Roomali

Really sad to see this place go. I guess I’ll have to go to Kati Roll now.

It’s sad that I finally write this review (my first) when I discovered that my fav place to grab a quick bite has finally closed. To quote Passenger — only miss the sun when it starts to snow.
I have been a regular for the past 5 years. I will remember Roomali for the people — Jangbo, Deema n Arturo. I stopped by a couple of times a week just to have chai n talk to them. The rolls were good too, samosa and bihari rolls were my personal favs. The rolls + chutney + chai were a complete meal. My out of town friends would make sure they visited Roomali at least once on every visit. It will always be better than Kati roll co for me.
Will miss Roomali, hopefully will bump into my friends sometime. :(

Its nice to have this around rather than not having it. I went with my office colleagues, a mix of desi and american crowd. I got the Chicken tikka and Paneer chilli.
Pros:
Food was fresh
A bunch of different options
Nice place to sit
Mango lassi was home made
Take you gora friends here
Cons:
It may feel bland to desis as it does not have any dressing on it
The mango lassi for $ 2 is just a small tea cup size, so do not get your hopes too high.
The wraps were a little on the firmer side.
It can get loud if multiple groups are in there.
All in all a good option to try it once, some streets carts can may be able to go one up due to the option of adding as many dressings as one would like. But surely a nice comfy spot to sit around and eat with friends.

Love this place. My go-to’s are Tawa Chicken, which is absolutely delicious, and the Paneer Tikka roll. The thing is, one roll will leave you hungry, while two will make you too full. The secret? Buy three rolls and split one with a friend. If you’re reading this, happy kati times are in your future.

I am an avid Kati Roll Company enthusiast but I figured I should try a different place. I stopped in. The actual wrap /​paratha they use iis not very good, kind of bland and not particularly flavorful.
I had the Achari Paneer roll and the Bihari Chicken Kebob roll. In terms of quality, the paneer and chicken were fresh but I just didn’t think the flavors worked that well. First of all they mash up the paneer. Paneer is supposed to be cubed! On top of that they added lettuce to the rolls which just didn’t go. Was the food terrible? Definitely not, but if I am going to drop 12 dollars on two wraps and consume upwards of a 1000 calories in one meal (I’m guessing each roll comes out to over 500) I want something memorable.
While the quantity is generous, I’d go to the original instead.

Biryani Cart has spoiled me. It’s just not fair for me to review Roomali after having tried Biryani. The Kathi rolls here are good just not great. The lamb is dry and could use a little more flavor and spice.
The spicy sauce on the side helps, and makes it much better. After eating the 2 Kathi Rolls, I was definitely stuffed and satisfied… Just not Fully Satisfied.
Something felt missing. Maybe it was the cash in my pocket. Biryani Cart was much better and for 2 Kathi rolls at 6 dollars, Roomali charges 12 dollars. Double The Price!
So the takeaway here is, I was happy with my meal for the most part, but It could’ve been flavored a little more and priced a little cheaper.

Came here for the first time while visiting NYC. MY friend just raved about how good the place is etc., but MY ADVICE– go to KATHI ROLL AND COMPANY and you will thank me for this review! The kathi rolls here had no real taste that would make me wana come for more. The guy who took our order was very nice but if the food isn’t good I rather not waste my time driving up here PERIOD!!!
KATHI ROLL COMPANY IS THE BEST!!!

We had a groupon now deal for this place.
The rolls are nice, not as nice as the Biryani Cart at 46^th and 6^th though.
I had the aaloo pyaaz and aaloo chanaa roll which was nice. My husband had a chicken and a lamb roll and liked his.
You have to tell them to make them extra spicy.
We might go back again.

We stepped outside to Third Avenue in the midst of a blizzard, with sheets of snow blowing down streets still white from the weekend storm. We turned down 27^th Street, half-​blinded by the torrent. Across the street, I saw a couple of orange lights in an empty storefront. The marquee — written in English designed to look like Hindi — meant some sort of Indian food would be available. We darted across the white street and through the door.
Roomali is hidden on a quiet side street, half a block from Curry Hill. There are half a dozen tables in a tiny, featureless room, with orange light bulbs and naked walls.
We ordered four kati rolls at the kitchen, which had a Dutch split door, where a middle-​aged Indian age with full paunch took our orders with maximum disdain. My questions about the menu were met with a shrug, so I picked my order more or less at random from the six chicken options.
In ten minutes we were eating, with the dining room to ourselves and the chef holed up in the kitchen. My tikka kebab was a treat, the chicken moist from the yogurt without the sweetness that can sink this Anglo-​Indian creation. The tawa roll was more complex, blending onion, pepper, ginger, garlic, coriander, tomato and green chili in a preparation that reminded me of Sri Lankan uthappam. Unfortunately, I found the green chili discordant, providing an unpleasant prickliness rather than heat to counteract the bread and chicken. I admire the effort here, but it wasn’t a successful dish.
After finishing, we deposited our empty trays back through the Dutch door and paid (a bit pricey at $ 11 for two rolls) with nary a word from the mute chef.

So I used to come here every week and LOVED the place. They have amazing indian wraps. Although I think one of the main reasons the wraps are so good… is because of the wrapping! They used to have these amazing soft, chewy, perfect amount of doughiness wraps, filled with chicken, egg and lettuce for the chicken tikka wrap (plus a special sauce that makes it yummier if you get the Chutney chicken).
But I just went today… and something has happened to their wraps! Today it was hard (possibly overcooked??), hurt my jaw to chew and overall not as good. Now granted I skipped the green sauce today so that made it even worse (trust me, if you can handle spicy, get that green sauce. it adds an extra kick and makes it way better. If you pour the sauce on, you really can’t tell the difference between chicken tikka or chutney chicken anymore).
I have to drop it down to 3 stars for now based on my experience today. Perhaps I will give it one more chance and see if they redeem themselves. It is a little pricey (2 chicken wraps for $ 11) but it’s worth it. 2 wraps might be a little much, but if you can find a friend, 1.5 wraps are perfect!

A bit disappointed. Mexican guy behind the counter as well as the cook as well (well he is definitely not Indian). All
of the patrons are also non Indians. Price is also a bit steep — $ 6 for a meat roll ($ 11 for 2). And soft drink is $ 2 a can. Come on!!’

delicious and reasonably priced. more flavorable than its more famous «kati roll» counterpart, this place gets 5*. dont get put off by the shabby, sometimes empty interior. This hole in the wall is one of curry hill’s hidden gems. I enjoyed both the chicken tikka roll and the bihari kebab roll (a friend and I shared the two — one is more than enough for a substantial snack). Both were delicious, I’m excited to come back to try more

I had a groupon deal for this spot and ordered the chicken Tikka roll and the lamb (Seekh) which was 2 for $ 11. I was a bit reluctant about ordering when I first walked in because the place was empty and looked like a hole in the wall spot. However, I was starving and had a coupon so I didnt want to give up my deal. I am so happy I stayed and ordered. The rolls were DELICIOUS. They were a bit spicy but nicely seasoned and fulfilling. I ate one and the other the next day. I would definitely return for some quick on to go food.

Before flying out, I always bring some sandwich on the plane so Roomali was my food choice before flying out.
[chana pakora — chickpeas, coriander, tomatoes, lettuce & onions]
pretty yummy.
[bihari kabob — marinated chicken cooked in clay oven]
took a while but equally yummy.
Overall I think it’s kinda pricy for what you get, but delicious (pricy for los angeles standards perhaps).

If you think there is a better kati roll around the corner or in the village or in soho or wherever… you are crazy. it’s also the perfect place to have a kati roll for the first time.
the bihari chicken kati roll extra spicy is absolutely incredible. if bourdain found this place, there would be line out the door every day. it’s more or less street food… and even in that category… i would pick roomali over most anything.
seriously, this is destination food. don’t come though! really! you can’t handle it…

Given the all the other options for Indian food in the area — this place is ok.
Not a sit-​down place.
I associate Kati rolls with fast food. That may just be me.

I have to say, Kathi Roll around the corner is better than Roomali. The chicken in my roll was actually quite dry. While not a bad roll, I just think you get a better one 100 feet away.

On the suggestion of one of my work colleagues, I decided to stop by here a couple of times to get rolls. I’ve never had Indian-​style curried meat in a roll (or a tortilla, as it may be), so I was a bit intrigued to see how it would taste. Ordering is simple: walk up to the counter, check out the menu that’s on the countertop, and let the cooks know what you want. There aren’t any takeout menus, which makes it a bit inconvenient to order if there are more people waiting to do the same. The tables are… tables; it’s not what I’d call a nice dining room, but if you’re too anxious to wait to eat elsewhere and need a place to chow down, it works.
As for the food itself: you get your money’s worth of spices and flavor in these rolls. All 3 that I’ve had the chance to try to date (chutney chicken, takka tak lamb, and reshmi kabob roll) were loaded up with lots of herbs and spices. It wasn’t so much that it’d burn your mouth off, but enough to add another dimension to the roll. I’d say my favorite is probably the chutney chicken — you can’t go wrong with a roll full of chicken that’s been thoroughly cooked through with chutney. Given that every roll is $ 5 or $ 6 (and if you get two of the same kind, you get a dollar off the next one), it’s a hard deal to beat. The rolls take a little less than 5 minutes to make, but it’s definitely worth the wait. For a small shop, they get their food done right.

I usually dislike «wraps» but on the flip side love burritos (not to mention Indian food), so I chose to take a chance on their Kati rolls, which I’ve never experienced.
Since they are only $ 5 – 6 each, it wasn’t much of a risk. And as it turns out, they are pretty damn tasty. I had the tikki chicken which had a nice latent spicy kick, and a lamb roll which was more like a sausage/​gyro version of lamb, but with some Indian flavors. I also really liked the wrap — burrito thin but with a strong elasticity, similar to a Vietnamese rice wrapper, but still being more «doughey.»
This is a small, takeout kind place with just a few little tables — so not somewhere you’d go for a sit down meal. But if I lived nearby, I’d probably grab a kati roll or two for a take home quick meal or bring-​to-​work lunch. I can’t say if other places do better Kati rolls, but am happy to explore the subject further. Likewise, I wouldn’t suggest trekking miles for this place, but if in the area, it’s a solid, inexpensive meal.

I love how I’ll find some out-​of-​the-​way place, that I’m thinking will be fairly unknown, unreviewed secret little spot, and then I jump on Unilocal and there are twenty-​five reviews! I’m not even surprised anymore…
This place reminds me of Aamchi Pao on Bleecker street. They have these wraps which are basically made of paratha and then some yummy indian fillings. I had the Paneer Chilli Roll and Aloo Chana Roll. The Chilli roll was soooo spicey, full of raw jalapinos. I’m not complaining…
These little wraps remind me of an indian taco. The paratha is lightly grilled… they’re soooo damn good.
The place is actually around the corner, *ON* 27^th street, but has Lexington Ave address. Not sure why…
anyway, if you’re in curry hill, check this place out!