Walking into Pangat feels exactly like entering an Indian friend or relative’s house for a family get-together (as long as you ignore the Japanese writing on the tables and mural behind the bar—both left over from a previous establishment). This is especially true if you visit for their thali brunch on Sundays, where overwhelmingly good smells hit you right in the growling gut, underscoring the fact that you haven’t eaten yet. By the time you leave, after giving in to “just one more chapati,” it may be days before you eat again.
During regular evening hours, this Park Slope spot has a short but delivery-friendly Indian menu with the notable inclusion of a few specialties from Maharashtra, like misal pao and ghati chicken. (The chef, formerly of Masalawala, is from the western Indian state.) But the daytime Sunday thali pop-up—overflowing with food that the chef’s wife grew up eating around the Satara region of Maharashtra—is both the best way to experience this place, and the best un-gimmicky, made-from-scratch Indian home food we’ve tried at a restaurant anywhere in NYC.
If you’re trekking over from further away, prioritize the Sunday meal—and make sure you DM to book a spot. Around our long communal table there were people who had been there multiple times, and even someone who was in town from Boston. But it’s worth checking this place out for a casual dinner too. Their biryani, chili paneer, and butter chicken are top class, even if the more regional Maharashtrian dishes are what really make Pangat stand out.
Food Rundown
SPDP
A slangy acronym (sev puri dahi puri) for an excellent plate of chaat. Unlike places that dress up their chaats like fussy French appetizers (or, on the other end of the spectrum, use stale, un-crisp puris), Pangat serves a version that’s simple and perfect. It’s on the regular menu, and we’ve had it served before the Sunday thali, too.
photo credit: Sonal Shah
Vada Pao
A very good rendition of the Mumbai street food sandwich. The potato dumpling is thoroughly well-spiced, and the peanut/chile mix it comes with adds a nice kick. This makes for a satisfying snacky dinner with some beer.
photo credit: Sonal Shah
Chili Paneer
They make their own paneer here, and in this dinner dish it comes as soft cubes, with crisp, seared edges, swimming in chili sauce. An Indo-Chinese classic, done well.
photo credit: Sonal Shah
Ghati Chicken
Chicken legs and liver come in a bubbling, fiery gravy, with the distinct taste of Maharashtrian ghati masala. Pair this with fresh chapatis or buttery parathas for a homestyle dinner. We haven’t tried it, but you can get an off-menu mutton version if you ask.
video credit: Sonal Shah
Goat Thali
You’ll choose your protein at the weekend pop-up, and this $70 goat thali is the star. It comes with two kinds of Maharashtrian mutton curry: one inky black, made with charred kala masala; the other made with peanutty thecha masala. There’s a little cup of alni paani (a type of spiced chicken broth), and a bhakri, a notoriously hard-to-shape gluten-free bread made with millet. Use it to scoop up bits of tender meat. The chicken thali has the same curries, but is $60.
photo credit: Sonal Shah
Fish Thali
If you choose fish, you’ll get an entire spice-encrusted fried pomfret, fish curry in a tangy gravy, and a bhakri made with rice flour (a typical combo in the chef’s wife’s corner of the state). Plus a generous helping of sukat—intensely salty, tiny, dried and rehydrated shrimp that season the in-between bites. There’s also a little bowl of futi solkadhi, sour with kokum, on the side.
photo credit: Sonal Shah
Vegetarian Thali
Ideally go with three people and get one goat, one fish, and one vegetarian ($60) thali. Smush unbelievably soft, small stuffed eggplants into the rice, and mix in swipes of bean sprout sabzi and pithla—a dal-like curry made of chickpeas. All the thalis come with a glass of spiced buttermilk, a sabudana vada with crisp bubbles of tapioca on the outside, a gulab jamun for dessert, and sweet paan as a digestive.
photo credit: Sonal Shah
