Junoon

This experience relates to the Patiala room, not the main dining room. The cocktails had very little alcohol and tasted more like juice. The appetizers we ordered came out fine– especially the shrimp piri piri, although there were just 3 pieces of medium-​sized shrimp in a ~$ 20 plate. The main course was really badly cooked– the coconut gravy in one of the dishes tasted and smelled stale. Our waiter took it back to the chef and a manager came back to apologize saying that the cook has prepared the gravy in the morning and we were being served that dish at 7.30pm! They offered a replacement, but we refused. Another curry had way too much salt in it and the third one was just average. Service was par for the course at any upscale NYC restaurant. Never expected this from a Michelin start restaurant. We were a part of 6 and ended up spending ~$ 400 for such horribly poor quality food.

Junoon was good! The reason for the OK rating is that the food albeit very good, the staff wasn’t as attentive as they should have been for a Michelin Star restaurant!
My SO and I shared everything and we got the Piri Piri Prawns which were good, Chicken Lababdhar with Garlic Naan and the Lamb chops. For drinks we got The east india gin and tonic which wasn’t anything remarkable, and the Mumbai margarita which was a pleasant surprise with its mildly spicy notes. For the food — All of it was very good except for the garlic naan which I felt was just a naan you can find in frozen section at a store laden with butter — flat and buttery. The Chicken Lababdhar was mild but flavorful, it was great to eat with the naan… I could eat the gravy by it self it was so good. The Lamb chops were also delicious. The meat was tender not challenging and each bite was packed with flavor. I tried justifying the price I paid for this meal but I just can’t say it was worth it. The ambience was great, food was good but that being said the service was OK. Nothing worth writing home about. We were running out of naan and we had to call our waiter over and had to pause our meal in between while we waited for the naan to come out. We had to flag down our waiter yet again to get our drinks refilled. A little bit more attention would have gone a long way. Based on just the food i would have given it a 4, but with the slow inattentive service — id have to give it a 3. I would go back just for the food though!

During our first visit here several months ago we experienced fabulous food but very slow service. We returned tonight and everything was amazing!
We did the 3 course tasting menu and I had shrimp, fish and sunchockes. All were full of flavor and perfectly cooked. All four of us enjoyed every bite, including lamb chops that were really yummy and delicious fresh naan bread.
Service was excellent, wine list is great. We’ll be back again soon!

Love it but have to have another dinner after. Reasonably priced. The nonindian beer (no Indian beer here) was good. But damn, not enough food. The wine pairing is tough first tasting menu dish is so sweet you are drinking a simple syrup wine to balance the flavor according to sommelier. B rated by health inspectors. May not really be chicken what you are eating. Will not return.

Went in with a high hope and was disappointed !! Ambiance is average. Management was cocky. Food was average. Desert was a total disaster !! Ordered Kulfi (the Indian ice-​cream treat) — they threw few quarter size cubes in a large plate that tested like frozen milk. Waiter recommended their Signature Dragon Drink — that was a total scam @ $ 16. Only thing that was good was the Breads and the Daal (Lentils) and a great wine. Would get better food at half the price in rest of the NYC restaurants. Oh yes — don’t forget the reception staff was interestingly arrogant !!

This is not my first visit but I always forget to check-in.The food was great. We got the paneer kasturi, yellow dal, nadru matar makhana with lachcha paratha & the chicken biryani. For dessert we got the phirni. Excellent service too. We’ll definitely be back!

Junoon is one of the best bets for Restaurant Week — I know, I’ve done it twice! You are actually saving quite a bit of cash dining here, the RW menu contains all items from the regular menu (not cheaper, easier options), and the service both times was impeccable. I’m actually surprised to see so many people say otherwise!
The restaurant itself is grand, and with the delicious food it feels like a special, elevated dining experience in a land and time far away from the bustling streets of Manhattan. Definitely worth a visit in my book.

Easily one of my favorite Indian restaurants in the city. Great meat and vegetarian options!

As a Michelin Star restaurant you’ll have high expectations right? Wait for it, I’ll get there…
Their large entrance/​waiting area has a lot of rich dark wood along the walls that give it a elegant look with comfy white couches. I hung out in this area for a few mins before our group of 8 started to arrive. A friend and I made our way to the bar area for drinks as we waited until our group started to stroll in; this is not a spot out of Sex and the City where you’ll find Mr. Big ladies. The bartenders are easy on the eyes though, and you will find the bar area to the left of the entrance. Their bar area is completely separate from their dining area, FYI. As most of our group came in we made our way to be seated for dinner. I was a little taken back by the appearance of their dining area; it wasn’t modern like their bar area. It looked like a huge banquet hall. I was expecting more of a modern appearance for a Michelin star restaurant. Their plates and silverware weren’t fancy by any means; but then again I really didn’t come for fancy plates and décor. I came to eat authentic Indian food with good company.
Anytime a restaurant has to deal with a group can be tough. Junoon handled our group courteously and pretty quickly. Once we were seated our waiter came over promptly and discussed the menu with us. We didn’t go with the tasting menu and they were accommodating in allowing us to pick multiple appetizers to share and pick our own entrees. Our appetizers came out shortly after we placed our order. They left just enough time to finish our appetizers when our entrees started to appear. Our wine glasses were refilled in a very timely matter; wine refilling with your dinner may be important to some people and if that’s you reading this review you’re in luck. Now on to the food, some things you may want try:
Noorani Kebabl, Eggplant Chaat, Bagarey Baigan, Kerala Shrimp Curry, Lamb Kolhapuri, Paneer Aur Mirchi Ka Salan and Tandoor Roasted Poussin just to name a few.
I really enjoyed their eggplant, mushroom curry, lamb and chicken dishes; all truly left an impact on my tastebuds for days. Anyone I came in contact with about food left an opening for me to rant for 5−10mins about the food and how I couldn’t wait to return. So should you have Michelin Star expectations? Yes, you should! As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, «I’ll be back.»

This review is for LUNCH ONLY. To be clear, id give Junoon 4 stars for dinner.
The food here is excellent– great tasting and reminds me of good Indian food from home (yes, I’m Indian). The ambience is great as well. Where the restaurant fails is service– every server we have had here has been very rude, insensitive and frankly abrasive. They are neither accommodating nor friendly. It’s amazing how great the people are at dinner– friendly, helpful and conversational.
I don’t want to take anything away from the food. However in recent months the lunch specials have gotten a) smaller in their portion size b) more expensive ($ 25 to $ 30), c) limited in their variety (no lamb, no thali). It’s probably less value for money than it’s ever been, but it’s still a good kitchen. We will be back, albeit less frequently and probably with more hesitation.
Given the competition for good Indian food in the city, I hope Junoon gets better, like we all know it can be.
Come here for dinner. Again and again.

*Disclaimer: I am Indian with a mother who cooks like a champ, but was taken out to Junoon.
I was torn between 3 or 4 stars, but I usually bump up a star if the service is exceptional. And maybe newbies would enjoy the experience.
Opted for the pre-​fixe. Entrees were average. Accompanying rice was less than average. Nothing wowed us… and when a place looks this nice and has such great service, you kind of expect the food to be better.
The appetizers are pretty good, and creative, which I appreciated. Can recommend the tandoor chicken app with the melon and almonds (forget the name!) and piri piri shrimp.
Desserts were simple, but nice enough to end the meal. Get the ice cream trio.

Whatever happened to this place? Used to be my favorite Indian restaurant; not going there anymore.
We went for lunch thali, $ 30 each got us a lukewarm entrée. The staff didn’t care to hear our feedback that the food’s cold and came waaay too late.
Thali was supposed to come with rice, which never came to the table.
They no longer have the custom plate that offers thali; no more showmanship. I can find similar if not better Indian food on 28 n lex for half the price.
I pay the higher price here for the service; the place did not command that premium this time around.

Let’s start out at four stars based a lovely bar area, professional and friendly service and a very nice East India Gin & Tonic.
The bar which runs across the «back» of the room splits several tables in the bar area and a larger restaurant space behind the bar. Very much a high end concept place. I need to go back and try the menu.

Junoon is an upscale Indian restaurant on W 24^th Street between Ave of the Americas and Fifth Ave.
I came here for a work celebration. The food, drinks and service were all fantastic. The vegetarian entrees, specifically the mushroom curry ($ 24) and eggplant khatte meethe ($ 21) were fantastic. The mushroom curry sounds boring… but it’s quite the opposite. The chef used a medley of different kinds of mushrooms, so it made to be a memorable dish. The same went for the eggplant dish. The tomato ginger sauce is extremely flavorful and elevated the simple eggplant. I also ordered a Mumbai margarita and it was deliiiicious! What an incredibly tasty meal.
Other great things about Junoon:
+ delicious food
+ medium to quiet level of noise, even during dinner time
+ attentive and quick service
+ great for large groups (our group was 20+ people)
I’d love to come back here!

I don’t mind giving Junoon the 4-​star nod. I’ll just start by saying for a MIchelin 1-​star maybe our expectations were a bit higher. But in reality the food was pretty tasty, the prices not exorbitant, and the service pretty decent. Now on to the review…
We actually made reservations for the Patiala room because of the «business casual» dress code in their main dining room. Not sure if this made a difference though because in reality the Patiala room was quite nice.
If we had one overall complaint it would be regarding their cocktails– just sweet and not so good. The sweetness complimented the spiciness of the food somewhat, but on their own a clear miss.
Now the food: we almost did the multi-​course «tasting» because the menu is so extensive, but ultimately we opted to select our own dishes because it turned out to be cheaper and we could get exactly what each of us wanted.
First the great: lamb boti kebab, piri piri shrimp, eggplant main dish, goat curry– all hits
The good: bhut jolokia murgh tikka, murgh lambador– good but not great
Misses: root vegetable masala, chicken breast dumpling
We thought the rice, naan, and chutneys were all very well done. About $ 100 per person with drinks and a good sampling of dishes. All-​in-​all a pleasant Saturday night.

Junoon is michelin star restaurant and also one of 100 restaurants to try in NYC (by time out) I was so excited to try this best Asian restaurant in the city with my lovely friend.
Normally when I dine in for Indian, I get tandoori, masala, na an and some rice dish. Here, we ordered tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, acorn dish, lamb curry, and two different kinds of dessert.
Tandoori chicken, masala, and lamb Curry was absolutely delicious. It was a finer tasting version of what I normally had before. Smaller, few bite version, but excellent tasting.
Acorn dish is a MUST try !!! I was surprised by all the flavors that were joined by warm smmoshy and toasty acorn.
Dessert was full of diff. Flavors as well. Rice pudding was more than a rice pudding. Also, rose flavored jelly kind of dessert was so good that I can still remember the scent.

I was referred to Junoon by a colleague when we were having dinner at Tamarind in Tribeca. I am going to keep this review purely and completely focused on my experience here at junoon. This was a prefix lunch experience.
Ambience ⁴⁄₁₀. Not as intimate. No flowers/​candles on the tables. No traditional music. The tables and chairs are plain. Cutlery very basic.
Service ⁸⁄₁₀. Courteous staff. Quick and clean service.
Food — overall ⁷⁄₁₀. The starter we got was bhoot jholakiya murgh tikka. Outstanding! Excellent marination. Delicious combination of papaya and coriander mint chutney. Brilliance in the plate. In itself this dish is ⁹⁄₁₀. Entrée I got murgh tikka masala– very ordinary ⁴⁄₁₀. The curry was not well blended in spices. Marination for the chicken was lacking the hit. I could taste the bland chicken pm the inside. My hubby got hara bhara paneer kofta. Pieces of kofta in spinach sauce topped with crisp kale– what a brilliant combination. I have not tasted better koftas in nyc. Perfect! Crisp on the outside and absolutely soft on the inside. Curry was very well done. Not oily. Spices balanced. The kale on the top is a winner! I would rate this dish ⁹⁄₁₀. We concluded with dessert. I got the falooda. Very disappointed. Guava went very well but the mango icecream and jelly with whipped cream killed it! Mango icecream was too tarty and jelly with whipped cream kill the authenticity of falooda. It would be so much better to have cashew or butterscotch icecream instead. Falooda was not even a ²⁄₁₀ in flavor. My hubby’s saffron firnee sweet dish was absolutely outstanding. The taste of saffron stayed on our palate and we so loved it. Not too sweet– just right! I would rate this one ⁷⁄₁₀.
Overall experience– ⁶⁄₁₀. Will I come here again? No. Is it the best place to eat indian in NYC? No. Michelin star justified? Not honestly. Was expecting more!
Next destination Tulsi! — let’s see whether it deserves Michelin!!!

First off, unlike what some Unilocalers mentioned, the service here was top notch. Perhaps they changed that up?
Anyways, this place is gorgeous, and with that comes high prices for tiny dishes. I spent $ 50+ here and left hungry. Sigh.
I had the bhut jolokia murgh tikka which was definitely spicy. It was pretty good, but the portions were so small. The garlic naan was pretty good as well.
I also had the jaswal with gin added to it, which was ‘eh. I left my $ 16 cocktail half empty… so sad.
Btw, they don’t have any high chairs here!

Came here on a weekday for lunch which so happened to be restaurant week. 3 course for $ 25 and 2 course wine pairing for additional $ 20 or 3 for $ 25.
Tried to make reservation for 12noon on opentable which wasn’t available, called the restaurant and they (the hostess, very courteous) accommodated us with the expectation that we finish by 1:15 (which we did). during lunch only the patiala dining room is available and it quickly filled up by the time we left.
I had the salmon, lamb and kolfi. My friend had chicken, lamb and the other desert choice. According to my colleague it’s Indian fusion and the dishes I had were good.
Two things I do have to mention is that the server didn’t explain any of the dishes that were provided, not a big deal but the same server then later took the time to explain the desert but none of the prior dishes.
Another staff brought us the wine (we had two course wine pairing) and he literally introduced the wine with «this is Chardonnay and pairs very well», pours me a taste (with his hands shaking) and then a glass. My second glass he introduced it similarly by mumbling off the vineyard (i think) and how it pairs very well. While he was pouring I noticed it’s a cotes du rhone which I mentioned out loud, I don’t believe he was being lazy but maybe just lack of knowledge? He very well could’ve mentioned it’s French, from rhone valley and grenache based or just memorize a few words from the label.
It’s slightly embarrassing for a fine dining restaurant to have staffs serves wine and not take the initiative to maybe read the label beforehand and pretend you know what you are taking about. Didn’t really matter to me ultimately but I found that to be embarrassing.
Overall it’s a nice experience and would return again if taking friends out for Indian.

I have a very high expectation set for this place — my elite friend suggested me to come here, meaning the food was great; my Indian colleague also strongly recommend this place, meaning the food must be authentic.
As one of the only two Indian Michelin-​starred restaurants, Junoon is superior than Tulsi in terms of both ambience and flavor. Entering into Junoon is more like entering into a classic Indian palace, with an extra down-​to-​earth feeling.
Now turning over to food. Even though the tasting menu was designed for three people minimum; however it also allowed two people to order with fewer choices. We opted for the piri piri shrimp and the pepper, which was both sweet and spicy. Both the kebab and main dish were outstanding; with the lamb being the best dish of the full course. The meat was cooked so tender and was almost melt in my mouth! Skip the rice and go directly for the naan, if you still have the space.
I am not quite sure; but I guess this place hit right into my heart.

What does a Brit know about pancakes, pizza, bagels? Not a lot, and you’d be right to disregard my view on them.
When it comes to Indian food though, I’m on surer ground, we were raised on this cuisine.
Ok, so here’s why I have junoon at 3 and not 5 stars.
Dining room:
Didn’t work for me, in a city where space is at a premium, this felt like it had too much (I commented to my wife it felt like a hotel restaurant in Dubai where warehouse levels of space are a given)
However, on our way out I noticed the front section with bar which looked FAR more cosy and I’d eat in that area if I returned.
Food:
Look, it was good — I’m not going to knock your food junoon just because it’s a slightly different take on the Indian diaspora culinary culture than the uk. The paneer cheese dish was notably good (paneer mirchi ka salan).
The weakest dish was my starter (lahsooni gobi) which (to me) tasted more Italian with its tomato sauce than indian.
Indian fine dining needs to offer something spectacularly different (I’m as equally as critical of Benares in Mayfair, London) to truly stand out with the honest, skilful and genuine Indian food and flavours on offer for a whole lot less cash in a less self conscious environment.

What High End Fine Dine INDIAN huh… Vicky Who now ??? That is exactly how I reacted when first learned about Junoon. You have to make reservation at a minimum 1 day in advance for Lunch WHAT… OKAY I might have dragged that too long now but you get the idea… Walk into Junoon and you are greeted with subtle pleasant décor, they have 2 dining areas ones called the Patiala lounge which has a Dhaba feel complete with swings and benches too bad they open only for Dinner, Lunch is severed in a regular dining area.
About the food, Well I am not sure if I call it Authentic Indian Food, its more like «Modern Indian» if something like that exists or Indian Fusion Food. You have 2 option either the Thali or 3 course Prix-​Fixe, obviously we had to do both. Being fine dine the food comes out with fancy presentation but with true desi quantity.
Must Try’s
Apps: Bhut Jolokia Murg Tikka, Eggplant Chaat***
Mains: Murg Lababdar, Chettinad Lamb***
(Yes LAMB, I am a true to my roots Goat LOVER but this was one of the best Lamb I had)
Dessert: Coconut Rice Pudding***
Drinks: Adraki Punch (its a desi take on Moscow Mule)
It a nutshell, Junoon delivered on its promise and now I respect Vicky Khanna and for $ 50 a pop (Food/​Drink/​Tax) its not at-​all a bad option infact its a very good option.
Plus you walk out with a sense of pride and honor to see a fine dine INDIAN restaurant fight its way and stand shoulder to shoulder with the who’s who’s world cuisine of NYC.
Could not have had a better way to end the India Day Parade of NYC.
You MUST visit Junoon.

Summary:
This is an elegant restaurant with some amazing dishes. It’s got the Michelin star for a reason. The food, the atmosphere, and the service were exquisite. I’d love to come back with more people and try more things. Fantastic!
The Food:
We had the lamb chops, piri piri shrimp, and the garlic/​cheese stuffed naan. The lamb chops simply melted in your mouth. They had a very light and slightly tangy flavor from the marinade. Not terribly spicy. The piri piri shrimp had just the right amount of kick. These were very meaty shrimp, which I love. The naan was amazing, as usual, but the yogurt dipping sauce was so light and refreshing. My only complaint would be that I need a bigger stomach to try more things!
The Atmosphere:
Very cool, chic, and elegant. It’s a very large space but subdivided out very intelligently. One of the rooms has a very family style feel while the others are chic and elegant. The space was very clean, inviting, and intimate. This would be a great spot for a 3^rd date or 300^th!
The Service:
Very professional. The server made some great recommendations. Our water glasses were never empty. The staff were very attentive without being overbearing. They have it down.
Tips:
Sharing is caring. Get a few dishes with your party and share them all to experience several different flavors.
Highly recommend the piri piri shrimp!