Regional Indian · Lower East Side
By Monty Khas, Anonymous Critic. Pays every bill.
Some restaurants ease you in. Dhamaka grabs you by the collar. Since it opened inside Essex Market on the Lower East Side, this has been the place where chef Chintan Pandya and restaurateur Roni Mazumdar of Unapologetic Foods stopped politely translating Indian food for New York and started cooking it the way it's eaten at home, in roadside dhabas and in small-town kitchens across India. The city noticed. Dhamaka landed on the New York Times list of the best new restaurants of 2021 and has held a place on the paper's 100 Best list since, and Pandya picked up a James Beard award along the way.
The room
Dhamaka is not a hushed experience. The dining room is tight, buzzy and full of tables that clearly came to eat. Music is up, plates fly out of the kitchen, and the people next to you will absolutely ask what you ordered. It feels like a dinner party that got slightly out of hand, in the best way.
What to eat
The goat neck biryani is the reason most people book. It comes as a big, shareable pot of long-grain rice layered over slow-cooked goat on the bone, fragrant with whole spices, and it is built for a crowd. Dig to the bottom, where the rice has soaked up the most flavor.
The butter pepper garlic crab is the other showstopper. It's messy, rich and loaded with garlic and cracked pepper, so ask for extra napkins and don't wear anything you love. For something smoky, the tangri kebab (chicken drumsticks off the grill) and ajwaini prawns, perfumed with carom seed, both hit hard.
Fish lovers should order the paplet fry, a crisp, spiced pomfret straight out of a coastal Indian kitchen. The short rib pulao brings bone marrow and slow-braised beef into a deeply savory rice dish, and the dhungar gosht, given the traditional smoky dhungar treatment, is a quieter but rewarding pick.
Then there's the khad khargosh. It's a whole rabbit, and the kitchen makes only one a night, so you have to pre-order it. It's a celebration dish, theatrical and generous, and the kind of thing you won't find at any other restaurant in the city.
Before you go
Reservations go through SevenRooms for parties of six or fewer, and bigger groups are routed to private dining. There's no phone line, so plan ahead and arrive on time; the restaurant is strict about late arrivals. Weekend brunch is a more relaxed way in.
Why it matters
Dhamaka didn't just open a good restaurant. It changed what New Yorkers expect from Indian dining, opening the door for regional cooking that doesn't apologize for its heat, its bones or its funk. Years later, it still feels like the city's most confident Indian kitchen. Come hungry, come with friends, and order the biryani.
The Quick Fix
What to order: Goat neck biryani; butter pepper garlic crab; short rib pulao; tangri kebab; ajwaini prawn; paplet fry; khad khargosh (pre-order only)
Pricing: Upscale-casual. Share big plates and the bill stays reasonable for the quality.
Best for: Group dinners, adventurous eaters, out-of-town guests and anyone who wants Indian food with the volume turned up
How it compares: Louder and more regional than Indian Accent; a better biryani destination than Bungalow; the restaurant that kicked off NYC's current Indian boom
See where Dhamaka ranks: The Best Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Restaurants in New York City: Our Top 10 for 2026
The food was always this good. We're just paying attention.