Amma, Midtown East, New York City – The Restaurant Fairy

Food: ☆☆☆

Service: ☆☆☆½

Ambiance: ☆☆

Cost: $$$

Must try: Chicken Tikka Masala, Lal Maas

Amma, means mother in Hindi which captures the essence of the food served at this Midtown Indian restaurant. Serving home-style Indian cuisine is what owner Anju Sharma intended, as she endeavored to recreate meals she ate in her mother and mother in law kitchens.

Amma serves solid, good, Indian food. The dishes tend to be on the spicier side (which I love). I thought their Lal Maas, which is a Rajashtani style mutton curry was superb! I didn’t care too much for their kababs and thought their vegetarian fare was a bit lacking. But they do serve a killer chicken tikka masala – and that all one needs!! The Indian Chinese was really authentic and was reminiscent of flavors I haven’t tasted in years.

All the dishes at Amma are plated – which is rather unusual for an Indian restaurant. There isn’t much ambiance and the space is rather cramped but the service is cheery and very accommodating.

The food at Amma really does take you back in time, to flavors from kitchens back home, that you once enjoyed. It is definitely worth a visit.

Here is some of what we ate: