• 4
• Eclectic, not ethnic

Red Lentil is a vegetarian restaurant long needed in and overdue for New Haven. Its menu is more eclectic than ethnic, but with a leaning toward Asian Indian, and with a small helping of dishes lifted from the menu of It's Only Natural (ION). Portions are generous, cost is moderate, and food mostly is good. Exotic dishes are excellent, and the more extraordinary the dish the better it is likely to be. But more conventional dishes do tend to fall short of my expectations. For instance, in the category of fried food (true confessions! though i hardly hunger for it, in my feeble old age i have relinquished abidance to my usually high nutritional standards, and i have been eating fried foods, but only at vegetarian restaurants, because you never know what else has been fried in that oil), their Gobi Manchurian (fried cauliflower) is outstanding, but their Sweet Potato Fries are disappointing, especially when compared to those served at nearby ION or G Zen. In Red Lentil's favor, theirs are half the price. On account of a multiplex movie theater directly across the street, even at night the street parking, in a word, sucks. As you usually must resort to the cavernous parking garage directly overhead (really!), parking also is expensive, but compensated by the cost of the meal, which is moderate. Seating is spacious and comfortable, especially if you are seated at a booth, and the wait staff does not rush you out of the place, not even when nearing closing, so you leisurely can sit and enjoy your company and the food, except for that dang parking meter.