Darbar Grill

My husband and I have eaten here many times and have never been disappointed. We often bring out of town guests. Have been to Indian 5X so can attest that the cuisine is authentic and flavorful. Good sized portions, delicious naans. Buffet is best Indian in the City, wide variety with good vegetarian selections also. Clean, well spaced tables, set with linen cloths and napkins. Classy and cozy, dark wood and a lovely skylight. Attentive friendly service, never rushed. Middle aged crowd, so quiet and well mannered. Conveniently located near E train @ 53/​Lex.

They have a great lunch buffet in terms of diversity of items as well as the taste. I came during the huge Blizzard of 2016, and they were still open and remarkably full. The lunch buffet goes until 4pm! So that’s perfect for those night owls who can’t get up before noon on the weekends…
In any case, the décor itself is nice. I guess the one annoying thing that happened was that when we arrived at 2:50pm during the blizzard, there was one other party there. We were told to sit anywhere we want. We chose a 4-​person table at one corner with good lighting. Someone ran over and told us that we couldn’t sit there. We asked why, and they said they had a reservation. We asked when. They said 2:50pm. I was going to get angry right there. It was obviously a lie. Who makes a reservation during a blizzard for an Indian buffet at 2:50pm??? In any case, we didn’t escalate it and sat at a dark 4-​person table. We later brought it up to the manager, and he apologized and said it should never have happened.
The buffet itself was delicious. They had your standard chicken tikka masala as well as lamb and fish options. In addition, they had a vegetarian section with saag paneer (tasted different than others I’ve had…) and some kind of breaded veggie. In any case, all good. They also had a dessert bar with mango pudding and rice pudding. Very good. Overall, the price was also reasonable, at under $ 15.

Been here twice for the lunch buffet. For $ 15.20 (incl. tax) its a great deal. I always leave overly full and happy. They serve you your own bread, which is great. Buffets are always mildly spiced so I ask for chili peppers and/​or hot sauce.

Went for the lunch buffet towards the end of service. The spread was good, a good variety of food. We went basically 45mins before end of the buffet, so some dishes weren’t hot, but they did replenish the most popular items even that late. Service was friendly. The restaurant was a bit too dark towards the back, especially for a lunch buffet session. The food was tasty and there was naan for the table. Overall, good food and great value. I would definitely come back for the lunch buffet (though not at the end).

I don’t know much about Indian food nor am I the master of all spices, but out of the many times I’ve visited Darbar, I’ve never been disappointed.
Darbar has a very affordable and accessible lunch buffet for the midtown lunch crowd. It also has very speedy deliveries via seamless.
By dinner, Darbar transforms itself to a mcfancypants restaurant. The inside resembles a fine steakhouse: elegant and classy. I’m talking about white table clothes and folded napkins, white gloves on waiters and exposed bricks on walls (haha, if you care). For the price you will pay for the atmosphere and food, it probably has the best value for its location. Indian food isn’t that cool with the younger non-​indian crowd so you can avoid the annoying hip crowd of izakaya and speak-​easy kids. That’s a plus in my book.
The food is fantastic. I’m a Southern Chinese kid who likes things mild, and there are more than enough options here thats easy on the stomach and tongue, like the salmon curry and the usual chicken tikka masala. The butter chicken serves as a nice American spin if you need to maintain your overweight BMI like me.
The choices for naan is plenty. I’ve only tried the cheese and garlic naan and the regular garlic naan and they’re both good.
What really hits it home for me is the delicious biryani rice that comes with the curry. I was happy to eat the rice with just the curry sauce with no proteins at all.
The service is nice, even though its funny how they switch from formal mcfancypants to super casual gestures sometimes. Sure its not the service you would receive from michelin restaurants but the heart is definitely there. For Indian food lovers, I recommend Darbar (and I’m looking for fellow Indian food lovers in midtown :()

High quality and tasty. Their garlic naan was excellent. Chicken tikka marsala also very good. They have a cold salad plate that tasted like a health salad I would get at the second avenue deli. We went for a catered party and the service was on point. The restaurant has two levels and we used the entire upstairs which was spacious enough for 40 people.

I always ordered out via the Seamless app, and got the Chicken Tikka Masala; today I ate on site in the restaurant and it was a pleasant experience with extremely courteous staff.
The Chicken Tikka Masala is by far hands down, the best in the island of Manhattan– amazing! I will continue to eat from Darbar. Keep up the brilliant work!

Most excellent food and drink. The Tamarind margarita is fantastic Lots of vegetarian choices. Arrive early or have a reservation

Since I have been there more than 20 times, I have to review this place.
The food is good, hot (most of the times). The place os well decorated and clean .
Staff is very knowledgeable and on top of their service, hot amazing bread all the time.
I have managed to get plenty of my coworkers their and they loved it.
— Good for a business meal or romance as well.

This is likely my favorite restaurant in New York City.
Everything from the service to even the condiments served on the side is delicious and very good quality, something that is rare in this city.
If I had to choose my favorites here (something that’s exceedingly difficult), I would have to choose the poori, the chana masala, and definitely the chicken malai, which is the best I’ve tried anywhere.
This is one place that you should definitely visit if you’re taking a trip to the city! I’ve been here twice already in a week.

Came here for dinner. It was a quiet night, and the service was a bit rushed at times, but I understand they were just trying to be good servers. However, when my friend and I were still clearly looking over the menu, they asked us three times if we’d like to order.
Check in on Unilocal for free naan (for dinner, and it is their plain naan).
We ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala, the Chef’s Special (Chicken) and Garlic and Cheese Naan. It comes with unlimited rice, so don’t be afraid to ask for more. Both dishes were thick, creamy and flavorful. The garlic and cheese naan is sooo good — when you bite into a hot, melted pocket of oozing cheese, you just melt into deliciousnessheaven.
The mango mousse cake is very average; I wouldn’t recommend it.

Folks were right about this place.
Personally this is my second favorite Indian lunch buffet joint in NYC right behind Chola. The food here is tasty, the spread is fairly generous (albeit not as comprehensive as what you get at Chola) and the staff is really friendly. I also like the ambiance of the place.
I was a big fan of the tandoori chicken and chicken tikka masala. While those aren’t exactly the most awe-​inspiring dishes for some, I like my food simple. The curry in the latter was tasty and perfect for dipping my naan. The price was reasonable and the place did get relatively good traffic for a Sunday lunch.
I was glad I checked the place out — now I have another option in addition to Chola when I need to get my next Indian fix!

Came here with a friend for the Buffet. He said that his company always comes here for goodbye parties. I really liked their buffet offerings. I think it is really hard to mess up Indian food in general because of all the spices.
This is a more dressy place because it is near a lot of companies. It looks like lots of people that work in the area come here.
I was probably under dressed but they didn’t say anything. I was visiting NY and was leaving right after so there isn’t much I could do with the dress.

We were there on a Tuesday night and the the place was completely empty.
Even though there was no one the service was really bad. They dont even check us out
And the food was not even an average indian food compared to other indian restaurants.
Worst service and worst food i have ever had in NY

This was my first Indian food experience and it was so good! We started with vegetable and chicken samosas and the dipping sauce was really nice. We ordered 2 Chicken Kormas, 1 Chicken Tikka Masala, and 1 Eggplant Bhartha not knowing this would be a lot for 3 people, but we wanted to try it all. The service was great they always filled our water glasses before we finished and came to the table often. Also, if you check in on Unilocal you get a free order of Naan. We also wanted to try the Garlic Naan which was good on its own without dipping it in the sauces. Overall, nice low lit atmosphere and great food!

This is what I’m talking about!
I was introduced to this place by my bosses. They know my co worker and I are fans of Indian food. And we have also been known to partake in Indian food buffets. We went to this place at like 1:00pm. The place was huge and looked a lot nicer than I would expect from a buffet. When you walk in you are greeted with the man making fresh dosas filled with potatoes and peas. As you go through the buffet line you pick up a dosa. Then work your way around the spread. I spotted the chutney and I knew it needed more than a dollop. I love the refreshing flavor that chutney against the flavors of Indian food. Then there was all kinds of meats that I skipped. I was however, able to scoop a little bit of the fish curry. And then I was pointed into the vegetarian section.
I couldn’t believe how many options I had for vegetarian food. I packed my plate with paneer, lentils, eggplant, cauliflower and these little garbanzo looking things. As we sat at the table we got a warm plate of naan. We had water glasses filled at the table. The service was great. They kept the water full and would take empty plates as soon as they spotted them.
I asked the waiter about the garbanzo looking things. They were reminiscent of little dumplings. My table couldn’t figure it out either. My boss said it was «Flower» something. And I understood «Flour» and it was just a mystery. I asked the waiter, «do you know what this is?» and he was like «I DO know what that is». The dish is made of lotus flower seeds. How interesting to go somewhere and eat something completely new. This dish is called «Phool Makhana»!
I fully enjoyed my experience here. And was in a complete food coma. But my boss insisted that we must have the «Carrots». I was very hesitant to eat some shaved carrots as dessert. They were delicious and a great way to end the meal. They had a nice variety of desserts.
And on your way out, I suggest you pick up some of the fennel seeds… you will need them to aid digestion.

I went here for dinner with friends one Tuesday night. The place is huge — the main (ground floor) always has a good number of patrons, but for both times I’ve been to Darbar at this location (I also went for a Sunday brunch) the second floor was completely empty. That being said if you have an absurdly large party this place is more than capable of seating everyone.
The décor is nice and would constitute a solid date spot. Despite the main floor being a ground floor I never got the sense we were technically in a mostly windowless (aside from the entrance) basement.
The service here is excellent. I felt like there was a mini-​entourage of servers tending to us the entire time with water, food, etc. Major props to Darbar for this.
I enjoyed my chicken korma. The sauce was as delicious as I’d come to expect from Indian restaurants, and the chicken was tender. And as a bonus when you check in on Unilocal here for the first time you get a free order of naan (limit one per table), so be sure to take advantage of that. The pricing ($ 17) is similar to other Manhattan Indian restaurants I’ve been to — it would be nice if it were cheaper, but given the location is unsurprising.
I have vague memories of Sunday brunch here from a year and a half ago where nothing stood out, but my second trip here was much better. I enjoyed my dish more and got to appreciate the service.

Turns out their head chef — Chef John — takes the time to read these reviews. He called me the day after I posted my original review, asked me to give a bit more clarity on the exact issues with my meal, very politely and sincerely apologized, and offered to re-​make my order himself, for delivery at whatever time was most convenient for me.
He explained that, while it was no excuse for the quality of my meal, he was dealing with an emergency situation while their newest sous — still in training — prepared my meal.
This happens.
Chef John was true to his word, and took every note of my review into consideration when creating my new meal. Everything was on point. Delicious, brothy yet creamy Mulligatawny, and tremendous Biryani with fluffy rice, tender lamb, caramelized onions, and lamb that pulled apart gorgeously with a fork.
That kind of service and care for his work, and the reputation of his business, definitely puts Darbar Grill back on my radar. And I can, most definitely, recommend that you give them a try!

Speedy delivery AND great food. Win-​Win!!!
I ordered a chicken korma and a garlic naan bread and both were awesome. Korma is very rarely spicy, but Darbar kicked it up a notch. The portion was pretty big too and came with enough rice to last me a week. Flavorful, filling, and delicious.
The garlic naan was great too and not soggy by the time it arrived at my apartment, a huge plus in my book. I’ve read about Darbar many times and always knew it would be good so I’m more than happy it lived up to my expectations.