Best Indian: Vij's

A best-selling cookbook delivered yet more accolades to Vij’s (Gold), where emancipated Indian kitchen cooking is both elevated and disarmingly simple. “I’d call it an institution,” reported another jurist, “except the food continues to evolve—it’s as restless as the proprietors and continues to reinvent.” Rangoli (Silver), Vij’s go-go younger sib, sometimes coasts on the coattails of big brother’s creations but there’s no shame in that when the food is so top-rated (several judges commented on the purity of the mint cilantro chutney). Maurya’s (Bronze) dramatic West Broadway location—a sumptuous room, all lofty ceilings and swags of heavy fabric—is where the Raj meets the Pacific. It’s matched by equally sumptuous food, and a surprisingly free-ranging wine list. At Akbar’s Own (Honourable Mention), the emphasis is on Mughlai and Kashmiri dishes from the mountains of India’s northwestern frontier; prawn Kashmiri is a rich and buttery concoction of prawns, grated apple, raisins and tomatoes in a mild cream sauce. Chindi Varadarajulu of Chutney Villa (Honourable Mention) replicates her mother’s cooking, best found in thali mini-buffets topped with pineapple ginger chutney and delicious idli and vada (India’s answer to the doughnut)—“Timmy Ho’s take note.”

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