Desi Things to Do in Somerset (September 2026)

TL;DR

• 🛕 Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Vadtaldham on Amwell Road holds prasad dinners on Saturday evenings and runs Navratri garba nights in September
• 🍱 The Easton Avenue strip concentrates multiple Indian restaurants — buffets, dhaba plates, and a full food court
• 🛒 Star Bazaar on Easton Avenue is the neighborhood Indian grocery; Patidar Supermarket in Bridgewater is the larger option
• 🎉 September's Navratri season brings garba events to temples and community halls across central Jersey
• 🌿 Somerset's South Asian community is among the fastest-growing in Middlesex County, with a neighborhood feel distinct from the Edison corridor

Somerset's Desi Scene

Somerset Borough sits at the northern edge of Franklin Township in Middlesex County, at the junction of Easton Avenue and Route 27. This part of central New Jersey has been building one of the more substantial South Asian communities in the region over the past two decades, without the commercial density of Edison's Oak Tree Road. The Easton Avenue corridor — restaurants, groceries, a temple on Amwell Road — gives Somerset a desi footprint that is genuinely livable rather than tourist-facing.

September is a good month to arrive. The Navratri season begins in late September or early October, and the two weeks before it see preparation activity across the community: new garba outfits, temple decorations, and the gradual shift from the summer calendar to the festival calendar. The weather in central Jersey in September is also more cooperative than August for outdoor events.

The Temple: Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Vadtaldham

Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Vadtaldham at 1667 Amwell Road in Somerset is one of central New Jersey's most active Swaminarayan temples, affiliated with the Vadtal Diocese of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. The temple holds weekly Saturday evening programs that include aarti followed by a communal prasad dinner — an accessible entry point for families and newcomers who want to connect with the community without navigating a full festival crowd.

For Navratri, the temple runs extended garba evenings over multiple nights. These draw families from across Somerset and Middlesex counties and have become a community fixture in the September-October window. Dates vary by year's lunar calendar; the temple's announcements typically go out a few weeks in advance.

Insider Tip: Arrive for the full Saturday aarti at Vadtaldham rather than just for the prasad dinner. The aarti itself runs about 30 to 40 minutes and is the heart of the Saturday program — showing up only for the food is noticed.

Dining on Easton Avenue

The Easton Avenue corridor concentrates most of Somerset's Indian dining within a few blocks.

Desi Daawat at 900 Easton Avenue runs delivery and dine-in seven days a week, with a menu covering North Indian curries, biryani, and South Indian dishes. Its chicken biryani has a consistent following.

Pooja Indian Cuisine at 1075 Easton Avenue is the buffet anchor for the neighborhood — a lunch buffet seven days a week and a dinner buffet most evenings. For families feeding multiple generations with different preferences, the buffet format solves a lot of problems at once.

For a more casual street-food register, Kabab Culture on Route 27 leans into dhaba-style cooking — the garlic naan and slow-cooked curries are the draw. Desi Food Galaxy on Route 27 takes a food court approach: multiple stalls, different cuisines (Indian, Bangladeshi, and others), useful when a group can't agree.

Groceries

Star Bazaar at 1760 Easton Avenue in the Easton Franklin Shopping Center has been the neighborhood-scale Indian grocery for Somerset Borough since 2016. It covers the staples — lentils, flours, spice mixes, regional snack items, fresh produce for Indian cooking, and frozen items — at prices that locals regard as competitive. For most everyday Indian pantry needs, it handles things locally.

Patidar Supermarket opened its flagship location at 711 Route 28 in Bridgewater in February 2026. About ten minutes from Somerset, it's a larger-format Indian supermarket with a broader range of regional specialty items, fresh produce, and ready-to-eat sections. Worth the drive when Star Bazaar doesn't have what you need.

Community Activity in September

Beyond temple events, September in the Somerset area means the regional South Asian associations begin their fall programming. The Franklin Township area has active Gujarati, Marathi, and South Indian cultural groups, each running their own Navratri and festival-season events. The Swaminarayan community announcements and local community WhatsApp groups are the practical way to find specific event dates and locations — these events tend to be organized through community networks rather than formal public listings.

FAQ

Is Somerset NJ a good area for Indian food? Yes. The Easton Avenue and Route 27 corridors in Somerset have several Indian dining options including sit-down restaurants, a buffet, dhaba-style spots, and a food court. It's not as dense as Edison's Oak Tree Road but is substantial for a community of its size.

Where is the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Vadtaldham in Somerset NJ? It is at 1667 Amwell Road in Somerset, NJ 08873. It holds weekly Saturday evening aarti and prasad programs and runs extended Navratri garba events in September-October.

What Indian grocery stores are in Somerset NJ? Star Bazaar at 1760 Easton Avenue is the neighborhood-scale Indian grocery. Patidar Supermarket, which opened in Bridgewater in February 2026 at 711 Route 28, is a larger-format option about 10 minutes away.

What happens during Navratri in Somerset NJ? The Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Vadtaldham hosts multi-night garba events during the Navratri period (typically late September to early October). Regional cultural associations also run their own garba and cultural programs; dates and venues vary each year.

How is Somerset NJ's South Asian community different from Edison? Somerset has a neighborhood feel that is more residential and less commercial than Edison's Oak Tree Road. The community infrastructure — temple, groceries, restaurants — is concentrated along Easton Avenue and Route 27, but there is less tourist-facing activity. Many residents specifically prefer the more local character.

Bottom Line

Somerset in September gives you a temple with an active weekly schedule, a buffet restaurant that handles the whole family, a neighborhood grocery on Easton Avenue, and a Navratri garba season that draws the broader central Jersey community. It's not a destination desi strip, but for the families who live here or are passing through, it functions exactly as community infrastructure should.