Pongal - Midtown

Arrived soaking wet on a Sunday night looking for a good meal and some warmth. The Mulligatawny Soup was delicious, the rest of the meal was mediocre at best--pakoras, samosas, kachoori. The staff kept running into the back of my chair and standing leaning their hand on the chair back. One didn't get the feeling they had any idea how to make people feel welcomed and enjoy their meal.

Went here for lunch whilst on holiday and wasn't the best curry ever. Its all vegetarian so there was lots of choice but the service wasn't great (not overly friendly and not very fast) which was surprising given there were more staff in than customers at that point! Only did white rice (i prefer brown) and the curries weren't that hot, both in spice and in temperature. Have had much better curries in the UK and would not recommend just because it's all veggie. You may get a better veggie curry in NYC by just going to one that serves meat as well.

My husband and I went for dinner last week and enjoyed our Dosas and Shrikhand for dessert.Everything had a nice authentic flavor and the mango Lassi was very fruity.Just the service was lacking some friendliness.Wish they could improve on this,than I would love to come back.

You know, the food was just OK. The service wasn't rude per se, but was neglectful and inefficient. They brought my husband's entree and my side of raita (which could never be mistaken for an entree), and didn't realize they'd lost my order until I pointed it out to them. Better Indian food to be had elsewhere!

There are a bunch of vegetarian Indian restaurants on the same block (see also Dosa Hut and Chennai Gardens, for instance). Pongal is arguably a bit better than the others, but they are all good.. The lunch buffet is very good; not diet food by any means, but tasty and well prepared.