I've made the mistake of coming here twice, once with a friend and another time with a larger group. I came because I had heard rave reviews about Shaheen restaurant (which was the name of this place before the ownership and name change). Everyone in the party left seriously disappointed both times. the ambiance is ok. there's a tv in the background tuned to geo or some other south asian channel. basic decor, the pics of the place some it up - clean and manageable, but kind of disordered (tables are randomly distributed, often times to close to one another) - so not a place you'de go if you're looking for nice decor or to impress someone. In terms of the food, the rice and naan were ok (which is the bear minimum for a restaurant in an area that looks like its straight out of in the subcontinent). The main dishes....were bland. both times. we had ordered a range of range of meat and veggie dishes (mainly curries) and none was really satisfying. The Biryani was absolutely horrible though: dry chicken and colored rice does not biryani make...which is why this is a place i must forsake. bad ryhmes aside, i've had better, more flavored food from random street carts. If this restaurant was in a neighborhood with no other south asian options, i might have given it 2, maybe 2.5 stars. but in jackson heights you can do better. much better. so don't make the same mistake i did. because i know i'm not gonna make it again. read more

If I am ever in Jackson Heights then I have to come eat here! Great people Great food! Cant get better than that. Food is resonably priced and tastes delicious. Its a very clean restaurant and the service is very quick! read more

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I come here for the sweets. 1) This place has the best Indian sweets in Jackson Heights. 2) Besides the sweets, the food is ok, and the service is slow. 3) Much of it is microwaved and served. As mentioned, come here for the sweets. read more

Food usually tastes good but quality is almost always low. More than once the food has come cold. Today I ordered a salty lassi because I can't have sugar and it was super sweet. I called to get it replaced and they said they don't serve salty anymore and they must have grabbed a sweet one instead. read more

My parents chose this spot because they have Shaheen Sweets which we considered getting but ended up not doing so which kind of sucks because the food from Dera itself wasn't that good. That was a mouthful. The overall ambiance is -- well it's not very good. It kind of looks like a fast food buffet but yet doesn't operate as such. Waitresses end up and your table bringing random items that you certainly did order but this means that afterward you have no idea who gets your bill, who is bringing change, and who you should tip. It's odd but let's talk about the food. The food itself is... drenched in grease. And we're not talking about ordering particularly greasy food but an order of the okra or my dad's goat curry came with an nice oil slick at the top. That aside, the food was okay but it was spectacular or anything that could possibly warrant a repeat visit. I think there are much better restaurants in the area but the huge perk is the parking lot you can use at night next door. read more

I come here numerous times and it gets worse! On many accounts my friends and family have found roaches on the table, a bug in the rice, old hard rice. I've been coming here for years and the taste of the chicken makhani has changed. The quality of this dish has become watery and less appetizing. The only dish I like is the mixed vegetable. They reheat the food by microwave and nothing is fresh when you come to eat for dinner. The best time to come and eat is around 1 pm when everything is freshly made. The service sucks! You have to wait like 15 minutes literally to get napkins, plates, the check, etc. The worst time to come is on the weekend. You can never get anything on time. I'm sorry but I miss the old food/service. read more

Dera Restaurant - Chicken Makhani with nun and white rice. - Indian Near Me - Jackson Heights, New York

I learned to eat Mediterranean food from here. It used to be that the smell is too distinc for me but Dera changed my perception of strong smell to tasty spicies. I particularly like the sesame naan and chickpeas. Their salad is fresh and meat based recipes are tasty and tender. Although i am not a fan of Mediterranean deserts but surely I have recieved holiday box of gifts from friends so I am sure they are the best in Jackson Heights. I would also recommend for you to try their Lamb chops, they're Licious. The service is excellent also in this restaurant and people are very respectful. This place is worth paying a visit whenever you're in Jackson Heights Queens, don't miss it! read more

Food is good. Service and cleanliness are not. Last night had to be my fourth or fifth time coming this past year and I think it was the worst service-wise. My girlfriend called over one of the girls to order and when asks whether she can order with her she replies "I believe not" but takes the order anyway. I then asked to order chai to which the waitress responded, "Do you even know what that is?"- like what? We were finished eating and wanted to take some food home but it took nearly 25 minutes for someone to come around. But the food is cheap and they give you a lot. Chicken palak was good. I'm reading some reviews saying they don't give you a lot or the portion sizes shrunk but maybe they're adjusting. The Naan had just come out so it was soft and warm. However, the bathrooms are nasty-I mean nasty. Having been in the restaurant industry some time ago we were told that the cleanliness of the restroom correlates to the cleanliness of where they prepare food-let's hope this isn't the case for this establishment. read more

I feel bad leaving 1 star because surely it could have been worse. But inedible food, poor service, and cheap, lazy interior shouldn't get 2 stars. The food was incredibly salty (too bad because the chicken was actually ok quality), and they forgot to bring one of my orders. Only saving grace was the pitcher of water served with the meal. Wish I had checked yelp before going in here. How dodgy is it that they only charge tax if you use a credit card? read more

Food was so good everything was very good specially chana nan is my favorite i really love this place i can recommend all my friends

We ordered halwa poori, beef Bihari kabab and beef nihari. Halwa poori 4/5 (didn't quiet like Chana masla but poori was yummy) Bihari kabab 6/5 Beef nihari 5/5 Bihari kabab was soo tender n was melting in the mouth !! read more

Food was good but service was bad. My mom asked a pound of some sweets like 3x and multiple different people/employees just keep passing by. Totally ignoring us. So we stood there for like a couple of minutes and still no one was catering to us. So we just left. read more

Family of 10 looking for a late dinner? Dera. Come for the food, stay for the ambiance.

Hand down one of the best south asian food restaurants I've had in this country. I came here by a friend's recommendation and I loved it so much I went back twice within the week. The food is cheap (you can get a good meal off of $9) and authentic and delicious. The waiters are also really nice and the service is great and easy! I also love how crowded and happening it gets during the night. Warning that this is a very no frills place. They don't make a big deal of their food, and that's one of the reasons why I love it. Less to distract you from the great taste! Highly recommended! read more

Rate: 4.5 Okay, if you come here expecting some grand service, you've come to the wrong place. This is a casual, affordable restaurant that people in the neighborhood come to eat at with their families when they're feeling a bit extra. But with that being said, this review is solely on the food - not really the service because the service is like the service you'd find if you were at a casual restaurant in India, Bangladesh or even Pakistan, and I don't mind that one bit. My family and I had come here on a random night because we were hungry and were tired of food from home. Thankfully there was free parking but it does look kind of sketchy at night, I'm not gonna lie. Besides that though, we went in, picked out a seat, and was given a menu within a couple of minutes. We ordered the mixed vegetable rice, naan, behari kabob, Chana masala and the tandoori quail. I personally ordered the mango lassi while my parents ordered regular fountain drinks and that tasted great. The rest of food was extremely good. Even though the "mixed" vegetable rice was pretty much pea pulao, the tandoori quail was VERY VERY flavorful and the behari kabob was one of the best I've tried in NY. It actually reminded me of the kabobs they sell in Dhaka, it was awesome. As for the Chana masala, I was kind of scared to eat it at first because it had a pool of oil on top but I then realized that that's how Chana masala was supposed to look. Desi food is not really known for its nutritional values anyway. We all loved the meal and the portions were actually very big as well. My pulao was good for at least two people, and the quails were actually pretty large, which was a pleasant surprise. I was very pleased with my visit at Dera, very different from regular bland city Desi restaurants. But if you're expecting 5star customer service and treatment - then this place is not for you. read more

Dera Restaurant - Soooo good. - Indian Near Me - Jackson Heights, New York

Chicken seekh Kabab are the best with fresh fluffy silky tastiest Nan ever! When you dine in! Take away is as good but won't be that of as fresh ones! Don't forget the beef behari and rusmali read more

Takeaway: As close as you can get to an awesome in-country dining experience with hilariously bad service. I've been a fan of this place for a few years. I've brought friends and family here and everyone has similarly raved. The restaurant doesn't look like much: a diagonal entryway, a cafeteria-style seating arrangement alongside a glass-walled buffet offers little in terms of visual appeal but the food is outstanding. FYI - it's a bit oily, but still, outstanding. Portions are family style: Two half orders will run you $10 and easily feeds 2. If you order something unique like Quail off the menu, it comes to your table hot, and done right. The service is also 'outstanding' and 'at a whole 'nother level' in its own way. During a recent visit, I mentioned to the waitress I would just like the a la carte entrees and neither bread nor rice (I don't eat Gluten or Rice); she didn't get why I wanted neither. This prompted her to ask me if I was a hypochondriac (I'm serious), and this prompted me to ask her if she was moonlighting as a psychologist. At other times, waitstaff wanders aimlessly to and fro, filling orders and standing around while patrons flail their arms and raise they eyebrows and voices in vain to get someone's attention. My theory is they're practicing big picture visualization exercises which might explain their inattentiveness to diners, fellow employees and the world in general. You'll start your order with one person, have it served by another, have a third check up on you - excuse me, you'll have to flag them down to let you know you're fine, and a fourth to grab your check. Their powers of perception do keenly assert themselves whilst paying, so there's definitely that. read more

This place used to be called Roti Boti and I didn't think the food was that great but when it changed names, I was hoping maybe it will taste better. It is still more of a fast food restaurant where they have the food prepared already and you order off of a menu with limited selections. I ordered the chicken tiklki marsala and the goat curry. The garlic naan was big and was really tasty and fresh. The tikki marsala was also pretty good but it was a little oily. The goat curry was really good but they don't give that much. Each dish is about $8 and for me, eating one dish doesn't really fill me up so I usually have to spend like $15 to feel full so it's not a good deal when there are alot of all you can eat buffets around the area but for a quick meal it was ok. read more

New, new owners, and this place is awesome now. Order half portions to get more variety. They do not skimp on the flavor and the number of patrons shows it. Plenty of space and they even have a kids section - which is a good thing b/c many of the patrons have 5 kids who like to run the place. Here and Kababish are my favorite Pak in the area - they are both awesome and I would love to have more restaurants just like this. read more

The food wasn't bad but wasn't that good, the food is very flavorless, I ordered kabab and niharie and there's no flavor, and the chutney is so watery lol. They need to step up the taste. read more

Not bad. It's better than most restaurants. Only thing was that the food was sort of bland. But it was better than most Indian restaurants that serve a buffet. None of the curries were over powered with cream not even the butter chicken. I kind of prefer Taste of Lahore but this place is very good. read more

Excellent food, huge variety of non veterinarian food. Although lacks on cleanliness.

This is my favorite place for Pakistani food! The chicken makhni is my favorite dish amongst the many. The tikka, puriyaan and paaye are classics. Food is served hot and the taste is more than amazing! And let's not talk about dessert! The kulfi and falooda was just Service was great and didnt have to wait much for the food either. Great value for price. 10/10 would recommend for Eid/Festive gatherings. read more

Since my last review I have been here a least 4 more times with a good amount of time in between each visit. Each time I've noticed the quality getting worse, each dish got smaller one visit at a time.The curry chicken is now half the size it once was. The naan is smaller, The rice dishes are smaller... and the taste has slight been deteriorating with every following visit. I no longer have this restaurant at the top of my "quick and east dinners list" As a matter of fact i'm not interested in returning as I highly doubt the food quality will go back to what they used to be. read more

Food was okay but at this average price point one does not expect exceptional quality. Goat Pulao was very delicious. Dahi Bara chaat was very disappointing especially because I could taste old stale oil read more

good cheapo indo-paki food. HOWEVER, the cows foot stew tastes like evil! From the corner of my eye I glimpsed Dick Cheney, skulking behind cute nepalese waitresses, smirking and laughing... So thats what our vice gargamel has been doing these past few years... I heard that Dera was under new management, and though its hit or miss, they still make a mean curry. read more

Over-rated restaurant, with staff having no manners how to behave with ladies. They don't know how to make chicken, the chicken Chapli kebab was hard as wood and we returned it. Seems like they didn't he it fresh. Tikka masala had no taste and pretty much bland. I will give credit where it's due, the chicken biryani was good. I would avoid this place next time. read more

Food was served promptly and since we had gone for Iftar, they also served us dates and rose water on the house! The chicken biryani was delicious and the chicken makni and chicken karahi were full of flavor. The naan was buttery and everything was pretty affordable! If we were to talk about the ambience, it does get a bit noisy as this restaurant is also packed with families usually. It is conveniently located a block away from the subway station so it's very easy to get to, and definitely not out of the way. I would recommend anyone coming here to split the biryani with another person because they give huge portions. The curries can also be split as I remember I didn't finish half of mine. read more

Amazing authentic Pakistani food. We tried quite a few different things for brunch: halwa poori, keema naan, payay, haleem, tandoori paratha, shami kabab. Loved it. read more

This was the worst food. Everything was frozen! When I asked the waitress whats your best dish she said I dont know. Everything was so cold! We were so hungry and it just ruined everything. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE YOUR STOMACH WILL HURT GO TO KABAB KING. This is just a shame to Pakistani restaurant. Please do your stomach and your taste buds a favor and dont come here. read more

Had lunch here today with a friend. We had Chicken Palak and Bhindi Masala, plus a whole wheat paratha. Everything was delicious and seemed fresh. The Bhindi was pretty hot, the chicken medium. The place was clean and the service was pleasant. Prices are really reasonable. I have two relatively minor complaints: 1- the bathroom situation - one for men and the other for men/women/handicapped - WTF? 2-the parking, which is listed here on Yelp as a private lot. But signs on the fencing around the lot say that it is for bank only business, and only for 30 minutes, and "no parking after bank hours." However the folks in the restaurant said it was fine to park there if we were eating there, and that after 3 pm, the lot is theirs exclusively. None of which jives with the signs. No idea what's going on there but I don't think they should advertise a private lot which clearly isn't. We left after 45 minutes and the car was fine but we were not too comfortable lingering any longer. read more

I LOVE their food. Everything in this restaurant tastes great. Their chicken tikka, chicken tandoori, Beef bihari kabab are really good. And their kheer is good too. The only thing they need to work on is the interior. Overall love this place for their food. read more

Love this place! I'm a Houston, Tx girl and we have TONS of Paki/Indian restaurants and I'm a super picky eater so it's hard to impress me. I mostly find non Houston Indian restaurants bland, but I loved this place!! I ordered the Chicken Karahi, butter chicken and chicken biryani, loved them all! Super spicy and tasty! What I loved most was that I asked our waitress if there's any way I can get more salan/gravy with my butter chicken and karahi as I don't eat meat but I eat the gravy, and my family takes the meat, at first I had barely any gravy to eat so I was just eating the rice from the biriyani and the waitress politely said she cannot which I understood but then the owner heard me say that and brought two plates of gravy for me and some garlic naan so I could enjoy the food as well. I was so happy! The owner was so polite and kind and understandable and really made sure I enjoyed my food as well, I highly recommend this place if you're looking for a good paki/Indian place in New York! read more

Dera Restaurant - Indian Near Me - Jackson Heights, New York

I walked in and sat down assuming they clean the table which they did by picking up only the napkins but no one cared to wipe the table and the food tasted as if it was warmed up in a microwave. DCA need to be involved. read more

Family wanted to get some good food so i decided to drive an hour just to find out that it was closed by the health department read more

Dera Restaurant - Indian Near Me - Jackson Heights, New York

Just want to share my opinions about Dera I been going there last 10 years first their service it f sucks,I was there today with Friends. Service and the food quality before compared 2 now shit whack I kinda feel like management is changed waitress few them work there they definitely need to educated there fffff self I will not say food bad compared from before since I'm going there until now rating 0-10, I I'll say (4) hope the management take care this can of things.. read more

The waitresses are nice and attentive but the management sucks big time, plus the sweets are over priced. food wasn't really that good. and the guys in the front always seem like there pissed off for some reason. o.o yea one more thing the MINI salad is "COMPLIMENTARY" LOL read more

If you love Indian food, you will love this place the first couple of times you go there. Because the food on the menu is the same, you would not wanna go and eat there over and over again. Not all food ont he menu tastes good. So, I stick to the dishes that I know taste good (which are very few) Price : moderate Best food to order: chicken keema, bihari kabab( i love this the most!), dahi bada, chapri kabab. There is a good collection of different sweets too but they can be pretty pricey. May be buy only a piece and try them. It's cheaper to eat one piece than to buy in pounds. People usually weigh them in dozens. Love their bihar kabab! That's one thing I always order whenever I go there. good for family outing. read more

A friend recently took us here and we have a great time. We were the only white people eating in the restaurant, it was a religious holiday and a great experience overall. We ordered a variety of dishes. The best one was the spinach (which has some meat in it). The samosas were also great. Since it was a religious holiday they passed out for free dates and some rose milk drink. Both were also very good. I ordered the tea and I thought it would be more authentic "pulled" tea but it seemed like regular tea that was a bit overcooked. I wish it was more traditional tea. The naan was also very good. The menu was a little more limited than usual due to the religious holiday. We got into the place around 6:30pm and around 7:30pm it got really packed and we could send they wanted us to leave. Suddenly the check came and we felt like we were being pushed out. I almost wanted to remove one star for this but the place was packed and people were waiting, so I can understand. It was overall a neat experience and I look forward to going back. read more

I went there for some authentic halim. One word: worst I've ever had. They served something that looked like chicken lentil soup. It had no taste whatsoever. Environment is crowded and fish-market like. I'm never going back nor will I recommend it to anyone. read more