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Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Upper West SideMention Yelp and receive 10% off your total bill! Monday through Friday only. We look forward to seeing you!
86th St (1)
86th St (B, C)
Mon-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
This is my first 5 star restaurant review. I am a big fan of BYOB restaurants and this is one of my favorites. The decor is a bit cheesy but I am going for the food and BYOB policy. If you go try the Chicken Morengo (its a nice sweet mango/citrus sauce) very good. Also you must try the Garlic Naan it is the best Naan I have had in the city. All of the other dishes that I have had have been good as well. Take your wine or beer and give this place a try.
Alachi has become a very special restaurant for me. The owner is always there and is a very sweet man and that sets the tone for a wonderful experience. The staff is attentive and courteous. The prices are very reasonable (especially when you consider the neighborhood).
My new favorite items on the menu include:
Saag (with Mushrooms)
Baighan Bartha (a kind of Indian Sultan's delight)
Iced Chai tea that has personality but is a touch delicate
Carrot pudding that was to die for.
You can have a delicious, healthy and affordable meal in a nice quiet setting with a very friendly and accommodating. I suggest you give them try.
I usually stay away from Indian restaurants lately for two main reasons: 1) white basmati rice and… Read more »
Came here randomly after a trip to the AMNH upon a quick iPhone generated Yelp search of nearby vegetarian places to accomodate my vegan sister.
The server was very helpful in picking a dish that did not contain eggs or dairy. I'm not sure if the saag aloo normally contains either one, but she said she would make sure that those were omitted from our order. The saag aloo was really flavorful with many herbs and spices and the potatoes were thick cut but soft.
We also had an order of the vegetable samosas which were fried to a crisp. Also, the naan was actually one of the best I've tried. It came piping hot straight from the oven and you could really taste that it had been just fired up.
Random but good find on the UWS!
I wanted to enjoy this place, and I did. Unfortunately, not as much as I expected to.
First off, I'd like to say that the manager is a really sweet man. He was very helpful and seemed to genuinely want to make our meal pleasant, which it was. I picked Alachi Masala because it is more affordable than most other Indian places on the west side and the food reviews were quite good.
One likely reason for the relative cheapness of this place is the setting: the restaurant is squished between two other stores and is very cramped. The décor is cheap. But that's fine, as long as they wow me with the food, which they did not.
The vegetable samosa my friend and I shared as an appetizer was quite good, but I was impressed with neither my chicken tikka nor my friend's chicken vindaloo. The naan was quite good--crisp, with a little butter or ghee, I'm not sure. On our way out, we also were brought some complementary rice pudding, which was a very kind gesture.
The chicken tikka came out sizzling, which was quite appetizing. Unfortunately, the chicken came out quite dry, though both my entrée and my friend's were more than large enough, and so of good value.
In the end, though, I've had better Indian. The people at Alachi Masala are generous, kind people, but unfortunately the food didn't make up for the crummy décor.
They run a good takeout and delivery business through SeamlessWeb, though.
Alachi Masala is a great, reasonably priced restaurant on the UWS. The food is delicious (especially the eggplant bharta, naan and samosas), and the service is attentive. Also, we were able to have a quiet dinner here because it wasn't crowded when we went. A plus, it's BYOB!
Ive been back a couple of times since my first review, specifically I went on Sat night and it was tremendous. I had the Chicken Makhani - and boom goes the dynamite, new favorite dish.
Two people, two entrees, two entrees and our bill was $35. I have paid more for lower quality and I would pay more for Alachi Masala.
Eleventeen thumbs up
After prior gastrointestinal episodes with Indian food, I recently got back on the bus. My wife and… Read more »
I really wanted to like Alachi Masala. The reviews here on Yelp seemed so promising, but to be honest, I thought it was overpriced and not that good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing?
We ordered the hyderabadi baigan (baby eggplant in a sesame coconut sauce), chicken saagwala (creamy spinach sauce) some naan and roti. My boyfriend said the naan was "okay." I liked the roti - it was soft and light, delicious with the chicken saagwala. The chicken could have used a lot more flavor; it was pretty bland. The pieces of meat were tender and well-cooked, but I was expecting a lot more oomph from an Indian dish. We had never had the eggplant dish before, and were expecting some great revelation. It was bitter and didn't make me think I'd been missing something this whole time.
They offer a 10% discount for dining in when you mention Yelp. I suggest taking the discount because it's otherwise not really worth it. Overall, I would say what we ordered was not so horrible that I couldn't eat the leftovers, but it was bad enough that I'm really not sure I can convince my boyfriend to give this place another shot.
I have to think really hard for anything that went well.
They have BYOB and I asked the waitress whether there was a liquor store close by she gave a very vague answer and directed me to a place close by. There was a convenience store a couple of blocks away but all the beer they had was not too cold (no fault of the restaurant).
Wanted to substitute an item and offered to pay a higher price but they could not accommodate the request.
Extremely slow service. They said 10 minutes but by the time the food came it was over 25 minutes. Even then they brought stuff out piecemeal. The naan was brought almost 5 minutes after the chicken. All this despite the fact that just 1 other table in the restaurant was occupied. (Should have trusted my gut rather than some of the other reviews when I saw the place so empty!)
Now let's talk about the food. The chicken tikka masala was sweetish. When I asked why, the response was that you didn't ask for it to be spicy. Really odd coz I was never given any option and it implied that the standard option was for it to be sweet!?
The naan was really thick around the edges and undercooked. So ended up leaving half of it.
The other stuff like the saag lamb and daal was very average.
At the end of the meal they brought out a complimentary rice pudding type dessert. It had an overpowering taste of rose water / flavor - really yucky!!
Overall, by far the worst experience I have had at any NYC restaurant. Save yourself and stay away from this place!!
I got delivery from Alachi Masala the other night, and loved it so much that when I was craving more after depleting my leftovers (2 huge meals out of one - so the pricetag which seemed a bit steep actually makes sense), I ordered again. Quick delivery and they're on seamless web!
Amazing naan and aloo paratha. Awesomely spicy tikka masala sauce. I requested it that way, because a meal isn't successful unless it ends with my lips, tongue or esophagus burning. Ah, masochism...
I was so underwhelmed with Earthen Oven, so I am really glad to have this place in my roster and have a delicious Indian standby. Holler.
A good, small, quiet, in many ways typical Indian place, and better than a few of the other Indian places I've tried on the UWS.
I came with a group of six for dinner, we ordered two appetizers and six entrees, a naan basket, plus three lassis, and it turned out to be $25 each, not bad at all.
Service was friendly and attentive.
The chicken mahkni and chicken vindaloo were especially good. The lamb bhuna was not quite as good as I've had it at other places, though it was still just fine. Everything else (daal mahkni, saag panner, aloo gobi) was as good as Indian usually is at typical good Indian places.
In summary, if you're craving Indian, this place is not exciting, but hits the spot.
I'm a big fan of Indian food and for me, this is the best place on the Upper West Side. If you eat in, bring a bottle of wine because it's BYOB. I've never had a problem with their delivery.
I recommend the veggie samosas and the chana masala (the best I've ever had!) The prices are very reasonable especially compared to what's around and the quality of the dishes. Two people could easily share an app and one entree. I even took my parents here when they were in town (Indian food virgins) and even they liked it.
Lastly, the wait staff and very sweet and attentive. Most times I've dined in they've come by and offered free rice pudding. That's the one slightly negative thing I'd say: don't order it for dessert. They use rose water and it's really not very good. But the food is fantastic, really.
i don't ever venture up to the upper west side unless there is a good reason to, but my boyfriend and i decided to be adventurous tonight. since we were craving indian, we checked out another place (tamarind, down couple blocks) before deciding to sit down at this place. the prices were the same, and this place looked nicer inside...not that the interior really mattered at that point - we hadn't eaten all day and our stomachs were literally being eaten away with stomach acid.
anyway the food was good - it wasn't like mind blowing, omg thats the best indian i've ever had good, but still pretty good. however, one thing i did notice (even in my ravenous state), the tiki masala was just way too tomatoey tasting. i know it's a tomato base curry, but it just didn't taste like an indian dish to me. just tasted like some random tomato and chicken dish. even my boyfriend, who doesn't know the difference from peanut to almond, noticed.
all in all, i really wouldn't have given this place 4 stars if i weren't so hungry. it's more like 3.25-3.5 stars. it's really just a-ok indian food. the service was quick and attentive though. i'm such a sucker for places with good service. oh and i almost forgot, their samosas are unusually big and so, so good.
Say you are walking up Amsterdam from the 72nd Street or 79th Street Subway stop and you think: "I would really like some wonderful Indian food... where should I go?"
The answer is that you should walk past Swagat, walk past Tamarind, and not stop until you get to 83rd Street and see Alachi Masala.
Correction. You SHOULD stop -- into a liquor store to purchase your favorite beer or wine to bring with you. As if having wonderful Indian fare was not enough reason to go out for a meal at Alachi Masala, they also have a BYOB (bring your own beer -- no corkage fee!) policy which, as another patron I met there said, "makes an elegant meal very affordable".
Now onto the food. The wonderful food... My fiance and I had dinner at Alachi Masala last night. He ordered the "Chicken Madras" which is for a person that enjoys heat in his/her Indian food. Although a bit hot for me, I admired the flavor underneath and it was the perfect balance of taste, spiciness, and "burn factor" for my fiance.
I ordered the "Chicken Curry" and was presented with a delicious, robust, and wonderfully spiced dish. The sauce was so wonderful that both my fiance and I kept scooping out the last of it (long after the chicken was finished) eating it with the remaining rice and naan. Speaking of the naan... we tried the garlic naan and found it to be one of the best we'd had.
The decor was pleasant, the restaurant was clean, the service was friendly & attentive, and the food was so good we talked about it all night. We will be going there again very soon and hope that you will too.
For upper-west-siders (and upper west side visitors) looking for a wonderful Indian meal without the commute down to 6th Street and 2nd Ave, this is the place for you!
Yum!!
P.S. They have free delivery for takeout orders as well :)
I made the mistake of ordering from their web site. They took over an hour to deliver my food. I'm pretty sure they just forgot about my order, and then when I called to inquire about the hold-up they said 5-10 more minutes. I think they just started making it then, since it took another 30 before the food arrived.
Also, a big WARNING: do NOT order online. You have to go through a really annoying signup process, I don't think the order actually reaches the kitchen automatically (see above), and worst of all, the order confirmation email contained all my credit card information in plain text. Quite lame.
When the food finally did arrive, everything tasted good. But still, I'd avoid them for delivery.
In a neighborhood where basically all of the Indian restaurants are horrible... or should I say suck... thankfully we finally have a good one. Like another reviewer, I've also lived in London and also spend a lot of my formative years on E.6th street.
We usually order it, but have also eaten there and the food is very good. It's the only Indian on the UWS that I've liked in about 10 years.
Ordered for delivery and the food came hot and fresh in less than half an hour (on a sunday night). The chicken tikka was moist and flavorful with an appetizing red color from the tandoor oven. The aloo matar gobi was good, but slathered in a very buttery sauce. No wonder I finished it up. The lamb vindaloo was tasty with the signature vinegary kick and this place does not hold back on the heat aspect. At first bite, the heat from the spices overwhelmed the palate.
One and a half stars deduction:
The curries had visible pools of butter/fat in them. I prefer not seeing these greasy globules in my food even if they are there and make the food taste better. But I've had better indian food that isn't so heavy on the ghee.
The paratha was also too heavy / dense.
Plus is that it is cheaper than other Indian restaurants that deliver on the Upper West Side. And the meat/veggie quality is on par with the others.
This place is truly a jewel. My husband and I walk past a few Indian restaurants just to get to Alachi Masala. The food is wonderful and consistent. The service is attentive and friendly. We absolutely love going to this BYOB. The best part is that it is so reasonable! If you haven't tried it, you need to!
Opened up across the street from where I lived last year, so went in on a whim. Definitely not the cheapest Indian in the neighborhood, but quality, authentic and flavorful food. I think it is still BYOB, and the maitre d' was very friendly and knowledgeable. I also was nitpicky one time and asked for something off the menu --- veggies with tikka masala sauce. Needless to say, they happily complied and it was marvelous. Also, it was peacefully eerily quiet both times that I went - a pleasure.
its ok... nothing special. We left the place smelling like kitchen. Food, nothing special. They dont serve wine.
after reading a couple of reviews and being in the area decided to give it a try. we didn't walk out disappointed , food was very good, fresh and well served. had chicken korma, chicken tikka and srhimp with curry, some naan and raita. it was a lot of food for 2 but we couldn't stop eating it. the place is very small and we felt a bit awkward when going in, but once the food started coming out of the kitchen everything changed. its BYOB and the waiters are very friendly with that some make sure you buy some booze before coming in
will be back
i just tried this place out for the first time - i got the lunch "take out special" which, though pricey, turned out to be a definitely 2-meals-worth of tasty food. an entire round of fresh soft doughy naan, a nice helping of appetizer, and a full plate-sized portion the entree (along with chutneys, raita, and a big portion of rice).
My Channa Chat chickpea appetizer was nice and spicy and very refreshing with the mint in it, and the Tandoori chicken was shockingly tender and accompanied by a few welcome grilled vegetables!
This takeout menu is a welcome addition to the pile for lunch deliveries at work. I will be ordering again.
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Category: Indian
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