Five rooms below — South Indian fine dining, Bengali tasting, Sichuan dry-pot, Thai grill, and an East Village vegan-Sichuan night closer — make the case that NYC's spice geography is wider and walkable than any single takeout menu suggests. Walk it on a Friday in May and you cover the country's most ambitious Asian kitchens in a single subway swipe.
Your Plan, Stop by Stop
1. Semma → 2. Adda → 3. Mala Project → 4. Wayla → 5. Spicy Moon
1. Semma — West Village South Indian fine dining — Michelin star, gunpowder, banana leaf
Semma at 60 Greenwich Avenue is Vijay Kumar's South Indian room — Michelin-starred since 2022, a kitchen that argues South Indian cooking is a fine-dining language without ever apologizing for the rice. Gunpowder dosa, goat sukka, the rasam — the menu is tight and it does not move. The two-top reservations release fourteen days out at 9 AM; the bar pulls a single late-night walk-in.
- Address: 60 Greenwich Ave, West Village (1 train, Christopher St).
- Best for: a deliberate dinner around regional South Indian food.
- Order: gunpowder dosa, the goat sukka, a glass of kalimotxo.
2. Adda — LIC Bengali tasting room — Roni Mazumdar's grandmother's kitchen, scaled up
Adda at 31-31 Thomson Ave is Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya's first NYC kitchen — the Bengali tasting room that became the loudest case for regional Indian as a fine-dining grammar in the country. The kati roll, the Goan ribs, the doi maach are the dishes; the room itself is the argument. Take the 7 train, eat slowly.
- Address: 31-31 Thomson Ave, Long Island City (7 train, 33 St-Rawson).
- Best for: a Friday-night tasting with friends and a long-pour Riesling.
- Order: the kati roll, the Goan ribs, the doi maach.
3. Mala Project — East Village dry-pot Sichuan — pick-your-protein, build-your-mala
Mala Project at 122 First Avenue runs the city's most legible dry-pot Sichuan service — pick five proteins from a checklist, choose a spice level, the kitchen returns a wok-charred bowl that anchors the table. The room is loud, the rice is bottomless, and the Sichuan cumin lamb is the dish that deserves its own paragraph. Friday night the L moves; the 9:30 walk-in is real.
- Address: 122 First Ave, East Village (L train, First Av).
- Best for: a build-your-own dry-pot at 9:30 with a long table of friends.
- Order: the dry-pot — pick five proteins, ask for a 2/5 spice level.
4. Wayla — LES Thai grill — Tom Naron's room, smoke-forward, late dinner
Wayla at 100 Forsyth Street is Tom Naron's Thai-grill room — the one that brought charcoal-forward southern Thai cooking to the LES grid. The chicken under a brick is the through-line, the grilled prawn is the splurge, and the Wayla coconut cocktail is the order to make at the bar while the kitchen finishes. Late dinner here is the city's underrated Friday move.
- Address: 100 Forsyth St, LES (B/D, Grand St).
- Best for: a smoky Thai grill at 10 PM with a charcoal cocktail and a friend.
- Order: the chicken under a brick, the grilled prawn, a Wayla coconut.
5. Spicy Moon — East Village vegan Sichuan — dan dan noodles, vegan ma po, late-night walk-in
Spicy Moon at 68 W 3rd St is the East Village vegan Sichuan room that answers the question every spice-trail Friday eventually asks: where do we close that won't shut down a vegan partner? The dan dan noodles read real — sesame-forward, chili-oil deep, the texture you'd ask any Sichuan kitchen for. Vegan ma po tofu and the dry-fried string beans round it out. Walk-in past 10 PM is the cleanest move; the room holds late.
- Address: 68 W 3rd St, East Village (A/B/C/D/E/F/M, W 4th St).
- Best for: a late-Friday vegan Sichuan close that doesn't ask anyone to apologize.
- Order: dan dan noodles, vegan ma po tofu, the dry-fried string beans.
How to actually use this
- Anchor the night on a Semma or Adda reservation — both release 14 days out at 9 AM
- Mala Project at 9:30 PM is the cleanest weeknight walk-in window, all year
- Wayla's late-grill rhythm peaks past 10 PM; the bar holds longer than the dining room
- Spicy Moon past 10 PM closes the trail with a vegan Sichuan walk-in that holds the room late
NYC's spice geography is wider than any take-out menu admits. Five rooms, three subway lines, one Friday — and the country's most ambitious Asian kitchens fit inside it, vegan close included.
#KarpoNYC #May2026
Sources consulted: Eater NY · NYMag — Grub Street · Resy · Time Out NY
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Photos and copy curated by Karpo NYC from each venue's own Instagram and press materials. Walk in honest, eat slow.
