Restaurant Review:

 Ganesh Temple Canteen: Feasting with the Gods

Photos by Lavina Melwani

Is it a restaurant or is it God’s Abode? Down in the basement of the Hindu Temple Society of North America is a hidden gem where you can get the most amazing South Indian food and sumptuous dosas and vadas you will see in your dreams. Popularly known as Ganesh Canteen, its formal name is Temple Canteen. It has been around since 1963. With the grace and blessings of Shri Maha Vallabha Ganapati, the Temple canteen was started in 1993 in Flushing, Queens – mainly to prepare “naivedyam” (food offering) to the deities in accordance with agama sastras. The canteen now plays an important role, not only to prepare naivedyam for the temple, but also to provide delicious, pure vegetarian food for devotees and all who come to its doors.

There’s a special flavor to food when you’re eating in with the Gods and the hand of devotees has put it before you. After a visit to the Hindu Temple Society, the oldest and most beautiful Hindu temple, it just makes perfect sense to walk down the stairs into the basement canteen with its huge welcoming sculptures of Sri Ganesha and the Goddess Lakshmi and see a whole cavernous space filled with ordinary people.

It is a restaurant, canteen and takeout space all rolled into one. It is clean and fast, orderly and the line moves quickly. You can get every South Indian delicacy you desire from vadas and idli to Pondicherry dosas and many North Indian delicacies too. All in all, it has over a hundred Indian vegetarian food items and snacks are now available at the canteen throughout the year. On Saturdays, you also get a Mini Tiffin with mini idlis, mini vadas, mini masala dosa and vermecelli kichdi and a sweet.  For those who like something hot, there is mirchi bhajji – long chilli poppers – deep-fried in lentil batter.

It is probably the most unique eating out experience in New York which is home to the world’s restaurants. It has been written about by Zagat, New York times, Daily News and other media, featured in Travel TV Channel many times by the  iconic Anthony Bourdain. Yet there are many people who don’t know about it or its history or how it can be a part of their daily lives.

I went the day before Diwali. People were all dressed up in gold jewels and their best sarees because they had come for an audience with God upstairs and then come down to have a meal. Some of the men were dressed in festive Indian kurtas and bandis or short jackets and for a minute I thought the waiters are so well-dressed! Of course it turned out that it was the father of the family bringing the meal to the table – gigantic pooris and chole and pakodas too. There are no waiters – it’s all pretty democratic.

There was a line for takeout too for  people taking it home and so I did bring some dishes home and yes, I enjoyed them thoroughly the next day and the day after that. The flavor of the tamarind rice seems to get enhanced the next day. Especially the upma is really soothing. And it seems amazing that you get such a big quantity of upma embedded with vegetables for $6 – I could not finish it alone and had to eat it the next day. It was warm and soothing and very much of a comfort food. Other friends who came with me ordered dahi vadas and curd rice for takeout – these are  soothing things to have in the fridge when you don’t feel like cooking. You can just pull out your healthful vegetarian lunch, eat it and be blissful. The flavorful coconut chutney and sambar which accompany your takeout are delicious.

Of course, the star of the show is the gigantic dosa which is a knockout, especially the Pondicherry dosa. There were entire families sharing their doses and bowls of Sāmbhar so this is a must-have experience. All details of the huge menu are at https://canteen.nyganeshtemple.org/

The Temple Canteen is very old and yet very modern – Delivery is also available: Order with UberEats – DoorDash or GrubHub Take-Out – for info see: canteen.nyganeshtemple.org/contact  Temple Canteen’s eGift Cards available!

No matter how many restaurants you’ve been to, you will still find that this is unmatched because the taste and quality is good and consistent – and probably has the seal of approval of the Big Man Himself!

The big bonus is that before or after you eat, you can take off your shoes and go up and also visit Sri Ganesha in His own beautiful abode. There is just a joy to the food and it almost tastes even more blessed and satisfying. And so don’t forget, the next time you are in Queens and looking for where to eat, the most obvious place – and the most forgotten place – is the basement of the Hindu temple. Happy eating!