The Best New Indian Restaurant in NYC Takes You on a Journey Through South Asia — and It's Inspired by One Iconic Chef's Travels

Diners can explore the subcontinent with Vikas Khanna's menu at Bungalow.

On a casual Tuesday evening, you can expect to see a queue outside an emerald green facade in New York City's East Village, where diners are lining up to score a seat at Bungalow, the city's newest Indian restaurant, led by Chef Vikas Khanna. Already earning accolades from dining critics, bloggers, and influencers alike, Bungalow's most acclaimed achievement lies elsewhere: in the rave reviews of the South Asian diaspora.

One diner who ate there described the food as “fusion,” while another called it “fancy Indian food.” But ask Khanna himself, and he’ll tell you that it’s traditional Indian cuisine that has been reimagined.

This reimagination of South Asian food stems from Khanna’s travels throughout India and the broader subcontinent. "I’ve been an obsessive traveler throughout the country since 1991. From working in Delhi, Agra, Mumbai, and Kathmandu during my college training to writing travel books and hosting TV shows, I’ve just loved understanding and experiencing India through travel," Khanna told Travel + Leisure. "It all helped me bring diversity to Bungalow's menu."

His chicken tikka, for example, is different from your run-of-the-mill poultry curry. During a trip to Jammu, a northern region of the South Asian subcontinent, he tried a chicken curry prepared with pomegranate molasses. "It blew my mind. I'd never had such tender chicken," Khanna said. Inspired by this experience, the chicken tikka on his menu (called anarkali chicken) uses pomegranate in three ways: as a tenderizer while being marinated, in the garlic and chili paste, and in the glaze.

Each item on his menu is a tribute to his travels in India and the diverse cuisine there. "The whole menu has been planned as a journey through India," Khanna said. The yogurt kabab is inspired by his travels to Indore, Madhya Pradesh; the white peas guguni is a tribute to his visit to Cuttack, Odisha; and chicken amrit (his take on butter chicken) is a tribute to Amritsar, Punjab.

His favorite dish is the spiced roasted pineapple, inspired by a visit to a temple in Udupi, Karnataka. The pineapple is pan-seared upon order, while a coconut curry infused with South Indian spices is made tableside in minutes. Behind the scenes, the prep takes two days, and, according to Khanna, it’s well worth the effort. ”People go crazy for this dish," he said, adding that Bungalow sells more pineapple curry than butter chicken. "The smell of the fresh coconut makes this dish stand apart.”

Having lived in New York City for 24 years, Khanna has witnessed — and contributed to — the evolution of the Indian food scene as it went from a takeout cuisine to Michelin-starred. He was, after all, the chef at Junoon in 2011, when the restaurant first earned its Michelin recognition. His current favorite South Asian restaurants in New York City include Angel in Jackson Heights; Dhamaka; Semma; and Sarvana Bhavan. "I'm also a huge fan of anything Hemant Mathur does," he added. (Mathur is behind Chola, Chote Nawab, Dhaba, Sahib, Malai Marke, and Saar Indian Bistro, all in the city.)

However, the best meal Khanna has ever had is at the Golden Temple, a gurdwara in Amritsar, Punjab. “That is the foundation of what I learned as a chef and what I experiment and express,” he said, adding that the prasad there would be his last meal.

As someone who has traveled to all corners of India, Khanna told T+L that the northeastern part of the country is his favorite, which surprised him. But his two favorite food cities in India are split between Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and Kolkata, Bengal. "I was moved to tears by the cooking in these cities," he said.

Outside of India, traveling to Paro in Bhutan left a lasting impression as a food destination for the acclaimed chef. "There's something about the culture and the people being so generous," Khanna said, "because generosity is the name of great cooking, and I felt that in Paro. While I've seen everything — I've been to most of the Michelin stars in Paris and Tokyo — nothing moved my soul like what happened to me in Bhutan."

When Khanna curates food on a trip, whether it’s domestic or international, he turns to the guidance and suggestions of chefs and food writers. But his biggest hack is to ask a local. (When he first moved to New York City in 2000, it was a cab driver who introduced him to the East Village hole-in-the-wall Punjabi Deli.)

Now, a little more than two decades later, it’s his very own restaurant that locals are name-dropping. “Everyone really loves that place,” said my cab driver as we drove past Bungalow and its ubiquitous line. “I haven’t heard one bad thing. You should try it."