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Goat curry, chicken vindaloo, onion naan, tarka dal, and Calcutta chicken roll at Ardsley’s Calcutta Wrap & Roll - Advertisement -
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Against all odds, Westchester has become a hotbed of Indian street foods, with Little Kabab Station, Masala Kraft Café and now Calcutta Wrap & Roll uniting in the trend. All three sling inexpensive, veggie-friendly street treats centered on spicy snacks, complex curries, and savory kathi rolls we know that we couldn’t be happier with this mini South Asian boom.
Like Masala Kraft and Little Kebab Station before it, Calcutta Wrap & Roll is modest; the Ardsley restaurant comprises just a few tables that are mostly in service of its takeout counter. In fact, the generously portioned dishes are served in takeout containers—which makes taking home the inevitable leftovers fast, easy (and pleasantly without apology). Among classic starters at CWR (samosas, masala dosa, papri chat—imagine delicious South Asian nachos), you’ll find stunning bites like the $6.50 rava dosa, a crisp lunar landscape of layered, lacy rice-flour flatbread strewn with frizzled onions and chilis. It arrives with brightly herbal coconut chutney and a hearty, turmeric-tinged sambar (lentil soup), making this a hearty, protein-filled vegetarian meal for less than you’d spend at a fast-food joint.
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2 Rava dosa at Calcutta Wrap & Roll: crisp, rice flour flatbreads with frizzled onions and chilis |
Of kathi rolls, we loved a fat, foil-wrapped Calcutta chicken roll ($5), which featured chili-studded chicken chunks, fresh herbs, and crisp red onion slices rolled in tender, warm, griddle-fried paratha bread. Calcutta Wrap & Roll does bread well, especially its tender, cilantro-scattered onion naans ($2.99), which reveal still-crunchy onion slices in every herbal bite; garlic and whole-wheat varieties are available at the same price. Also, look for plain naans ($1.99), paratha ($2.99), and deep-fried poori ($3.50 for two).
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Goat curry at Calcutta Wrap & Roll: the flavor of goat meat on the bone stands up to heady spices. - Partner Content -
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For a few more dollars than the rolls ($12.99), you’ll find a haunting goat curry. The tender, darkly meaty goat is left on the bone (where all the flavor resides)—ll the better to withstand a robustly spiced sauce, heady with aromatic ginger and garlic. And a vinegary (but, sadly, under-capsaicin-soaked for our taste) chicken vindaloo makes a fine repast for only $9.99. All entrées come with a generous portion of jeera rice, basmati rice dotted with colorful diced vegetables.
Don’t miss Calcutta Wrap & Roll’s bargain lunch thalis. These are traditional combination platters that offer an entire meal of a meat (or vegetarian) entree, vegetable, raita, and a choice of rice or naan for $7.99 to $9.99. For more pics from our visit, see the photo gallery below.
Team Amy Kicks off with a Barbecue at Crabtree’s Kittle House
August 2, 6pm – 9pm
Suggested donation: $60
Join John Crabtree and his four daughters in the Kittle House garden for the launch of the Amy Marie Crabtree Foundation (“Team Amy”), instituted to memorialize his wife’s charitable work. Amy Crabtree, who died of brain cancer in 2009, was active in several charities; this recurring event at the Kittle House will benefit these causes. Tomorrow’s barbecue picnic will be accompanied by wine, beer, and sangria.
Cure Your Hangover With … a Burger at Westchester Burger Co.
Hangover cures are strangely nationalistic. In Mexico, it’s tripe soup (menudo); in Vietnam, it’s pho. In Holland, they snake slippery matjes (baby herring) down their throats while they’re still feeling a little queasy. In the USA (as well as in the UK), the cure for overindulgence is salty, fatty breakfast fry-ups. We’ve heard all the rationales (a testament to our ill-spent lives), which include the theory that salty bacon replaces depleted electrolites, or that the fat and protein of eggs even out post-binge blood sugar crashes. Personally, we suspect the greasy breakfast cure works because bacon makes everything better, even your hangover. So, the next time that you feel under the weather, tuck into the Hang Over Burger at Westchester Burger Co. With its topper of bacon and eggs (and a side of fries, which really never, ever hurt), you’ll feel as right as rain—though there’s a full bar, too, if hair of the dog is more your style.
More pics from Calcutta Wrap & Roll:
