Stop by at Paratha Junction

Under food:

Paratha Junction
779 Newark Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306
(201) 553-1555

There is a little strip in Jersey City where it is bustling with that South Asian flavor, most specially on weekends. It is Newark Avenue, and one Saturday, me, DJKung and his dad made our maiden voyage to this area. There are a lot of cash and carry places, but nothing as big as the ones you find in the Iselin-Edison area of New Jersey.

After looking at the various storefronts, we decided on Paratha Junction. We've never had parathas before and were eager to try them. According to their menu, parathas are flatbreads usually made with whole wheat flour, pan fried, and stuffed with veggies.

Paratha Junction is a smart-looking place with a narrow eating area. That day, it was filled mostly with young people and some couples. It is quite small, perhaps seating around twenty, and sometimes there can be a wait, as the parathas are always made fresh to order. To while away the time, we watched an Indian gameshow on their flat screen tv.

The menu has some tandoori specials, veg and non-veg curries, parathas (of course) and some biryanis. The prices were quite reasonable. We also noticed that they are open 24 hours, which is great when you're getting the midnight munchies but just don't want to schlep into the city.

Onions and chilis for extra spice.

For our app, I got the paneer tikka masala (the orange thingies are the cheese/paneer). This was prepared on the dry side, with plenty of green peppers. It came out on a sizzling platter and was very aromatic.

Fish paratha. This was excellent, and was not in the least bit greasy. There was plenty of flavorful fish bits inside, and the paratha was light, with a good chew, and springy. This went very well with the green sauce and the tamarind sauce.

DJKung and his dad had the combo meals, which are available for lunch only. On left is the mutton (goat) curry, and on the right is the chicken curry. This comes with a bowl of rice, as pictured.

Close-up of the mutton curry. DJKung's dad liked it, but felt that it was a bit too spicy/hot for his taste. Their masala is pretty earthy and tasted like home cooking. Yum. The fresh chilis and onions really rounded out the flavor.

Chicken curry. DJKung liked this curry a lot. It had a lot of flavor and, like the mutton, was a very generous serving.

Yes, we really liked this place a lot and would come back soon, most likely on an off hour to keep our wait to a minimum. We highly recommend the parathas.