I finally made it to Sona, a modern Indian restaurant that has made the headlines in the past few months, since its opening in April. It is not just because one of the partners is actress and producer Priyanka Chopra, but also because of the talent of Executive Chef Hari Nayak who once more shows his creativity, crafting a unique menu that would blew you away. I have met Chef Nayak few times: the first time was at Matt & Meera in Hoboken, back in August 2012. The concept was to bring American and Indian food together. I remember that when the restaurant closed, we were sad because we used to go often, but it was a false alarm: they were changing the concept and remodeling it to become Soul Curry, another favorite that unfortunately closed last year. Chef Nayak was there one Saturday evening for Guest Chef’s Night that gave an opportunity to various Chefs to showcase their menu at his place, a great opportunity for them but also for the diners as it gave an opportunity to try different dishes.

Chef Hari Nayak with Chef Sampath at Soul Curry in Hoboken, NJ

So, here we were, for an early diner on a Friday. I mention early because, when we arrived, the place was empty, but, an hour later, not one table was available. By the way, I should mention that Sona means “Gold” in Hindi and the fancy decor, with its golden columns, is beautiful, covered with paintings from Indian artists that are promoted by the restaurant and can be acquired by private collectors.

The menu is overwhelming: there are so many mouth watering dishes that I wish they had a tasting menu available, one non-vegetarian and one vegetarian, to give a chance to the diners to try a bit of everything (wink, wink!). There, you get flavors from all over India, with quality produce carefully sourced. Let’s not wait any longer, and this is what we had:

We started off by ordering drinks. Jodi got their Ginger Limeade that was made with lime juice, Kaffir lime leaf simple syrup and ginger beer. On my side, after a bit of hesitation between their old fashioned that had Plantation Pineapple Rum and cardamon bitters, I opted for their mango lassi. Well, you probably think that it is fairly safe and classic, but their mango lassi has tequila in it, and not a small amount of it, so you cannot drink this like milk!

We decided to order few appetizers. The first one was just for me to eat: the crab puri and caviar. This is an ode to Malabar crab where the mini-puri are filled with butter garlic crab and top with Kaluga amber Caviar. Besides looking decadent with these glossy sturgeon eggs dominating the dish, it is succulent, the caviar, with its mild and buttery taste complementing perfectly the butteriness of the crab filling.

Next was the Dahi Kachori, honoring Mumbai street food. This big fried pocket was filled with spicy Mint chutney, mung bean, passion fruit yogurt and sev that is crunchy noodles made from chickpea flour paste, seasoned with turmeric, cayenne and caraway before being deep-fried. You might have had the one bite version when dining in an Indian restaurant, but this is surely not a one-bite: looking spectacular with all these colors, it was crispy, sweet and savory, with many different flavors.

We also got their samosa that are different from the classic ones: first of all, these were made with phyllo dough filled with goat cheese and spinach. Served with a chili hot chutney, they were a bit spicy.

They nicely sent us two appetizers, complimentary: the first one was the rock shrimp Koliwada, a reference to the colonies of fishermen that can be found in India. These large and perfectly deep fried shrimp were covered with a mango pickle aioli that had a nice kick.

The second appetizer they offered us was beautiful: it was the buckwheat bhel, a dish that is as good visually as it is in your taste buds, made with fenugreek sprouts, raw mango, pomegranate, sev (remember these crispy noodles in the Dahi Kachori?) and buckwheat tossed in a citrusy chilli honey dressing. All of this covered by this beautiful honeycomb made with papdi lace, papdi being crispy crackers that are deep fried, used in most chaat/street snack recipes. Flavorful, I should mention that it was Jodi’s favorite appetizer (I could not pick one, still mesmerized by the dishes and impatient to see what the entrees would be).

The entrees were equally amazing. Jodi ordered their gruyere dosa, a South Indian crepe made with rice and lentil flour, filled with edamame arbi mash and served with a coconut and roasted tomato chutneys. The cone shaped crepe looked amazing and seemed to be a popular dish judging from the number of tables who ordered it.

On my side, after quite a lot of hesitation, I decided to order their black pepper short rib, short rib not being something I see often on an Indian restaurant menu. It was served with a bone marrow korma that is a creamy cashew and almond sauce, as well as hen of the woods mushrooms. Elegantly presented, this was a succulent dish: the sauce was creamy with a nice fattiness that complemented well the perfectly cooked short rib that was not dry at all, accompanied by not just mushrooms, but also a sort of pancake from South India, that is made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk, called appam. I admit that I was not sure how to eat it with the meat, as a supplement or by putting pieces of short rib in it. I went for the former…I thought that it was great to have the appam instead of rice; in fact it made sense as the meat was not bathed in the sauce and rice would not have worked with it.

We also shared some Dal Makhni that was delightfully creamy and that I ate with some chili and cheese naan (there was cheese inside) that was a bit spicy.

Last was dessert. We decided to try their last creation: the chocolate bebinca, a layer cake made with Valrhona chocolate crémeux, topped with a delicious caramel and served with coffee ice cream. This Goan cake served during the holidays finds its influence from the Portuguese cuisine that is one of the many influences in Indian cuisine. Decadent, it was quite chocolate, not too sweet, perfect with some masala chai.

We left full and mesmerized by the delicious food at Sona. Chef Nayak and his team have succeeded in creating an amazing menu that not only elevates Indian dishes but proposes a wide range of options for vegetarian and non-vegetarian, seafood or meat lovers. There are so many mouth watering dishes that the only frustration is not to be able to try all of them. At least in one visit, if you see what I mean…

Enjoy (I really did)!

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Sona - 36 E 20th St, New York, NY 10003

Sona, Modern Indian, in NYC, NY

I Just Want To Eat!