Ishq – love letters to Hyderabad on Avenue A

Ishq holds a corner storefront on Avenue A in the East Village, built around a slab of salmon-pink quartz that runs the length of the room as both bar and communal table before the space deepens into a moodier dining room behind it. It is chef-owner Vamshi Adi's second restaurant in New York, and it opened in the East Village in the fall of 2024 after three years spent developing his freestyle approach to regional Indian cooking at Gazab, his first project. Within months the kitchen had the MICHELIN Guide's attention: Ishq holds a Bib Gourmand distinction, the mark reserved for cooking that over-delivers against its price. Adi, who grew up in Hyderabad and previously cooked at Baar Baar and the MICHELIN-starred Junoon, trained first as a pastry chef, a background he credits for the way he now plates regional Indian food with a modern eye. The result is a menu of black lentils, clay-pot curries and tandoori grills, served in a stretch of the East Village still better known for dive bars than destination dining.

01The room and the setting

The pink quartz counter is the first thing every visitor mentions, and for good reason: it is the most striking feature of the room, doubling as both bar and a long banquet table before the space narrows into a dimly lit dining room behind it. Tables there sit far enough apart for conversation to survive a loud Friday night on Avenue A, a deliberate choice on a block that gets noisy after dark. Ishq sits roughly a ten-minute walk from NYU's dormitories on Third Avenue, pulling in a crowd that ranges from students stretching a budget to neighbourhood regulars marking an occasion.

02The chef

Vamshi Adi moved to the United States in 2017 after graduating from the Culinary Academy of India. Work as a pastry chef proved scarce, so he shifted toward savoury cooking at an Indian restaurant instead, a decision that eventually carried him through kitchens including Baar Baar and the MICHELIN-starred Junoon. His own first restaurant, Gazab, gave him three years to develop a casual, freestyle take on regional Indian cooking before he opened Ishq on Avenue A with a clear message: Indian food belongs in upscale dining, served without losing the authenticity of the dishes he grew up eating in Hyderabad.

Insider tip

Closed Mondays; BYOB with a $40 corkage fee; reservations online for up to 8 guests.

03The cooking

The entrées read like a tour of India's regions filtered through Adi's own hometown. Dum Ka Gosht, slow-cooked baby goat finished in a dum ka gravy, comes from Hyderabad itself; Lobster Malaikari takes its mustard, onion and coconut gravy from the cuisine of Bengal; and Venison Varuval reworks a Southern Indian dish traditionally made with goat or lamb into tender pulled venison finished with pickled shallots and dried coconut. Vegetarian cooking gets equal weight: Soya Malai Chaap turns a Northern Indian favourite into a creamy curry thickened with nutmeg and house-made Amul cheese, while Paneer Laung Latta layers nut-stuffed paneer like a lasagne under a rich lababdar gravy. The signature is the Ishq Dal-e Khaas, black lentils finished with ghee and grated black truffle, rich enough that diners end up working their naan to the last smear of the plate.

04What to order

Start with the Lahsooni Oyster, baked under chili garlic butter and Amul cheese with a crust of sooji rusk crumbs, or the Gupchup chaat for a cheaper, punchier opener. The Sharabi Chicken Tikka arrives flambéed tableside in Old Monk rum, while the Nizami Lamb Chops come dressed in Kashmiri chilli and mace with a yogurt hummus. For the table, the Nalli Gosht Biryani stacks lamb shank, cashews and fried onion under a lid of burani raita, and the Sikhandari Raan — a whole slow-cooked baby goat leg, pre-ordered a day ahead and served with rice, two naans and dal makhani — is built for a crowd. Finish with the Kaala Jamun Tart under chocolate caviar and gold-leaf dust, or the Junnu Pavlova made with colostrum milk and strawberry compote.

05Wine and drinks

The cocktail list leans into the same regional storytelling: Pehle Aap mixes whiskey with Kashmiri kahwa tea, grapefruit and an edible smoke bubble, while Ishq in Mussoorie infuses Hapusa gin with lime and jamun cordial as a twist on a hill-station gin and tonic. Weekend brunch adds a jamun mimosa called Java Plum and a green-mango margarita, Kachhi Kairi. Guests can also bring their own bottle: Ishq charges a corkage fee of $40 a bottle, up to two bottles a table, with a higher fee for large formats, plus a $30 service charge for any outside cake brought in for a celebration.

06When to go and booking

Ishq is closed on Mondays and otherwise opens at 5pm, running to 10.30pm Tuesday to Thursday and on Sundays, and to 11pm on Friday and Saturday; weekend brunch runs from noon to 3pm. Reservations for up to eight guests are taken online, with larger groups and private events handled by phone or email. During NYC's summer 2026 Restaurant Week the kitchen offered a $45 prix-fixe dinner built around dishes such as Lamb Boti Karahi and butter chicken, a useful way in before committing to the full à la carte, sharing-format menu. There is no valet; diners are pointed to the nearest parking lot.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.