We went to an event here at GupShup, an upscale Indian cuisine, inspired by old Bombay. Still new, less than one year since they first opened their door. I was excited to see what they are all about, and sample some food!
The restaurant is on the small side, it was quite busy on Monday night. A good sign of a tasty food… I really liked the art-y décor, and the reminiscence of the old days. I had a chance to spoke with the owner, Jimmy, and he told me several interesting things about the décor. The dangling glass light chandeliers is custom made, created with so many different shapes of glass. So cool! And then the “dabbawalla wall” which is made with 3,000 tiffin, that goes from the floor all the way up to the second floor ceiling! I heard that they brought in an artist from Delhi for this creation.
Our event was held upstairs, which is much smaller than the first floor, but very nice and cozy. They had a full bar upstairs as well, which makes getting drinks easier. They had interesting old black and white movies projected on the wall behind the bar, which was pretty cool.
The most interesting part of this area was the large tiger painting on the wall. It is quite impressive, and fits the atmosphere perfectly. Each artwork was selected with care, both on the street level and on the second floor.
I asked the owner about the photos on the wall by the staircase, and he told me that it depict the family from Bombay, which is again emphasized with few things here and there, like a clock on the wall and trophy that came from the family. How romantic! Attention to detail is amazing!
Let’s move on to what we consumed… First, drinks. They provided us with a good selection of drinks including beer, wine, and water. I loved how they had flat and sparkling water there for us, very considerate!
We had a few drinks here, Mirza Ghalib Rosé Wine from Spain, The Play Room Cabernet Sauvignon from Spain, Peaks & Valleys Gose Spiced Cider from NY, and Lion Stout from Sri Lanka. Rosé was light and easy to go down, a nice way to start the meal. Cider had quite interesting flavor, not your regular cider… It had apples, cinnamon and anise as the main ingredients, and anise flavor made this much more “earthy” than anything else. Cabernet Sauvignon was really nice, rich yet smooth and velvety, really tasty! Stout was really good, a bit on a sweet side with chocolate and coffee notes. They were all tasty, we enjoyed them all.
For the food samples, the first item we receive was their Chicken Tikka. It was really plump and juicy, tender and delicious! It had a little kick to it which was nice. You can really taste the apple in the cider with it, the spice brought out the sweetness of the cider. Great pairing of my creation (in my opinion).
Then the Amritsari Cod Fish Slider. Sorry for the blurry photos… It was a bit dark here with dimmed lights… The fish was super flaky and juicy, with nice spices that pop! I really liked this one too.
Next one was I assume Cottage Cheese Cigar Rolls (?). I am not sure that is the correct name for this item, but it was made with cottage cheese with pesto, topped with smoked pine nuts. It was very filling even though the portion was small. It had a nice sweetness from the cheese, which went great with my wine! Another fun pairing I found for myself.
Then a really meaty item, Spare Ribs! First off, it was a really nice size, quite big! It was tangy and sweet with a good amount of spice. The meat was so tender, fall off the bone! It was delicious!
Then came the Naan with Butter and Garlic. It came with a side of mango chutney as well. It was soft and airy, moist and tasty! Most of all, it was super fluffy! Mango chutney had a great mango flavor to it, which went great with the Naan.
The last item we received was Guacamole Bombay Tadka, with Khakra Crisps. The guacamole was really fresh and creamy, but with good amount of chunks still left in it that allows the natural flavor the ingredients to pop. The chips that came with it was interesting. It was thin and crispy, but maybe too thin and fragile to scoop up the guacamole…
They had two bathroom near the bar. Just go behind the wall with flower wallpaper. They had one large and one small uni-sex bathrooms. I used the small one as the large one was occupied. It was clean, well-lit, and with interesting posters on the walls. I heard the large one was really nice too.
We might not have gotten loads of varieties, but the quality of the ones we received was very high. I would rather have quality than quantity. We did get to taste more than one of each samples, so that worked out too. We were comfortably full after the event!
All the staffs here were really nice, they were efficient and polite, and made sure everyone got enough food. The bartender (I did not get her name) was really nice too, she seems to be really good at making cocktails. I am a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to sample any of their unique signature cocktails, but that gives us another reason to go back to try more of their food and drinks! If you are looking for a new Indian restaurant to try, give them a try!
GupShup – 115 E 18th St, New York, NY 10003