One of the highlights of New York’s Indian culinary renaissance has been the surge of restaurants specialising in regional cuisines rarely found outside of their home states, let alone on menus halfway across the world. At Chatti, which opened near Penn Station in February, the acclaimed Bangalore-based chef Regi Matthew makes his first restaurant foray outside India with an elegant eatery focused on toddy shop, or tavern cuisine of the coastal state of Kerala in the south. Think of the extensive “touchings” menu as Indian tapas: a dizzying, flavourful array of beef fry, coconut prawns, jackfruit cutlets, pan-fried pomfret with gooseberry masala, and much more—bring a big group so you can work your way through dozens of options. On a recent rainy-day visit, I couldn’t have dreamed up anything more soul-nourishing than a steaming bowl of seafood moilee soup, served with feather-light appams. Matthew, who divides his time between India and New York, visited more than 100 toddy shops and sourced 800 recipes as he planned the menu—a tough job, but the results speak for themselves. Instagram
Tamarind Tribeca
Chef-owner Avtar Walia has been something of a trailblazer in the New York City Indian dining landscape, ever since he convinced culinary doyenne and actress Madhur Jaffrey to open Dawat in 1986 in Manhattan. Since 2001, he’s been the force behind Tamarind, a Tribeca institution that revolutionised the approach to Indian fine dining in New York. The tasteful interiors are an elegant backdrop to refined dishes like lobster masala, prawn curry, and Nizami kheema. There may be no shortage of trendy new openings in the city these days, but Tamarind’s staying power speaks for itself. Website
Vatan
I could tell you about this Murray Hill fixture, but some things just need to be seen to be believed. The Third Avenue façade doesn’t begin to prepare you for what lies within: My jaw hit the floor when I walked into the unexpectedly cavernous dining room modelled after a traditional Gujarati village, complete with faux trees, thatched-roof booths, murals of pastoral Indian vignettes, and a massive Ganesh statue presiding over it all. Make sure you get comfortable in your booth because you’re unlikely to leave anytime soon: Vatan’s prix-fixe $45 vegetarian menu is an all-you-can eat bonanza. A massive thali is regularly refreshed with samosas, sev puris, bhaji, daal, chole, and much more on demand, plus endless ice cream and gulab jamun if you make it that far. Between the endless food and the quirky interiors, this is a place you’ll want to settle into for a while. Website
Dhamaka
Dhamaka means explosion, and that’s exactly how this colorful Lower East Side spot landed in New York in 2021. The Unapologetic Foods takeover of New York’s Indian restaurant scene may have begun with Adda (originally in Long Island City and recently transplanted to the East Village) and cemented with Semma, but it’s when Dhamaka opened that I first realized that Indian food enthusiasts in the city were in the throes of a culinary zeitgeist. Restaurateur Roni Mazumdar and chef Chintan Pandya were the first team brazen enough to make food exactly how they wanted it, without dialling back ingredients (goat kidney and testicles, anyone?) or spice levels to cater to Western palates. The result was an instant hit with Indian diners eager for authentic flavours beyond butter chicken, and guided everyone else to push their boundaries and expectations of what Indian flavours could taste like. It may have inspired a legion of other restaurants to follow in its footsteps, but Dhamaka, with its colorful interiors and banging Bollywood soundtrack, is always a winner. Website
BrooklynLore
Lore in Park Slope straddles leans chef Jayesh Kumar’s South Indian roots and European training.
Sukhbir Channa/Lore
The sea bream at Lore is coated with malabar spices and served with hot red chutney.
Sukhbir Channa/Lore
I’m not sure why Lore isn’t one of the hardest-to-get reservations in New York, but at least that means chef Jayesh Kumar’s Park Slope spot has managed to retain its neighbourhood charm—for now. Get there ASAP to try Kumar’s inventive menu, that leans on his South Indian roots and European training (he spent decades in Switzerland before opening Lore in 2022), and like me, you’ll be wondering what kind of a mad genius thought up unlikely mash-ups like roti ravioli, kimchi uttapam, and a steak au poivre with masala butter and fries. Kumar also recently launched a dosa stand at Smorgasburg, and will be opening a bar called Folk (get it?) in Park Slope later this summer—with creative globally inspired cocktails and clever small plates like biryani arancini on the menu. Website
Indian Table
With its distinctive tangy flavour profiles and heady Portuguese influence, the cuisine of the tiny western state of Goa is unlike any other in India—but it can be hard to come by in the city, aside from appearances by vindaloos or the occasional poee bread on menus. But when I’m missing Goa’s famous susegad—laid-back—way of life, I make my way to Cobble Hill’s Indian Table, where Goan chef Eric McCarthy guides diners through a deep dive through classics from his home state: think chicken cafreal, ros omelette, and pork sorpotel, and plenty of coastal classics like the kalchi kodi fish curry and crab cutlets. The dining room, clad in Portuguese-style tiles, is cozy, but when the weather is sultry you’ll want to grab a seat on the back patio stung with fairy lights and feel transported to a veranda in Assagao. Website
QueensAngel Indian Restaurant
It’s hard to play favourites in Jackson Heights—you could eat well in this multicultural hub brimming with Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Nepali restaurants for weeks without ever going back to the same spot twice. Angel, however, merits many a return. It’s been a local hit ever since it opened in 2019 (Bungalow chef Vikas Khanna is a big fan), with everything from a standout take on the all-too-familiar butter chicken to dishes like lotus root kofta that are rarer to spot on New York menus, plus plush naans you’ll want to swathe yourself in. But the star here is the dum biryani—in vegetarian, chicken, and goat varieties—that comes shrouded beneath a crust of bread. When the server carves it open to mix the layers together and releases wisps of steam that linger over your table, that’s your signal to feast. Website