<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Chef Akshay Bhardwaj of Michelin-starred Junoon shared tips on how to spot red flags at a high-end Indian restaurant.Nico Schinco</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Chef Akshay Bhardwaj shared <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/korean-bbq-restaurant-red-flags-2024-4">red flags</a> to look out for when trying a new high-end Indian restaurant.</li><li>Skip places that overly "Westernize" dishes or use expensive ingredients without reason.</li></ul><p>When it comes to fine dining Indian cuisine, Chef Akshay Bhardwaj understands the challenge that <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-dont-need-in-kitchen-chef-maneet-chauhan-interview-2024-2">Indian chefs</a> face when balancing authenticity with American palettes.</p><p>He's been the executive chef at NYC's renowned Indian restaurant Junoon since 2016, which, under his leadership, earned a Michelin star for three consecutive years, continuing a winning streak that began in 2011.</p><p>He's also executive chef at the street-food specialty shop, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jazbanyc.com/">Jazba</a>, which is celebrating its first anniversary from October 4-6 with a three-day food popup in collaboration with Jamun — a <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-international-mcdonalds-menu-items-gary-he-2024-9">renowned Indian restaurant</a> in Goa, India.</p><p>"Indian fine dining, as a concept, is a relatively recent phenomenon that has picked up in the last 10 to 15 years, especially in America," Bhardwaj told Business Insider.</p><p>This is, in part, because when <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-to-us-from-india-big-tech-changed-me-2024-7">Indians immigrated to the US</a>, many came from humble backgrounds and did not have the means to spend money on fine dining.</p><p>That's no longer the case. Indian Americans have since built their wealth and are ready to spend on upscale dining.</p><p>It's no longer uncommon to see a mix of high-end and mid-range Indian eateries popping up in New York, with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-28/nyc-indian-restaurants-are-wall-street-s-new-deal-celebration-spot">Bloomberg</a> reporting that the city's Indian restaurants are "becoming something of a power dining scene."</p><p>Bhardwaj told Business Insider that his first advice for anyone wishing to <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/indian-cuisine-gains-traction-in-the-us-2017-1">taste modernized Indian items</a> is to "come with an open mind and just try."</p><p>As someone who has worked closely on developing menus and reimagining traditional Indian flavors with a global twist, he knows when something is amiss and shared the <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/red-flags-how-to-spot-good-sushi-restaurant-from-chef">top five red flags</a> he looks out for when he's craving a high-end Indian meal.</p><p>Here's how you — like him — can distinguish the authentic from the superficial.</p>