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Restaurant: Tabla and Tabla Bread Bar (11 Madison Ave at 25th St,212-889-0667)
Menu item: Tandoori Black Pepper Shrimp, $18
Retail product: Spicy Black Pepper Shrimp from Fresh Direct, $7.99
The Testers
The Claim
Tabla's website stands by the product, declaring that, “You can enjoy Chef [Floyd] Cardoz's award-winning New Indian cuisine wherever you want in mere minutes.”
The Restaurant
Shell-on and twice the size of the FreshDirect shrimp, the restaurant's crustaceans had "massive amounts of pepper and [were] massively overcooked," said Goldstein. (We did not reheat the dish before tasting, to avoid cooking it twice.) "The look of the shrimp is not appetizing," said Brogan, "and the taste is all pepper." The restaurant version came with a side of salty basmati rice.
The Retail
The ready-to-cook shrimp from FreshDirect arrived without prep instructions—we had to go online to locate a how-to (combine the spice mix and shrimp, then grill or panfry). It also came without rice; a separate side dish is available for purchase. "It's so mild," said Clark of the shellfish. "Nearly flavorless," agreed Goldstein, noting that unlike the restaurant’s version, his retail shrimp were perfectly cooked. "There's nothing similar about these dishes."
The Verdict
Thumbs down
