Milon

This place is pretty freaking cool, not going to lie. Extremely reasonable prices, BYOB and crazy lights! My sister in law had a gathering here for her birthday and when they brought out 12 individual cups of ice cream to celebrate (for all 12 of us), the entire lighting system changed in the restaurant and traditional Indian music was played. It was really fun! I would come back here for sure.

Milon is the restaurant on the top left (there’s two others right next to and below, and the men always try and compete for your business). I took away a star because of how crammed the place is — depending on where your table is, it’s uncomfortable. The lights and the atmosphere are super fun — I always take anyone that visits me here because it’s so unique! The food is pretty decent and well priced. It’s BYOB and they don’t charge an uncorking fee which is nice. The birthday celebrations are also fun!

Interesting more for its kitsch factor than Bangladeshi cuisine, Milon is conveniently located in East Village and makes up with its Christmas lighted, Britney-​sountracked experience what it lacks in quality of cuisine.

I always have a good time here. It’s BYOB and the lights are lovely. Besides, it’s always someone’s birthday here!
It’s cash only but you can get cash back at rite aid and there are other atms in the area.
The food is not the highlight of the experience here at Milon. Granted that I have been to all three «rival» restaurants in the same building — Milon wins. Yes, you will be greeted by a small army of men trying to get you into their restaurants. Yes, it’s awkward when you go into one and not into another. Milon is the one on the top left. You can try going to the one on the top right if Milon is full but really avoid the downstairs one. It’s awful, although it is the largest of the 3. Their menus are also very similar.
This place will do its best to accommodate you and your friends. It’s one of the few places that won’t party poop on your party if someone is missing. They will sit you. They will let you start downing your $ 3 tjs bottle. They will come by often to check if you are ready to order because they are still a business. This place is fun. It will make you feel tempted to lie that it is your birthday.

Genial para probar algo distinto, el lugar genial, la atención 10 puntos y si entendiera de comida indu estimo que también

Came here with a friend who lives a couple blocks away. He’s been there enough times for them to recognize him. It was a quiet Wed evening. Yes, they stand outside and try to lure you in, which seems out of place in the East Village, but not uncommon in many areas of many cities. The décor is cheesy; strings of lights and flags and «surprise» banners. Not sure I want to know what the surprise is… The food was fine, tasty for the moment, but I am sure time will prove it unmemorable. We shared an appetizer sampler and each had a tikka masala dish plus a naan bread. We left plenty full for $ 21 each (including tax and tip), so good value there. Added plus that it all sat just fine in my tummy, with no unpleasant surprises later in the evening or next day, which isn’t always the case with such foods. BYOB is great, especially with the deli right downstairs that has a fine selection of single bottle beers. Probably owned by the same folks as the restaurants upstairs. The place is small, and there were only a couple of other diners there, so service was fine. I can’t speak for when it is busy and full of birthday parties, which apparently is a thing here… find a quiet night and it’s a decent meal.

We had a very nice experience until we were rushed out while trying to finish our food and wine by a very rude man at the door. Also the food was very bland.
Happy birthday to me

The best thing about this place is the environment! It is trippy, colorful, but a very fun atmosphere to have a group to eat with. It’s a birthday spot so be sure to let them know who’s birthday it is for there signature celebration. Food was good, but the customer service was exceptional and great people!

A festive and enjoyable dinner. I came here with my girlfriend as she was looking forward to an Indian restaurant with me. The place have a bunch of christmas lights similar to the other three in opposite directions. It gives it a fun atmosphere like some kind of party. This is true if it’s your friend’s birthday they will place some party birthday song haha. We find ourselves rocking to it, but it can get later annoying if played too many times. When you enter the place is a bit cramp, but the food compensate for this. They will give you these three sauces and a flat thin cracker. It has some amazing flavor that is sweet and spicy.
We tried the assorted sampler that consist of fritters. The banana fritter was amazing appetizer. It’s crunchy and sweet. Second favorite is the sweet potato fritter which was great also. It’s crunch and not to overly sweet. For the curry, we try the chicken tikka and mushroom shag dish. It was a lot of food but pretty affordable too for what you’re are getting. The waiters there are friendly here. At the end of the dinner we had mango ice cream. It tasted delightful and a way to end the night.

This restaurant is one of incarnations of three BYOB Indian restaurants that basically share the same space and compete for patrons by asking everyone that passes by on the street to come in for a meal. This particular establishment is upstairs and to the south of the other BYOB Indian Panna II. (Or left if you’re facing the grouping of restaurants and not good with directions).
I don’t think there is anything particularly special about this place in comparison to the others. What they all share in common is that they are really close together, have a lot of decorative lighting, tend to sing happy birthday A LOT, and dish out outrageously mediocre Indian food.
My last visit at this place included food that came about about 1 minute after ordering (they must have pre-​made most of the dishes and just scooped out a serving for us). Service was terrible. Waiter over charged us for the meal by shamelessly adding up the total of our meal to include the addition of five dollars out of thin air. How come when this happens the addition almost invariably does not benefit the diners? I took a quick glance at the bill and immediately spotted the error. After paying we were rushed out so forcefully in an effort to turn our table over that one of the servers actually grabbed my shoulder in an effort to move us along.
All that being said, the atmosphere is definitely fun for a group. I’d prob recommend picking the restaurant that is least busy on any particular night so your party doesn’t feel rushed. Given that there is absolutely no difference between these restaurants and this place is currently three and a half stars while the others are three stars, I’d like to do my part and knock this place down to earth a bit :)

Came in for dinner with some friends and we were greeted with banter from the two men stationed outside the restaurants, both trying to get us to go to their restaurant.
We were given the menu and a plate of chapati with three sauces.
The chapati was super delicate, it just crumble under your fingers. The sauce was all a little bit spicy, complementing the chapati.
I ordered beef tikka bhuna masala while my friends ordered chicken tikka bhuna masala and kati chicken poori.
The beef and chicken tikka bhuna masala came with a plate of rice, a side of cabbage, and soup. The rice wasn’t soft but rather hard, enjoyable when you eat it with the beef. The soup was too starchy for me.
The kati chicken poori was divine. I love the poori (flat bread lightly fried puffy). I could have eaten that all by itself.
At the end of our meal, we were each given a small bowl of mango ice cream that hits the spot.
Service and food were all on par making the experience that much better.
Note: Bathroom is small, super cramped.

This place is AWESOME! yes it is a bit cramped as mentioned by other reviewers but if you arent super claustrophobic you should be fine. The interior décor with christmas lights is one of the coolest out of any restaurant ive seen in my life. Everyone was snapping and instagramming pics :) We came here for my friends bday and she had so much fun when they came out with a special bday suprise dessert and flashed all the lights and played funky music!
food was great– HIGHLY recommend the cheese naan and chicken makhini. its BYOB so bring a nice bottle of white wine or beer to complement your meal. and they dont charge extra for rice like some of the places in curry hill.
seriously though… if its your friends bday make sure you tell the waiter because they will go ALL OUT!

Saw that this place had better reviews than of the other three Indian restaurants in the same building. I’m convinced that the men outside persuading (more like shouting at) you to come to their restaurant is a gimmick. They might share the same kitchen idk haha. But it’s definitely entertaining and I loved the all the lights and music.
I’ve had better Indian food, but not the same amount of extras. Like they’ll give you things in the beginning, crisps and sauces. And a spoonful of mango ice cream at the end for free.
It’s definitely cramped, and a lot of underaged college students since it is BYOB.
Had the butter chicken, nothing too special. But their garlic naan is super good!

My friends and I couldn’t decide on what to eat so we decided to try something new and stop by here. I’ve never seen any other restaurant with the unique décor that this one has, and was surprised when I walked in and saw a plethora of Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. It’s like I just got high on something and all I saw were Christmas lights and Indian music.
Funny story. Before we even walked in, we were trying to decide on which restaurant to go to because this place shares the same storefront as 2 other Indian restaurants. The guys standing outside were trying very hard to convince us to go to their respective restaurants by yelling and screaming «come here, come here». We later decided to come here because there were a lot of customers already dining inside so it must’ve been good.
When we finally got inside, we were surprised to see how cramped it was. Like everyone said, this place is a fire hazard. I bet they were trying to make use of the space by seeing how many tables they can fit in there. There was literally a one foot wide aisle they went through the whole restaurant that served as walking space. Luckily, (or unluckily) we were seated next to the bathroom, so that’s a major plus.
As for the food, we were served small entrees in the beginning. They all came with a variety of different dipping sauces. Wasn’t really a big fan of that, personally. I later settled for the lamb masala and that came with rice. The serving size was extremely small, but good. I think I would’ve been full from 4 of these. But oh wells. To end the meal, we were literally served one small scoop of ice cream that was «complimentary».
As we we ready to leave and asked the waiter for our check, he quickly calculated the total with his illegible handwriting. We paid $ 20 each for a total of 4 people eating which was way more than we’d expected. We all felt like he BS’ed the total. He also said «tip is included». Isn’t it common courtesy at a restaurant to let the customers decide what the server deserves? Not the other way around?
Overall, this is a once in a lifetime thing and I’ll never come back here again.

I thought it was hilarious how once me and my group of friends entered the area, we had three different people try to fight over us to try out their restaurant. That’s taking competition to another level. One was empty and relatively dark. The other restaurant up the stairs had a lot of lights and looked packed, so we decided to go with the latter.
Upon entering Milon, we were captivated by the decorations; it felt like we entered a boat or a different dimension. It was definitely a fire hazard because it was a struggle moving chairs even a few inches back. The only space to walk through was a narrow line, which you can imagine will be a problem if more than one person tries to stand up at a time. We were conveniently seated next to the bathroom at the back, so we were lucky not to have to move much. The lights were just too fascinating and gave a different kind of look to the restaurant (see pictures). We were taking pictures like tourists here before we even touched the menus. The music also provided a lot of flavor. If there were no tables there, we could’ve mistakened it for a club.
But I know what you’re reading this review for. Is the food worth it or not? To put it simply, it’s worth trying. I compiled a list of key things about my experience here:
1. Portions are very small. The food will not fill you up, unless you order a lot more than one dish. By then, your bill will quadruple so unless you’re made of money, make sure you keep in mind that you might not be full afterwards.
2. They provide you with chips, nan and rice in the beginning. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these are complimentary and ending up asking for infinite refills — your bill will make you cry. Only the rice is free, so go crazy with that. Don’t take my word for it though.
3. There is one bathroom. It is small, but clean, so that’s a plus.
4. I ordered one of the chief’s specialties, the lamb dupiaze, which is grilled with onion, peppers and tomatoes smothered in Bhuna masala sauce. It was pretty good. I liked the taste, and I prefer it more than chicken.
5. My dish was $ 9.50. So you can imagine how traumatized I was from hearing that our bill added up to $ 20 per person. That’s another thing. We have no idea how they calculated it because they wrote pretty sloppily. Oh well, next time if we do choose to go again, we should calculate on our own.
6. The small scoop of ice cream that they give to us all «on the house» –after we finished our meal — is bite-​size. It’s very unnecessary in my opinion.
7. The vibe is very lively and colorful there. I would say that’s the main highlight.
Overall, I would recommend everyone to check this place out once to see if they like Milon or not. Would I come back? Maybe. I’m not a fan of small portions though, as I’m sure people who read my reviews would know by now. It can be a hit or miss depending on what kind of person you are.

Muy vistoso, pequeño pero el servicio formidable, comida buena y barata, nos costo 26 $ para tres personas, sabores diferentes, para comer barato y bien en Nueva York

Came here on a Monday evening with a friend (and their cousin) visiting from out of town. I’d been to the neighboring, and infamous, Panna II, on a few occasions and had always been curious about the other restaurants in the cluster of four.
As we walked up the stairs, there was the innocent, yet border-​line aggressive, urging of greeters who’s sole purpose is to get you to come into their restaurant. I don’t mind it so much but could see how someone else may find this dynamic a bit annoying.
Like its counterpart next door, you walk-​in to the restaurant and are bombarded by an orgy of lights and other items (fake flowers, flags, mini-​beach-​balls, etc). There is definitely no shortage of stimulation in this uniquely decorated establishment.
I do Meatless Mondays so I searched the menu for the vegetarian options. I ended up ordering the Kufta Kurma which are dumplings of vegetables and mild spices and herbs in a cream sauce with coconut, raisins, and almonds. It was served with rice.
It was flavorful but felt a bit starch-​heavy for my personal preference. It tasted like I was having a plate full of rice, potatoes, and cheese. It wasn’t horrible but more of an experience where I experimented with an unknown dish and was not very impressed.
The main challenge with the meal, however, was not the food. It was that it quickly became cold due to this Arctic-​blaster type air conditioner (See pics; it literally was a pipe blowing very cool air) that was blowing directly across the center area of the restaurant where we were sitting. I couldn’t believe it! No bueno. SMH.
Would I go back? Absolutely! But if I felt the air like it was tonight, I would ask to be seated in an area that was not in the direct path of the Arctic-​blaster. Otherwise, I’d go next door.

Oh Milon — it’s definitely one of those restaurants your friend takes you there because «it’s so cool,» and then you either love it or hate it. I ended up loving the restaurant, as I am perfectly comfortable with cramped, overly-​festive, and most importantly, cheap, delicious foods. It’s hard to find a restaurant in Manhattan these days less than $ 20 head and BYOB. I am not super familiar with Indian food, but Milon has a pretty delicious menu, and neither my friends nor I ever disliked what we ordered.
Yes, as you approach the restaurant, eager waiters of Milon and its surrounding doppelgängers will try to lure you into their restaurant. I haven’t tried the other ones, but according to my conspiracy theory, all four restaurants are probably owned by the same boss.
Finally, Milon is definitely a unique experience for Indian food. Don’t expect world-​class service though; you get what you paid for.

Un lugar chico pero súper alegre lleno de colores y luces, etaa bueno para probar sabores distintos. Fuimos un sábado y a la 00hs casi q nos echan ! Jaa
La onda es tránqui para comer no lo piensen como para qdarse tomando algo. No se les entiende bien a los mozos pero son muy serviciales ! Sáquense fotos Qdan muy buenas !

Giving ⁴⁄₅ only because I been going here since I was a college freshman. It’s tiny, cramped and a total fire hazard with the thousands of gaudy lights hanging from floor to ceiling. Having said that, it’s still fun to eat here after all these years. The food, Indian and Bangladeshi is hit or miss but prices are still super cheap and service is quick. You should experience this at least once if you live in or near the city.

I had seen Milon in an advertisement before and it looked really cool inside — music, pink décor, Christmas lights, and delicious Indian food. So, of course I had to verify with Unilocal whether or not it’d be good to go, and Unilocal gave me the thumbs up because of two things: Cheap food and BYOB.
At first, I thought I had the address wrong, I thought it’d be on a corner. Little did I realize that if you walk further down the street, there are four restaurants of the same type that I just mentioned — Music, pink décor, Christmas lights, and Indian food (can’t verify if they’re delicious or not since I haven’t tried them!). Anyhow, the men standing in front of the door practically harass you to come into their restaurant. Surely enough, they’re not rude about it, but they just try very hard to get you in– all four of them. Of course, I had to opt for Milon because I had already known I was going there ( Unilocal review and everything checked!). Note for you, it’s the one on the left side on the second floor.
Upon entering, we were seated by the door (not the best if it’s kinda chilly because they do leave the door open for quite a bit since they are getting people to come in). Anyway, they opened our bottle of wine for us and were super polite. They even gave us a bucket of ice, even though we just asked for ice! They’re also pretty good with filling up the water and all as well.
Now, onto the food — of course, they always place those three sauces and a type of very thin flatbread with sesame. I’ve had this in almost every Indian restaurant but this was good since none of the sauces were spicy! We also had to order naan, which is like pita bread. I always get chicken tikka masala because it’s a classic (and also very hard to mess up). It was great, very nice chicken and sauce. The basmati rice was also good — although I wish we had more! My friend and I shared one plate, even though we both ordered almost the same thing (she had beef tikka masala, which is much more flavorful, but comparable to the chicken). They also gave a small mango ice cream on the house, which was appreciated.
The price wasn’t too bad, maybe $ 15/​person.
Also, if you’re looking for a really fun night, I’d suggest coming here. It’s not the type of place for deep conversations — they play loud music to get the crowd going and making sure that they enjoy themselves. It was someone’s birthday, which brought even more joy!
I’d recommend this place for every kind of group. From young couples to large families, they will accommodate. The party group was at least 10 people and they were able to do it. It may seem like a small place, but it’s certainly worth a visit and will give you many smiles.

A friend and I came here for dinner at around 5 PM on a Wednesday afternoon and it was empty. There are 2 other Indian restaurants which they are neighbors with so sometimes I see them call people out on the sidewalk to come into the restaurant.
The food here is pretty tasty. We ordered the Vegetarian Dinner for 2 with 3 rounds for $ 20. The portions are a bit on the smaller side. We got stuffed on bread with their sauces which they put on a cute tea tray thing, idk how to describe it. Soup and entrée still small. If my friend wasn’t such a chatterbox, I think I could have eaten her meal and mine as well because that’s how small the portions were to me but they were cooked excellently. But I guess you get what you pay for and $ 20 in NYC isn’t bad at all.
To end the meal, we were given a scoop of mango ice cream «on the house» so I felt pretty and special but after reading the reviews it looks like everyone gets one «on the house»
The service was pretty good and they seated us next to the window.
Oh and of course the lights are a nice touch but underneath is regular tables with white clothes and everything. Kinda cramped space so I wouldn’t come here with a big group.

I came here for a group dinner with colleagues. I had my reservations after seeing a few pictures of this place, but of course I am always game to try something new and different. They only take reservations for parties of 6 or more, so in retrospect we should have made a reservation. There was bit of a wait to get in here and we had to wait for 30 minutes or so. But they people at the door didn’t tell us how long it was going to take, just that we had to wait.
In principle, what I didn’t like about this place was the service. The food was fairly decent and we ordered quite a bit of it. It was inexpensive. But the place is not for someone who is claustrophobic (which I am not necessarily but I can be). It was crammed; I was clicking elbows with the people sitting next to me. It was impossible to catch the server’s attention or figure out what stuff I could eat (I have dietary restrictions). Although, I am Indian and I typically know how these dishes are cooked, this place is Bangladeshi and so I was not familiar with all the stuff that they make. Also, to note unlike Indian pakoras (i.e. fritters), the ones here are not batter fried in chickpea flour instead they use regular flour (translation — they are not gluten free).
It’s a very popular birthday spot, as most of the Unilocal reviews point out. In fact there were 5 birthday in the 2 hours we were here. And I can tell so with precision, because every time there is a birthday they dim the light and play a Bangladeshi/​Indian birthday song and everyone starts clapping. It was fun the first couple of times, but the 5^th time I was ready to leave. The only think I really liked here was that they were playing popular Bollywood songs (think Top 4 hindi songs) and that it was BYOB.
I would instead recommend doing a take-​out. You avoid the ambiance and the service but can enjoy the inexpensive food. My friends enjoyed the rajan josh (this is a lamb dish cooked in cream — so it’s relatively mild), they have quite a few types of stuffed parathas (aloo/​potato and daal/​lentil were pretty good).