5 Star Banquet & Restaurant

Profile

This late-night Punjabi diner couldn’t have a more obscure location: under the Queensboro Bridge, behind Silvercup Studios, and next to a taxi garage. The cuisine hails from Northern India, and a setting of dim lights and streaming Bollywood videos satisfy the Indian cabbies and clubkids who fill spacious wood-paneled booths into the wee hours. The Halal kitchen works nicely with lean lamb, crisply fried “jhinga” (shrimp), and minced chicken, while whole birds roast up juicy in the tandoor, along with puffy, chewy naan. Other distinctive dishes include the smoky, long-cooked dal makhani, and any of the hearty, savory biryanis. Plus, whatever time you finish fueling, a cab will surely be waiting. — Karen Tina Harrison

An all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, $9.95, is served every day except Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m.

Banquets
The kitchen turns similar fare for weddings and other events at a glitzy banquet hall next door.