Hindu Temple Canteen — Restaurant in New York

The canteen service was terrible. We went on the weekend, the line was too long, which is expected. There are two counters to order the food. Perhaps they opened only one counter to order the food for such a long line. There was a kid taking the order, he was already so stressed out and he was also attending the incoming phone call from the temple. Once our turn came to order the food, he said, the dosa will take another half hour. We have two kids, they like only dosa,I told them why we have to stand for such a long time if you guys at least announced it already in the mic, if you could open one more counter, at least we can order the food and sit, so that we can pick it up whenever the order is ready. He said, only two people are there for cooking and if we open one more counter, people think that the food is delayed for a long time. I can't believe it, since they have very little labor, people are coming from different states, we just need to wait in line for such a long time. My kids were hungry, so I just placed the order for the food along with lassi and coffee. My order was called four times in the interval of 30-45 mins. When I picked my last item of the food, I told the kid, I will pick up the coffee and lassi later. After eating the food, I went there to pick up the coffee for me and lassi for my kids. The kid responded, "Did I give you the lassi earlier? It was so disrespectful and unbelievably outrageous, why would we ask if we could have got the lassi. It was so cheap, silly and insulting to the people. How can he possibly manage such a crowd and manage every order? I again spoke to one of the managers, telling them why you guys are putting the kid in the food order counter for such a long and crowded line. He was not able to handle it and he has been so stressed out and disrespecting the people. He said, we're doing the service, oh my god, I really looked into google, what is the real meaning of service??? They are selling one small Murku for 2 dollars, which part of the world it's called service? We're not buying the food for free of charge, if you want to increase the price, that;s absolutely fine. Perhaps we are expecting  at least a decent service. The management guy further responded that if you don't like it, please don't come here afterwards. It was outrageously so rude, I was thinking for a minute, are we really in New york? I responded that we will never come back to this place, also why you guys called the canteen, you guys put a board in front of the door that the waiting line is at least 30 mins and again food delivery takes between 3-45 min, we are so rude and disrespect the people if everything is okay, please come. I just wanted to say one thing, if you can't manage it, please give to others, there are a lot many people who do...

Hands down, the best dosas & South Indian food in NYC. Ganesh Temple Canteen beats my two other dosa spots (Sapthagiri & Saravana Bhavan) hollow.

Here's what we got:

Masala dosa: crispy, buttery, with a supremely flaky texture and really delicious potato filling, served with dollops of coconut chutney & a thick steaming sambar = the touchstone of all dosas. Pondicherry dosa: Slightly larger than the masala dosa, with a very unconventional filling of farsan (a fried snack). I didn't care for the filling, but the dosa was good. Mirchi pakoras (spicy fritters): I didn't have this, but our friends couldn't get enough Bise Bhele bhaat (rice with curry powder): slightly spicy, slightly tart and very mouth watering Tamarind rice: Flavorful, tangy and fresh Filter coffee: on the milder side, the only mild disappointment Mysore Pak: soft, full of ghee and everything else that's sweet and delish

What else you need to know: -- Served canteen style - spend some time studying the menu & the daily specials before you queue up to order -- you don't have to remove your shoes to go to the canteen -- All the above for under $30!!

Yelpers are reporting that on some days the chutney is watery and sambar is served lukewarm. I hope that never happens when we return, because I will be really, really heartbroken!

Verdict: Felt I was back home in India. Highly recommend you stop by if you...

Visited this place for first time after reading recommendations by others. I was visiting from different state to NYC. I ordered almost everything for 3 members in our group. Food was really bland and did not taste great like authentic South Indian taste. My 1 star here is because of below: non courteous staff who does not have manners to talk to customers. My dad ordered uthappam. When he got his order standing in queue he did not notice that instead of Sambhar he had got some other sabzi as side ( where in the world you get a sabzi with uthapam). Within 10 seconds of him bringing the plate to our seat I noticed and went back to replace it. The lady did not like and started yelling and describing her rule book. My only question to her was Mam why are you being rude and that why a sabzi was given instead of sambhar and I even did not request. She said do whatever you want to do. I was shocked by the arrogant reply and felt I was eating south Indian im some restaurant in India who don’t care of customer satisfaction.

I will never visit this place again in my life. I had high hopes for this place but I personally felt very bad. With nothing wrong done by my father or I we were given this treatment after paying around 60$ bill. We had to throw that subzi and eat the uthappam half...