Comments on: Chola Is Making Some Amazing Chaat

By: prasinous

prasinous — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:56:07 +0000

Oh dear. My experience was not good at all – worse because I work at 59th & Lex, and I would love a go-to spot for chaat.

When I walked in the door at Chola and asked where the chaat bar was, the woman stared at me like I was from Mars and made me repeat “I’m looking for the chaat bar” parrot-like louder and louder while she replied “What?” in a rising tone of voice. Then she gave me a paper menu and ignored me.

I felt very uncomfortable, but I could totally overlook that if they made great chaat. Which, at least in my case, they did not.

I ordered batata sev pori, which I get all the time in Jackson Heights, and then paid my bill while the chaat guy assembled my order. Very slowly.

When I got back to the office, I discovered that the chaat guy didn’t include any yogurt sauce or sev noodles, which are the whole point of batata sev pori. The assembly was minimalist and amateur, with about 1 tsp potato/chickpea mixture in each of eight naked poris.

Chaat fail! So I paid $7.57 for eight pori shells filled with 1 tsp each potato/chickpea mixture. Even by girl standards, this was an insufficient lunch.

I feel ripped off (should have gone to El Rey del Sabor!) and I miss Sukhadiya more than ever. Just not enough to walk 32 blocks on my lunch hour.

By: Rudy McBagel

Rudy McBagel — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:01:52 +0000

….srrry yvo…actually…bit of garlic and coriander..

Does look odd tho.

By: Yvo

Yvo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:00:11 +0000

Rudy… I think you owe me a new monitor as I just spewed my cup of water all over it…

By: Rudy McBagel

Rudy McBagel — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:58:12 +0000

Sorry, ive worked and travelled all overindia,pakistan,sri lanka and enjoyed the food but…..that last pick looks like alien v’s predator has had a shit in a hat.

By: Zach Brooks

Zach Brooks — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:15:11 +0000

Yeah sorry… I had the address right at the bottom of the post- but listed in wrong in the body. It’s fixed!

By: Dan L

Dan L — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:11:26 +0000

Chola owns my soul. The buffet may be out of ML price range, but it’s an amazing value because of the quality and variety. Their food rating on Zagat is the highest of all buffet restaurants and third highest of all Indian ones, *without* any consideration of price. The only buffet offering comparable value is Dhaba, which would actually be cheap enough to be a MidtownLunch if it weren’t way out of bounds.

(And yes, it’s on 58th St. There’s a typo in the body of the post.)

By: steveroller

steveroller — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:50:28 +0000

Another chola:
http://guanabee.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/chola_makeup.jpg

By: StreetMeasOnsumer3008

StreetMeasOnsumer3008 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:12:23 +0000

http://www.fineindiandining.com/

There’s 3 Chola’s actually. Another one in Greenwich.

http://www.orderchola.com/public/chola/

By: WinedandDined

WinedandDined — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:09:15 +0000

I think Chola is 58th b/t 2nd and 3rd

By: StreetMeasOnsumer3008

StreetMeasOnsumer3008 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:57:31 +0000

I had chaat at Dhaba, between 27 and 28th on Lex, a couple of weeks ago and they’re pretty good too.
Dhaba is also owned by the same people who own Chola.