The best Indian restaurant in NYC - NO CONTEST!!! The first time I went was with a bunch of vegetarians and we just popped in for a quick snack and had a few vegetarian apps. The cauliflower blew me away - still keeping its form and texture - nice and crispy - absolutely delicious!!! I went last night with 7 meat eating friends - Service was wonderful and accomodating. They had our table ready eventhough we arrived 15 minutes early. There was nothing I could complain about from the King Fisher beer to the galub jamun and South Indian coffee. My judge of a good Indian restaurant is the galub jamun - I have been disappointed so many times with heavy and bland which many are due to mass production. These were light and airy and you can tell had been soaking in the syrup for a long time because they wee popping with cardamom flavor in every bite!!! Must haves include Lasoni Cauliflower, Red Fish Curry (heavy on chile and ginger), Habanero Garlic Naan and of course, Galub Jamum. read more

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This is my 3rd time coming to their lunch buffet and I really enjoy the quality and the varieties of food. With $16.50, I get to enjoy many different types of curry (veg and non veg: lamb bhuna, chicken tikka, chicken chatttinad) garlic naan, dosa, tandoori chicken, deserts. The wait staff is super nice. I will come back when next time I grave for Indian food read more

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This is a simple review. The best Indian place I've ever been. Now I know you are going to look at my profile see some white guy and be like " yeah but you don't eat a lot of Indian." That's where you would be wrong bro. My wife's a practicing buddhist and a firm vegan. Indian is a common dinner option for us when we are out on the town. Every city, every state, even on a cruise. We always gravitate toward Indian. This is the best Indian restaurant we have ever been to. The food was delicious and inventive. Picture to follow is a red lentil crepe...:WHAT?! The service was comically good. We had a glass or two of wine so we were alil tipsy after food but the guy who filled the water just kept comin' the dude DIDNT LET the glass hit empty even on a chug situation. It's clean and the temperature was comfortable. Get here on your next Indian trip read more

Chola - Lentil crepe - Indian Near Me - New York, New York

Chola is a hidden gem, one of the best Indian restaurant in upper east Manhattan. Their services is excellent, the food is just amazing, perfect naan, perfect rice, perfect everything. Their flavors are just on point. This is one of my favorite places for a nice dinner date. read more

Chola - Indian Near Me - New York, New York

Can't wait for my next visit to Chola. Happened upon the restaurant after a massage around the neighborhood. After a quick search with my nifty YelpApp, boyfriend and I settled on Chola for dinner (a short walking distance from where we were)...and what a great choice we've made! Wish we had a bigger group and/or bigger stomachs and order more off the enticing (and huge) menu. We, however, ended up ordering the following which were scrumptious and sent us home with plenty of leftovers. RAGARA Potatoes, chickpeas, yogurt, chaat masala, cumin, two chutnies (5 stars) LAMB MALABAR Coconut curry, potatoes, dry red chilies (4.5 stars) PANEER MAKHNI Bell peppers, fenugreek, creamy tomatoes (4.5 stars) NAAN - Garlic & Plain (5 stars) MUST COME BACK FOR MORE!!! read more

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Chola you are totally fantastic, I had an incredible experience here yesterday. The menu items were flavorful and yummy and the price point was also very good. Every single thing that I have actually tried has been rather delicious. The team is really polite and professional. Good stuff. read more

We were really surprised at the breadth of different types of food from India. Rather than your usual chicken tikka masala, try the chettinad chicken, momos and the coconut chicken. It felt like the spices were freshly roasted and ground. Excellent !! We will definitely dine here again! read more

I lived across the street and never needed a reservation but I like the lunch buffet. My favorite part is the gulab jamun and rice pudding. I really never learned the names of the other dishes. The interior is a little dim with white banquettes and tablecloths. read more

Chola - view from my apartment - Indian Near Me - New York, New York

You can't get any better than Chola when jonesin' for some Indian! A quaint, low-key place - I came here on Wednesday night for dinner at around eight-thirty. Sans reservations, we were able to find a table. Service was excellent - Servers came around often to ask us how we were enjoying the food or fill our glasses w water. Food was a m a z i n g - Chola's menu is extensive with dishes for both vegetarians and meat-eaters. To start, we requested dosa. It was not on the menu, but our server said that he could have it made for us by the kitchen crew. As my main, I had an item from their specialties - Lata Shetty's Coondapur Chicken - with basmati rice and garlic naan. Make sure you come here hungry. Forget lunch. Portions are generous and you leave F U L L after eating here. Can't wait to come back ! A solid 5 star. read more

My fav Indian restaurant! Food place so so good -very nice personals and friendly and really best Indian meal I ate in NYC :) read more

Chola - Outside street :) on 58th east - Indian Near Me - New York, New York

Love this place for lunch!! They have a buffet with good variety, dessert too. They bring out naan, tandoori chicken, pakoras, and mini dosa to your table all complimentary. So nice. Their masala chai is also AMAZING. Might have to wait after you order the chai because they probably make it fresh but its so worth the wait. sidenote - I love the music, it's instrumental versions of Bollywood songs. read more

DELIVERY during virus period is spectacular. We ordered on Caviar and had our order here in less than 30 minutes. Everything was terrific, well packaged, piping hot. Portions are generous so we found that we only ate half of what we ordered and had more than enough for a second night's dinner. What a find. read more

Just ate here. I am Indian and have eaten at a lot of Indian restaurants. This Place was amazing. Friendly staff and the food was so flavorful. I had the mutter paneer (vegetarian) and it was delicious. We also had the lasoni gobi which is basically a Manchurian - it was delightful as well. I recommend this place. read more

Chola - Garlic Naan, Chicken Tikka Masala - Indian Near Me - New York, New York

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Ah, my first venture into Indian cuisine. Tucked away in the UES, I came by between classes at Hunter during my lunch hour. I tried the Chicken Tikka Masala with garlic naan and a mango lassi. The chicken was moist and tender, and the curry full of flavor. The naan was fluffy and delicious. The mango lassi was creamy and not too sweet, and came in a mason jar which I thought was a nice touch. Overall it was a bit pricey but worth it IMO. Please don't make the mistake I made of ordering off the regular menu if you come by during lunch...they have a buffet which will save you tons. I didn't notice it on my way in, because I was too busy looking around at the classy decor of the place; but then saw it on my way out. It's a pretty extensive buffet with something for everyone from what I saw. read more

Extremely mediocre, especially for the price. Went to Chola for the buffet lunch on a Sunday. The quality of the food was simply not there and felt mass produced. The naan was not fluffy or fresh tasting. Tasted like mass produced, Americanized, lame Indian food. Ambience was also dim and kind of depressing. I was really craving papri chaat which most buffets include, but was not available here. Service was friendly. I sadly would not return and would not recommend. read more

A new favorite- I am not sure why I haven't eaten here before because I've passed by it so many times. The food is amazing, great menu, and everyone who works there seem warm and friendly. I am looking forward to being back. read more

The samosas were big and delicious! Garlic naan was also great, very fresh and tasty. The main dish I got - chicken tiki masala - was okay but I wasn't a fan of the curry they used, and also wouldn't advise getting the spicier setting (I did, since I like spicy food, but it was too spicy for me). Everything was also too buttery and fat, from the butter-covered naan to the abundant oil in the curry. read more

2.5 Stars for Chola! Craving authentic Indian food? This is not the place. Going against the crowd with this one. Decided to treat my biryani craving today and chose Chola. Ordered the garlic naan, Murgh Malai Tikka, Lamb biryani and Dal Makhani. While everything was okay, it lacked the intensity and flavors closely associated with Indian food. The flavors have been toned down to adapt to a global palate. The service and ambience is quite nice! return? No. read more

Excellent food. Best Indian food in the area. Lovely, attentive service. Couldn't recommend more.

I went there last night with a friend.. We had masala Dosa, Chicken Makhani and I have to say that it's the best food I've had in New York so far in 6 months of being here. The gravy was fabulous and the sambar was really yummy. I also had the salty lassi which was just perfect, not too thick not too diluted..the ambience is pretty nice and the waitstaff is the best.. Super courteous, quick and responsive.. I would really recommend this place. 10/10 read more

Chola - Indian Near Me - New York, New York

Food holds up great for delivery which is not always the case. Everything tasted really fresh and spices were balanced. Best Indian I've had in a long time. Will order again for sure. read more

We went for dinner Friday night. It was a very busy night but the service was pretty fast. The ambience was also nice. We ordered the chicken haryali kebab and the spinach cheese appetizer. Both dishes were pretty good but not the best. We ordered the butter chicken and malai kofta for entree along with a garlic naan and 2 lacchha parathas for a party of 3. The quantities were very generous. We ended up taking a little of both dishes home along with 3 pieces of the paratha and 1 piece of naan. I would definitely come back to this place. read more

I had a great lunch here. First of all, they have plenty of vegan dishes. Owner is so kind; I asked him his favorite dish among the vegan options, he asked me back my favorite veggies, and made something special with those vegetables just for me. Taste is heavenly guys, you gotta try this place! And nobody bothers you every two minutes, that's another plus. Also prices are reasonable. We need more places like Chola. I'll come back. read more

Food is amazing (taste & quality) and portions are good! I've been sampling various Indian restaurants for delivery and this place is one of the best!! When the COVID-19 phase is over, I definitely would like to dine in (photos look nice) and also check out the lunch buffet too. Highly recommend!!! read more

Amazing gluten free food! My wife and I ate like little kids and ordered way to much food. We love everything! The space was nice but the bathrooms need some love. The service was great and everyone was nice. This place is a must visit and we will be letting others know that will traveling in the area and plan on coming back. read more

The food is loaded with sauces with little meat. OM on East 81st and York is better.

The food was amazing!!! We came during COVID for outdoor dining and the setting was very COVID friendly. Food was delicious, one of the best Indian food I have ever tried. Highly, highly recommended! read more

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Great food. Strong cocktails. Only con was that the service was a bit slow. Separate vegan section!

We recently got takeout from here and were really impressed with the authentic Indian flavors (a rare find). The food is delicious & the menu is wide-ranging so there are tons of options. Highly recommend. Can't wait to go back! read more

The food itself is great and I recommend (especially the cauliflower appetizers) but I'm only writing this review to warn people about their sanitizing methods...or lack thereof. I personally saw employees simply dust crumbs off a table and replace napkins/cutlery after customers left. They didn't even change the placemats! It cannot be stressed enough how important cleaning is at this time, so I implore the restaurant follow safety protocols and if I go back to eat there (which I would like to), I'll be sure to ask them to sanitize my table before I sit. read more

The food here is good. No doubt about that. The inside is fairly modern for an Indian spot and I'll forgive them for the cheeseball 'fake library' wall paper in the back. Here's the problem(s)... They own several other restaurants in NYC, mostly serving the same items. Yet, an order of Aunt Murli's Chingri Malai Curry costs you $4 more here. Love Chicken Tikka Masala? $2 more here. Want a Spice Club dish with shrimp? $4.50 more. You get the point. It adds up. Should you want a cocktail, good luck. Apparently, they don't serve many here as the fruit in our drinks was all dry and whittled. Yuck. I don't want to Debbie Downer this place and as I mentioned earlier, the food is good. Paying a different price for the same item is a pet peeve of mine. For me, I'll save $15 and eat at their other spots, which are just as good. But if you're in the area and don't mind dropping a few extra bucks, stop by for sure! read more

Came here on the weekend with a party of 4. Perhaps my expectations were high because of all the good things I'd read about the lunch buffet, but my experience leg s lot to be desired. Let's start with the good: Good : They got a baby seat for my friends baby, the restaurant is a decent size, once you're sitting it feels quite comfortable and conducive to a good chat. The waiters brought us water constantly and they were attentive to bringing us Tandoori chicken and naan. (Seriously though guys, why can't you offer more vegetarian options? It's an Indian restaurant for Christs sake) Bad : A long list. Firstly the lighting wasn't too great here. I felt the front of the restaurant was enshrouded in darkness, gave a cheap feeling to the place. And the darkness extended over part of he buffet table too. The bathroom was absolutely disgusting when I went in there, there was water and food splattered everywhere. On the way to the bathroom the kitchen is exposed, and it really makes the restaurant feel cheap. Our party arrived around 2 pm and close to or after 3 pm the staff really didn't want us there. The food - the buffet felt very underwhelming. Dishes were not warm. There were just 3 vegetable entrees . The idlis looked dry and stale , and there was no chutney around to ring them to life. The chaat options were really really crappy. I think the only redeeming factor of my experience at this restaurant was the fact that I was meeting my friends here after so long. The buffet on weekends at least was overpriced for what you're getting. Wishing I'd taken my reservation to Dhaba instead. Not recommended! read more

Okay, these guys get a solid four stars for the buffet: good, solid Indian food, nicely spiced and eminently well-prepared. Also, the staff is exceedingly attentive, even when the restaurant is pretty busy. Unfortunately, I have to strip away a few stars because of today's floor show. About two-thirds of the way through our meal, three large rats scurried through the dining room, chased by a succession of waiters and kitchen staff. Ultimately, two were killed in the middle of the restaurant; the third disappeared. By then, the room was bedlam and several of the diners hastily -- and angrily -- departed. To be fair, these were healthy, well-fed rats, bright of eye and shiny of coat, suggesting great things about Chola's cuisine. After all, if the restaurant's rodents were healthy and energetic, then the food was probably good, right? On the other hand, the restaurant only cut 20% off the price of our meal, and tried to convince us that the rats were actually visitors from the competing Indian restaurant next door. In the grand scheme, this probably didn't make much of a difference -- I strongly doubt that most of the restaurant's patrons will be back -- but, overall, the management handled the problem in a way that compounded squeakiness with tackiness. read more

I once recommended Chola to a close friend, and I regret that deeply now. I just can't seem to get him to try another Indian restaurant after that! Frankly, in this city of excellent dining options, a restaurant needs to be pretty special for me to frequent it a 3rd time --- let alone for the nth time. I personally don't think Chola merits that status. The best way to get acquainted with Chola is through their fixed price lunch buffet that provides an excellent opportunity to get to try their variety of dishes. I am not a buffet fan, as food quality is generally sub-par. But, Chola is the exception to the rule --- particularly so on a weekend when there is a long line of patrons waiting to savor the extensive list of dishes on the buffet. Not only do they do a competent job at the lunch Buffet, but they also have the most extensive menu (ergo the name), bar none, for an Indian restaurant in New York! This isn't even up for debate. They have dishes from ALL of India's culinary regions --- covering all cuisines from North Indian (Mughal and Punjabi) and South Indian (Kerala, Andhra, Karnatka, and Tamil Nadu) and also cover a few dishes from Calcutta. So, you can get everything from Dosas/Uttapam to Vindaloo/Phal, from stir fry to Tandoor, Vegan/Vegetarian to lamb, chicken and calamari. However, I am not sure whether a la carte service has lived upto the expectations from it --- particularly in the past few months. Consistency has slipped a notch or so. Further, competent service is a recurring problem in spite of a plethora of servers available to attend to you. In fact that seems to be the cause of the problem as a different waiter is showing up every few minutes, without any idea of what was earlier said to the previous one. My recommendation: Try their Sunday buffet. It reigns supreme. You get to sample a variety of dishes, don't need to be bothered by the servers, and leave without denting your wallet. If you really like it, be adventurous and come back to try some of the chef recommended items on the menu --- but not those featured on Martha Stewart! read more

Usually my go-to SeamlessWeb place for Indian food, I just have to say that they REEEEALLY dropped the ball tonight. Imagine the scenario... 1) Been working past 10PM every night for as long as you can remember... 2) which includes a 9+ hour day on Sunday. 3) You skip lunch due to conference calls and meetings... 4) and you get dragged into a 4.5 hour meeting... 5) at 4:30PM... 6) which means, by the time you get out at 9PM, you haven't eaten in 12 hours. 7) You order a nice, fatty Indian dish, along with a side of much-needed naan a.k.a. carbs. 8) Your fatty Indian dish arrives (predictably good), but... 9) your naan does not. 10) You call them to say "my naan didn't get here," and they say they're sending some over. 11) Two hours later (a.k.a. two hours into the work that the 4.5 hour-long meeting produced), you realize your naan NEVER got here. 12) You are also still working on work...which looks like it will never end. This dirty dozen, when added up, can only mean one thing: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 = YOU ARE ONE ANGRY MOFO. DON'T GET IN MY WAY OR I'LL CUT YOU!!!! SHANK SHANK!! read more

I couldn't decide whether or not to give this place 3 stars or 4, but when i realize that 3 stars really = just average, then i believe 4 is definitely warranted. Chola's layout itself is kind of frustrating. The server work area is actually at the front of the restaurant, which i find kind of annoying - esp if you are sitting up there. The menu is actually quite interesting, the pages are lined with factoids and other interesting clips of information about Indian culture and geography. But lets get right to the heart of this thing. I had the mulligatawny soup (of course, my obsession) - and it was absolutely fantastic. Was a fairly thick soup - with vegetables in it. Probably ranked my #2 mulligatawny soup in NY. I ordered the Chicken Phaal - which is supposed to be a very very hot curry - hotter than the vindaloo. It was pretty hot - and had a pleasant taste as well. I've had Phaal before where it was all spice and no taste, this had a bit better balance. My sister had the Chicken Biryani - which i also thought was quite good. I think the chicken should have been a bit more tender, that's pretty much the only complaint about the food here. One thing you certainly could never complain about in Chola is the quantity of food they give you. Dear God it's a lot of food. My sister's Biryani could easily have fed 2. I did finish my Phaal but i was lumbering like a drunken clown down the street afterwards i was so full. The service i thought was above average - didn't have any issues there. One thing i have to add that i found annoying about Chola was the fact that they covered the table clothes with white paper. Come on, we're not kids. Can't i have a real table cloth that's not covered by paper ? Only thing missing were the crayons. It's probably not my first choice for Indian, but i don't know a lot of restaurants that server the Phaal dish - so i may end up here once in a while just for that. read more

I'm South Indian born and bred, and it was with some trepidation that I approached the menu of this restaurant. Many have a preconception that the rich and varied foods of India can be condensed into chicken tikka and naan, and to be frank, most South Indian dishes don't sound very palatable when described in English (steamed rice cake with lentil gravy....) But. This was what I grew up on, and it is every bit as heavenly when done well (albeit awful when done poorly), but very difficult to find commercially available. Noone ever has high expectations of the food of their youth when ordering it outside of their homes. Given the difficulty in finding good indian food that doesn't fall into the aforementioned naan-and-rich-curry combo, I was super skeptical when I ordered a Mysore Masala Dosa, Sambar Idli and a Thair Pachadi for delivery. Imagine my absolute delight when I unpacked the contents of my order at my Midtown desk!! The sambar was flavorful, the chutneys very fresh, the idli sufficiently fluffy, and the their pachadi a soothing, calming revelation. The Applam (papadam) was not oily and held up the various dips well. And the masala thosai, while not as good as one straight from the stovetop, was very well seasoned. Of course, all these dishes would be much better made fresh and served at a table. However, that the quality of the food was so apparent even on a delivery order on a freezing Midtown evening speaks volumes about the restaurant.... ....Or maybe I'm just super homesick for home food and took whatever I got. Either way, thanks for making an evening at my desk, for a brief moment, transcendental. read more

Vegetarian good place to eat alert! Love the location, the style of the restaurant ( classy but relaxed) and the service is was great! They provide prompt service, refill water glasses quickly ( not to sound like a diva but mainly because when you eat a chili you need that H2O! Recommended for people looking for good Indian food! read more

I wanted to wait to post this review because I needed to eat from here at least 3x before writing a rave review. I have only done take out so I can't speak for the service but I can't imagine anything being subpar here. The first time I came was in the middle of summer and it was a hot day. They offered to ice cold water while I waited ( they probably saw my sweat beads). My family loves the dal makhani, dal tadka, paneer makhni, baingan, and lasun gobi. The only dish I haven't been crazy about is the malai kofta because it was a little too sweet for my taste. Other than that I can't complain. I love the chutneys and pickled onions they include with the order. It is pricey compared to the food I get in Queens but I think it's worth it. My compliments to the chef and the staff at this gem of a restaurant! read more

I guess since I'm the Duke of this place I should probably write a review since I obviously like it so much. ;) My first trip here stemmed from a conversation about getting indian food that took place at a vegan festival a few months back with Vivian H. She and I love to stuff our fat faces with food that tastes good ipso facto presto change-o we ended up in this place chowing down and getting looks as usual. Chola is awesome. Period. It's basically insane. For $15 you get this ridiculous lunch buffet... and I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous. There are a ton of dishes that are clearly marked "vegetarian" or "non-vegetarian" and they taste fantastic. Their Rogan Josh was so delicious. Their goat curry was insane. I haven't had poori in so long and when you put the rogan josh on the poori and then oh man serotonin and dopamine are your only friends that day. To top it off, they brought tandoori chicken and samosas and some kind of like almost I don't even know what it was, like a lightly fried bread with potatoes inside (but not alu parantha) to the table. You know how at a LOT of Indian places they have this like crappy Tandoori chicken at the buffet? They have drumsticks and chicken wings but they look like those 30 cent ones you get at a bar? Not here. We're talking fully full-on drumsticks. Them's fightin chickens' drumsticks. These chickens bench like 300 lbs... seriously. The service is stellar. I'm sitting there sweating like a barbarian from the curries and this waiter dude has point like it's a Tom Clancy covert water op mission to bring clean water to villagers in Africa. My glass gets maybe half full and my perception switches to bullet time as this guy flies through the air with a pitcher of water timing the pour so the water hits my glass and fills it just under the top while he does a triple Arabian and takes out three Soviet agents... all at the same time. They seriously have that part down. What's more is the place is really close to the lab where I work so now a bunch of us like to go there for our weekly lab lunch. We're a bunch of scientists and we've run the numbers a bunch of times. You can't beat the price, quality, and quantity in the Upper East Side *I think*. I'll literally eat lunch there and then not have to eat again for something like 30 hours. To summarize, this is one of the best Indian places I've ever been to and my favorite buffet within walking distance of where I work. If you haven't tried the place, you really should. It's awesome and I haven't had a bad experience there yet. read more