Anjappar Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in New York

Extremely Disappointing Experience at Anjappar Indian Cuisine – Please Avoid and Go to Pongal Next Door..!! Thank me later!!

We recently visited Anjappar Indian Cuisine and had one of the worst dining experiences we’ve ever encountered. I usually refrain from writing negative reviews, but this visit was so uncomfortable and unwelcoming that I feel compelled to share our experience in full to help others avoid the same mistake.

We arrived on a hot afternoon around 3 PM, and the restaurant was nearly empty. Despite that, we were forced to sit in a cramped section of the restaurant with no air conditioning. This was during a heatwave at 108 F in NY, and the lack of air circulation made it extremely uncomfortable to even sit, let alone enjoy a meal. When we politely asked if we could sit at a different table where it was cooler, we were told, in a very rude tone, that we could not.

The owner himself came over and told us we must sit at a small table "because you are two people, not four." Excuse you, the entire restaurant was empty , there were plenty of larger tables available, and we were not asking for anything unreasonable. What made the situation even more upsetting was his attitude. He looked us over and made a demeaning comment implying that since we’re "big people," we should have requested a bigger table if we needed one. This was said not out of concern or humor, but with a judgmental and mocking tone.

This kind of body-shaming and lack of basic customer respect is completely unacceptable. Restaurants are supposed to be welcoming spaces, and customers should not feel humiliated or stared at when simply trying to enjoy a meal. Speaking of which, the staff continued to stare at us throughout our visit, and even made fun of our food choices under their breath – clearly thinking we wouldn’t notice or understand. It was incredibly rude and made us feel very uncomfortable and self-conscious.

What’s even more baffling is that all of this could have been avoided with a little empathy and basic hospitality. A simple “of course, sit wherever you’re comfortable” would have gone a long way. Instead, the tone and behavior we encountered were hostile and dismissive from the moment we walked in.

We’ve dined at many Indian restaurants, both locally and internationally, and this was by far one of the worst in terms of service and attitude. It’s not just about where you're seated or how the food tastes—although that too was just average and absolutely not worth the treatment we received. It’s about how customers are treated as human beings. At Anjappar, we were treated like an inconvenience instead of valued guests.

I highly recommend avoiding this place altogether. If you’re in the area and craving Indian food, PLEASE go to Pongal, which is right next door. We have eaten there in the past and received warm, courteous service, with great food and staff who actually care about your dining experience. The contrast between the two restaurants is night and day.

Restaurants need to understand that good food is not enough. How you treat your customers matters just as much, if not more. No one deserves to be treated the way we were treated at Anjappar. There are plenty of places that serve excellent South Indian food *andvalue their patrons. Anjappar, unfortunately, is not one of them. We did ended up leaving this place. -1000 stars

Please take your time, money, and appetite somewhere that deserves it and go to Pongal next door instead. You'll have a much...

Not bad. Large menu. Had to ask my kind waitress to tell me what was in many of the dishes that caught my eye, and I still wouldn't be able to recall much of what was in my appetizer (though it was good).

I got the Palak Paneer, the Kulipaniyaram (this is the appetizer that was good but I can't tell what's inside), 2 orders of Plain Paratha (1 would've been enough for me), and a complimentary Mango Lassi (in exchange for an honest Google review).

The Kulipaniyaram ($18.95) comes in 8 or so little balls, spongy and lightly fried, paired with two different dipping sauces. This was tasty, but I'll leave the pricing up to your judgment).

The Palak Paneer ($17.95) came in a small bowl and was good, if not standard and relatively meager next to its price tag).

The Plain Paratha ("Parotta" on the menu, $10.50 for 2 pieces) comes with 1 piece, but I ordered two thinking it'd be small. It was a little on the heavy side, fried and buttery. Tasty, but I recommend 1 per person as it's quite filling.

The always ask at Indian restaurants if they have Plain Sweet Lassi, and places rarely seem to offer anything beyond Mango for some reason. Anyway, it was free with this review, but not bad. Not as creamy as I'm used to, but more puree-like, thicker. Satisfying overall.

I did love how the demographics were pretty much mostly Indian/Indian-American diners, which I think made it seem more trustworthy as a non-local.

The service was attentive and my waitress was kind, as mentioned. Family friendly place. I thought the prices were somewhat high, but I'm also from out of state and assumed Manhattan food is just crazy expensive. Am I accurate?

The menu, as I also mentioned, was very large with a great selection of uncommon dishes not typical of the average Indian restaurant. I was definitely curious to try many other items.

One qualm was that the menu is by default accessible via QR code, which means I had to browse the extensive menu on my phone's screen, rather than flipping physical pages which, for larger menus, makes navigation a little easier, in my opinion.

Overall, the food was pretty good, if not expensive. If I were local to NYC, I might go back to try other items, if I had extra cash to splurge on.

4/5 overall...

My husband and I went to this place for dinner last Sunday (on Lexington Ave). This is our first time eating at this place. Honestly, I don't like it. We had a very unpleasant evening,we ordered chicken lollipops as appetizer. The chicken lollipops came with a green chutney which literally tasted like nothing. Just some green liquid. the inside of the lollipop is not cooked properly. Along with this, we also ordered Chicken soup (Rasam), Crab Soup (Rasam), Seeraga Samba mutton biriyani, Chicken kizhi parotta, Anjappar Chicken masala. Only the Crab Soup (Rasam) was good. Other dishes are not so good. Chicken soup (rasam) had very little salt and no flavor. Mutton biryani was not tasty. Mutton pieces are much less than other restaurants. The worst dish of all was the chicken kizhi paratha, which I felt was a reheated old dish. I felt it while eating. Also, when we ordered, it was pictured with a banana leaf. (Traditionally this dish is prepared in banana leaf). But, they served hot food in foil. Of course I can totally feel that this was old food. Because when I came home I had a stomach ache. Anjappar Chicken masala also feels like old dish reheated and quantity is very less and taste is not good. Don't trust specific pictures/old reviews and step in to taste the food. My husband could not eat it at all. The taste has completely lost the authentic. Sure they made me not to visit this restaurant again.

Anjappar as a brand has a rich regency in chettinad cuisine but do not expect anything out of the ordinary. when visiting this joint in New York. Since it’s a “Chettinad “ restaurant we expected it to taste authentic. I’m pretty sure this is not the restaurant that resembles the real name “Chettinad “. Food items are too expensive and quantity is not...