MyWorldReviews.com

Panna II

New York, New York, United States

Panna II is one of the most unusual places I have been to in awhile. It feels like the restaurant is a fire hazard, but it hasn't been shut down yet, so perhaps it's safe. The entire restaurant is covered with an overwhelming number of lights and shiny wrapping paper. The lights hang from the ceiling and bump your head if you try to move the wrong way.

The restaurant packs people in, so at times it feels a bit claustrophobic, but the decor is so crazy and unusual that it's worth visiting for the experience.

The food itself wasn't the best Indian food I've had - it was below average. I felt like we just chose poor options. One of the other people we were with ordered the chicken vindaloo and that smelled really good. Despite the poor food we had, the decor is strange enough that it's worth trying.

There are a number of Indian restaurants in the area all trying to fight for your patronage. We were pulled in to two other restaurants (trying to find our group) before we were able to make our way to Panna II.

The restaurant is currently BYOB, and there is no corkage fee.

Dress

Fairly casual

Cost

Entrees ranged from $9 - $16.

Items Ordered

Baigan Pakora

Eggplant Fritters

The eggplant fritters were small pieces of eggplant that had been battered and deep fried. As with most things that are deep fried, they were pretty tasty. They weren't like the usual vegetable pekora that you have at an indian restaurant - these were a bit more donut-like (and not as good in my opinion)

Samosa

Meat, vegetable, or coconut turnovers - 2 pieces

We hadn't tried coconut samosas before but thought they would be an interesting change from the usual vegetable or meat. They tasted more like a dessert item. The samosas were the usual fried exterior, but on the inside they were mostly air with a bit of sweetened shredded coconut. They were a bit unusual and dry - I wouldn't order them again.

Chicken Tandoori

white meat

We saw another table order the lamb tandoori and it came on a sizzling platter with a nice smelling sauce. We thought we would try the chicken tandoori, hoping for a similar thing. Unfortunately it was just two chicken breasts that were cooked in the usual tandoori oven. That was disappointing. They were very plain on their own.

Aloo Mottor Gobi

Potatoes, peas, and cauliflower cooked in delicate spices

Aloo Gobi is usually my favorite Indian dish. Most of the other items here were quite disappointing, so it was certainly the star of the meal. ...but it still wasn't any better than average. The dish had a few pieces of potato and cauliflower in a light sweet sauce.