Camel, the illegal pheasant at NYC’s wildest Indian restaurant

It’s New York’s weirdest new restaurant — an Indian restaurant with a cool vibe and a Godfather-themed menu that lists camel kabobs and Illegal Pheasant.

Veerays hides behind a narrow door frame on East 45th Street, without a sign. It gives it the feel of an after-hours venue on Avenue C rather than an upscale pleasure den in the heart of corporate Midtown.

Then there’s the decor. The main dining room and a small nook, perfect for seduction behind it, have a “roaring twenties” theme with lush red velvet banquettes, a swooping turquoise sofa and an abstract white wall panel black with Patagonian quartz.

As if that weren’t enough of a cultural mash-up, the soundtrack on my last visit included Yusef Lateef’s “Love Theme from Spartacus” and 1950s hard-bop classics by Art Blakey.

But all the confusion is happily forgotten on the plate.

Chef/owner Hemant Mathur earned a Michelin star at each of his two previous New York restaurants, Devi and Tulsi.

His work at Veerays, in collaboration with Chef de Cuisine Binder Saini, again showcases his sure hand with North and South Indian styles.

The “Jazzy breads” – the theme extends across sections of the menu – were uniformly excellent, particularly the amul cheese and garlic-olive naans.

A starter of spiced Anglo tuna and potato cakes ($18) – “made for British colonial officers,” we were helpfully informed – crackled on the outside and burst with flavor on the inside.

Next up are the camel kebabs ($35), sourced from a New Jersey farm called Fossil Farms. It was a little too dry on one visit, but deliciously moist on another. It is deeply soaked and comes out hot from the tandoor oven.

Don’t be ashamed if you’ve never had camel – it’s no more challenging to taste than lamb or goat. Plus, Mathur is a tandoori master who knows how not to grill meat and fish.

The Millionaire Moliee ($44) is his take on Chilean sea bass, firm yet moist, served in a lively coconut mustard sauce with coconut rice.

Illegal Pheasant ($35) is served in a burnt tomato and ginger curry. Why this name?

“He flew in from Mexico,” the manager said, adding, “That’s a joke.”

The Bootlegger Bison, described on the menu as a “modernist take on a South Indian favorite,” is an enticing mix of red and green bell peppers, curry and mustard seeds.

After all, Veerays tricks aren’t just a little weird. They do him a disservice. I’m about to break with the cliche – Indian restaurants have lots of marble elephants.

But the theme of the gangster motif is silly and may offend Italians and Indian-Americans alike.

The restaurant’s owners and chefs are identified on its website as “The Don,” “The Underboss,” “The Consigliere” and “Madame Queen,” the name of a real-life Harlem gang leader in the 1920s. of lamb ($48) are called The Don’s Lamb Cops. What were they thinking?

Skip the shtick and let Mathur’s cooking speak for itself.