Masti Indian Grill & Chaat Bar

"Masti has “Chatt Bar” in the name, but really it’s a semi-casual sit-down restaurant in Williamsburg where you can share chaat as appetizers with your family (as opposed to devouring a styrofoam bowl of chole by yourself). Our favorite street snack on the menu is the pao bhaji, which requires you to spoon the onion-masala vegetable gravy into a butter roll before eating everything sloppy-joe style with your hands." - hannah albertine, kenny yang

"Tucked in a corner of Williamsburg near the Williamsburg Bridge, Masti is a restaurant that specializes in Anglo-Indian Balti cooking, while also offering lots of northern and southern Indian fare, including a dish or two from West Bengal. Kosha mangsho is a mustard-laced goat curry from Kolkata, while the Bricklane curry, like the name suggests, is a London-style dish with a choice of main ingredients and an adjustable level of heat." - Robert Sietsema

"Masti has “Chatt Bar” in the name, but really it’s a semi-casual sit-down restaurant where you can share chaat as appetizers with a group (as opposed to devouring a styrofoam bowl of chole by yourself). There are a couple of sparkly chandeliers in the dining room, and the batata sev puri is plated like it’s at a wedding party, while the amchur-heavy bhel comes in a neat, layered tower like steak tartare. But our favorite street snack on the menu isn’t as glamorous. The pao bhaji requires you to spoon the pungent onion-masala vegetable gravy into a butter roll and eat it sloppy-joe style with your hands, throwing all formality out the window. This place is a solid choice if you want your chaat and curry in the same sitting or if you don’t want to leave Williamsburg when you have a craving." - neha talreja

"This relaxed restaurant tucked under the BQE has a slight Bengali bent but it generally serves food from northern India. Try the mustardy goat curry from Kolkata called kosha mangsho, or the chile-laced pumpkin panch phoron, from Jharkand. Brick Lane-style English Balti curries are also available, in a space decorated with giant agrarian color photos." - Robert Sietsema, Melissa McCart

"Masti brings London’s Brick Lane curry experience to NYC with a long list of thick and sweet curries popular in British curry houses. They do a good Rogan Josh and Achari curry, but we like to order the Chettinad curry for something less-creamy that's loaded with dry spices. Eat it with a thinner bread like a paratha or chapati, rather than naan or rice. You want something that’ll soak everything up to create a wet, sopping bite that melts in your mouth like one of those magical Listerine strips. When we do want something creamy, we go with aamwali jhinga tikka, which you’ll find hiding in the tandoori section of the menu. Pop some individual shrimp in your mouth to try the pleasantly sweet coconut cream in its purest state, and then mix the leftover sauce with pretty much anything else on your plate like it's a chutney. Come with a small group, and you can order a couple of the bread-y chaat options as well. This restaurant is casual, but the bhel served in a neat tower like steak tartare and the chandeliers hanging overhead will give any low-key birthday dinner here a little sparkle." - Neha Talreja