How to book Dhamaka

Dhamaka is a restaurant from Unapologetic Foods, the group run by chef Chintan Pandya and restaurateur Roni Mazumdar. It opened in February 2021 in a corner of Essex Market on the Lower East Side^1,4. It was the pair's third restaurant, after Adda. In 2021 Eater wrote that it quickly became one of the most sought-after reservations in the city^2,3. Pandya won the 2022 James Beard Award for Best Chef: New York State⁴.

The kitchen cooks the provincial food of India that is rarely served outside homes and roadside stalls, and it does not hold back on spice¹. The menu is à la carte, split into grills, starters, rice dishes and mains. It includes goat neck biryani, smoked goat, whole pomfret and butter pepper garlic crab. A whole rabbit, the Khad Khargosh, is made once a night and only on pre-order¹. The Michelin Guide gives Dhamaka a Bib Gourmand and points to its complex spicing, fierce heat and unusual cuts such as kidneys⁵.

The dining room has bright murals by Sean Maze and a central bar, in a space designed by Wid Chapman Architects¹. A 2021 review by Adam Platt also mentioned an outdoor enclosure under a metal roof, strung with lights³. In April 2023 the team replaced the menu, cut the number of seats and revised the cocktail list⁴. SevenRooms takes bookings for parties of six or fewer. There is no phone, and a table is given away once a party is 15 minutes late¹.