Historically significant for Houston. A decades old…read moreinstitution and, for many, their first experience of the food of North India. Curries don't necessarily photograph great so I'll just post two photos. Consider the lunch buffet for your first visit. Mickey Kapoor is known for his humorous observations on the sign outside. Great staff and service. Lovely music snd ambience.

Our go-to Indian restaurant in the area. Have had almost everything on the menu and never been…read moredisappointed. Our favorite dishes are the chicken tiki masala, chicken Biryani, or the butter chicken if we're feeling bad. Most items come with nice side of cucumber salad that is refreshing. The samosas are great also, and everything heats up well for leftovers. The staff is nice and welcoming

We had our first experience trying out Indian food, and this place hit the spot! The food is…read moreflavorful and the position is great - staffs are very friendly and nice - they keep the restaurant super clean. Highly recommend!!

Great place for both dine in and takeout. Food is always served fresh, of great quality and…read moreextremely flavorful and delicious, but quantity seems to be inconsistent which is my only complaint. Food stays hot even when taking out, making this a weeknight staple for me. Service is quick, vibe is casual and quick service. I've had the chicken kebab and goat tikka masala. The chicken kebab was very tender and juicy, seasoned perfectly. The pita is soft on the center and crispy on the outside. The rice is nice hot and fluffy. The goat was very tender as well and could be cut with a spoon, but not too soft so as to fall apart in the sauce. Somehow, each bite of it is even more packed with flavor then the sauce itself, which is impressive and makes the gamble on the portion size kind of worth it. Even though the protein quantity seems to vary, the amount of curry sauce that comes with this dish is always huge and typically more than what you can finish with the rice alone. Overall, this place is great and definitely worth a try.

This is a really good food truck in a gas station catty corner to the VA. They make excellent dosas…read moreand their peanut chutney is the best I've had in Houston. Their sambhar is solid although their idli may be too sour. You should get the food delivered though. Their kitchen can be slow since I think they only have the grill space to make one dosa at a time. They also have very little parking in what is a bad area at night and your car is likely to blocked in since the gas station has 3 food truck in the lot along with the gas pumps. I've noticed through the delivery apps that the driver waits a bit even after they have arrived at the spots. They are only open at night and closed on Mondays.

Tried out Chai n Chutneys, a food truck parked at a gas station, after hearing a bit of buzz. I…read morewent around 6:30 on a weekday--no line, which was nice--but the food did take a little while to come out. I ordered the masala dosa and the chicken pulao. Both seemed authentic and had solid flavor. The dosa had a good crisp and the filling was well-spiced, and the chicken pulao was comforting with a nice blend of spices. Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely enjoyable and a step up from your average grab-and-go. If you're in the area and craving something different, it's a solid stop for a casual, no-frills Indian meal.

I picked up an order of Chicken Madras here last night bc it's on my top 3 right after the Butter…read moreChicken and Chicken Tikka Masala meals I usually get here. They always made this curry really good in overall taste, texture, gravy base, spices, etc. I first had it in either 2017 or 2018 at the original Rice Village spot and always made it a top option there ever since. It was really delicious, not too sour, not too loose. It had a right amount of oil, herbs n spice aromas and full of tender chicken too. It's an onion gravy, not creamy, but still so satisfying and exciting. Great, welcoming, friendly service as well.

I used to go to Shiva from when they were in the Rice Village location. While the location is…read moresmaller, I was happy to find the quality is still the same high standard. The interior is decorated tastefully and the service is friendly and timely. The space is utilized smartly, with plenty of seating available. The dishes taste wonderful, and are considerate of palates that may not be able to tolerate extreme spice levels, like me. The dishes are rich and flavorful, with my personal favorites being saag paneer and chicken tikka masala. A nice place for some great Indian food!

The interior is very cozy and community-centered, just like its mission. The furniture is very…read moreantique-like and there are couches, high chairs by the window, and small square tables. It would be really great for a study spot! The coffee menu has a good amount of specialty drinks. I got the pistachio latte, which is ground pistachio with cardamom, and I got it with vanilla syrup. Every first Tuesday of the month (don't quote me on this, check their instagram!) they have free drinks covered by Frost Bank, which is very nice. Lines can get long though so come quick, right at 8!

Doshi House is a popular coffee shop and cafe located on Emancipation Ave. I finally got the chance…read moreto stop by in the morning for a coffee before work and was surprised to find it almost completely full, many of the customers being students. Not quite sure what to expect, I was pleased to see that it's completely plant-based including the pastries and no extra plus charge for alternative milks (praise!) I ended up ordering their pistachio latte which had a really rich, bold espresso note and a sweet cardamom finish at the bottom of the cup. I would definitely get this again but might try to stir it before drinking for a more even flavor distribution. In terms of the setting, there's lots of small tables and couches to work and study with either a small group or alone. They also have a back patio with additional seating, board games, and even a printer which can be hard to find in this day and age. Overall the vibe is relaxed and casual. Finally, while I had to wait about 30 minutes to order and receive my drink, I had some time to watch their workflow and would offer some suggestions for improvement to speed up their service. The staff all clearly put a lot of care into preparing each drink and were doing the best they could to move quickly, but the layout of the back counter area is fairly inefficient. To start, the ice well for cold drinks is on the complete opposite side of the register away from their espresso machines. This added a lot of steps for the staff to prepare iced coffee drinks. Secondly, the straws were also quite a reach for the staff across the counter, also by the ice well. Finally, the order retrieval process is not the best. There are no names written on the cups and customers are sometimes in the bathroom or outside on the back patio when their order is ready. It can be hard for the staff to locate the right customer or if the drink gets left on the counter, it's hard to know what it is and who it is for. Overall, a pleasant (plant-based!) discovery but hoping they might consider a few steps (pun intended) to reduce the strain on their staff.

Kiran's was fabulous. Food and service were exceptional. The only annoyance was the parking garage…read more They have a time limit (not clearly disclosed) which can cause you to pay twice for parking. My suggestion is to not pay with your mobile phone and simply pay upon exiting the garage. Kirby Grove (Winpark) was not helpful.

This rating and review is solely on the afternoon tea. As far as my thoughts on the…read moremeals/restaurant food, I still stand by my previous review. Eventhough the Chai was so bad last time that I figured I wouldn't even come back for afternoon tea, we came back for afternoon tea. But it really was only bc we had credits to use from the Chase credit card deal and this was one of the covered places. The chai did not taste like soap this time, thankfully. It was actually very close to how my parents make it. So I liked it and had like 3 cups of it. The food was pretty good except for dessert. But even that didn't bother me too much just bc by that point I was stuffed and I add sugar to my chai. I got the gluten free afternoon tea. It was good mostly. The scone was really good. The cucumber sandwich was very bland and the curried crab was fishy and bland. The deviled egg was too mustard-y. And the desserts were all bad, maybe frozen and just not good tasting (there were 3 small ones). We got there at 1:15 and we were seated in the back, pretty far from the harpist. Our server was kind of rude and seemed swamped.

Came here for a friend's graduation dinner and it was yummy. The price for the buffet is decent and…read moreall the foods were hot and fresh. There's a lot of seating and parking. The staff are working hard to keep things clean and keep bringing out new foods. There was plenty of options here and we left super stuffed.

I was walking to another restaurant and stumbled upon Dimassi's -- I've never seen a Mediterranean…read morebuffet before, so I had to try it out! $20.99 for dinner, which begins at 4 pm. I took an initial preview first to game plan, and then took a sampling of salads, hummus, beef, chicken, fish, rice and pita. Plate #2 focused on the best items, which for me included the fried chicken, gyro and pita. I even went back for a third small plate of gyro! Dessert included baklava, jam cookes, rice pudding and fruit. A nice touch of sweetness to end the meal! Definitely a good value and a nice way to sample a bunch of authentic foods! Service is friendly, and everything is clean.

Enjoyed a girls dinner in Verandah, and I was very surprised it wasn't crowded on a Friday evening…read more Granted, we arrived early - right at 5pm - but this place has it all. First of all, it's a beautiful space with soaring ceilings and modern, elegant, tasteful decor. The service was incredibly polished yet warm. We very much felt like invited guests in someone's home. They have a full bar, and we enjoyed delicious cocktails when we arrived. We shared several appetizers and entrees, and every single dish was delicious and incredibly flavorful. The naan basket was also excellent, and I even remarked that their naan was much better than the naan we had at Michelin-starred Musaafer. I can tell you with certainty that, when I am craving Indian food again, I will absolutely be returning to Verandah!

We went there to celebrate early Father's Day. The owner greeted us and took care of us the entire…read moreevening. We ordered all their mocktails and a couple of drinks. Each one of them tasted great. Their appetizers were good too. For the cauliflower I would have liked it a little more tender but the entire thing looked and tasted good. Their biryanis were delicious. They were not your typical chicken biryani. There wasn't a lot of spices and things happening but it tasted fab. The interiors had paintings that their family had painted and made. The mandala was beautiful. The entire thing was about 2 hours. In that the owners came and spoke to us and about our families. They took great interest in our likes and shared some of their experiences too. It was quite refreshing. Couple of things that we didn't know and think it's worth noting: 1. There is no free parking. However the restaurant validates 2 hours of parking. Wish we knew that. 2. The tab includes 20% gratuity. Our server didn't even talk to us 1 time it was the owners. So wish we had an option to choose how much we wanted to tip her, 3. You don't need anything with the lil gas. They are stuffed and a complete meal. 4. They were able to make smaller portions upon request. They gave us a smaller portion of butter chicken when asked.