New India gem in Feast Village

Dazzling food but good luck scoring a res!

A Michelin-starred celebrity chef and a high-powered restaurateur have opened a jewel of an Indian restaurant that has transformed a shabby section of the East Village into a sophisticated slice of Mumbai.

Bungalow, which opened last month at a new luxury building on the site of the original Lucky Cheng’s, is tucked between a pizzeria and a funeral home along a quiet stretch of East Second Street.

Beyond Bungalow’s flower-covered doors, though, diners will find an elegant scene — starting with stairs like the Golden Temple descending to an Indian-style country club with rattan furniture, a library, bar and greenery-filled skylit space.

“These mansions are a part of our grandparents’ era,” Vikas Khanna, the Indian chef who gained a cult following — and his Michelin star — at Junoon in the Flatiron District, told Side Dish.

“Big houses, large extended families, feasts and celebrations yearround. They were a unifying force of culture.”

Khann a teamed with Bombay House Hospitality’s Jimmy Rizvi, known for Gramercy’s GupShup, to open Bungalow on March 23 — the birthday of Khanna’s beloved sister, Radikha, who passed away in 2022.

“We want this to be a calming energy, almost like you are coming back home,” said Khanna, who is also an author, filmmaker and judge on “MasterChef India” with 4.8 million followers on Instagram.

225 diners nightly

Getting a taste of that nostalgia is not easy. A recent weekend night reportedly had 2,000 names on the waitlist for the 125-person occupancy venue. A check of Resy shows no tables for two available well into May.

Bungalow has been averaging around 225 diners a night, Khanna said.

“A few people were lining up at 5 p.m., even though Indians eat very late,” said Khanna, whose admirers include Le Bernardin’s star chef Eric Ripert and cookbook author/ model Chrissy Teigen.

At this month’s City Harvest gala, Teigen paid $125,000 to win an auction in which Khanna will cook for 20 people.

For Khanna, Bungalow is about creating culture and community through the food — evident as he walks through the restaurant greeting guests.

Those lucky enough to score a table are treated to a refined take on regional Indian-inspired fare, with many ingredients imported — from unique mangoes to Kashmiri saffron.

Meals begin with crispy papadum and dishes include subtle twists on the familiar, like panfried lamb chops or tandoori salmon, before moving to the sublime, like a purple sweet potato chaat, served with ashwagandha pearls and a green mango sauce, and a spice roasted pineapple.

“One of our biggest missions is to have young diners who want to come back with their grandparents,” Khanna said.

The attention to detail extends to the decor, curated by Rizvi’s sister Shaila, Bombay House Hospitality’s creative director.

Four shipping containers were imported from Maharashtra, India, filled with “bespoke wood furniture made of teak and mango wood, partitions, frames, wall lights, chandeliers, tableware” and other handcrafted furniture,” the proud brother said.

The distinctive drinks list includes a Holi Moli spicy mezcal margarita named for the Hindu festival of color, and a Coco the Elephant rum-and-coconut water concoction with coconut cream and mint.

Even the choice of bouquets — from the Chelsea Flower District — is deliberate. They include including Indian flowers like tuberose — known as rajnigandha in India — often used as a sacred offering to the gods, as well as branches of green almonds, a symbol of spring.

“I feel like we can build a huge community with this restaurant as a symbol of our community and our diaspora,” Khanna said.