East Village Punjabi Food From a Michelin Starred Chef

East Village Punjabi food usually means the familiar North Indian lineup, and Veeray da Dhaba adds a Michelin starred name to it. Chef Hemant Mathur runs the daily lunch and dinner menu with roadside dhaba cooking, robust and built for sharing.

The outlier is teekan marg, a Caribbean influenced chicken dish cooked in a very spicy tomato based sauce, the plate that pulls a regular back for another look. Service shapes the meal as much as the cooking, with staff who accommodate early arrivals and send out complimentary fried rice straws.

Timing is easy to remember. The kitchen runs two services every day, from noon to 3 PM and again from 5 PM to 10 PM, and reservations are accepted. At 222 1st Avenue, that rhythm leaves room for a late lunch, an early dinner, or a return trip for the spicy specialty.