I was in East Village for the New York Indian Film Festival this week, and my friend, the Festival Director, Aseem Chhabra recommended me to go for Artichoke Pizza on 14th street, which he described as best pizza in city. So, I had to go… and did. And it was totally worth it!

Walking on 14th street, from 2nd to first Av, this place is almost in middle of the block, on the south side. I almost missed it, although it’s not really “missable”. It has 2 separate sections for sit-down/eat-in & deliver/take-out, which seem like a thing in East Village. I went to the sit-down section and our cool server Mike came up pretty soon to take the orders. I went straight for the original “Artichoke Pizza” which is made of Artichoke Hearts, Spinach, Cream Sauce, Mozzarella and Pecorino Romano Cheese. I rarely make an order so fast at a new place, but it happened. Although I contemplated my drink options, from water, to sparkling-water to diet coke, but finally settled on my first time consumption of ‘TAB’. And I’m not sorry to say, that I didn’t mind it, it was fine.

After a short wait, the HUGE pizza pie arrived. It was hot, fresh and smelled amazing. Mike also brought some red pepper and cheese for the pizza. Great service!... So I sprinkled some pepper and cheese, and took my first bite. How was it? AMAZING!! Yes, it was just amazing. Definitely one of the best pizza I have had in the city. But it was a huge and think slice, took me quite some time to go through the first one. I tried my first bite of next slice without any sprinkle, and it was good too. But I prefer my pizza with some pepper so I went back to it. And the TAB, went great with it.

I was loving my pizza. Although I was really full after 2 slices, which is quite rare in my case. But I couldn’t have any more after the 2 slices, so Mike was back to pack in up. Great service again… At $20+, you may think it to be expensive, but for the quality, taste and also quantity, it’s definitely worth it. Next time you’re in East Village, just go and have the Artichoke Pizza. Or you could go to one of their other locations in the city. And tip the servers, for the good service!

For more info, check out their website
http://www.artichokepizza.com/

Note: These ratings and review are personal opinion of the author.

indikitch

indikitch is cool, it really is. It's Indian Chipotle, but much better, provided you like Indian food. Or at least try it and see if you like it... Why is it better? First, because it's fun Indian food, which I like. And second - it has more options! I'm not going to explain the whole menu. But to give an idea:

The menu offers you 4 picks - Feast (rice/bread and full meal kinda setup), Biryani (Indian saffron rice dish), Dosa (south India crepe, served taco style!) and Salad. You have 6 options of meat/veggies - chicken, pork, fish, paneer (cottage cheese) tikka, saag (spinach) paneer and mushroom. I mean, you're COVERED! And you get to pick your level of spicy from 3 options. if you're a fan of spicy food go for top spicy (which is not going to kill you at all, you'll just enjoy!), else go with mild or medium only. And boot loads of extras & appetizers, from samosa (Indian triangular fried spicy pastries), bajji pakoras (fried dough, like onion rings), , chaat (just spicy awesomeness), lentil soup etc. You also have delicious drinks from 3 kinda lassis (yogurt drinks, again awesome!) and street chai garam (hot tea lattte).

I have tried the feast with chicken which was actually yummy. And also the dosa with paneer & pork vindaloo both. usually the dosas with meat can be huge disappointment. But here, the taco style dosa is actually great. The portions are large enough to curb your hunger and delicious to curb your appetite. The place can be quite busy during lunch time and you should expect 15-30 mins wait in such hours. The staff is cool, as cool as a fast food kinda place can be. the seating downstairs is limited but there's some more seating upstairs also. Prices are quite reasonable as well.

So next time you're in or around 23rd and 5th or 6th Av, give it place a shot. Checkout their site for more details.

http://indikitch.com/