Shiva Natarajan, the culinary mind behind Malai Marke, is no stranger to the restaurant business: the New York Times notes that the Kolkata native has opened more than 12 Indian and Asian eateries in Manhattan, Westchester, and Connecticut in as many years. Natarajan told Times critic Florence Fabricant, "You may see the same dish like aloo gobi on several menus, but each will be made differently depending on the region.” At Malai Marke, a ghar ki version enhances the potatoes and cauliflower with the flavors of garlic and ginger. Elsewhere on the menu, green masala or pickling spices enliven grilled kebabs, and Goan specialties such as spicy shrimp vindaloo arrive kissed with a vinegar-infused chili-garlic sauce.

The restaurant's decor is as warm and welcoming as its on-the-bone goat curry or tandoori-baked lamb rolls. The Local noted its “cozy, exposed-brick wall” lined with copper bowls imported from Northern India, and an eye-catching chandelier made with upside-down wine glasses casts the perfect illumination over toasts to a friend's return from space camp.