Blue Lotus

One of the few Indian restaurants located in Downtown Jersey City, Blue Lotus opened earlier this year near Hamilton Park on Erie Street between 7th and 8th in a space that has seen a lot of restaurant turnover. Luckily, Blue Lotus seems to be here to stay, offering lunch, dinner, take-out and delivery.

I went for dinner on a weekday and while it was pretty quiet early on, the restaurant soon filled up, stopping short of being crowded, but never got loud or chaotic. Service was attentive and very eager to please, but not overbearing. The menu is separated into categories with several options to choose from under each category and you'll find both classic dishes and some original options.

When we sat down, we were given poppadom but instead of the two chutneys (usually a tamarind and a tomato/onion) that I usually see, we were given three - one was a very good version of the sweet, fruity tamarind, then there was something that tasted almost like orange marmalade that I don't personally recommend, and a very smooth tomato chutney that was spicier than I typically taste but also very good.

We also ordered mango lassis ($4) which were good, but not especially memorable, and vegetable samosas ($5) which were excellent. They were perfectly fried - nice and crispy on the outside with a tender and well-spiced potato and pea filling, accompanied by the tamarind chutney and a cilantro sauce. The cilantro was excellent, herby and slightly spicy which paired well with the potato and I recommend using that versus the tamarind for this dish.

For our main courses, we got chicken korma ($15) and eggplant masala ($12). Both were generous portions and there were plenty of leftovers although I wouldn't have minded more rice. Both sauces were excellent. The korma is an almond and cashew based mild sauce - rich, slightly sweet, but intensely nutty, and deceptively full of tender chicken pieces. The masala, a creamy tomato sauce, was slightly spicy, and had a nice tangy taste to it with a bit of peppery sharpness that really emphasized the velvety richness of the perfectly cooked eggplant. Part of me wished both were a little spicier (which I'm sure could be requested although fair warning - the spicy stuff is apparently VERY spicy) but on the other hand, they were so flavorful that I would have hated to miss out on any of that with too much heat. We also got a side of naan just to really make sure we were getting as many carbs in as possible which was served warm and was soft enough to be almost pillowy.

I've also gone back a couple times to order take-out (which only took about 20 minutes between calling and picking up and was incredibly easy versus what can apparently be long delivery times), getting the palak paneer ($12), a pureed spinach dish with cheese and something of a standby for me and the kundapur chicken ($15) which is something I had never tried before. The palak paneer was good, but not the best version I've ever had. However, the kundapur chicken absolutely blew me away. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, and I am not sure I've really had a similar dish by another name elsewhere, but it might be my new favorite. It's spicy without being numbing, it's acidic but also rich with a lot of coconut and chile flavors and it was even better the next day. Even writing about it has me wanting it again.

All in All
While Jersey City is already chock full of great Indian, Blue Lotus is an excellent addition to what we have. It is slightly pricier than many of the other options, but not substantially higher especially if you stay with the vegetarian options and the quality of the sauces are really worth it. I did find everything was a little oversalted, but otherwise, the flavors were outstanding and everything was cooked very well. I also liked that they let you pick your ingredient of choice for a lot of the vegetarian dishes - cheese, eggplant, mushroom, etc. and if you are up for something different, they do have goat. It was nice to see that variety and I highly recommend giving it a shot especially if you live downtown.