By Daniel Sprofera
Worried that I’d lose my favorite local Indian spot during the pandemic, I got into the habit of asking the staff how business was while picking up my meal. Through the end of 2020 and now 2021, I’d always get an “Okay.” This Friday, after blurting out the same question, a younger staff member said, “No good,” and shook his head. I came back to Alachi 10 minutes later after ordering another Naan, and, thankfully, this time I got one of the owners. I asked him the same question and I could see the concern in his eyes and hear the quiver in his voice. He has applied for various types of aid and loans, to no avail. He doesn’t know how much longer they will stay in business.
Over to the meal itself. Pictured is a combo of Chicken Makhani, Chicken Vindaloo, and Chicken Biryani along with Garlic Naan. While all delicious, I’d love to focus on the Chicken Vindaloo. For those that like spice, this is the meal for you! The perfect amount of flavorful heat covers tenderly cooked chicken.
Upper West Siders, let’s do what we do best and rally to make sure that we support a family-owned small business so that we don’t read “Alachi Masala” in the headline of the Opening and Closing articles that we all love!
Alachi Masala
488 Amsterdam Ave (83-84)
Featured dish: Chicken Vindaloo, $17.95
212-874-0737
In addition to sharing delicious dishes from all over the globe and the UWS, this is what Here’s the Dish is about — showcasing favorite local spots. It is reader written and appears every Wednesday. Please take a few minutes to send your favorite dish, with a photograph, to westsiderag@gmail.com. Let’s keep Here’s the Dish — and our restaurants — going.
My family and I love this restaurant. We always get shrimp Tikka Masala and samosas among other things. Please try them…they are amazing and we don’t want to loose another great spot.
My neighborhood Indian (I live around the corner). A lesser-known gem.
Ashoka is truly a gem. On 83rd and Columbus. Go there at least once a week. Such good food.
Thanks for calling attention to the wonderful food at Alachi Masala. It’s always been a reliably excellent Indian restaurant, but somehow has managed to get even better of late. I’ve even called them to let them know how much we loved the food from a recent delivery.
We usually get the standards– samosas, tomato soup, chicken tikka masala (of course), lamb saag, rice, naan, papadum, lamb vindaloo, rogan josh, …but from what we’ve seen, it’s all good.
I hope more UWS discover Alachi Masala so they can stay in the neighborhood for many more years to come!
I agree, they are very good and make excellent food! My FAV dish is the Chicken Makhani. The sauce is INCREDIBLE!!! Give it a try. Let’s all do the best we can to help keep local businesses afloat.
We love them! Our favorite. Last time we went he said business wasn’t great. He thought maybe it was because they don’t have a liquor license so the sign might deter. But, you can bring your own bottle with no charge!
Check them out. Great food.
Consistently excellent and never fails to satisfy. The Chicken and Vegetarian Jalfrazies are very good as are many of their vegan dishes. Let’s keep them in business!
We went to Alachi Masala last night, after reading this review. The service is lovely, the food was delicious and perfectly seasoned, the portions are generous, and the prices are extremely reasonable. The BYOB saves a lot of money on the bill.
The place was full at 7:30 on a Saturday night, but they offered us a table in their heated, outside area. We chose to eat inside at a tiny table but they were kind enough to move us when a larger table became available, almost immediately.
I love that we found a new restaurant in the neighborhood and will definitely be back. Thank you, Daniel, for bringing Alachi Masala to our attention.
Are you confusing Alachi on Amsterdam avenue profiled here with something else? They occasionally have a single table outside but no heated space with multiple tables.
By the way if they did have a reasonable outdoor space, I would go back. The food and service are good
Thank you, Janis, for acting upon on my call to action. So happy you enjoyed the meal!! Looking at the comments, I’m very glad to see I am not alone in my love for Alachi.
Looking forward to other UWSers posting their spots, too.
Go to ASHOKA, it’s on 83rd and Columbus. The Chicken Special Deal (any time of day, 7 days a week) is incredible value. For $16 you get a generous portion of the best chicken tikka masala (or whatever dish you like) a side (our favorite is the Shrimp dish, Jingha Masaladar) and rice and Naan. They are never busy but really our absolute FAVORITE Indian place in the city.
As a recent import from India, I feel I can vouch for their quality! I’ve tried a bunch of their dishes – chana masala and chicken dhansak are my favorites. If you needed more incentive, you can order through their website (which redirects you to BeyondMenu) for 20% off all items. Really hope they don’t go under