Dining on Newbury Street

I was up in Boston this weekend, and had the opportunity to eat at a couple of different restaurants. There are a plethora of cuisine options in terms of price, type of food, and ambiance.

Hello pistachio goodness.

On Thursday night, AJ, some friends, and I headed to the shopping hot spot that is Newbury Street and walked into Kashmir for some fine Indian dining. This was actually the first restaurant that AJ took me to when I visited Boston for the first time. The interior is decorated with shades of gold, white, and red giving the dining room a palatial feel. Asian artwork adorns the walls.


We decided to kick the night off with some beverages - a pistachio shake, and a couple mango lassis. These refreshing beverages were meant to be enjoyed with spicy food. The beautiful seafoam green beverage was slightly sweet with a wonderful pistachio flavor. The mango lassi was smooth, but not too thick - a tropical delight.


Kashmir offers a variety of seafood, meat, and vegetarian options. Each of us ordered a separate entree, but we ended up sharing a chickpea dish and the chicken tikka masala. I usually opt for the chicken tikka masala, which features chicken in a creamy tomato sauce (a safe 'American' option). This time, I wanted to try something different. I settled on a dish that would pay homage to my love of eggplant, Baigan Bharth

Baigan Bharth

Vegetable Pakora

We ordered some vegetable pakoras to tide us over until our entrees arrived. I am not used to the consultant lifestyle where eating is apparently the last priority (those PLs are such slave drivers). We commenced dinner at 9pm, a far cry from my usual 6:45 dinner time. The vegetable pakoras were crunchy with a slight sweetness that was balanced nicely with some cumin and other spices.

The entrees arrived with fresh, hot naan. Naan is quite possibly my favorite part about eating Indian, and this batch was no disappointment. The naan was warm and chewy, with some nice char marks from the tandoor oven. We also sampled some peshwari naan - which was stuffed with lots of butter and coconut. You can't go wrong with a recipe like that.

The chicken tikka masala was very good, but how badly can you mess up chicken in a tomato sauce? The chickpea dish had a similar sauce, with tomatoes and onions. Nothing was very spicy, even though we had all ordered it "medium". I guess no one trusts that some white kids can handle the heat. The eggplant dish was probably my favorite, it was loaded with garlic, and mashed into a creamy consistency. It had some slight heat from the curry powder.

Chicken tikka masala, cozying up to some warm naan.

All in all a solid meal. Most places on Newbury Street are slightly overpriced. The vegetarian dishes were all $15-16, a little high in my opinion. The flavors were good, and if you're looking for a great location, you can't beat this spot.

2 out of 3 JAMs

Kashmir

279 Newbury St

Boston, MA 02116