The 21 best Lower East Side restaurants in NYC

The Malaysian café is now bigger and (arguably) better in its new location, just a few blocks from the original. Here, you can actually sit back and relax with their all-day menu of affordable eats like the nasi lemak and the kaya toast with soft boiled eggs.

While many of the shops and restaurants inside Essex Market didn't survive the pandemic, Dhamaka's marquee still shines bright. And for good reason, as the restaurant puts “the forgotten side of India” in the forefront. The housemade paneer is a must, while the Nalli Biryani is sealed so the server has to cut it tableside. But you'll be rewarded with basmati rice and slow braised lamb shank that gives easy from the bone. 

Chef Amanda Cohen was one of the most prominent champions of vegetarian cuisine, well before vegetable-forward was the gastro buzzword on every menu. Cohen bucks the hackneyed health-nut tenets of vegetarianism with some of the most experimental cooking around the city. 

Originally launched as a pop-up, Sami & Susu now resides in the Lower East Side. Co-founded by Amir Nathan and Jordan Anderson the Mediternnean hub has even earned the eye of the Michelin Guide, earning a Bib Gourmand designation in 2023. Arm yourself with a pita, swipe your way through labneh and muhammara before going mouth first into the Harissa chicken spooned with a helping of chopped and pine nuts. Peruse the wall of wine and have a glass or two in one of its many stubby glasses. 

This low-key Dominican cafe first opened in 1958 with the name La Lechonera, where they served up roasted pork for the neighborhood. All these years later, they’re still making melt-in-your-mouth cubanos for only $7, leaving plenty of money in your pocket for a velvety soursop shake.

Kiki Karamintzas' namesake restaurant manages to be one of the neighborhood's hippest spots without maintaining an Instagram presence or photographable interior design. Which is to say, Kiki's is cool and lively without feeling like it's trying too hard. There's a Chinese sign hanging out front, but the restaurant actually only serves Greek food. Diners love it so much, the team opened another spot for spill-over seating across the street.

At this SoCal-inspired café, the lineup can change weekly, dabbling in Japanse cuisine here, before exploring Mediterranean influences. So don't be surprised when Matcha Porridge sits buddy up to Pozole.

Tucked away in an easily missed dead end, this treasure feels like it’s straight out of a Wes Anderson movie, in all of its taxidermied, vintage-wallpaper–laden, old-book–strewn glory, creating a nice atmosphere to spill the beans with pals at one of the long communal tables.

Daikon french fries, paripari fried chicken (paripari is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the crunch of the skin) and Instagrammable “sushi bombs'' make this seasonal izakaya-meets-NYC-faves mashup more than worthy of the Lower East Side. Stick around in the evening hours for sake flights and rambutan martinis. 

There is comfort (and eastern medicinal healing properties) in congee, the Cantonese rice porridge that is the focus at this multilevel, always-packed LES standby. Choose among 29 versions—like the sliced pork with preserved egg or chicken with black mushrooms, cooked over a low fire until bubbling. The rest of the expansive menu yields such finds as an excellent chicken with garlic sauce.

This casual Lower East Side gem was an Anthony Bourdain favorite for good reason. El Castillo de Jagua serves up heaping portions of delicious Dominican food. Purists while find solace in the Pernil, but for a little fun, get the Dominican Sandwich with the same roasted pork, fried dominican cheese and fried plaintains sandwiched on hero bread.

Order the Uni Spaghetti, karaage fried chicken and more at this pint-sized café. A kissaten style cafe, and or a Japanese traditional cafe, this shop specializes in comfort food with aesthetically pleasing plating compositions. Take the mesmerizing jam toast, which is checkerboarded with cream cheese that would please the influencer within you. 

This small but colorful vegan Mexican spot at the meeting point for Two Bridges, the Lower East Side and Chinatown, could easily be cast off as somewhere gaggles of Instagram influencers hang out. But the food can back it up with inventive plant-based spins on Mexican favorites. There's a "chorizo" burrito made with cauliflower rice and churros with a coconut dulce de leche.

This soba shop's name translates to "heartwarming," but it could also be dubbed heart-healthy for its fiber-rich, low-fat fare. Chef Yoshihito Kida, who owned a soba restaurant back in Japan, makes the buckwheat noodles in house, while chef Mika Ohie focuses on sides and appetizers, like a cold house-made tofu with scallions, ginger and bonito.

Run by former Top Chef contender Leah Cohen, the joint has a familiar setup, with plenty of canned beer, hot chilies and hip-hop. Chef Leah Cohen has been turning diners on to funky Southeast Asian flavors since 2012 with a pig-centric menu. Enclosed backyard seating is available year-round, and the restaurant prepares a traditional Filipino brunch on the weekends with bottomless mimosas.

The 45-seat restaurant is a sister to chef Jeremiah Stone and pastry chef Fabian von Hauske Valtierra’s avant-garde tasting-menu den, Contra, two doors down. Wildair is low-pressure, set with sardine-packed bar tables, a fuzzy mid aughts soundtrack and neighborhood affability. Their snacky, à la carte menu is packed with low-key innovations.

This cavernous cafeteria is a repository of New York history—glossies of celebs spanning the past century crowd the walls, and the classic Jewish deli offerings are nonpareil. Flag down a meat cutter and order a legendary sandwich. The brisket sings with horseradish, and the thick-cut pastrami stacked high between slices of rye is the stuff of dreams.

Start your day off with a little something old and a little something new at this spin-off of iconic century-old appetizing store Russ & Daughters. All the classics are accounted for but repackaged as composed plates: silky smoked fish is best highlighted in bagel-and-schmear boards, and chocolate-webbed babka loaves are sliced and griddled as French toast. The restaurant is currently takeout only, so you can order online and pick it up for brunch at home.