Dakshin   

1713 1st Ave
New York, NY 10128
212-987-9839

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Dramatically north of its sister spot on Ninth Avenue and West 50th Street, the upper east side Dakshin draws you in with $5.95 all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, but that's largely the venue's least engaging attribute -- most Indian restaurants in New York offer lunch buffets. Still, relatively few bother going beyond the kormas and the vindaloos to offer a more imaginative and expansive, yet not expensive, menu. Mongalorean fry (spicy boneless chicken), jhinga jal toori (seasoned shrimp), plus various samosas and tandooris and a distinctly sexy way with stir-fried okra all lend an exoticism to main courses that rarely touch above $15. Nifty as well is the heavily carpeted ambience without the tacky sitar that one might find in similar eateries along "Indian Row" on East Sixth Street. Trouble is, being so far north the place never gets crowded -- unless Mr. and Mrs. Claus and the elves are seated up front. -- Leonard Jacobs