Social Hub by Dhaba — Restaurant in Parsippany-Troy Hills

Additional review 10/21/23 We visited with friends with an allergy and the Chef came out, understood the situation and helped identify what the person should eat. Once again food was A+ chefs Himanshu and Rakesh and team are doing great work. Service by the front (Pranav) was very good.

The place has been open for about two months now and the staff is still calling it a soft opening. Overall five stars. The five stars are relative to the concept, the product and the area it is located in. I’m not comparing this to a Michelin star restaurant or a New York Times rated joint. In the month of July and August it’s going to be slow which helps the front and the back of the house get their act together and work out kinks. Seems like they were focusing on that. This gave the teams time to give personal attention to all the diners and engage in productive conversation while making food and beverage suggestions. Front the house: service very warm, our waiter took care of us, but the place was pretty empty. (I don’t think that’s gonna be a common site come Fall 2023.) Cocktails Very exciting menu fun, full names and play on ingredients Overall mixed drinks are …. Ok. It’s an Indian place and Indians, love their whiskey, and their whiskey-based cocktails that I tasted were delicious!! So those are my suggestions. Did not have enough time to analyze the wine and beer menu

Food Even though Social hub was introduced to me as a Indian beverage lounge. I believe this place is going to be food centric and gain its reputation on the culinary prowess that resides in the kitchen.

Chef Himanshu has shown great skill in his menu design an execution. This is our first visit, we tasted five dishes, and every one was excellent. Flavor, taste, aroma and presentation - top notch. The cornbread cakes are actually a crispy polenta with Indian spices and were our vegetarian favorite. Chef Himanshu has made a name for himself with superb execution of soya chaap first at Jashan and now it’s social hub. I sincerely hope the ownership of this restaurant group realizes the gem they have invested in. Take care of him, and he will take you to dizzying heights.

Our waiter told us that the current 10 page menu is not complete and they add another few pages!!! Gosh it’s a book!! ( I hope they can chew what they bite) Even though the prices are about 10% higher than the local average, the portions, are at least 10% higher. Wishing the team the very best and I hope getting a table next time will not be difficult as I can see this place getting packed to the brim.

Non F &B Great location with easy access from 287 and 280 There is ample parking all around the restaurant, and the restaurant has multiple sections. The area near the bar has a loungey feel, and on the other side of the wall the dining room is family friendly

They currently open till 11 PM (maybe incorrect) on weekdays and 2 AM on Friday and Saturday night which will probably be a game changer for the Desi restaurant business in that area, maybe in suburban Jersey

Suggestions If you’re going to have wait times, you might want to think of some benches either outside or in your vestibule The rickshaw is a great touch but I suggest relocate it to an area, away from the lamppost - maybe add your branding somewhere because that could be a picture taking hotspot and if you don’t want pictures taken with people sitting in it, then you should put a sign there and block off the seat

Add more lighting to the rickshaw so that people sitting on it at after sunset take a good picture using a cell phone. This feature itself could be a big draw for your operation.

In addition to the libations menu have a small chai/ coffee (beverage) menu for the late nights. This could draw not just hard drinkers but tee totalers as well. If you serve chai, make it tasty. Please! You could serve the same chai menu on weekday afternoons for ladies kitty

If you’re visiting, don’t forget, at the end of the day this is a family friendly Indian restaurant with predominantly typical Indian, fare in...

Dhaba is on a roll in this neighborhood. I was already blown by Jashan & Lazeez, and now the latest addition to this is- SOCIAL HUB. In my 5-mile radius, there are 4 restaurants BY DHABA.

this is a soft launch, but I guess every item was available. it replaced Houlihans and opened at the same place.

They are marketing it as a dine-in, Bar, and lounge. it's huge! The dining area & bar are separated. we decided to sit in the bar area as it was giving more cool vibe. Kiran attended us and informed us about menu items - how it is a fusion of multi-cuisine and drinks are catered from scratch

We ordered-

Drinks: Spicy Mango Martini- a perfect mix of Mango puree & Vodka – 4/5 Smokey Negroni – some sweet vermouth – 3.5/5

Food: Chole Hummus with Papri Chat- it’s just wow! A fusion of Mediterranean hummus in collaboration with Indian Papri chat – Tangy taste. something unique- Loved it- 5/5

Chap-E-Murgh: I asked Kiran to suggest something and it was his recommendation – well now I can recommend it too – 4 pieces of chicken drumstick. Soft, juicy, kebab-like but rich taste- 5/5

Lamb Pepper Fry: well I had better Lamb pepper fry but it was not bad. I had a feeling, it was mutton, not lamb. Some pieces were rubbery which I did not like, but still 3.5/5

Well We should have stopped it here but I wanted to try their main course too, Kiran informed us, for the main course items, we would have to move the dining area as they cant serve main course food in the bar area.

We settled down AGAIN in the dining area and ordered-

Delhiwala Murgh Lababdar: Typical tomato-based gravy (like butter chicken types) with big chunks of chicken pieces – you can find this in almost every restaurant, also I asked for spicy, but not sure why spicy means more red chili powder for them – Nope, not that good- 2/5

Methi Malai Mutter: cream-based gravy, it was good. 3.5/5

Roomali Roti – TOO PRICEY! $9 for roomali roti. If you ever had a roomali roti back in India, it's the same but cut in 2 pieces. Not worth it.

Garlic Naan: All breads come in 2 pieces, they call it baby size.

We were disappointed after having the main course and felt that we should have stayed in the bar area only and should have tried more of their fusion items like Baos, tandoori-flavored momos, and Nacho chat. (next time!)

Ambiance: it's a huge area but they did a good job, giving Indian touch wherever it was required. Service: It was good! and we were not kept waiting for anything. Price: it's more or less than other Dhaba restaurants.

would come back for sure but only for the “Finger Food Menu” (bar- area), will pass the mediocre main course.

Overall it’s 3.5/5 for me, but giving 4 as I want this...

This is a good example of the poor standard you will need to get used to: The food is good. I give it 4/5. But there is no thought given to the customer. There is a lack of real concern about the customer. Here are the examples. Small issue - you can't get a web reservation for 12:30 as the buttons on their reservations system would seem to indicate. The 12:30 button gives you a 1:30 reservation. The reservation system does ask about your food preferences and allergies and says it is so they will be aware of the issues when you come in. Again good on the illusion - but total bull. The menu has icons for nut allergies, gluten, dairy, vegan etc. Being a vegan as I indicated when I reserved the table, I chose dishes that were indicated as vegan on the menu. The server came back and told me those dishes weren't vegan as they were made with dairy. You can't have a dish indicated as vegan if you can't or won't make it without the dairy. But here's the main problem that is all too common in upscale Indian food chain restaurants. You get done with lunch/dinner and a junior manager asks if everything is okay. I took the opportunity to explain how the food was excellent but there was a problem with a $15.00 dollar cocktail. He apologizes, walks away and does nothing about it. When he walks by later I ask if he is in fact the manager and he says not really and he will send the manager out. So the manager comes out and I ask, if the staff is going to ask if everthing is okay, and you tell them no, what are they trained to do? The manager explains how he would never have done it that way and something would have been done to rectify the situation. He says he will credit the bill for the problem and I appreciate that but tell him the charge is not the point - its the poor customer service that is the issue. But he insists on fixing the check. As we are walking out, as he has not returned, he explains that the check had been closed out and no credit would be fothcoming. It is likely that the chain does not trust the managers, as they either don't know how to issue a credit or just can't do it. But in lieu of the credit he is giving us a free desert - which turns out is not vegan - again no thought as I had just explained to him the menu problem with the vegan indicated dishes. Although the food is good - I have a hard time paying high prices for a supposedly good dining experience only to find that customer service is only a phrase that they don't understand or care about. I appreciate the good food, but the total lack of customer care is a killer for me - and I...