Fantastic ambience, buzzing bar, delicious Indian small plates and excellent cocktails - particularly the one called on a whim. Out of this world! So happy to say that NYC can finally call itself home to excellent Indian food with this trendy Chelsea joint. I'd recommend ordering the entire first page of appetizers plus the paneer kulcha. Heaven! Plenty of choice for vegetarians like myself. read more

I was genuinely impressed by aRoqa's plating/presentation and the simplistic interior. However, the food was rather mediocre-especially for the price. I went with a group of friends and we all ordered a mix of dishes to share, which we had specifically requested to be brought out altogether. This request was overlooked. Also, once I had ordered the kurkuri bhel ($12) and has received it I was told there is no lotus root (a part of the dish). That was a bit upsetting. The bhel was still flavorful and good but nothing out of the ordinary or intriguing as the restaurant promises of its dishes. The Murgh flambé ($16) consisted of 3 small chicken wings and a dab of besan chutney, which were lacking in flavor and somewhat cold even for having a flame alongside. Comparatively, the Ghost Pepper Chicken Tikka ($15) was pretty good and the spice hits you later but if there was one somewhat standout dish we felt it was the Dum Ki Nalli ($26). The flavor of this lamb dish was buttery with saffron and we somewhat enjoyed it. We all ordered the Waterloo drink which truly tasted like water, and that's it. I do not think I will be coming back here. read more

I wish Yelp had a 3.5 or even a 3.7 as I really wanted to like this place but.....I was going in thinking this is one of the new "modern Indian" establishments but outside of the "smoky" drinks and a few of the unique serving styles the food was missing a beat. Our waiter was the young tall lady and she was a treat and throughly professional, very soft spoken and we didn't feel rushed. As for the food we started off with the Bhelpuri and it left me a bit confused as I was anticipating a unique modern way of making bhel but aside from the avocado which you don't get in India I didn't taste or see a difference. We also got the Bhatti Murgh and that was very flavorful and presented well on an Indian toy and some flames for added visuals. For the main course we had Chicken fenugreek which was a butter chicken minus the orange color and we had the biryani which was not bad and tasted pretty good but i definitely had better. Sorry this is just an honest review from an Indian foodie. read more

A most welcome addition to Chelsea with creative and delicious takes on traditional Indian cuisine by a chef who circulates to make sure you are totally content and with great mixologists with extensive knowledge not only of their own creations but also of the well chosen offerings, most particularly the mescal and tequila which were accurately described to me by their character as well as the towns and altitude of the agave plants from which they came. Fairly priced and highly recommended. Jerry, the Food Forager read more

Really good Indian food. Polite, nice waitress. Delicious food. They have a patio and you can sit outside. Thank you!

This place is fantastic. I loved it when it first opened with a largely Indian-influenced fusion menu, but I'm even more enamored now that they've added more traditional Indian dishes, like tikka masala and curries. Favorite dishes are the katafai mushrooms, corn padu, Frankie rolls, and chicken kulchas, plus any of the chicken entrees. Great happy hour at the bar, friendly staff, and the places is constantly packed these days (though you can always find a table). Happy for their success! read more

Delicious!! Waiter was super nice and explained what everything was (first time having Indian food) and even the drinks were amazing. Presentation was super cute too! read more

I don't actually usually write Yelp reviews but this restaurant exceeded my expectation and I had a great time so I thought to write a review. So, I've been there with my team from work during lunchtime. They have a price fixed lunch menu and you'd get both appetizer and entree for $23 bucks, which is actually very affordable. Portions are perfectly sized so you get enough food, and also the food is carefully arranged in the plates, resembling with high caliber, Michelin restaurants. The food is same as good as it looks, and this was actually one of my concerns going there for the first time, I thought perhaps the website and the photos are better but the food won't match, but it did match the quality in the photos. During lunchtime was not that busy, so we got the best in class service...not sure if it's like that when the restaurant is full but during lunch time when it's not busy, service is pretty great. My team and I had a great time, and we will definitely come back for the next team lunch. read more

This was my worst brunch ever. First of all the quantity of entree was not sufficient for even a single person. None of the entree has any taste. Egg Benedict was a disaster and the omelette was so soggy and tasted awful. Making portion small and costly does not make it a high end restaurant. You need to do justify it with the taste. Don't go there for brunch. It's a waste of time of and money. read more

Fantastic restaurant- I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! I stopped by just by chance, and I am so excited to have found this place. There are a lot of fun and exotic drinks that you can pair with delectable tapas-style Indian fusion foods. I seriously wanted to try everything on the menu. The plates are just the right size, and they are perfect for exploring a little bit every single thing!!! read more

Great food - love the way the food is presented and tase is very authentic. This place is a hidden gem.

Let me start off by saying hands down the food here is amazing! I would of given 4 stars if the service was as good as my meal. Spent the day in the city with my mom for my birthday and stumbled upon this restaurant by using Open Table. Made a reservation for 5:45pm and put that we were celebrating a birthday. When we walked in we were not greated with smiling faces but instead were look at like we walked into the wrong place. "Hi do you have a reservation" was the greeting we received. Told the woman we had a 5:45 Open Table reso and she said ok and directed us to a 2 top table against the wall. At this time the restaurant was completely empty so I asked to be moved to another 2 top not against the wall. After looking at the menu for quite some time we ordered a bottle of wine that took about 10 mins to receive with still an empty restaurant. As someone in the industry I was put off by the service and over all ambiance the employees created. Not once did my server say happy birthday to me. Although the food was good, I will not be back since there are a million other places I could dine and feel welcomed. When I spend over $150 on dinner I would like a smile and welcoming feeling to come with the cost. read more

We have been there 3 times this month. Fantastic experience. Love the Shadow Play cocktail. The Bhel Kababs & chicken chops are absolutely divine. Great service to top it!! All the best to Gaurav & Monica! Cheers read more

Delicious! Good number of gluten free options. The owner is lovely. Service a little slower food is flavorful and worth it. The paneer stacks are fun and funky w the pipettes and the flambe chicken is a yummy experience :) read more

I love this new place! Chef Gaurav makes the best food, Steven and his staff at the bar make the most incredible drinks, and everyone is so friendly and welcoming, it's become a huge addition to the neighborhood. We came here for our anniversary and Chef Gaurav and Steven made us a tasting menu with drink pairings to die for. What an amazing experience! read more

Excellent food and service. We were a mixed group ~ some pretty old and some middle aged... Some from NYC and some from India. All loved the way the restaurant is designed and found the food innovative, creative, and excellent. Highly recommended! read more

This place is being reviewed by friends. This was one of the most expensive and disappointing meals I've had. The food was at best bland but at worst completely inedible. Our server was nice, no complaints there but the food was not even remotely good. Our drinks were also really really bad. Completely flavorless and basic. They sounded so good as did the food but this place is a big lie. Don't bother. read more

First of all, really impressed with the name. Second of all, it really takes a lot to have such awesome creative food in NYC. So, hats off to Monica Saxena for managing it so well and ensuring that her guests get to relish the best of the Indian fusion! And, I have to say that Prasad is awesome with the creative cocktails and Manni chef with the food. In a nut shell, a must visit place that you will want to come again...... read more

5 stars across the board. Fresh, flavorful food. Fair prices especially for Manhattan. Happy hour with amazing drinks. And subtle but warm ambiance! Owner Monica takes extreme pride in her food and service. Shoutouts to the bartender christian who was extremely attentive and did not skimp on the drinks like other establishments! I will be a regular customer here when in the area. read more

Im hoping I just hit a really, really bad night. The bar tender informed us that they he was just there for a few days bc there was recently a change in management and they brought in a consulting company to help out. Waited 45 min for a beer...and over an hour for a bite of food to come out. Got the bhel and corn paddu appz and the cancelled the rest of the order. The food we did eat was fine, but the overall service was just simply bad. I've been dining in NYC for 7 years and rarely write a review, but this experience compelled me to do so. read more

Another nice Indian restaurant in the city. Great food, nice flavors and the staff was very friendly!

I have always said that to get amazing Indian food you have to either go to India or the UK. After eating at aRoqa I have changed my mind. Every dish was phenomenal and on par with the most expensive Indian Restaurants I have been to in London or would dare say even better. Chef Munny is super talented and authentic and the cocktails were also unique and delicious. Plan to go there every time I visit NY and have recommended the place to all my New Yorker friends. Don't forget to get a taste of the great home made chutneys (after all it's not Indian food unless you do it with chutney) while you enjoy the warm and cozy ambience. read more

Terrific cocktails. Marvelous hospitality. The food is divine. Rarely would you find fusion executed to perfection.

Our bill had three extra charges. The first the waiter removed on his own. The second we had to ask him to remove. The third he refused to remove because he said "you eat it you pay for it." I could not believe that was his response. It was a dish that came to our table but we thought it was another dish. read more

Their food is amazing. Unique and very tasty. We had their filter coffee icecream and it was amazing. Went with a group of 3 Indians and everyone loved it. We highly recommend this place for good and unique Indian food read more

Wow, simply wow! One of the best contemporary Indian meals I've had. It blew the socks off spots like Junoon. They have a very creative food and cocktails menu. Indian Accent is a notch higher but I'd say, this experience at their price point in this chic, smaller setting was point on! They've done a great job of plenty vegetarian variety, which seems to be an after thought in improvised Indian cuisine. I won't recommend any dish because everything we tried was excellent and you should go with your gut, unbiased. read more

I've never had Indian food like this before! This is the Indian version of Nobu! The combination of flavors will blow your mind! Absolutely a must! read more

Too pricey for what they offer. Food was not amazing or spectacular for calling it gourmet. It is mediocre. Presentation was good. Ambience is so so. Service was not bad. Will not be going back. read more

Best Indian food I've had in NYC. On the pricier side. ~$250 for 4 people. But very good food.

Excellent food and presentation, fantastic service, always checking in on us and asking if we need anything else. Relaxing, chic atmosphere and vibe. read more

By far one of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had, which is ironic because I enjoyed the food and service staff. Despite having a confirmed reservation my party was not seated for over an hour. Other groups were (accidentally) seated before us. When we inquired as to what the issue was, rather than being greeted with an apology, the chef decided to get angry and lecture us on how we don't understand how his popular restaurants operate. Apparently that means knowing how to take a reservation but not how to keep a reservation. If you want prompt courteous service, this may not be the place to try on a "popular" night. read more

The food was very good (particularly liked the duck confit dish), but you'd think that servers in the year 2017 would be a bit more informed about dietary restrictions. When we asked what items on the menu contained gluten, we got two waiters pretty much taking (wildly inconsistent) guesses based on reading the menu description (which is obviously something we could've done ourselves), and telling us things like bhel puri was gluten (whereupon I asked, "isn't that usually crispy rice?", prompting an "oh yeah, I think that's right..."). We were then told about certain dishes that could easily be modified to be gluten-free if we didn't get the dipping sauce, etc., but then the sauce was still brought to us (which was okay because we could just not use it, but it required a heads-up from us to realize that was the sauce that had gluten and double-check with the waiter). Ironically enough, when the people at the table next to us sat down to eat, one of the diners started asking about items containing dairy, prompting the same sorts of idle and uninformed speculation from the waiters. I'm sorry, but if you're a waiter, one of the principal aspects of your job is to understand the ingredients in the items on your menu, so that if someone with a dairy intolerance, gluten intolerance, nut allergy or whatever asks you about these things, you can give them an informed answer rather than taking guesses on what could end up being a serious medical issue for someone and a big problem for your restaurant. read more

This place is incredible. From the staff, the UNBELIEVABLE food & amazing drinks - this place has it all. We absolutely loved every single thing we got -- unlike any other Indian food I've ever had. Every dish had unbelievably complex flavor & texture. Cannot say enough about this place. I never write Yelp reviews, but this place is truly so out of this world that I felt compelled to give them the well deserving props! DEFINITELY GO!! read more

The ambiance and food were both amazing at aRoqa! Even the presentation of each of the foods was spectacular. We especially enjoyed the appetizers and drinks and trying the smoking dessert is a must! read more

Amazing food. High quality. Our party of 4 was happy with every item we ate.

Authentic Indian food with creativity. Awesome service and fantastic atmosphere. Look forward to returning soon!

Went there for lunch. The food is unbelievable but definitely stay for the drinks. Staff and ownership is extremely friendly. Would definitely recommend you give it a try. read more

Love the place. Indian small plates. Great drinks!! Great Happy Hour!! Great Brunch!! I keep coming back for more!!

we had a great time at aRoqa ! The decor, staff, chef were stellar. So was the food with a modern take on ethnic indian cuisine. The cocktails were unique and had a great blend of flavor, liquor with of course an indian touch. Overall 5+ stars and I totally recommend folks to experience aRoqa. Definitely going there again, SOON :) read more

Great menu, cute contemporary decor. The problem comes with the actual service and food. We ordered appetizers. The first appetizer comes out, and before we realize this is not what we ordered, the server lights the tray on fire. flames die down. we inform them this is not what we ordered, to a blank stare of "oh, you do not want it anyways? My mistake." We sent it back. Our actual appetizer arrives, the jabanero infused tikka. The meat was completely raw. We sent it back, it arrived slightly less raw the *second* time out. It was unclear who our server was as two of them kept arriving at the table in five minute intervals, as well as a manager. We were thankfully not charged for the food we did not order, and fully charged for food that was undercooked. For a $200 meal, the food was not good, and service was intrusive. I do like the creative approach to the menu, but boy does this place need work. read more