By Gus Saltonstall
In some neighborhood pride, an Upper West Side Indian restaurant was just named among the best in New York City.
Eater New York recently published “The Best Indian Restaurants in NYC,” which included 15 eateries across the five boroughs.
The Upper West Side restaurant featured on the list?
Baazi at 2588 Broadway, between West 97th and 98th streets.
Here’s what Eater NY had to say about it.
“This two-story, bright-blue space emphasizes hard-to-find regional recipes from North and South, as well as Goa,” Eater wrote. “Dishes include chicken cafreal, a cornish hen flavored with mint and cilantro; chicken sirka pyaaz laced with pickled onions; and paneer ke sholey, fresh cheese stuffed with raisins, arriving aflame over a brazier.”
Baazi describes its menu as an “homage to traditional Indian cuisine.”
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For those who recognize the address but possibly not the name Baazi, there is a reason for that.
Gaurav Anand, the chef and owner of Baazi, opened the popular Indian restaurant Awadh in 2014 within the same location that Baazi now resides. However, the pandemic had a heavy toll on Awadh’s business, and on the verge of closing, Anand decided to switch tactics.
Awadh still operates out of the same kitchen at 2588 Broadway, but it is only available for delivery.
Anand then chose to open Baazi within the space and a different style to Awadh.
Baazi puts a particular emphasis on quality, only serving 90 dinners a night and using fish and shrimp delivered that day. It also has a lauded cocktail menu and looks to create a high-energy environment within the restaurant.
The meaning of Baazi is “to bet.”
“We thank you for betting on Baazi every time you choose to dine with us,” Baazi wrote on its website. “In return, our promise is to always bet on you by pushing the bar and elevating our craft to give you 110 percent every single time.”
You can find out more about Baazi — HERE.
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They finally took down their little dining shed, which was just a reserved parking spot for their delivery bikes.
Baazi is absolutely delicious! I’m sure however that they and all the other businesses on that block suffer under that scaffolding.
Baazi is amazing. Cheers to them. My only issue, and I can provide this as feedback to them: their women’s bathroom contains urinals. Seems a simple job to remove them. Hope they can address!
Special shout-out to Manhattan Valley (formerly Indus Valley) just a few blocks up on 100th and Bway — never disappointed.
Sapphire Indian, for many years a top Indian food spot on Broadway closed and its longtime owner Satish is returning home in Punjab. Sapphire’s signature dishes – baby lambchop (wAR published) and goat curry can now be found at newly opened Jaz on 9th Ave. I tried both last week and they were gooood, and reasonably priced. Give it a shot.
Always wondered about the name change. I order Awadh all the time, and it’s by far the best take away in the neighborhood. Now I want to go to Baazi.
Can anyone comment, please, on what sound levels in the restaurant. We’re always looking for restaurants with this kind of ratings where we can also be in a quiet space and/or in a space where the music is truly background rather than keeping us from hearing conversation at our table. Thanks!
I was there early on a week night with only one other table. The music was very loud (energetic?!) but they lowered the volume at our request. The food was excellent but the service (or maybe the kitchen) was very slow. We waited a long time for our food, and the appetizer arrived after we finished the main course. This was particularly surprising since they were not busy.
I find it to be on the quieter side, but I have not gone on the weekends.
The UWS is getting another Indian restaurant that I’m hoping will be just as good, Rudraks. It will be on Amsteram between 94th and 95th.
Oh god no. How much did they have to pay you to write this? This place is garbage as the other two as is the owner. He himself is never at any of his restaurants. His restaurants are a cheap imitation of his real business which is catering to destination weddings. No one is there to oversee anything. My customer experience was as dismal as their menu.
Sorry, Shweta…
1- I’ve met and talked with the owner at his restaurant. (He seemed earnest and sincere.)
2- I found the food at both Awadh and Baazi to be mostly very good.
Sorry, Shweta — It’s one thing to say you don’t like a restaurant. It’s another to impugn the editorial integrity of the Rag and its writers. Wrong, just wrong.
How about Kebab aur Sherab on 72nd Street? Innovative, fun, delicious!
Manhattan Valley (on Broadway and 100th St.) is my pick for best Indian restaurant, The food is fabulous, the service wonderful, and it’s a lovely atmosphere inside.
Do you know what their restaurant inspection letter grade is? I don’t see it on their window which I thought was required by law.
Eater? Are you kidding? That’s a fully AI blog.