Friday, July 19, 2013

Vatan Indian Vegetarian

I know the Vatan Indian Vegetarian restaurant has been on Third Avenue a very long time, but that does not prove anything because who knows if the management has changed lately or what.

People have asked me to see if I can show some more Vegetarian or healthy food alternative restaurants, and I suppose this would be one if you looked the menu over carefully..

Well,  let us go to Yelp--Ha! Again people who loved it and people who did not have such a good time...

Vatan Indian Vegetarian

4.0 star rating
184 reviews Rating Details
Categories: Indian, Vegetarian  [Edit]
409 3rd Ave
(between 28th St & 29th St)
New York, NY 10016
Neighborhoods: Midtown East, Kips Bay
(212) 689-5666
Make a Reservation
Nearest Transit Station:
28 St (4, 6, 6X)
33 St (4, 6, 6X)
23 St (4, 6, 6X)
Hours:
Tue-Thu, Sun 5:30 pm - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 5:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Attire:
Casual
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Parking:
Street
Price Range:
$$$
Good for Groups:
Yes
Good for Kids:
Yes
Takes Reservations:
Yes
Delivery:
No
Take-out:
No
Waiter Service:
Yes
Outdoor Seating:
No
Wi-Fi:
No
Good For:
Dinner
Alcohol:
Full Bar
Noise Level:
Average
Ambience:
Casual, Classy
Has TV:
No
Caters:
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes

Review Highlights   What's this?

  • "closest it get to authentic Gujarati thali from back home." In 29 reviews
  • "The dessert is mango ice cream and a carrot honey mixture." In 12 reviews
  • "All you can eat prix fixe menu for just $25." In 24 reviews
Rating Distribution | Trend
Sort by: Yelp Sort | Date | Rating | Useful | Funny | Cool | Total Votes | Friends' | Elites'

184 reviews in English

  • Review from

    • 63 friends
    • 78 reviews
    5.0 star rating
    6/26/2013 1 check-in here
    Had a really wonderful time at this restaurant. Food was excellent, loved the all you can eat- although portions were so good the first time around that I couldn't eat anything after the first dish. I left my sunglasses there- I called, and they're still holding them for me. I really should go pick those up...

    Very good, friendly service. Cool decor. Definitely recommend!
  • Review from

    • 52 friends
    • 96 reviews
    3.0 star rating
    6/6/2013 5 photos 1 check-in here
    We love the portion of the food and the variety. Our serve staff were very pleasant and polite. She explained every dish in our prefix and we were in and out within an hour.

    The seating are spacious and privacy guaranteed. Deco was nice, intimate and classy. They have the cleanest bathroom I've ever seen in NYC.

    As much as I enjoyed my dining experience in Vatan, a $29.95 prefix vegetarian all you can eat Indian buffet is pricey in the sense that they serve all-season vegetables in the cooking style(s) of one region of India. Cauliflowers, peas, garbanzo beans, spinach, chickpeas, yogurt, freshly made bread, and so on. While a $30pp Japanese buffet or Chinese buffet may wow you with their variety, freshness of food, and different styles of cooking, Vatan offers only Gujarati style. I guess the price covers more of the deco, rent and service than the food itself.
    • 8 types of appetizers
  • Review from

    4.0 star rating
    6/3/2013
    Vatan is a unique restaurant in the USA, simply because nobody else seems to have such a concept. They are open only for dinner, and you don't get to pick your food from a menu - they have a prix fixe dinner that's all you can eat.

    This is an unlimited meal - they keep serving you as long as you ask. Unless you like to drink a lot of lassi or soda, skip the side drink - the food's a'plenty. The meal is 3 courses - appetizer, entree and dessert - although I wouldn't really call it dessert. Their menu lists the items on each plate, so let your hostess know before they bring out the plate if you want to skip something - though they don't always seem to do this - my friend asked them to reduce the number of pooris, but they still brought out the full plate.

    Dessert is a bit weird - chai and mango ice cream - not two things that really go together. I'd say skip the ice cream altogether and stick with the chai - that's really good. Oh, and don't forget to ask for the aam ras before they bring out the entree plate, it's really good.

    I'd probably come here again the next time I'm in NYC, but I'll make sure to skip lunch ;)
  • Review from

    • 0 friends
    • 4 reviews
    5.0 star rating
    7/15/2013
    It's very good indian restaurant. Godd decor and ambience and good food.
    I totally enjoyed the experience here.
    I love gujrathi food and I am used to concept of unlimited Gujrathi thali..  Ofcourse it's not exactly the same way as one may get in India... But still I loved it. Appetizers were yummy. I liked themain curse as well.  In every part of india the way food is cooked, type of spices used is different. I know many of my Indian friends who do not like Gujarathi food as it's not very spicy and has hint of sweetness. so if you you like gujarathi food it's definitely worth a try..

    To avoaid long wait ...please make a reservation before you go there
  • Review from

    • 0 friends
    • 17 reviews
    2.0 star rating
    7/10/2013
    Let me first summarize.  Some of the items they serve in their prix-fixe menu are tasty, but their service is lousy and they use crude tactics so you eat less and leave.

    The concept of this restaurant is fairly easy to understand.  For each course, they give small portions of about 8-10 items.  At least in theory, you can ask for more of any item, and they'll bring you another *very small* portion of the item or items that you ask for.

    For us, the waitress only came by every 15-20 minutes to ask if we wanted something else.  During the course of the meal there were literally 10+ minutes were we were waiting for our waitress to come by so we could ask for more food.  And when we asked, she only brought a tiny portion, which could be finished in a minute.  They we waited again for her to come by...

    Since the waitress took so long to come by, the meal took more than 2 hours.  They waitress clearly become irritated with us because of the length of time we were there and it became obvious she wanted us to leave.

    There were empty tables.  It was clear she didn't come by often because she wanted us to a) lose interest in asking for more food because of the wait and b) finish up our meal and leave so they could save money.

    My apologies, but Vatan is not a discount buffet.  It's $30/person and we're going to finish our meal when enough food has been served to us.  All of us at the table were fairly light eaters, so it's not a case that we're a bunch of elephants eating endless amounts of food.

    I'm not planning to ever go here again.
  • Review from

    4.0 star rating
    7/8/2013
    This place serves good Indian (Gujarati) food. Interesting as you don't have to order anything. The appetizer thali mostly consists of tasty chaat items. Just the right portions and great variety. The main thali that has curried vegetables, kadhi, daal, puris, rice and khichadi is enjoyable too. Authentic Indian flavors which one doesn't really find in every Indian restaurant. Dessert-  the masala tea is lovely but doesn't  really go with the mango ice cream. Helpful service, good food and characteristic Indian setting make this place worth going to.
  • Review from

    5.0 star rating
    7/13/2013
    Really nice place...I ate dinner here with my friend's family several years ago and still remember it. Looking forward to going back someday!

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