NYCGuide
The 2021 NYC Diwali Food Guide
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
This coming Thursday is Diwali, the autumn festival of lights celebrated by Indian and South Asian diasporic communities. It’s a time for sweets, family, and lots of flaming diyas. Whether you’re looking to make a reservation for a special prix-fixe Diwali dinner or you want to pick up some mithai to celebrate at home, check out what’s happening around NYC this Diwali.
If you’re looking for more Indian restaurants in NYC, we have guides to the best of them for dine-in and takeout.
The Spots
If you’re looking for an upscale dinner out to celebrate with family or friends, Paisley in Tribeca is offering pre-fixe Diwali dinners on Thursday and Friday night (November 4th and 5th). It’s a three-course meal with plenty of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, including branzino, stuffed beetroot, and crab dumplings. Plus, every guest gets to leave with a goodie bag. At the time of publishing our Diwali guide, there are still plenty of outdoor and indoor reservations available.
This South Asian, woman-owned ice cream company has Diwali celebration boxes available for pick-up at their shop in Cobble Hill. Each $85 box comes with shrikhand frozen yogurt, carrot halwa ice cream cake, as well as ghughra and kheer ice cream, and six masala chai ice cream sandwiches. If you don’t want to commit to a full box, you can also order a frozen gulab jamun cake that’s soaked in saffron syrup and sandwiched between rose-cinnamon-almond ice cream. Just know that pickup is available until November 7th and there are only 42 boxes left, so get on it if you want the goods.
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Open less than a year, this Flatiron fine dining restaurant partially owned by Priyanka Chopra is celebrating its first Diwali with decorations and a limited-edition menu from November 1st-7th. The four-course $140 tasting menu with an optional $75 wine pairing includes beet galouti, papdi chaat with green chickpeas, a choice of baby eggplant or chicken tikka, and sweet potato halwa with maple ice cream. As a bonus, you’ll get a small box of four traditional Diwali sweets to take home. To book, send your party’s details to reservations@sona-nyc.com.
This year Baar Baar in the East Village will be decked out in flowers, diyas, and rangoli, and will have live Bollywood music for their Thursday night Diwali dinner (November 4th). The $85 four-course pre-fixe meal includes dish options like goat cheese kebab, tandoori cauliflower, and new specials like fava, ricotta, and walnut manti and a Jalebi churro. You can book your table online or call 212-228-1200 for more details.
In case you’re looking to pick up some mithai, beeline to the dessert counter at this old-school Jackson Heights spot. You’ll see refrigerated rows of pistachio barfi and coconut laddoo. Food is sold by the pound here - just make sure to bring cash and don’t leave without a few very good pakoras on the way out.
If you’re the best version of yourself around others, Gupshup in Gramercy is offering two large-format Diwali dinners that each feed at least four people. One comes with goat meat cooked in saffron basmati rice for $60. The other $75 option features tandoor-grilled leg of lamb with pulao rice. Be sure to order in advance due to limited availability.
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Just inside the front door of this Bangladeshi shop, you’ll see an assortment of samosas, paratha, and kabobs, as well as sweets like fruit-studded burfi, swirls of jilabi, and roshgolla. And you should probably order all of those things. Walk past the seating area and you’ll see a separate counter in the back where you can get some quick momos with a side of fried noodles.
For an outdoor experience at a luxury hotel, check out the Rosé Terrace at The Pierre where they’re serving a special Diwali menu from 5-9:30pm on November 5th. There will also be an Arti, Tikka, and Haar welcome ceremony, music fit for the holiday, and ornate lanterns and oil lamps. You can make a reservation online.
This Jersey City spot has both savory and sweet Diwali specials available for pickup or dine-in. They have everything from mixed dried fruits, sooji halwa, ghee sweet khaja, and coconut peda. You can order or make a reservation online, or call them at 201-798-9240.
