Profile

This venue is closed.

Moksha, near City Hall, offers a modern take on the subcontinent’s cuisine in a refined, meditative atmosphere. The restaurant’s name means blissful enlightenment, which is embodied by a seventeen-foot Buddha in repose above the bar. Hanging silver bells and a gentle waterfall enhance the cultivated serenity, and exposed brick, beige-painted walls, and antique framed mirrors round out the restrained design. Executive chef Peter Beck, formerly of Chola and Tamarind, provides cooking that’s free of ghee (clarified butter) and consequently less rich. Flavors are marked by mild notes of cumin, ginger, coriander, and garlic. Long-simmered vegetarian dishes are joined by seafood and meat offerings like beef, lamb, and chicken, as well as pork and duck, less common ingredients in India. Tawa mankyo—flash-fried, fork-tender calamari rings—are mixed in a tomato-based sauce pepped up with curry leaves, mustard seeds, and grated coconut. And lobster shahi korma fuses French techniques with Indian spicing: The crustacean-tail segments are marinated in lemon, ginger, garlic, and turmeric, then pan-seared. A slathering of a creamy wine-and-mushroom reduction imbued with cardamom and saffron provides the coup de grâce and shows that Moksha certainly transcends the ordinary. — Michael Anstendig

Tawa mankyo, $10