Where to Find the Best South Indian Food in New York City

Discover some of the best South Indian restaurants near you in New York City! From Semma to Jalsa Grill and Gravy, explore these places to enjoy traditional flavors from South India.

Where to Find the Best South Indian Food in New York City

Are you looking for the best South Indian restaurants near you in New York City? Look no further! From Semma to Jalsa Grill and Gravy, there are plenty of places to explore and enjoy the flavors of South India. Whether you're looking for a luxurious dining experience or a casual street food experience, New York City has something for everyone. At Semma, you'll find a menu composed mainly of North Indian standards, with the occasional Indochinese dish and Bombay-style chaat. However, if you're looking for something more traditional, Jalsa Grill and Gravy in West Midwood is the place to go.

The owner, Sruthi Chowdary, collaborates with the team of the popular Indian restaurant chain Godavari to offer dishes inspired by Sruthi's childhood foods, as well as staples from the South Indian street market. Hemant Mathur, executive chef and Michelin-starred restaurateur during his first years in New York, has contributed to the success of some of the best Indian restaurants in the city. At Cardamom, a restaurant specializing in food from Goa, you can find dishes made with a paste of coconut milk, tomatoes and tamarind, with a powerful flavor of cumin, garlic, turmeric and ginger. When it opened almost 10 years ago and was named after a Bollywood movie, this comfortable corner restaurant ushered in a new era of pan-Indian menus with carefully selected regional specialties.

Exposure to new international cuisines is a big boost for the food industry, and one of the cuisines that has left an impressive mark has been Indian food. New York's is the branch of a restaurant founded in Chennai in the 1960s, and has two other branches in New Jersey. Known for introducing Americans to Indian cuisine, Sahni founded the cooking school that bears her name in New York City in 1973. Located in the luxurious Le Parker Meridien hotel, this first establishment of the original award-winning restaurant in New Delhi offers a contemporary international touch of Indian classics under the global direction of chef Manish Mehrotra, a native of Patna. If you're an Indian living in the United States of America and looking for some authentic Indian dishes, head over to Sri Ganesh's located in the Plaza de la India in Jersey City.

This vegetarian restaurant specializes in dosas which are offered in about 60 varieties. Indians are so dedicated to their gastronomic culture that with the appearance of Indian food in the United States, and especially here in New York City, specialized grocery stores appeared that sold samosas and masala vados, contemporary restaurants such as Dhamaka, culinary institutions such as the canteen of the Ganesh temple, and also food carts.

Zoe Anreozzi
Zoe Anreozzi

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