Amiya — Restaurant in Jersey City

Decent Indian food with nice decor and outstanding service.

We visited Amiya two times in April 2024 with colleagues for a team lunch. The place looks great, with a simple but nice aesthetic decor and ambient lighting. It felt really pleasant to be in.

First time we opted for a lunch special. It included a small appetizer bar: Dosa (Indian crepe) with potato filling was very good and smooth. Lentil/vegetable soup was good, mildly spicy, and warm. It had however celery or lemongrass or some other stalks in it that were not chewable and had to be spitted out. I'm sure the soup would be great without this. Potato/lentil doughnut was deep-fried, unremarkable, quite tasteless.

The main course was a platter with a choice of two dishes. I got Lamb platter with Chicken Xacuti. It was served with fresh warm naan bread and some cooked coconut flakes as a side. Naan was perfect. Coconut was interesting and nicely accompanied the main dish. The lamb was something like lamb korma, tasty and flavorful, though very mild. Some pieces were very tender, melting in the mouth, but some were hardly chewable. Chicken Xacuti unfortunately was a complete disappointment. Pieces of boiled tasteless chicken breast just mixed into some sauce and immediately served. It certainly didn't taste like a properly cooked dish with all the flavors combined and blended. Looks like they tried to cut corners on this one.

The second time we ordered from the main menu and it was a big difference in food quality. Appetizers Vegetarian Sampler Platter - it was good as it's supposed to be. All items were deep-fried which I'm not a fan of but it's my personal taste. The dish was good. Coriander Soup with Mushrooms and Chicken - the soup itself was excellent, warming up, with the right spice level. The mushrooms didn't belong there at all though. They were tasteless and slimy and soup would be much better without them. Alternatively, the mushroom could sauteed or roasted before adding to the soup.

Mains Paneer Kadaai - excellent and delicious! It had very interesting flavor combo and was mildly spicy. Lamb Rogan Josh - also excellent, smooth, flavorful, and tasty. The lamb was fully cooked, soft and tender, melting in the mouth how it's supposed to be. I asked to make it as spicy as possible, but it came milder than Paneer Kadaai which was ordered as mild as possible :) Oh, well... It was good anyway.

The service was excellent: polite, quick, very attentive. Empty plates, used napkins, and utensils were removed and replaced promptly.

Overall, I would rate Amiya 4 at this point. It's ok for a medium grade Indian food in a nice atmosphere but not if you are looking for a full taste palette Indian cuisine has to offer. If you are looking for a much better food quality, I recommend ordering from the main menu rather than...

The eating scene at Grove Street/Exchange Place is changing rapidly! This is one example. Before I review the place a bit of preaching seems necessary. I realize many put in a review mostly to show irritation or with an intent to hurt the business. While it is fair to express your thoughts if you have experienced bad service, it is probably useful to keep in mind that others depend on YOUR review to choose a place. So review responsibly, and in particular, if you are reviewing an eating place, your review scores should reflect at least the quality of the food offered at the place! With that note let me get back to my review. I was genuinely reluctant to visit this place based on the 1 star reviews till I looked at the reviews a bit more carefully. Mostly were not informative. So I took the plunge two weeks back on a Sunday for their buffet, and was pleasantly surprised. The buffet was fresh, had the right variety for a lunch menu, and the staff were pleasant and polite. I liked the food and decided to go back again today on a weekday, and once again I loved the food offerings. Typically they have some south indian options that include mini masala dosas, medu vadas and sambhar. Both times there were at least two types of salad which were not just your typical kachumbar salad, but more involved in the ingredients. In addition, there are pakoras and a version of chicken tikka. In the main course there are quite innovative vegetarian main dishes, as well as non veg dishes, naan and sometimes biriyani. You can finish off with two types of sweet dish offerings. I loved the food and plan to come back again for their buffet with friends. I had a chat with Mr. Rajinder Singh, one of the staff members and even asked him what led to such terrible reviews by a few individuals! Frankly, Indian restaurants can offer lackluster services every now and then, and anyone who has been to the Newark Avenue restaurants would know! That being said, the folks here were well above average in how they behaved and conducted themselves. They were friendly, attentive and welcoming. All in all the five star rating that I gave was well earned by the establishment because of the quality of the food, taste and...

We had 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration on Aug 17th, 2023 for approx 60 ppl & had this restaurant exclusively, not open to public! “ TUSHAR” “ The Manager ‘ is awesome… very much professional, courteous, friendly, helpful & prompt! We are all Vegetarians & had full menu of vegetarian dishes… Dum Alu, Baingan Bharta.. Live counters of Dosa & Panipuri some to narrate with special reference..few items were not even on menu but were offered to us were delicious ! All items of vegetables were hot, fresh & samosas were hot & favorite !

TUSHAR & his team were helpful in decoration for the event.. some pictures I have posted here: Almost every one guest attended, called us to have enjoyed the food, selection of menu, taste, quality, ambience & courteous attendance of staff… To the best of our satisfaction, all the guests said “An Event to cherish for quite a long time”

Thank you so much “ Amiya”, “ TUSHAR” & his team ! You shall remain our “ All Time favorite” for parties !

Once again, we had opportunity to dine at this restaurant on Tuesday, Oct 25th, 2023 for lunch celebrating Dussera/Diwali in Newport community, Jersey city. We were 46 mostly seniors.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality, taste of items served !

I have tried many restaurants so far & found lack of consistency in food quality & taste, more so for Indian food which is quite complexed in preparations with spices etc but here…. Things were opposite… I found the same consistency… to some extent even better than before !

Menu included, Samosas, Pakodas, Ras Malai, Gulab Jamun, Shaam Savera, Baingan Bharta, Alu Jeera, Salads, Boondi Raita, Papads, Jeera rice, Dal Makhni, Pickels…

Needless to mention, quality service, smiling faces of all the staff members, continuous refilling food, piping hot services….

We have firmly started believing… Indian food means “ AMIYA”

Thank you so much “ TUSHAR” & your Entire Team!!! You...