The Punjabi Deli. Place for Many Happy and Delicious Home Style Meals

Punjabi Deli. Or should i say THE (one and only) Punjabi Deli is one of the most popular, and justifiably so, places to get home-style vegetarian Punjabi food in New York City. Located on East 114th 1st Street (basically at the intersection of Ave A and Houston Street), this place has become a local favorite.

Started by some Indian Sikh Cab drivers in the early 90s as a place for cabbies to come park there (yep, wonder if you re driving a cab, where would you take a leak, if you have to, without having to go crazy finding a parking spot) and get some home-style Indian food. To be precise food eaten in the northern state of Punjab.

Over the years, this place has become immensely popular just on the basis of word-of-mouth advertising. Whoever, eats here comes back and tells their friends. And the place does serve the same delicious fare, day after day, hour after hour - yes, its opne 24X7, 365 days a year. And before i get to the food, i must mention that the staff at the Punjabi Deli is just absolutely fab - they are always welcoming, polite and just look cheerful. And you are likely to hear a lot of good punjabi music - folk music, movie or devotional songs.

Getting to the food - they have several veggies - spinach, mixed veggies (carrots, potatoes, cauliflower mix), black lentils, chickpeas, indian cheese (paneer) with peas and a bunch of seasonsal stuff. Then they have an assortment of breads - plain wheat bread (roti), or wheat bread stuffed with potatotes (paranthas) and the most awesome of all, corn bread (called "makki roti" in punjabi). Watch their fare here

You can begin with light snacks if you like - samosas, potato cutlets (tikki) and fried battered potatoes and spinach - pakodas. I like everything but after so many meals, i have my favorite selection. here is a typical meal

1. Corn bread with indian butter
2. A plate of spinach - this is just awesome - the spinach with garlic in it is a perfect thing to eat your corn bread with - this combo is a staple diet for the hard-working farmers in Punjab who have this in the morning before hitting the fields
3. Then go for the peas with cheese (paneer) mixx
4. And have the number 3 with the parantha - the stuffed potatoes bread

Hmmm. i cant stop salivating. And here is a recommendation - add a "Thumbs up" (indian cola) to your menu as you savor these delights. Or just step out and eat in the open air ont he sidewalk (inside too you have to stand and eat as the place is really narrow)

And yes, i have yet gotten to the dessert -end your meal with an Indian Ice Cream - the Kulfi. Kulfi is made from condensed milk frozen with a mix of saffron (that is the saffron flavor), or pistachio or almonds.

You will be a very contented person after this meal. And all for like less then $10 - most of the items sell between $1-$2 !! Yeah, if you are full but not fully contented, then get some food packed for the other days.

And yes, if you happen to visit this place after 1 am on fri or sat nights, expect it to be quite full - people flock to this place when they are hungry after their party nights, as i often do.

Thanks Punjabi Deli for making home-style , delicious food available always!

Beset with Nostalgia. Last Night of a Most Memorable 4-mth Stay

Yes. All good (even great) things come to an end. And so be it. My 4 mths sublet in Stuyvesant Town or Stuy Town (just on the border of east village) comes to an end tonite. This has been the best 4 mths in the 5 yrs i have been in New York City. And that means a lot because i have stayed in several neighborhoods, year on year as my life as an urban gypsy, who moves from one sublet to another and always has a reason to go out and enjoy to the hilt.

Stuy Town was special. Its one of the hidden gems of NYC. A large residential complex with large apartments, nice manicured walkways, tennis courts (can you imagine - tennis courts right outside my apartment building), own park with a fountain and a great community of young professional people and aging boomers! And then i had a great room-mate who has been a chef, actor and now a school teacher (lets call him M) who has been living in stuy town in the same apartment for 20 yrs now and taught me how to cook a Toad in a Hole.


But what made the 4 mths special was the neighborhood - specifically the few blocks from 14th street to 4th street and av B and av C. There was the awesome local cafe , b cup in which i spent so many weekends just pondering, watching, and brainstorming with my friends. Then the many nights of mad partying at China 1 or the Sun Burnt Cow and then heading off to Muhammed Falafel Five Star for Lamb Gyro , or to get some corn bread and spinach at the Punjabi Deli.

Then there were the people - from the owners and staff at B cup , who are now friends and actually ask me to bring them Bollywood Films! The awesome , unforgettable staff at China 1 (yes each and every one there). Then the great Syrian falafel magician, Muhammed, who is always welcoming. The memories would be incomplete without the supremely talented Daniel , who plays the Drums at the Sun Burnt Cow, on whose rhythms i have spent hours dancing. And yes, the revolutionary, political journalist, O. And then the myriad friends - sab, barb, dy, lor, marn, ros, reb, tab, and, stv .....

I will miss these 4 mths. Not to say i am going to move far from where i am - i may still find a sublet in east village - but stuy town was special - everything just was great. And that will not be the same again. Of course, i sublet because i move on and usually find more interesting and exciting places.

The night also coincides with Obama's Historic Speech for Change at the DNC. Yes, time for a change and to move on. But as one does that you take these beautiful memories along to keep you moving on and on and on.

Party Like a Rockstar at China 1

If there is one place where, i party and party more, it is China 1, a restaurant with an underground, all brick-walled antique-laden bar and a separate cavernous lounge. If there is one place, that scores high points for customer-friendly service and an overall awesome party experience, it is this place.

China 1 is situated on the intersection of 4th and Av B, right across the other famous nightspot in east village, Le souk (which has great music and a really hot crowd, but lousy, pain-in-the butt bouncers, because of which i rarely ever go to this place). And it rocks (well you sure can say that based on the pic on the left!).

What rocks about this place is it layout. You walk into a very nicely decorated restaurant but beneath this veneer of serenity and calmness, lie two hidden and underground party spots. As you walk down the cavernous steps, into the underground, you come across two large rooms; one serves as the "antique" bar and the other a well decorated, dimly light (even bordering on romantic or sensual ) lounge.

But that is just one of the reasons, why this place rocks. The other is the great staff - from the bartenders (m and mg) to the table service cocktail waitresses Tab, who is pictured above (ok, its just a picture), Reb and Ros, (names abbreviated, go ask them yourself!). If they see you are party animals who are there to enjoy, they will pull out all stops to make you feel at home and have a great time. Specially Ro, an Italian-Columbian beauty (with an awesome figure and some really nice tattoos), who, along with Tab, are personal favorite (its mutual admiration, i hope).

I have had countless nights of fun in this place - for instance my birthday bash on June 14th (see pics) , where we literally blew the place away (doesnt it seem from the big cheers in the picture?)

The place is packed on Friday and Saturday nights (read that as skin to skin, at times , after 1 am) and the two rooms buzz with hip-hop and other dance music. China 1 is popular with Asian, Indians and even the local east village crowd and is specially a place for many birthday parties.


And i havent even told you about the cool and really awesome owner, A, who really looks more like a California surfer who has attained internal peace and enlightenment. This guy has literally built the place to be a party house and is so loved by his staff (i repeat, gorgeous staff) and other customers, that many would just give up anything to be in his place. I have promised A, that one day (very soon), i am going to throw a party at china 1 that will just blow the place apart. He is waiting, along with his awesome staff for that party to happen.

As for me, i have had a multitude of experiences at this place - from nights of high adrenaline dancing (i am not sure how many people have taken pictures of me, gyrating in my full abilities and posted them on facebook or myspace. No Kidding) - well, i do have proof , of my moves, as on my birthday, a friend did take some pics. Then there have been nights, when literally, people have "grinded" me from all sides, specially when my body begins to do its sensuous dance moves (the pic on left can give you some indication).

And then there are always the big hugs, kisses and the genuine affection of the staff - Ros and Tab. Tonight, even reb, opened up (she is half Vietnamese and half Irish and i must say, simply stunning)

If you are short of ideas for a weekend party place and dont know where to head to, tune your GPS to point to China 1. You wont be disappointed - yes, the place rocks.

Of course, Daniel and his folks rock more, when it comes to pure music, at the sunburnt cow, on Saturday nights (after 12.30 am), but China 1, holds its own place in my nightlife chronicles.

Long live, the dragon!

Awesome Weekends at B Cup Cafe in East Village

My latest haunt (and almost an addiction now) for some weeks has been a cute, cozy and fun cafe in the east village, the B Cup cafe. I moved to the east village in May (my life as a sublet wonky continues and east village was a neighborhood that i wast itching to come to). To be exact, i move into a pretty nice 2 bed room apartment in Stuyvesant Town (ofcourse, i am sharing it). "Stuy town", as the locals call it, is a unique residential community in the city. A complete township spreading from 14th street to 23rd and from 1st ave to the FDR drive. Within it are really nice apartments, tennis courts, a whole park with its own fountain and more (i know, as new yorkers that is luxury and space, you suburban and rural folks!).

Ok, so the thing with east village is that within a block or two you can pretty much get a cool, hip cafe, lounge, bar, restaurant or anything. I am bang opposite Av B. And on 13th and Av B lies B Cup cafe. Its become my weekend spot. Just lazing, thinking, reading, listening to the great music they have, brainstorming my startups, and gazing (well you know what that means).This cafe has some of the best eye candy in the 'hood.

The cafe itself is a chill place (read my detailed review on yelp). Its brick walls, adorned with abstract paintings, and the nice lamps set a cozy ambiance. The cafe front is all glass with a wavey glass painting showing the steam emanating from a large b-cup of coffee! It sure has its artistic touch that you would totally not find in a starbucks (that is another great thing about the village - all independent stuff). The back section of the cafe has two great couches where you can even take a mid-afternoon nap.

You get to meet plenty of people here, depending on how busy you are. I mean the place has a running line of beautiful ppl coming and going out. And you can strike a conversation if you and they are not too keen on wrapping up what they are doing. Sometimes, someone wants to share the power plug for the laptop (macs are by far the popular choice here) with you and you just get talking. Some come to write and think and ponder life. Like this girl from switzerland who was visiting east village and was writing about the life here. Some come just to sip coffee and laze away the afternoon browsing their friends profiles on Facebook. Some come for serious work (like the indian-american girl who is quite a regular and is usually doing her school/internship work or the visual merchandiser who organizes her travel receipts for reimbursement!).

Bcup has become my startup office - on weekends holding meetings with my team on several startups (will update on that). And then just spending hours listening to the music; coldplay is a favorite here. The owners and staff by now even know what i will order and when :-). And they are the nicest blokes - all three of them. They get great karma points (check them out at their facebook group ).

If you get hungry, the colorful chalkboard menu is always inviting. The grilled chicken avocado on a ciabatta bread is to die for. The hummus with ciabatta is great too. So is the granola bar. See more pictures of the great food here.

I have been inviting my friends over. They know now why i dont like to go anywhere else but to stay at bcup or in and around the east village. And yes, they do take note of the free nyc rubber that is stacked up in the rest room for all to utilize...

Coffee, ideas, reading, listening, watching, imbibing, relaxing, chilling, talking, socializing ... being at home .. is what the weekends on b cup are like.

And yes if you are wondering what sizes do the drinks come in - yes its the A cup and the larger B cup! I gotta go now. its 9 pm and some one quite interesting has just stepped in ... tall, slender, beautiful eyes and is heading to the back couch...