Tiffin Wallah

We recently tried Tiffin Wallah at 127 East 28th St in Manhattan a cute and cozy Indian restaurant with plenty of vegan options.

Assorted Tiffins for Two

We had a bunch of friends with us on our trip to Tiffin Wallah, so we decided to get the Assorted Tiffins. This large appetizer consisted of a Vegetable Cutlet, a Samosa, and various Pakora and Bajjia. Or, to state it more generally, it consisted of a whole lot of deep-fried stuff. Now I'm all for deep-fried snacks, but this was the least impressive part of my meal at Tiffin Wallah. The Samosa was good. The cutlet was ok but a little too fried for my taste. The Pakora and Bajjia were a little bland. I'm not saying the Assorted Tiiffin was bad, it was just underwhelming. I'd probably go for the Idli or Batata Vada next time we want appetizers at Tiffin Wallah as Southern Indian cuisine seems to be their specialty. I should mention that a friend of ours ordered the Masala Spiced Cashew Nuts and they were great! -Jim
Mmmmm yeah. Those nuts were nuts! The samosa had a nice flaky outside but actually part of it was weirdly cold. The flavor was good though. The veggie cutlet was spicy and savory. The pakora were the best part. -Ev

Mulligatawny Soup

Ever since the Dosa Diner closed down I've been extra critical of Mulligatawny soups. Few places could match the unpredictable spiciness and bold flavor that DD had. The soup here, while tasty, was the furthest from any mulligatawny soup I've ever tasted. It actually tasted like pumpkin or butternut squash soup. It was a thinnish, orange concoction with a very mellow flavor. It was good, but don't go in expecting any lentil flavor. I should also mention the portion was pretty large. -Ev

Onion Rava Masala Dosa

We've been eating a LOT of dosas lately, but it's been a while since I've had a Rava Dosa, so that's what I chose here. It was good, but it was a little greasy and a little too crispy. Evelyn's dosa didn't have those issues, so I think next time I won't order the Rava Dosa. Besides that it was a good dosa experience though. Tiffin Wallah has Dosa Podi and Achar, two accompaniments that we discovered at (the now tragically closed) Dosa Diner in Jackson Heights. You have to order them seperately for a few extra bucks, but it's definitely worth it! Dosa Podi is a paste of delicious chili ground up in oil, and Achar is ultra-pickley Indian pickles. The potato filling in the dosas at Tiffin Wallah has peas in it, which I'm not a huge fan of, but other than that it's very tasty. -Jim

Mysore Masala Dosa

I've said it a dozen times, but to know me is to know I've never met a dosa I didn't like. However, this was a dosa first for me. The dosa was spiced and cooked to perfection. The texture was so perfect (not greasy) and the flavor was amazing. So much so that I, in fact, would get this Dosa without the potato filling the next time. The potatoes were moist to the point of being watery, and while they were tasty, they didn't mesh well with the dosa and actually took away from its perfection. Who knew this day would come? -Ev

The Bottom Line

Even though some of the items we ordered weren’t so great, I feel like Tiffin Wallah still has plenty of potential. Their (non-Rava) Dosas are good. The décor is nice. The prices are decent. They have all our favorite Dosa accompaniments. And there are a lot of items on the menu that we didn’t try that I would like to try. We’ll be coming here again. And we’ll let you know how it goes! -Jim
The amazingness of the mysore dosa was enough to get me coming back (sans potatoes). I agree that Tiffin has untapped potential and I am up for the tapping. -Ev