I don’t tend to spend a lot of time in the Financial District. But anytime I’m down there, it’s almost always for special menu food or drinks. And my night at Crown Shy was no different. For a total of five days, Crown Shy’s kitchen was taken over by Culinary Director Jassimran Singh, who curated a menu based on North India-inspired food of his childhood. Having never heard of Crown Shy before, I had no idea what to expect from the meal, but I’m happy to report it was a great meal from start to finish.

This kitchen collab apparently isn’t the first for Jassimran and Crown Shy, and it hopefully won’t be the last. A friend who went to a previous night with a different menu also had rave reviews of the spot, so clearly they’re doing something right.

So, without further adieu, let’s look at what we ate throughout the night:

The Drinks – I love a good cocktail. And if there’s a theme to the cocktails, even better. They had a few select cocktails tailored to the meal for the special menu, as well as their standard drink list available to order. The specialty drinks were $20 each, and having at least sipped all four of the specialty drinks, I can say they were all a hit.

First Course – This meal really started out with a bang because this first course was insanely delicious. First there was the sweet potato with star fruit, beats with pomegranate arils, oysters, and fish crudo. I don’t recall the details of the dishes, but they were so insanely good. The oysters had an amazing sauce that complimented the flavors so well.

Second Course – Who knew a cheese sandwich could taste so good? However, this was no ordinary cheese sandwich – this had a ton of flavor happening and an amazing texture that felt fried, but not heavy. This was also served with a (not so) spicy octopus that had a really nice tang to it.

Third Course – When they first started putting plates on the table, it felt like they would keep going forever! The photo I grabbed doesn’t even include all that was included. This course had a lovely mix of bread, spreads, veggies and meat skewers. The skewers included pickling brined chicken, lamb shoulder, short rib kebab, and cod tikka. Each was better than the next, but I can say the chicken was hands down the winner of the meat dish.

Dessert – Just when I thought I couldn’t eat more, here came dessert. This course included three dishes that were each quite nice. They included jalebi with rabri, mango and buttermilk sorbet, and carrot halwa with vanilla cream and toasted nuts. Normally I’m not a huge fan of jalebi, but this one really hit the spot! (Note – I don’t have photos of the third dessert, because we got too excited and jumped right into it. Oops.)

As you can see, there was a LOT of food served for this meal. And it cost $95/person (drinks not included). Overall, for this type of meal, it wasn’t overly priced, in my opinion. The quality felt really good and the taste was top notch. Each of the drinks were really nice, but at $20 a pop, it definitely can add up quickly.

I can’t really say if Crown Shy itself if worth visiting as I’ve only had this one meal there, but I can say with absolute certainty that you should definitely snag a reservation if you see Jassimran Singh’s name.