Pongal
“The servers, especially Tipu, are wonderful at answering questions and the menu explains very well what you are ordering. :)”
“Me , and two friends went to Pongal around 4:30pm on Friday to have THE BEST DOSAS OF OUR LIFE EVER.”
“Served with sambar (a spicy tomato, vegetable soup) and coconut chutney, the blend of salty and sweet makes this a satisfying comfort food meal.”
Pongal
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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A couple of friends and I came here for an early dinner this past Sunday. They picked the place and I had no idea what I was walking into except for that its my first restaurant in "Curry Hill"
And what an introduction! The interior is cute, lightly decorated. There is lots of seating. I especially enjoy the cushion against the wall, surprisingly comfortable.
The food here was literally amazing, probably the best Indian food I have ever had. They had such a selection, a bit overwhelming but they did a great job answering all of my questions and making suggestions. We ordered the sample appetizers and poori to start. All of the items from the sample platter were delicious, I wish I was able to identify and talk a bit more about the different items but I was too busy scarfing it down!
For the main course, we each ordered dosas: gigantic, regular and spicy. Each of the dosas were amazing in flavor and taste, this was my first time trying a dosa so I cannot compare it to another but I do know this was an amazing introduction. While, my friends on the other hand are dosa- professionals and it lived up to their standards. Also note the spicy dosa was not spicy at all.
Service was great! Everyone was attentive, and the busboy was great, he came out and saw me taking pictures of the food so he offered angle suggestions and took a group picture for us from so many angles! So fun.
Cannot wait to come back to this little joy 🙂
I had heard a lot about this place, and after having eaten south indian food in Ananda Bhavan on 1st Ave and Sarvana Bhawan close by on Lex.. I was very underwhelmed by the food here. We came during lunch and ordered 3 lunch specials- the chef's special which had one idli, one vada (very oily but really fresh), and a small dosa. The dosa was soggy and lacked that flavor which the other two places that I mentioned have. It could be my ordering too.. Cause when I looked around I saw others having the other options on the lunch specials- The Bombay special etc . However, I expected great south indian food here and was let down. Next time i will be sure to hop across the street to Sarvana Bhawan for my dosa fix.
Came here for dinner the other night and the food was great! Its a vegetarian restaurant, but don't let that steer you away. We got the potato/chickpea Dosa (make sure to get it crispy!) which was delicious and I highly recommend it. Their curry entrees all come with rice which is nice bc they don't have naan at this restaurant. We also ordered the palak paneer and another curry which was similar to tikka masala – both were rich, creamy, and full of flavor. They also have imported Indian beer (taj mahal) to give you the full experience 🙂 definitely coming back!
Friends of mine were coming up from Philly to meet in the city with 2 of them being vegetarians so my husband got Pongal as a recommendation from vegetarians he knew. First all of us love Indian food so its not that we didn't like it because of that. We sat all the way in the back across from the register and all servers skipped our table for a good 30 minutes. Then one came and said he was going to take our drink order, walked away and we didn't seem him again for awhile. So next time we made sure we got everything in with the waiter; drinks, apps, bread and entrees. Food was ok. I say this because I get shahi paneer or ask I call it paneer tikki masla all the time, I like it better than chicken. What was sad for me is the dish I got here wasn't as good as the times I get it a meat friendly restaurants. I thought for sure since its a vegetarian dish, that the vegetarian Indian restaurant would bring its A+ game.
So while the food was ok, a really weird thing happened to really bother my whole group although we laugh about it. We were sitting across from the cash register. Some guy who had placed an order for take out comes and sits right next to my friend on the banquette in the spot that give space between our table and the next table. We ask him what is he doing and he says " just waiting for my food". He basically just sat at our table pretty much and had no clue that it was not ok.
One of my favorite places in Curry Hill. Every dish I had here was great, and not oily. We came with a large group, and they were very accommodating! Their menu is huge and has a wide variety food from different regions of India, but surprisingly all are great! I especially liked their appetizer samplers, and the uttapams. The only thing I'd avoid is the chocolate dosa. I'm excited to come back.
I haven't actually dined at this place so my review is not entirely complete. But we dropped in here for a quick Indian dessert treat and ended up ordering Pista Kulfi. The taste was average but the presentation was gud. Will definitely give their food a try as well.
We came in, sat down, and ordered about $20 worth of food. At the end of our order, the waiter tried to upsell us more food and drinks. When we refused, he made a sour face and announced that they were only taking cash (despite the "visa" logo cling on the door…). Clearly, he wanted us to spend more. We walked out….
I should preface this by saying that I love South Indian food. It is one of my absolute favorite cuisines — dosa, idli, uttapam, curd rice, and tamarind rice are alone of my favorite dishes! I am sorely disappointed by Pongal. I did read many of the reviews so j was aware that it's been received in a mixed manner. However, I didn't realize how bad the place actually is.
Firstly, my party of two arrived on the Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend. The place was admittedly packed, mostly with a western crowd but enough Indians to give me the impression that the food is the real deal. Shortly after being seated and placing our order, we were informed that the restaurant is cash only. What?? The sign on the door indicates that several credit cards are accepted but the staff refused to accept credit cards from every party around us. Indeed, one young couple only had $2 cash and the staff was forced to call the credit card authorization line because they couldn't pay otherwise. In all honesty, I know it's tough to maintain working machines at all hours but this is really unacceptable when a quick and simple fix would have been to place a sign on the front door indicating that for the time being only cash would be accepted for payment purposes.
Next, the service was subpar. We had to ask for water refills and the seating was super uncomfortable. We also had to ask to be seated away from the door because of the hot air being blown in every time the door opened. I'm not sure why the staff didn't think about this, especially considering that there was plenty of seating toward the back register.
Finally, the food. I ordered one of the Thalis and it looked great (picture posted)! However, the food itself was dry and inedible in some instances. My husband ordered the cheese spring dosa. The staff didn't even know why type of cheese was being used (and didn't bother asking the chef!) and the vegetables were a total mess. They used roughly chopped lettuce and big chunks of tomatoes and onions. This is an inappropriate way to prepare vegetables for a dosa and the fact that iceberg lettuce was used is just laziness. Here is a tip in case someone from the restaurant is reading, a spring dosa should consist or cabbage NOT lettuce and all the vegetables should be finely chopped.
I do NOT recommend this terrible restaurant. There are several Indian restaurants nearby or you can buy perfectly delicious frozen South Indian food at the Indian grocery store.