I’m exhausted from pruning blueberries bushes for 3 hours on the farm but just had a great first meal at Tashan. It is a stunning leap from the humble Gourmet India in the Burlington Mall food court. I’m not sure how owner Vishal Sood and his chef created these dishes, but it’s something you expect in Manhattan not Boston from the likes of Hermant Mathur. It’s the best Indian restaurant in Boston for sure, and can hold it’s own practically speaking anywhere.
Indians seem to me of the ethnic group that complains most bitterly about their own lack of quality dining options in the area. They are right, but it’s also right to say they are a really hard to please bunch, generally speaking. Actually the Japanese situation is far worse, but Japanese people are very adaptable and aren’t interested in eating Japanese most of the time. Old time food hunters used to say Mexican was least represented in Boston – I used to get a chuckle out of that and it’s simply not true anymore anyway. (I’d say, “Oh vey, these Mexicant’s don’t know how to Mexican and don’t know Japanese food for sure!”) So what I’m saying – I think this is an Indian restaurant even a very picky Indian diner can get behind, my favorite before this was Godavari. I’d guess most local Indians would probably agree.
We had Bindi, Cornish Game Hen, Cod Pakora, and a Bhuna Lamb Gosht. Everything was great. Although the location is pretty barren, Tashan is neighbors with a Panera and the corny fondue joint, there are just some other very spread apart office buildings in the area and lonely stretch of road from the back side of Burlington into Bedford, a really quiet but sizable town with no notable dining spots. The space is decorated nicely with a couple of murals, tasteful and not overdone. They do have a full bar, and while the drinks may not be first class, I don’t know, didn’t try, everything is there from cocktails like a Bourbon encased in a glass box of smoke to beers. Despite the nice decorations, it lacks a little bit of visual interest because it’s pretty much one huge room with no divisions or booths, but everything is nice and tables spread apart comfortably. It needs some drapes or something, hmm. Bedford people have no right to have nice things anyway, all they want is Panera, HomeGoods, Netflix, and ice cream from Whole Foods or worse.
I mean it’s surprising to discuss ambiance in a Indian restaurant to begin with. The servers have been trained to be attentive, I’ve honestly never seen Indian wait staff in Boston actively looking for water glasses to refill, or swapping out appetizer dishes for dinner plates. But it’s not stuffy, our leftovers we packed ourselves. Some of the staff are a bit nervous, you can tell they aren’t used to this level of service. (At one point the server came to give us clean plates but we didn’t need them. I took them anyway just in case the boss was watching him or something, he seemed to REALLY want to swap those plates out.) Some are not but it’s all a comfortable level of care you are in, not overdone again. Vishal warmly greeted every table in his easy accent-free English and checked in from time to time. He obviously cares very much and this is his new pride and joy. He is an extremely imposing figure, likely 2 meters tall, but so gentle and welcoming. It is pleasant to see a man who hustled for many years really enjoy his new baby.
We started with some Cod Fish Pakoras, packed with flavor and a bit too much salt in the batter, but very tasty and the either rinsed or marinated red onions were a nice compliment. Prices are a bit high, spent 100 before tip, but worth it, and despite slightly smaller portions than typical, we took a bit of okra home.
The Cornish Game Hen came next, the sauce garnish seemed a bit funnily squiggled down, like the stager lacked a bit of confidence, and a very small amount of it, but no matter the Hen was a real grown-up’s Tikka Masala. It was served on a pressed cake made out Upma of all things! Upma is one of my favorite indian foods, it’s basically a mildly spiced semolina porridge, I get it all the time at Godavari. It’s a poor man’s dish, a peasant staple. To see it transformed into a upscale accompaniment was really fun and interesting, and most of all, tasty.
We had Bhindi/Okra, it was great, slathered in saucy sliced onions and left whole. Very filling I must say! I would recommend it to round out a meal if you eat kinda big like me.
The Bhuna Lamb Gohst is one of two Gohsts and it was very delicious for lack of better word. 8 or so chunks of tender Lamb that didn’t lose it’s character in an extremely thick and deep flavored curry sauce.
This is a pretty serious restaurant even in the wait staff isn’t as pro as you might find in trendy new American places. I ate at Chickadee last night the bill was $150 with one beer. While the execution may be slightly higher at Chickadee, some dishes just didn’t make any sense flavor wise, like the duck breast. Perfectly fine two slices of duck perched on tiny cubes of fruit salad. But the salad was smokey, not the breast. It was kind of weird to be honest, I couldn’t get over it. Some new American places hit it out of the park like Brassica or ASTA. But some times with new American not really being a platform, it can be a bit to open to wild interpretation.
So I enjoyed my first dinner at Tashan very much and will return. It is more than creative plating and some (con)fusion. It’s not fusion at all. There is thought and modernization and mostly creative uses of cooking techniques more than anything. In this light, it is akin to Manita’s cooking at Cha Yen Thai, she blends western and eastern cooking techniques all the time to great effect. I think the Cornish Game Hen, a subversion of Tikka Masala, on Upma, showcases this ingenuity that I describe.
They do not serve lunch, they do not have buffet. They do serve brunch though but if I know Indians, they are gonna hit that place hard every weekend at 11:30 sharp. I think Vishal has a hit so long as Indians and others are okay with the high but fair prices. This is certified # anon6418899licious
