Essex Market
Dhamaka cooks regional Indian food here from the chefs behind Semma and Adda, and it sends out subzi pulao in the pressure cooker. Shopsin's still makes the ebelskivers, run by the family since Kenny Shopsin died in 2018. Thirty-odd vendors trade under one roof at Essex and Delancey.
Why go
The market moved into this building on the corner of Essex and Delancey in 2019, sharing it with a cinema and apartments.1 Carlo Mantuano's stall guide is the way to use it, because he names eight counters and an order at each. Dhamaka is the sit-down room among them, and the market's own roster calls it a MICHELIN-awarded restaurant. Don Ceviche runs the Peruvian rotisserie, Kotti Berliner Döner Kebab the pide sandwiches and Puebla the breakfast tacos, and Viva Fruits & Vegetables sells the imported plantains and yuca.2
Order this / avoid
- Order at Dhamaka: subzi pulao, served straight out of the pressure cooker, or the goat kidneys and testicles in an onion and tomato stew with ghee-slicked pao.1
- Order at Kotti Berliner: the döner on pide, under fifteen dollars.1
- Order at Shopsin's: the ebelskivers, Danish stuffed pancakes served with jam. Do not ask for a substitution, because the kitchen still refuses them.1
- Avoid: counting on ice cream. The L.E.S. Ice Cream Factory counter closes early and shuts for the winter.1
What locals & experts say
- Carlo Mantuano, The Infatuation, on the döner: the sandwiches are
loaded with juicy chicken, crispy pickled vegetables, a lemony yogurt sauce, and a spicy harissa-based sauce, deserve your full attention, have so many different textures, and cost under $15.
1 - Mantuano on Dhamaka: it comes from
the chefs behind two of our favorite Indian restaurants in the city, Semma and Adda,
and cooksregional specialties that are hard to find elsewhere in NYC.
1
Good to know
- The building: 88 Essex Street, at Delancey. More than thirty vendors, and the market publishes a stall map.2
- Booking: none for the counters. Dhamaka is a sit-down room inside the market, with seating indoors and out.1
Verdict
should-visit — Carlo Mantuano is the only writer I have found on this building and his guide is stall by stall, so it answers what a market entry usually cannot, which is what to order and at which counter. His strongest claim is the only ranking on the page: he puts one counter above every other in the building, which is the sort of judgment a stall list almost never makes. Dhamaka carries the standing, and that standing comes off the landlord's own tenant page rather than the MICHELIN guide, which I have not checked. His page prints no date, so nothing here can be aged, and the market's own roster is what confirms the tenants are still in place.