Is it too much to ask Indian restaurants in New York City that they keep their premises and kitchens reasonably clean?
Indian restaurants in New York City are notoriously dirty.
Restrooms without toilet paper, spoiled food, dirty outer garments of staff, rats, mice, flying insects and other live animals are only some of the ugly aspects of many Indian restaurants in NYC.
We are sick and tired of reading New York City Health Department inspection reports that reveal how dirty our desi restaurants are.
The newest New York Indian restaurant to embrace rats, mice and flying insects is Dhaba on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
According to the New York City Department of Health, Dhaba is not vermin proof and has evidence of flying insects or live flying insects, mice or live mice, rats or live rats present in the facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
The NYC Department of Health inspected Dhaba restaurant on September 26, 2008.
Dhaba Indian Restaurant (108 Lexington Avenue, New York City), a recent addition to the Lexington curry hill area, is part of Bollywood supporting actor Shiva Natarajan’s chain of restaurants, which include Chola and Tadka.
Sanitary Violations observed at Dhaba during the September 26, 2008 inspection:
1.) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist.
2.) Evidence of flying insects or live flying insects present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
3.) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
4.) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
5.) Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.
A NYC restaurant needs a score of 27 or less to pass the NYC Health Dept inspection. Dhaba passed the restaurant inspection by receiving 20 points.
The NYC Department of Health said a Notice of Violation was not issued as a result of this inspection. But the violation point total received by Dhaba is above the average violation point total of 15, for all NYC restaurants on their most recent inspection.
Dhaba owner and executive chef Shiva Natarajan once whined to us that pests like mice plague the finest restaurants in New York City.
But that’s not the whole truth.
While a lot of NYC Indian restaurants are found lacking in hygiene, some of Dhaba’s neighbors like Madras Mahal have received a clean chit from the New York City Health Department with zero violations.
We think ultimately the onus is on the owner of the Indian restaurant to keep it clean.
Sadly, cleanliness is where NYC Indian restaurant owners like Shiva Natarajan fall short.
And you thought only Indian restaurants in India are dirty. Wait till you see their dirty New York counterparts.
Related Stories:
Dhaba NYC Review – Shiva, Screw Bollywood; Fix Your Crappy Food & Crappier Service
New York Indian Restaurant Reviews
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As a side note:
Dhaba is a bad word used by many Sri Lankans belonging to all communities (with the exception of English speaking crowd) for Whores.
I don’t know to how it came to being and which language it belonged to and also it’s origin. But, it’s been widely used in loose form to describe a prostitute. Mostly by the city dwellers.
In Tamil -they say “Awal oru dhaba” (She’s a prostitute)
In Sinhala – “Eki dhaba geayniyek” (She’s a Prostitute)
Maybe, the restuarant you’re talking above can be one similar in character. Haa, haa…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write above: Dhaba is a bad word used by many Sri Lankans belonging to all communities (with the exception of English speaking crowd) for Whores.
Thanks for expanding our vocabulary. 🙂
Dhaba is usually a reference to the highway restaurants in India run by Punjabis.
The word “DHABA” in Punjabi is pronounced “DHAABAA”, with a stressed-D consonant. The word “Dhaba” used in Indian Tamil, to my knowledge, is a part of the “Madras-baashai” lexicon and does not refer to a prostitute. The slang-words for a prostitute I’ve heard in TamilNadu are “root” or “sole.”
The fragment “Oru Dhaba..” (pronounced DUH-BAH, with a soft “D”) in Madras Baashai that I’ve heard often is synonymous with “Once upon a time…” and the word “Dhaba” here has roots in the Urdu language, like the words “Bemani” (Be-imaan) and “Bejaar” (Bekaar) have.
Do correct me if I am wrong.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: The slang-words for a prostitute I’ve heard in TamilNadu are “root†or “sole.â€
We’ve also heard folks use the term moonruba to refer to these birds of the night.
‘thevdiya’ is THE word in Tamil… I dont understand the other words you guys r talking….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Some of the other words have the same meaning as ‘thevdiya.’
I know “sole” as a slang for thevdiya.. but not root.. “root vudiriya”.. means are planning a “route” to get booty..