East Derry Tavern — Restaurant in Derry

I came across a hidden gem last night! I had a wonderful dinner at the East Derry tavern.

For starters we got the vegetable samosas and the “Phil U Up Fries” which are French fries topped with homemade pulled pork, bacon, sweet caramelized onions, melted cheddar cheese and scallions. The samosas were crispy and flaky and the filling was nicely seasoned (you could really taste the fresh roasted cumin). The pulled pork on the fries was excellent. It had such a nice sweet/smoky/savory flavor.. it paired beautifully with the caramelized onions.

For dinner I had the Tikka Masala NAANwich which is Warm buttered NAAN bread filled with spiced potato & vegetable spread, cool Indian vegetable slaw, tandoori roasted chicken and homemade tikka masala sauce. Such a delicious and inventive dish! (I’ve eaten many Indian entrees and I’ve never seen an Indian sandwich before.) The naan was thick with a nice chew, the potato spread was smooth and savory, the chicken was tender, the sauce was seasoned well and the slaw was crunchy and refreshing. Everything tasted so fresh!

My husband got the Dry Rubbed Rib Eye that had a sweet & smoky brown sugar dry rub and garlic butter (it came with mashed sweet potatoes and mashed red bliss potatoes, my husband said they were both very tasty). The steak was incredibly tender and flavorful .. it melted in your mouth!

When I was ordering the gentleman who took my order commented that I was ordering all Indian dishes and that I should have come to eat the night before. Apparently Tuesday’s are “Indian food night” with a full Indian menu. It turns out he was actually one of the owners. He not only brought over the Indian menu for me to see but he sent his wife (the other owner) over to see me as well! What a delightful woman! She told me about the spices they use, how they’re imported directly from India, how everything is cooked fresh from scratch.. nothing frozen or from a can. She doesn’t do the cooking but the cooks use all her recipes. She was so proud of her dishes, so happy and willing to discuss her food and methods.. it was awesome to hear. She said They only have Indian night once a week because it’s a lot of work and the dishes are very time consuming,but they keep a few Indian dishes on the menu all week.

Oh! And during our conversation she told me she also owns and runs the convenience store that’s attached to the restaurant! I asked her when she sleeps haha (she said never!) She invited me to visit her store after dinner (we did and took pics!) She said she imports special Christmas chocolates and candies from Europe that ppl come from all over to purchase and that she has thousands of Craft beers (from all over the globe) there too!

Lastly, in her convenience store there’s a crispy crunchy chicken! If you haven’t been (I have.. there is one at a gas station near the rockingham mall in Salem NH) its like a little pop up kitchen chain that sells delicious chicken tenders, fries and biscuits. If you’ve never tried them I highly recommend it. Great value and great tenders.

So yes, last night I learned a lot, ate a lot and had a great time speaking with the super friendly (and hardworking!) owners of east Derry Tavern. I highly recommend you visit both their restaurant and their convenience store ..especially if you love Indian food, chicken tenders and...

SOMETHING IS "OFF" I've been here MULTIPLE times over the years. It was always FANTASTIC! I gave a 5 star rating a few years ago.... Something seems to be "off" lately. The owners are so friendly and truly want to do their best if you are able to encounter them (in my previous experiences). This is a family run business, and I appreciate all they do; however, something isn't right lately. A few months ago, my husband and I went to eat at the bar around 7 pm. This place was always SPOT. ON. no matter what time of day. There was a lovely guy serving the bar...but it also seemed he was perhaps cooking the food as well...things seemed chaotic, and it seemed, even though we were regulars, that attention was being paid to certain patrons who arrived well after we did, and of which one was served several beverages (I'll leave it at that) before any of our food came. All of our food seemed to be cooked in the fryer / wasn't paid attention to. My flat bread was so hard that I could barely eat it...the samosas I always order were extremely hard, yet also soaked in oil (not normal for this place from my past experiences). Tonight, we ordered takeaway, which we have many many times before. I REALLY wanted to order one of their new items - the Oklahoma smash burger. I am lactose intolerant and wanted to order it without cheese. I called their phone to order, but it just rang and rang. No problem, they must be busy...I get it. I used their online order platform, but was unable to customize my desired burger or leave a note. Fine. I ordered the haddock pieces and paid $2.50 to get "seasoned waffle fries" as my side. Not. Good. Everything was, again, oil-soaked, super bland, mushy, no lemon on the side which it usually comes with, and my coleslaw (I'm not picky about coleslaw in the slightest) was a bit brown on top, but hey, I love coleslaw, so...maybe it oxidized...nope. sour tasting. My $2.50 seasoned waffle fries seemed to be frozen items that when straight into the fryer.... "seasoned" seems to be added pepper. Salt was non-existent. I sadly had to spend time spreading my food on a sheet tray to broil at home, which left me saying "why did I even order out?" My husband ordered the new Baja fish tacos which he said were good but under seasoned. He also ordered the new Mac and cheese bowl which, for the price was really underwhelming. It tasted and looked as if the classic orange processed cheese that come in cubes (it starts with a V) was used. He was hungry and isn't picky, he said.."ehhh.. it was okay".... but, admitted a certain classic $5 frozen one was much more worth it. All in all, I am very sorry to give this review. The staff is lovely, drinks are good, and the store that is upstairs is INCREDIBLE. I'm not sure what to make of this all, but I am very sad, and I don't think I will be spending the $70 that I did tonight on such...

Had the worst experience. This place apparently isn’t family friendly because they don’t want kids around. We went out for family night and start to finish was the worst experience. The waitress was rude and when we brought it up to the manager he didn’t seem to care about it and didn’t do anything to help salvage the night. We know what happens when the manager says they’ll go talk to the employee, they never do they just go in the back Laugh about it. When we were getting ready to leave my 1.5 year old daughter walked up to the door One of the managers that you want OK to open the door and just let her walk off good thing my husband was right there and stop to her so did another waitress. When my husband confronted him and asked him why did he do that he told him why does he let his kids run in the restaurant mind me we’re talking about 1 1/2 years old. Not only he judge our parenting but also threaten us to call the cops on us and asked us to leave and not to come back. If we had never complained about the waitress and the lack of customer service he would’ve never done what they did, they were mad because we complained about the poor customer service and for them to...