimney for the food.

Just don't expect anything by way of service. You'll probably receive better service at a McDonald's or a Dunkin Donuts. - © NYIndia.us