Vermilion

l wish I could give this place half of a star. We came here on a Saturday night and were the only ones in the restaurant. This place is probably fine for lunch on a workday but do not come here on a weekend. We are vegetarians and can usually count on having paneer. Just our luck they were out of paneer leaving only one other entrée option. However, the appetizers were good especially the artichoke pakoras.

Good things first, service was great. Hostess was extremely cheerful and explained the menu well. Kale bhel was a good twist on the famous chat item bhel puri.
But everything else was sub-​par. We chose this place because of food network host Maneet chauhan’s connection to this place. Neither the indian nor mexican dishes tasted good. Veg options for fusion was very limited. I love both indian and mexican and had very high hopes for fusion. i was so disappointed. One thing every indian restaurant has to get right is their chutneys. in this place the tamarind Chutney which is sprayed over all dishes tasted like store bought and left to harden for days.
Overall huge place, empty tables, cheerful staff but disappointing food.

Maybe just a bad day, but overall at Vermilion did not meet my expectations. There were only 2 members of staff on hand, of which one was the hostess. Despite the place being fairly quiet (only 5 tables including ours), service was far too slow and mistakes made that were not justifiable, again, given the # of tables. Food certainly did not meet the hype, although portions were quite large, but not good enough to justify the price. Lastly, please be warned… the menu you view online is different than what you will get at the restaurant. That being said, ever other item on the actual menu and cocktail list was unavailable. Definitely not planning to go back.

Came here for a dinner with a friend an hour after my flight landed in NY. We had a wonderful, leisurely meal here.
Some quick thoughts:
— our server was excellent — my friend is vegetarian and I’m gluten-​free, and they made sure to recommend dishes we could eat
— the appetizer wasn’t great, but our entrees (Gobi Portuguese and skirt steak) were great
— the hedonism dessert was amazing
Great dinner overall. Would return.

I came here a few days ago with a group of 8… I was the first to arrive. I had tried to call and make a reservation but their phone system plays you a recording describing how awesome they are that goes on forever, but nobody picks up the phone!
When I got here the place was really empty and there was no hostess. 5min elapse before someone asks me what I need. I am seated off to one side, but I was then ignored until I asked for menus. I informed the hostess of the size of my group, but she did not offer to have additional chairs brought over/​tables pushed closer together so I had to grab more chairs myself as well.
Ordering: They are out of a couple of bottled beers on the menu but fine, we’re flexible. Got some apps, but the menu descriptions are confusing and we were offered no guidance on which items would be good to share among a group. And they were also out of some things on the (not very long) menu.
Service: reasonably attentive once we get into it, although food is a tad slow to come out. Food is mediocre at best. Lamb chops are TOUGH — we could not cut through them with the provided cutlery. Fries are meh. We got a few other things but I cannot remember what they are. I kind of gave up ordering food after a while because it would take too long to arrive.
Anyway we eat drink talk leave… I want to pay the check, but can’t find the waiter. My party leaves first and I’m left standing around awkwardly for 10 literal minutes waiting for my check, despite it being freakishly obvious I’m done (another group of patrons assumed I was and grabbed our chairs!). I’m pretty sure nobody would have noticed had I simply walked out at that point. Maybe next time I’ll try that…
TLDR:
Don’t go here if you can find a better option. Nobody was poisoned, so it’s not an out and out NEVER COME BACK, but its definitely not what you’d expect from a place at this price point.

Appetizers were good & Service was great ! Only down size about this restaurant is little pricey & they could have had better choices for entrée! If you are vegetarian be ready to eat Cauliflower for prefix menu in every single items they serve !

This used to be a great place. But tonight the 4 of us sat almost alone at dinner. Bread and appetizer (octopus) were ok, but mains were almost inedible. Skirt steak was chewy and meat of poorest quality. Shrimp and chicken were inexplicably bathed in the same sauce and fresh from the microwave whereas rice was cold. Worst than disappointing just yucky.
Anyhow this place is not even a shadow of its former self.
Save your time and money and go elsewhere would be my advice

I wanted to like this place, but just couldn’t.
Service: slow. Only come here if you have time to kill. Even in a restaurant that was completely empty save for two other patrons, it took 20 minutes to get a drink after waiting eons to order it in the first place. I didn’t think wine was that complicated to make.
Food: disappointing, tasteless.
Also, a little depressing to eat at such a large space with no one else in it. How do they stay in business? Although, I can’t imagine how they would handle a full restaurant when they seemed frazzled by two tables.
Won’t be back.

I give this one mixed reviews. I ate here back in May 2014. Sitting outside, my colleague and I had an amazing meal. Service was questionable and the entrance and first floor traffic flow was a little awkward but all in all, not a bad experience. My second time, October 2015, was not as good. I ordered the same thing I ordered last time and it was way too spicy although I’m sure if I spoke when ordering it wouldn’t have been so spicy. We were seated upstairs and it wasn’t crowded (this was a Sat. night at 7) but there was a large party in the adjacent area. The music in the restaurant competed with the music in the party section so the ambiance was not good. We asked them to adjust the volume and they did.
I personally wouldn’t go again knowing how many great restaurants are in the city with great ambiance and food — that are not as pricey.

A gorgeous venue but not a cheap place. My friend got some mini pigs in a blanket for $ 15. Maybe he should have asked where his substandard blow job was. Very great views of the city & no issues with the staff. Very nice venue for a fashion show & parties; the Halloween party/​fashion show I went to here was a lot of fun. If you come here, do so for the view.

Confused service, sub-​par food, airhead of a hostess, in other words of a typically bland and confused restaurant, quite unfitting for the area. They do have a nice view, that’s where the star comes in.

I went here for the last day of restaurant week and while the friend I was with ordered from the restaurant week menu, I just couldn’t help myself… I had to try more of their regular menu items. Started with the kale salad (whoa!), squid fritters (finger licking good), and lamb chops (spiced just right). I of course shared with my friend who had the RW menu and enjoyed everything to the last bite. She didn’t leave not one bite for me to try. Like seriously. For main, I had the stuffed eggplants (bam!) and finished off with the chocolate cake for dessert. I’m in heaven. And we kept saying how on point the service was, so attentive and charming our female server was, especially as she poured chocolate onto my cake. See you next week Verms!

I believe you get what you pay for in life. Sadly, with this establishment, it is simply not the case. Gorgeous, airy, sunny atmosphere. Décor is classy. Service was spotty. The food did not live up to the décor or the price of the check.
Nothing was terrible, but nothing we ate was special in any way except for the presentation, which was really nice. The cost didn’t reflect the quality. Overall, I would rather go to 6^th Street in the east village, spend $ 14 on dinner, have my food presented in a less-​fancy way and enjoy my meal more. The food is very good, but this restaurant is just pretentious and just needs to get over itself.

How does this place pay its rent?
I reluctantly came here to visit friends who were from out of town. Clearly they didn’t read Unilocal before coming.
You can put lip stick on a pig but it’s still a pig. This place looks nice from the outside but the food what a total shit show.
Go to Tulsi or Tamarind for an excellent Indian meal.

Ordered the scallops for appetizer, and the signature lobster and lamb chops for entrée. The quality of the food was great but not worth the price in my opinion. The portion of the lobster was a little small compared to other indian restaurants I have dined at. I probably wouldn’t bother going back just because it was completely empty on Saturday night @8pm. I was literally the only person there, and the service still wasn’t that amazing,

Here are the words that sum up my dinner at Vermillion last night: unbalanced, bad service, mediocre food (for that food which we received). This restaurant bills itself «as a melding of indian & latin american cuisines, tapas, fusion entrees». Although Vermillion has an interesting menu of small plates, many of these offerings weren’t available. At least three of the appetizers weren’t available on the night we went. In fact, our server didn’t tell us about the unavailability of one item that we had already ordered until they brought one of our apps to the table… ½ hour later.
When my friend and I asked for a substitution, it took several consultations with the kitchen because of allergy concerns and the wait staff’s unfamiliarity with the menu. For example, when asked what was in the «tiradito sauce» (which is typically ceviche and not a sauce at all), they said that the menu was very new and they had to check. We eventually settled on the mundane coconut shrimp.
For our entrée, we asked for the dry aged sirloin that was a jaw dropping $ 50. It unfortunately never arrived. A table that was seated an hour after us next to us received their appetizers and food. At first, we inquired about the status of the entrée when more than an hour went by without our food and we were told, «I am sorry. I will follow up with the kitchen right now and let you know.» We never heard back. Twenty minutes later, when we both had trains home to catch, we told the waitress that we could not wait any longer. She apologized and said that our server got burned in the kitchen, which is why she did not deliver our order, and would send the manager to our table. This seemed odd only because we saw our server delivering orders to the other tables without difficulty or delay. We surmised that the order was either never placed or that the kitchen had run out of this item as well.
The manager came to our table and introduced herself, and gave us each her business card. She then told us that the entrée would be removed from our bill and comped our last round of drinks. She also said that she hoped we would return and to please ask for her. I am afraid that will not happen.
This restaurant has some serious issues. They need someone to help them expedite orders in their kitchen. It is obvious that orders are clearly getting lost in the shuffle. Their menu, while interesting, is also confused and unnecessarily complicated. As a result, I think their kitchen is probably getting lost in the weeds when they have more than a couple of tables. They should pare down their ingredient list so they can get orders out quicker. Perhaps their waitstaff would also be a bit more familiar with their menu as well.
Quick Pros/​Cons
Pros
Very tasty Sangria — we spilt a pitcher and had an extra glass each.
Space — As other fellow Unilocalers have mentioned, Vermillion has LOTS of outdoor and indoor seating with wide aisles, which is more midwest than Manhattan. [Considering how empty it is and the size of the space, I have no idea how they pay the rent]
Location — Midtown East and in walking distance to Grand Central
Manager — very polite
Reservations — easy to make on OpenTable
*am trying to be positive here on the Pros
Cons
Service — is GLACIALLY SLOW, unknowledgeable, inattentive, and seem more concerned with larger tables than tables for two
Food — Average and largely unavailable. Menu needs work. Although the chicken kebab with chipotle mango was pretty good (btw — this is not a kebab but more of a patty, which is dredged and fried), the coconut shrimp did not taste fresh.
Cleanliness — We ate outdoors. While I understand that there is a significant amount of pollution in NYC, our tablecloth was filthy and appeared not to have been changed in some time. It was gray and very dusty. They should use paper to overlay the top.
This is likely a better place for drinks, especially for large groups or special events (e.g. office party). I would not recommend it for dinner.

A classic Indian restaurant with lots of fusionized food styles !!!
We were a party of 8 for dinner. Though they werent many on the floor to dine, the serving time was higher. We had to wait a little longer than usual for the drinks to come.
They had a variety of food and taste with excellent presentation style. The best thing I loved are the «Pani Poori Margharita’s» (drinks) and «Shaahi Tukra» (dessert). I would just fly back to NY for them :)

Will not go back; would not recommend. The bottom line is that I would have been just as well off throwing my money into the East River.
I went with my fiancé and we went from being underwhelmed, to disappointed, to angered. Calling the food mediocre would be generous: our dessert, in particular, tasted as if it were store-​bought. The entire meal just felt like a perfunctory effort.
I wish I read more Unilocal reviews before wasting my money here. They also tried to charge me– FOR WATER and they tried to overcharge for other items. It’s one thing to have a bad meal at a bad restaurant, but it’s another thing to feel scammed at a commercial establishment in midtown.
Also, we were offered free champagne for a «good» Unilocal review. Seems immoral, if not a violation of its member agreement.

Ok let me explain my review. The ambiance of the restaurant/​lounge is great and even the presentation of the food where I can give both those a 4. Unfortunately the food was a 3 at best as I was truly looking forward to a Indian/​Latin fusion restaurant but the Indian spices were heavy handed and took over each dish and you did not see any of the Latin fusion in any of the dishes. I would return to hang out at their lounge on the first floor but not to eat at their restaurant.
For a full review on the food, keep reading.
Here is what we had and my opinion.
Scallops — This was one of the best things we ordered. This was a corn crusted scallops (you get two pieces), with a goat cheese purée, and some heavy indian spiced purée under the scallops, definitely has a bite but a pretty good dish.
duck vindaloo arepa — not my favorite and I love duck. it was just overpowered by indian spices and you really couldn’t taste the cuk or anything else.
Chicken Frankie — this is basically like a chicken egg kati roll as it is indian spiced chicken, fried egg, in a paratha (indian bread). I cant say this was bad but it wasnt amazing. you can go to kati roll (another NYC restaurant) to get this but it wouldn’t be as healthy.
Crab empanadas — not sure how this was a crab empanada, it was more like an empanada with a creamy interior where you couldnt see or taste the crab, nothing that i would ever order again.
Lamb chops — these were pretty good, fairly flavorful with a rustic smoky char however i would have liked them prepared medium rare rather than well done. good spice, nice dipping sauces.
Dessert — we had a flight of 4 desserts to include the chocolate flourless cake, the beignet with honey, the sorbet, and the indian rabri dessert. IMHO, the choc cake was pretty dry, nothing extraordinary. The beignet was pretty good but it was cold, not sure if that was supposed to be cold or not. the sorbet was disgusting as i dont think the flavors went together at all! but the star of the desserts was the indian rabri dessert, very nice and could eat a whole bowl of that!

Went for lunch during restaurant week. Price fixe menu offered an appetizer, main and a dessert.
Service was painfully slow to even get water or the waitress to come by and the place was relatively empty. We sat outside on a sunny day, so we enjoyed the atmosphere. Can I get a glass of water?
The appetizer came quickly and was tasty — a bit spicy but not too much heat, just about right. I had the pork stew. Can I get a water refill?
My main was shrimp tacos; again tasty with some heat but just about right. Can I get a water refill please?
Dessert was refreshing — I had the Mango, Blueberry, Strawberry sorbet. Can I get a water refill please?
No water refill the entire meal, but my check arrived. Restaurants with this type of service in NYC won’t last long.