{"id":317953,"date":"2026-08-10T18:39:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T18:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/317953\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T18:39:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T18:39:16","slug":"chef-abishek-sharma-has-opened-badshah-social-in-brooklyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/317953\/","title":{"rendered":"Chef Abishek Sharma has opened Badshah Social in Brooklyn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abishek Sharma, the chef behind Swagat and Madam Ji, has opened his third Indian restaurant in New York. Badshah Social debuted in early July in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope.<\/p>\n

Badshah, a Hindi word for \u201cKing,\u201d was designed to bring India\u2019s vibrant street food culture to a social dining setting.<\/p>\n

Before opening the restaurant, Sharma traveled through the Indian cities of Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, as well as southern India and the states of Gujarat and Punjab, exploring neighborhood markets and bustling street stalls to collect recipes and learn new techniques. He\u2019s applying that experience to the menu at Badshah Social and putting modern spins on familiar street foods.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndian cuisine is having a real moment, and I think it\u2019s because people are becoming more curious and adventurous about food,\u201d Sharma said. \u201cFor a long time, Indian restaurants in the U.S. were expected to serve the same handful of dishes. Now chefs are highlighting the incredible diversity of India\u2019s regional cuisines, techniques, and ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:Pihakis Restaurant Group founder files Chapter 7 bankruptcy<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2._Badshah.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The dining room features a blue-and-orange color palette inspired by the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n

Sharma noted that diners are looking for restaurants with a clear point of view rather than concepts trying to be everything to everyone. He said that this has allowed Indian restaurants to become more specialized, whether they choose to focus on street food, regional cooking, tasting menus, or modern interpretations of classic dishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting because guests are discovering just how diverse Indian food really is,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Badshah Social features a New York Knicks-inspired blue-and-orange color palette, floor-to-ceiling windows, a dining area with banquettes, and a bar area with high-top seating. There\u2019s also a private dining room for intimate dinners and small parties.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an open kitchen where guests can see the team working the tandoor ovens to prepare some of the restaurant\u2019s standout dishes. And the bar pours creative cocktails inspired by India\u2019s spice markets, plus a tightly curated wine list and Indian and local craft beers.<\/p>\n

The food menu ranges from Gujarati streets snacks to larger plates like lamb shank nihari braised with spices including cardamom and clove, and a whole branzino inspired by India\u2019s southwestern coast.<\/p>\n

The butter chicken is one of Sharma\u2019s favorites. He said they hand-select the tomatoes for the sauce, which gives it a fresh, balanced flavor while staying true to the dish\u2019s classic roots.<\/p>\n

\"3._Badshah.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The bar pours creative cocktails with Indian spices and flavors.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur biryani is another standout,\u201d he said. \u201cWe prepare it using the traditional dum method [cooking in a sealed pot with low heat] and make it fresh each day in limited quantities, so every batch has the flavor and texture it\u2019s meant to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:New on the Menu: Four tomatoes and a tostada<\/a><\/p>\n

He\u2019s also proud of the chaats, or street snacks, calling them \u201cvibrant, shareable, and packed with contrasting flavors and textures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharma brings a lot of experience to Badshah Social.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery restaurant has taught me something different,\u201d he said. \u201cSwagat reinforced the importance of staying true to authentic Indian flavors and cooking with consistency every day. Madam Ji showed me how much people value an experience \u2014 not just great food, but a place that brings people together.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Badshah Social, he\u2019s combining those lessons into something more casual and community- driven.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to create the kind of neighborhood spot where people can watch a Knicks game, meet friends after work, share small plates, and enjoy comforting Indian food without feeling like it\u2019s a special-occasion restaurant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Being so close to Barclays Center helps make that vision a reality, as the restaurant is becoming a natural place to gather before events or to celebrate afterward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Abishek Sharma, the chef behind Swagat and Madam Ji, has opened his third Indian restaurant in New York.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-317953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}