The best Indian restaurants in NYC in 2026 are Semma for fiery South Indian cooking, Dhamaka for regional dishes rarely seen in New York, Indian Accent for modern fine dining, and Bungalow for Vikas Khanna's polished menu. Jackson Diner in Queens remains the classic for a big, affordable feast.
Uncompromising South Indian cooking and one of the hardest tables in town.
Chef Vijay Kumar cooks the food of Tamil Nadu without toning it down — gunpowder dosa, snail stir-fry, Dungeness crab curry. Semma holds a Michelin star and is from the Unapologetic Foods group.
Good to know: Reservations open online weeks ahead; the bar takes some walk-ins early in the evening.
60 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011
Regional Indian dishes you won't find on a standard curry-house menu.
Dhamaka, at Essex Crossing, serves the 'forgotten' food of provincial India — goat kidney and testicles, whole rabbit, Rajasthani lamb — alongside crowd-pleasers like chicken pulao.
Good to know: Some whole-animal dishes must be ordered in advance; check when you book.
119 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002
Modern Indian fine dining from the acclaimed New Delhi original.
The New York outpost of New Delhi's Indian Accent serves inventive tasting menus — blue cheese naan, ghee roast lamb, doda burfi treacle tart — in a sleek room near Carnegie Hall.
Good to know: A good choice before a show at Carnegie Hall, two blocks away.
123 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019
Vikas Khanna's warm, polished take on Indian home cooking.
Celebrity chef Vikas Khanna's Bungalow, on First Avenue, serves dishes drawn from his travels and family kitchens in a handsome dining room with a cocktail bar.
Good to know: Book early for weekend dinners.
24 1st Ave, New York, NY 10009
Elegant, consistent Indian dining in a big, bright Tribeca room.
Tamarind is a long-running upscale Indian restaurant known for its tandoor dishes and refined North Indian cooking — a safe choice for business dinners and celebrations.
Good to know: Ask for a table with a view of the glassed-in tandoor kitchen.
99 Hudson St, New York, NY 10013
Bengali and Kolkata home cooking from the Dhamaka team.
Masalawala & Sons focuses on the food of Kolkata and Bengal — fish curries, mustard-laced vegetables, kosha mangsho — in a lively Park Slope dining room.
Good to know: Order the fish dishes; Bengali cooking is built around them.
365 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
The Jackson Heights institution for a big, affordable North Indian meal.
Jackson Diner has been feeding Jackson Heights for decades with North Indian classics — saag, tandoori chicken, biryani — and a lunchtime buffet that draws a crowd.
Good to know: Come hungry for the lunch buffet, then walk 74th Street for sweets and spices.
37-47 74th St, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Jackson Heights in Queens, around 74th Street and 37th Avenue, is the city's main South Asian neighborhood. In Manhattan, the stretch of Lexington Avenue in the high 20s is known as Curry Hill.
Yes for Semma, Dhamaka, Indian Accent and Bungalow — tables are released online and go quickly. Jackson Diner takes walk-ins.