Jersey City Indian

Before you even make it to Newark Ave the smell of fresh spices and curries will undoubtedly fill your nostrils, welcoming you to Jersey City's own Little India.  It's only a few blocks away from the journal square path train so if you live in the New York city area and you love Indian food like I do, it's definitely worth the trip to the Garden State.  The food there here is cheap and amazing.

There are so many places to choose from, both veg and non veg, that have great food.  The thing I love about Indian restaurants is that they always have a decent selection of vegetarian items, but Newark Avenue also has quite a few "pure vegetarian" restaurants.  But please note, pure vegetarian definitely does not mean vegan.  So if you don't want any dairy be sure to ask questions before ordering and of course avoid anything with paneer which is indian cottage cheese.

If you want South Indian food Sri Ganesh Dosa House is the place to go.  It's a family run business with extremely fresh and delicious food.

Women and men in the back of the kitchen chopping fresh vegetables and herbs is a regular sight here.  All of the food is extremely fresh and because of the open layout of the restaurant, you can see everything that's going on inside the kitchen.  My favorite is when I go in and see them cracking open coconuts for chutney.  It's clear they're putting love and care into everything they do. 

On this day I decided to order a masala dosa, which is a very traditional south indian meal. 

A dosa can best be compared with a french crepe because of the way it looks but it's made from rice and lentils instead of normal flour.  Dosa batter is also fermented a bit first and when it's cooked it's more firm and substantial than a crepe.  A "masala dosa" is a dosa which has a mixture of onions, potato and spices inside.

The onion and potatoes are always so wonderfully spiced I'm truly in awe.  The potatoes are very flavorful but they're not spicy as in hot...more like garlicky, tumericky deliciousness.

All dosas are also served with sambhar, a spicy lentil and vegetable soup, plus a coconut chutney and a spicy tomatoey chutney. Their sambhar is so wonderful that I can eat that as a meal by itself. 

Of course if you come here and just try to order sambhar alone (which I've done several times) they'll think you're strange but who cares, it's too good to worry about such things. 

The chutneys are also amazing and add a nice flavor to the dosas. 

Dosas can be quite rich and dense and the coconut chutney adds a nice refreshing flavor to the thickness of the potato.  The spicy chutney is also wonderful just by virtue of the little zing and kick it adds.

If you've never had a dosa, run-don't walk to this place.  Everything I've ever had here is amazing.  The price for this meal is an astounding $4.50.  Plus please note, if you eat at the restaurant the sambhar is unlimited.  The only downside to this restaurant is the fact that they use styrofoam for takeout and dine in customers.  I usually try to remember to bring my pyrex with me when I come but alas I forgot it today...

If you're looking for north indian curries however, you might want to check out Horn Ok Please. 

I usually order the same two things here but that's because those two things are really good.  The aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) and the channa palak (chickpeas and spinach) are fantastic.  Channa palak is not on the menu but you can ask them to make it for you. 

I always get mine spicy but when it comes to spice everything is really subjective.  I find that their spice level is quite Americanized because even the "spicy" isn't really that spicy, at least not compared to other places on newark ave.

If you come here during lunch all of the entrees are served with white basmati rice and nann (made with white four).  I usually hold the white rice (they don't offer brown) and ask for roti (whole wheat flour) instead of the nann and they are always very accommodating. 

The meals also come with a little side of red onions which also add a nice bite to the meal.  But please note, these onions are intense; although I love them, after eating them I can't get the taste out for hours.  The price tag for this meal: just under $15

Also if you live in the area, this place delivers which is nice because not all of the restaurants around here do.  When I order from here I usually get take-out because I think you actually get a larger portion that way, and I want as much as possible.  Indian left-overs...yum!  I could eat indian every day, actually I think I probably was indian in another life.

So if you're in the mood for Indian, why not skip Lex and head here... Newark Avenue in Jersey City. It's just a few blocks from the Journal Square Path train.