Finding a good restaurant open for lunch on a Monday in Manhattan is always a challenge. I start by looking at my “To try” list. I lucked out with Veeray da Dhaba, which is open on Mondays for lunch.  It’s an Indian restaurant on the lower east side with food by a Michelin-star chef featuring Punjab roadside cuisine. Dhaba (da’ba) is a roadside stand offering wallet-friendly local cuisine in India.

You don’t go to Veeray da Dhaba for libations. They offer $35 bottles of wine to accompany the food; the latter is what you go for. We chose a bottle of their Fairvalley Sauvignon Blanc, Western Cape, South Africa, 2020.

We started with the bhel puri with crispy rice puffs tossed with onion, tomatoes, mint and tamarind chutney, sprinkled with chickpea noodles ($7) and the unusual deconstructed samosa chaat topped with chickpeas, onion and tomato, garnished with spiced yogurt, mint & tamarind chutney ($9). Both good.

The two dishes to not miss are their crispy cauliflower florets (veeray di gobhi) in a garlicky tomato sauce ($10) and tandoor grilled chicken malai kebab ($10) with their homemade plum chutney that was so good we asked for seconds. I know I will do so again when I return. Then, we requested garlic naan ($4) to sop up the sauce. 

Also, don’t miss their goat biryani ($20), a dish given a shout-out from EATER NY. It comes with steamed saffron basmati rice in a sweetly spiced sauce. Also rich is their boneless butter chicken ($18) in a flavorful sauce.  

We were all happily satiated, so much so we had to take doggy bags. 

I highly recommend a trip to Veeray da Dhaba.

 

If you know any good NYC restaurants open for lunch on Mondays, thanks for posting our comments section!

 

Veeray da Dhaba
Lower East Side
222 First Ave
New York, NY 10009