Aamchi Pao

We were on Bleecker to see some music, so I said, «Let’s go back to that indian roll place!»
We had been once and the food was yummy. Pav bhaji, my favorite from my time living in indian, was just as I remember it.
But last night– it was all shuttered and looks closed.

As someone who grew up on vada paos, I can attest that this place has a pretty good vada pao. The kati rolls are decent too; not as tasty as the other kati roll place close by, but they seem just a little bit healthier. Yes, I am a big fan of healthy fast food.
The place is typically empty when there is a long queue outside kati roll. Definitely worth trying out.
Also, one major complaint that I have is that «Aamchi Pao» is grammatically incorrect. Can someone correct this please?

visited this place on the Halloween night … this place was packed like anything… had to wait for 30 mins to get our orders… and had to wait for 30 more mins when we ordered some more food. the serving size is just too small. i think things will be better on a regular day. I tried the chicken tikka khati roll and vada pav. they were good. nothing extraordinary. one of my friend ordered the Cauliflower Manchurian which he told was not that good. the pav bhaji was also good .but the came with only 1 pav (bread) .wtf.
Now having tried all this dishes in Mumbai and most of which I can cook myself… I would say that the place is pretty average so ³⁄₅ for it. The service is a bit slow .If you are looking for a quite bite before hitting the bars. look for something else… the food is pretty cheap … but you would end up buying 2 – 3 dishes .so you would end up spending 10 $/​person.

My friend recently reminded me that I wanted to try this place out and he’s been planning to do the same. After a really long stressful day and really hungry, I was really happy to find this place.
It’s a hole in the wall. I get greedy and order the vada pao and chicken tikka khati roll. The vada pao comes on a small bun looks like a White Castle burger almost. Even has a White Castle and meat lover, this was heavenly. Inside is breaded fried potato with a delicious chutney. I’m just a huge potato fan. It was crispy on the outside with creamy soft starchy goodness on the inside. Sorry that potato is making me get a hard on.
The roll is basically like a wrap. Inside was really juicy chicken that was spiced to perfection. I really suggest using their sweet hot sauce. It’s not too sweet and just the right about of spice that really compliments both dishes really well. It was a good value, almost $ 10 for both.
Everything was hot and made to order, unlike some place that simply microwave your food before serving you. I can get a Lean Cuisine if that want that.
I’m disappointed that I didn’t find this place earlier, but will now be returning there. It even stays open at late nights. Yummy, vada pao must be such amazing drunk food.

We found out about this place on Time Out. It was rated one of the best cheap eats in New York, so, we were delighted to happen upon it while wandering on Bleecker St today. Everything looked interesting on the illustrated signage outside, so we gave it a go.
We ordered a ground beef roll, a keema stuff bread and the cauliflower side. My impressions… the roll was interesting, but so poorly made that when we went to peel back the paper it was wrapped in, the entire thing fell apart. Meat and sauce everywhere. Über, über greasy too, and the grease leaked all over my hand and plate. So much so that 2 hand washings later, my hands still smelled like my meal. The stuffed bread was interesting, but also super greasy. We had to dab it down with some napkins because it looked like it was sweating ghee. Pretty gross. The cauliflower was intriguing and the texture was very nice, but, the sauce it came in was essentially ketchup with Tabasco, like you get on your table. Very globby and pedestrian. Oh by the way, I do believe they reheated the food in the microwave. It definitely wasn’t made fresh; the staff was basically standing around and kitchen gear was completely idle.
In the end, this place was neither cheap nor worthy of any «best» list (except the best list of supposedly good places that turned out to be crappy). The check came to about $ 18 bucks for the stuffed bread, a roll, a side and a diet coke. Not very cheap, compared to how well you can do for yourself at many other (much better) restaurants in the area. The portions were small too. We probably wont go back, the main gripe being that the food was a major disappointment.

Date of visit: 27 Aug 2009
Great place to grab a quick bite when you’re in the village. I ordered two of the vegetarian kathi rolls to go… the bread is made fresh and is fabulous. The potato one makes a great breakfast burrito the next day!
I think I paid $ 10.85 for two kathi rolls alone (no drinks). A single roll isn’t substantial enough for a meal if you have an appetite so you could wind up ordering more than that. If hungry, you could probably spend more than $ 10/​pp on food alone, taking this out of the «cheap eats» category.
I only wish their food was spicier but I’ll know to ask next time.
I plan on returning and working my way though the menu.

This little shop on Bleecker Street is very cute, neat, clean, and has nice big open windows to people watch as you eat your Pao. I had tourist passerbys stare at my sliders as they walked past.
The vada pao was my favorite (even though I’m an avid meat eater) — very balanced flavor and they heat the little bun with butter! Manchurian cauliflower is also very good, and freshly made. The meat Pao’s (lamb, chicken) are not as uniquely flavorful.
3 stars because the portion are a bit small for the price they charge (these sliders are the size of your fist). I guess that’s the price of being in the West Village.

Really good.
Authentic and unique at the same time
The friendly service and the price sold me!

All together the food was tasty and had nice flavor and heat. The chicken tikka roll was well spiced and had bright flavors of onion and cilantro. The vegetarian bhaji was served open face and had had smoldering Indian spices. Both were terrific. The lemonade with rock salt was a nice compliment. Great cheap eats. Super nice service.

Mumbai Meri Jaan! (i.e Mumbai my heart!). This place serves Mumbai’s favorite fast food — the ‘Vada Pao’. I would recommend you to try all the different varieties offered. Right from the classic oily Vada Pao to the Spinach tikka, Chicken tikka etc. Personally I relished the Tandoori Achari Paneer Vada Pao for its tacky spiciness. I would also recommend you to eat all of the Paos (sliders) with bare hands. I mean that’s how its supposed to be eaten the Indian way. Just forget the spoon and forks. Also tryout the Pao Bhaji — a spicy mashup available on almost every cornor of Mumbai. I also drank the Indian version of Pepsi known as ‘Thumbs Up’ almost after a decade I guess. I miss Mumbai like crazy.
I basically want to give it a 4 star but I give it an extra 1 star — thanks to my bias towards everything Mumbai. Mumbai, I love you!

You know, what’s ironic, I think I would like this place better if it was a food stand out on the street rather than taking up a restaurant space. I’ve had the Vada Pao, Chicken Tikka Pao and kati roll… I think the food tastes fine, but while I was waiting for my take-​out today, I peeked at the guy throwing something or another in the MICROWAVE. AHHH. Again, the food tastes fine, and it’s well known that many food businesses use the god-​forbidden microwave, but somehow, knowing that deadens the whole experience…(I just can’t imagine myself traveling to Mumbai, walking on the street, then spotting a Pao cart with four microwaves attached to it.)
The food is tasty, kicked with spice, albeit, hot from the microwave.

I am glad this place changed from Indian Bread Co. to Aamchi Pao because Kati Roll always got my business when I was hankering for kathi rolls. And I always felt bad for neglecting IBC. I got the spinach pao and the chicken pao. It was delicious. I have previously only had the traditional pao bajee so it was cool to see that they have a bunch of different varieties. I also made sure I got a Thum’s Up (India’s version of Coke… owned by Coke now though, go figure). I love the tomato/​chili sauce they have so definitely make sure you try that. The food here reminded me of street vendors in India. Now if I can just find a place that specializes in panee puri.
Definitely will be adding this to my Village cheap eats rotation!
By the way the 2 stars for the grammar is pretty lame. Judge the food.

Circumstance of my experience: Sunday afternoon craving after having read about this place; I tried the regular pao and some chicken pao
The food: yummy but oily; authentic enough to remind me of the painfull smell-but-don’t-taste brushes I had with vada pao and pao bhaji vendors in aamchi Mumbai
Spice quotient: high as you want it; hot sauces available
The place & how they do it: small joint with kind service
The price: cheap and worth it
Similar places that I like: thaava pao at any Jackson Heights eatery

As the Marathi grammar nazi (who also happens to be my name twin) in one of the prior reviews pointed out, this place should be called «Aamcha Pao» Yes, it should, but I think they were just trying to play on the commonly-​used affectionate term «Aamchi Mumbai» (meaning «our Mumbai»). Nuances, my friend.
Now that we have that settled, I should point out that the Marathi grammar nazi’s deduction WAS correct about the supposed (lack of) authenticity of the enterprise. The owner is from Delhi and spent most of his culinary years in Paris. Nice work. I bet the Marathi grammar nazi is a consultant.
Okay, but seriously, who cares where the owner comes from or whether there are grammatical errors in the name? The food was really good!
The Blockbusters:
++ Tandoori Chicken Pao: OUT OF CONTROL. Like, seriously.
++ Schezuan-​style Cauliflower: Kicks the back-​side of any schezuan-​style dish I’ve ever eaten.
The Hits:
+ Paneer Pao: soft and very well marinated. Green chillies were key!
+ Keema Pao: Moist, tender, and very well spiced.
+ Masala Omelette: The name says it all. Only in India! and now in New York.
Misses
— Vada Pao: Great vada, but the sweet chutney spoiled the taste.
Flops:
– Bhaji Pao: BLAND. Quite the opposite of Pao Bhaji. May be that’s why they inverted the name.
– Stale Fanta: I knew that because it caught my throat almost immediately and my straw kept sinking in, which means the carbonation had died.
Overall, great experience! For $ 3/​piece, it’s a great joint for a quick snack around Greenwich village. In my case, it turned into a full meal! I couldn’t control myself.

Mumbai street food, that sounded good to me.
Listen, I’ll tell you straight out right now all the people who rated this less than five stars don’t know jack!
I walked into this place and immediately felt like I don’t get out enough. This menu is too good to be true. (yeah vegetarians get hot under the collar for a menu catered just for them!!)
Seriously this place wins on price — $ 3 per slider sandwich, wow!
This place wins on taste — delicious indian flavors, and no going easy on the spicy. THANK YOU!
This place wins on style — take out with tables, just what you need for a quick stop. Seriously two of these sandwiches would be MORE than enough for lunch, three make a big dinner.
veggie options: vada, bhaji, spinach/​lentil, tandoori paneer, and unda omelete!
don’t worry, meat lovers you get chappli kebab, chicken tikka, shami kebab, goat leg or parsi beef.
To top it all off people, they have BYOB!
omg, people this place is my new favorite downtown take out spot!

3.5 stars.
Are you seriously telling me you serve the Bombay street food version of sliders? And that you have not ordinary ketchup bottles but Maggi Hot & Sweet Tomato Chilli Sauce (*It’s different*) on the tables? And that you carry Thums up?**
Sold. Already.
The original vada pao is pretty good, and my friend liked the parsi keema pao as well. The paneer pao was well-​marinated and juicy — I really enjoyed it. Another friend tried the chicken kati roll which was good but didn’t measure up to those from the Kati Roll Company (certainly a high bar). He also liked the mango lassi, but its artificial mango flavour put me off a bit.
The misses of the evening were the spinach tikka pao and the bhaji pao, which attempts to but does not taste like pav bhaji at all. Also, why are they serving us stone-​cold french fries?
All in all an eatery that is a worthwhile substitute for the Indian Bread Company (R.I.P).
** If you grew up in India you probably know that there are no exact equivalents to vada pav, this particular brand of Nestle’s Maggi sauce and Thums Up. This is what most of the jumping up and down in joy was about.

The Spinach Kathi roll was a bit stidgy and greasy, the chicken one was much more tasty and tender Maybe it was the time of the day — 5pm on a Sunday.
Overall the food is tasty and spicy, but very greasy and salty, but if that’s the way this food is normally served — I haven’t been to Mumbai — I can’t criticize.
The mango lassi was good — not watery like the overpriced version at the otherwise decent Bombay Talkie in Chelsea.
But one thing they really gotta delete — the cold, stale french fries on the side of the plate. Why not slices of refreshing cucumber to cleanse your palate?

I am obsessed with Pao Bhaji. O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D. When I heard this place was opening, I made sure to check it out on night 2. Was not disappointed. The manager /​owner took our order promptly; a couple of the things we wanted to try were not available but she explained that they’d just opened the previous night (fair enough!). We grabbed a table and the food came out pretty quickly. Verdict is strong… the pao bhaji is flavourful, fragrant and fresh. The bread is tasty and crisped just right.
We tried a couple of other things and received a vada pao complements of the chef. Make sure you ask for sweet nimbu pani if that’s the way you like it (the default way they make it here is salty). This place is going to be a regular. I would give it 4.5 stars if I could. The pao bhaji wasnt the best I’ve ever had but after several years of eating the real thing in India… I didnt expect it to. For New York, this place comes pretty dang close!

For those of us who have been devotees of the indian street food scene of McDougal and Bleecker, it all started with Kati Roll, who established a beachhead on the block a few years ago. Soon enough, it became a late night staple for the drunken desi crowd, to the point where they had to bring in hired muscle in the form of a bouncer to quell fights over line position, the last paneer roll, and regional politics.
Since that time, many imitators and competitors have thrown their hat in the ring, with mixed results. A Bengali street food restaurant under kati roll came and went without much fanfare. While Sangaam emerged as the hands down best biriyani in NYC, and the home of the most slept on kati roll iteration, the spiced beet kati roll. Then there is the Indian Bread Company, home of the «Nannini» (hard for me to type that without cackling) which has now, in its demise, emerged from the ashes as the newest entry, Aamchi Pao.
Aamchi Pao, just opened in the vestigial shell of the old indian bread company is serving notice on the block. Specializing in the street food of Mumbai, called Pao Bhaji, «Pao» meaing bread and «Bhaji» meaning a curry or vegetable dish, proprietor Surbhi Sahni, a native of Delhi and pastry chef at Devi, offers her own diabolical twist by serving the dish in slider form (isn’t everything better in slider form?)
The Vada Pao was a vegetarian’s dream, served with garlic chutney, and a cake of chickpea flour and potato. The soft texture of the grilled bun contrasted with the faint crispiness of the vada cake.
The Paneer Pao was served with a big, succulent hunk of paneer garnished with perfected seasoned red peppers.
My favorite Pao by far was the fish of the day, which was breaded in a crust of chickpeas with a kasundi mustard oil aioli.
The Mango Lassi was just how I like, thick and heavy on the yogurt.
Make no mistake, this is street food with a fine dining pedigree. Chef Sahni is an industry vet and her attention to detail punctuates the menu (The offering of Thumbs Up and Limca, the Coke and Sprite of India, will bring particular delight to the India faithful).
While the restaurant is still in it’s soft opening phase, which means a very limited menu, the future looks promising for Aamchi Pao. Chef Sahni assured me that Devi pastries would be offered soon. A late night menu will be rolled out as well to try and grab a slice of the late-​night drunken market share. If the food is any indication, Aamchi Pao will have will soon need bouncer as well.

I obviously can’t testify to the food yet, but I’ve been watching the construction go up, and it looks like the new incarnation of the late Indian Bread Co. in this space will be a vast improvement.
According to Grub Street:
«On May 22, the space reopens as Aamchi Pao, a freshly renovated twelve-​seat shop stocked with Indian newspapers and gossip rags. It’s the carb-​centric concept of moonlighting Dévi pastry chef Surbhi Sahni, who has shifted the focus from Indian Bread’s „naanini“ and „naanwiches“ to pao (or pav) bhaji, a Mumbai specialty traditionally made with mashed spiced potatoes and vegetables. Served on a griddled bun, the varieties here range from pulled goat to crispy fish of the day ($ 6 to $ 8). Other attractions: wine (and a $ 5 BYO corkage fee), straight-​from-​Dévi mini-​desserts (and a side or two, like the tangy Manchurian cauliflower), and a late-​night menu served Friday and Saturday until 5 a.m.»
Full menu available at: