Jersey City Hindu Temple Seeks New Home as South Asian Dining Scene Expands

Jersey City's South Asian community is making news on two distinct fronts. The SMVS Swaminarayan congregation has filed plans with the city's Zoning Board to build a new four-story Hindu temple on Central Avenue, while Korai Kitchen, a Bangladeshi restaurant in the city, has drawn national attention for its immersive weekly Dawat dinner series. A new Indian restaurant called Bangalore Kitchen has also recently opened, adding to the neighborhood's growing South Asian dining options.

🪔 SMVS Swaminarayan Temple Eyes New Four-Story Home on Central Avenue

Jersey City's Zoning Board is set to consider a proposal that would bring a brand-new Hindu temple to 48 Central Avenue in the Journal Square neighborhood. The applicant, SMVS Jersey City — a Cherry Hill-based entity — is seeking to demolish the existing residential structures on the site to make way for a purpose-built facility designed by Randolph-based architect Aavart Patel. The proposed temple would rise four stories and 46 feet tall, replacing a 3-story two-family dwelling on Central Avenue, a 2-story single-family home on St. Paul's Avenue, and an existing asphalt parking area, all of which would be torn down. The project would relocate the SMVS SHRI Swaminarayan Temple, a congregation currently worshipping at 415-423 Hoboken Avenue, three blocks from the proposed site. That Hoboken Avenue property has been the subject of a 27-story mixed-use redevelopment proposal since 2021 that has not yet materialized, adding urgency to the congregation's search for a permanent new home. The new building's program is carefully planned: the ground floor would house a dining room, kitchen, grocery room, and storage areas; the second floor would feature a Sabha hall, office rooms, and additional storage; and the third floor would include activity rooms for young women, mukto rooms, and a mukto kitchen. The site sits across from Jotham Wakeman School No. 6. [2]

🍛 Korai Kitchen's Dawat Dinners Bring Bangladeshi Home Cooking to Jersey City

Korai Kitchen in Jersey City has earned a glowing review from Eater New York for its weekly Dawat dinner series, described as a festive and deeply personal Bangladeshi dining experience. "Dawat" is the Bengali word for "invitation," and the name captures the spirit of the restaurant's only dine-in offering: a three-hour, BYOB meal of homestyle halal Bangladeshi food rooted in the culinary traditions of Dhaka, priced at $95 per person. The restaurant is run by owner and chef Nur-E Gulshan Rahman alongside her daughter, Nur-E Farhana Rahman. "This is my mom's interpretation of Bangladeshi food," Nur-E Farhana explains during the meal. Because the menu is dictated by what Nur-E Gulshan chooses to cook each week, dishes change from visit to visit — a feature that makes each Dawat dinner a distinctive experience. Among the dishes highlighted in the review is pulao. Korai Kitchen also operates a regular takeout and delivery service for those who cannot attend the sit-down Dawat sessions. Eater New York deputy editor Nadia Chaudhury, who reviewed the restaurant, describes the experience of entering as akin to entering a family home — warm, intimate, and welcoming — an atmosphere that has set Korai Kitchen apart in the Jersey City dining scene. [3]

Sources: [2] Jersey Digs · [3] Eater New York