Must-Try Butter Chicken From NYC's Leading Indian Restaurateurs

The new Manhattan location of Adda trots out a stunning version of the dish

Butter chicken at Adda, ready to be served.

“Don’t confuse butter chicken with chicken tikka masala,” co-owner of Adda Chintan Pandya warns me. He continues as chef — now at 107 First Avenue in the East Village. Before it opened in Manhattan earlier this month, Adda stood at the border of Long Island City and Sunnyside since 2018. Adda marked an early harbinger of boundary pushing for the collection of restaurants now under the Unapologetic Foods umbrella, including Dhamaka, Michelin-starred Semma, Masalawala & Sons, Naks, and Rowdy Rooster.

The original Adda was celebrated for its spicy renditions of homestyle Indian fare, much of it from Bombay and Calcutta, now known as Mumbai and Kolkata. As India changes, so does its menu.

And now butter chicken has cemented its East Village credentials with an entirely new, more elaborate version developed by Pandya. Rather grandly called “the butter chicken experience” ($38 per person, two person minimum), the meal includes basmati rice, chile-studded lacha paratha, and the restaurant’s signature dal makhani, which is dark brown, pureed, and subtly spiced.