Before covid, Joy and I used to make the trip to Vernon to dine at Utsav. I posted a review back in…read more2016. Once covid hit, we didn't go out to eat anymore. Since covid restrictions lifted, we've resumed dining out but somehow forgot about Utsav. We remembered yesterday and last night we finally returned. I am very pleased to report that Utsav is still as great as ever! The food is still exceptionally good and the service is still excellent. We were the last couple left in the restaurant and rather than try to hurry us out, one of the owners and chef, Thankachan Joseph a/k/a Joe, came out of the kitchen and joined us in engaging conversation about Indian cuisine and his restaurant. It truly was a most enjoyable dining experience! If you haven't dined at Utsav or if you just haven't gone recently, you owe it to yourself to go and enjoy delicious Indian cuisine, in delightfully colorful surroundings with excellent service. If you're lucky, maybe you'll even get to meet and talk with Joe.

We tried Utsav a few months ago for carry-out. Got to the restaurant at the appointed time, then…read morewaited an additional 25 minutes for my food. I wasn't thrilled but decided to give them another chance. This time dine-in. Service was good, food was decent, but I thought the prices on the menu were a bit high for a small place with minimum ambiance in a strip mall in Vernon. What really shocked me was that the prices on my bill were not the same as the prices on the menu. Entrees were $1.50 more and sides were $1.00 higher. No mention of it on the menu, by the server, or posted anywhere in the restaurant. Not huge differences - 6 to 15% increases, but I feel a bit ripped off to be shown one price and charged another. I know the restaurant reserves the right to change prices at any time without notice. I reserve the right to go somewhere else.

Oh man, this place is so good. The Tikka masala, butter chicken, garlic naan, and my personal…read morefavorite the kadai chicken are all fantastic. They have a huge menu , and also offer a ready to serve variety for dine in. The food is full of so much flavor and if I lived closer I would eat it all the time. If you like Indian food, give it a try.

I am really going to miss these guys. Holding they re-open at a new location. Outstanding Indian…read moretake-out. Their vindaloo is fantastic! Always catch all the amazing aromas when you walk in there. Great place! Ian

I'm back yet again. This is the nearest Indian food restaurant to my workplace. There aren't many…read morein the area anymore. It is located at 171B Spencer St in Manchester. The dining area here is REAL small (like 6-7 tables). The music is authentic. They play Indian music videos and shows on the TV screen. For my drink, I'm having a Thums Up Abhishek. Thums Up is India's leading homegrown cola brand, known for its bold, intense, slightly spicy flavor profile and strong carbonation. Originally launched by Parle in 1977 after Coca-Cola exited the country, the brand was later acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 1993, where it eventually grew to become a multi-billion-dollar market leader. Cricketer Abhishek Sharma stars in Thums Up's "Aaj Kuch Toofani Karte Hai" 2026 campaign alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant. The high-energy campaign highlights explosive play and features limited-edition player cans. This tastes like a less sugary Coke. It's only 10 grams. For my first item, I'm having the Chicken Hot and Sour Soup. Indian hot and sour soup is a popular Indo-Chinese dish that is an "Indianized" version of the traditional Chinese soup, known for its vibrant red color and a distinct balance of spicy, sour, and savory flavors. There's a lot that goes (or can go) into this. That's why it's $7. This is a good-sized portion (between a cup and a bowl). It's piping hot too. It's quite good! It's extra spicy (per my request) and not super salty. It's not as thick as the Chinese version. I like it! This is good! It's pretty spicy too! They give you an entire bottle of ice water. Next up, I'm getting a Sambar (off menu). Sambar is a South Indian lentil and vegetable stew, known for its tangy, savory, and spicy flavor. It is made with toor dal (pigeon peas), a variety of vegetables, tamarind broth, and a special spice blend called sambar powder. Sambar is a staple in South Indian cuisine and is commonly served with idli, dosa, vada, or steamed rice. They normally served it with a dosa or rice but I declined it. Damn! This is hot and yummy! It's like a soup. Not so spicy. For my main meal, I'm having the Lamb Pasanda. Pasanda is a rich, mild, and creamy South Asian curry made with yogurt, cream, and ground nuts like almonds or cashews. Originating from the royal Mughal courts, its name comes from the word pasandemeaning "favourite". It is similar to a korma but features a distinctive nutty flavor and a slightly tangy yogurt depth. It tasted similar to Jamaican (chicken) curry. What a great meal here!

Food was very good Tasty and delicious…read moreThey asked your spice preference so for me that is always a plus It shows your food is made to order The mango lassie was thick and chilled and the service was polite and welcoming

I'm sick today so I decided to do a little takeout. I'm in the mood for Indian food. This…read morerestaurant is located at 1250 Burnside Ave in East Hartford at the former Marco Polo's. I'm starting it out with sambar. Sambar is a flavorful, lentil-based stew that's a cornerstone of South Indian cuisine. It's typically made with pigeon pea lentils (toor dal), tamarind, vegetables, and a fragrant spice blend known as sambar powder. The dish is often tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and dried red chilies. Sambar is known for its rich, aromatic flavors and diverse variations across different regions. This is a bit spicy and very salty but I one it! Next up, I'm having a [vegetarian] samosa. A samosa is a crispy, fried pastry that originated in the Middle East and is popular in South Asian and West Asian cuisine. The savory snack is made with a pastry-like crust and can be filled with spiced potatoes, peas, onions, meat, or fish. The filling can be spicy or sweet, and the shape varies by region, sometimes triangular, crescent, or cone-shaped. It is often served with a couple sauces. These are good! The light green one is called a green chutney. Green chutney is the most common sauce served with samosas, which is made with a combination of cilantro and mint. Other options include mango chutney, tamarind chutney, tomato chutney, or raita, which is a yogurt-based sauce. This can be a bit spicy. The brown one is a tamarind sauce. Tamarind sauce, often used in Thai and Indian cuisines, is a condiment made from the pulp of the tamarind fruit, known for its unique tangy, sweet, and slightly sour flavor profile. This is less spicy and very tasty. For my appetizer, I'm having the Baby Corn Pepper Fry. These are battered baby corns that ate stir fried. It is quite good and nicely garnished. For my entree, I'm having the Gongura Chicken Kabab tandoor. Gongura, also known as sorrel or roselle, is a leafy green vegetable with a tangy flavor, commonly used in South Indian cuisine, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, to make chutneys, pickles, and curries. It's boneless, well seasoned and mixed in with purple onions and green bell peppers. Be sure to add the lemon! This is fantastic! Easy to eat and very light. For dessert, I'm the Carrot Halwa. Gajar ka halwa, also known as gajar halwa, is a beloved North Indian dessert of grated carrots cooked down into a pudding-like consistency with milk, sugar, cardamom, and sometimes ghee. The word gajar means "carrot" in Hindi, and halwa refers to the porridge-like texture. This sweet treat is often made during the winter months when red carrots are plentiful, and can be served warm or cold as a snack or dessert. This is a low cholesterol, delicious dessert! I love these guys!

Godavari has consistently delicious food! I ordered my usual dal tadka with garlic naan. Our server…read morewas the only one for the whole restaurant I think on a Friday night so he was overworked. Service was a bit slow due to this but he was friendly and got everything right. There was a South Indian Bollywood movie playing on the big screen tv. It was so colorful and fun that it distracted me from the conversation every once in a while. We ordered a cauliflower appetizer which was incredible! We also ordered a yogurt dessert but the consistency was odd. My Indian friend said it wasn't prepared quite correctly but still ate it all!

YUMMY! You all not be disappointed. Spices on point. If you say Makeit spicy, they will!…read moreFlavors on point every time. You won't be disappointed!!

My favorite Indian spot!! You really need to know where this place is to find it... but when you…read moredo!!! The restaurant itself is small, only about 6 tables - but that's because most of their business is to-go and delivery orders (non-stop). But we live close so don't mind eating in. Family operated so front-of-house is the wife, back of house the husband. So friendly and attentive will answer any questions you may have. Food is delicious!! And well-priced. You always feel like you got plenty of food for the cost. Curries are never to oily, chicken is always tender and so flavorful. Highly highly recommend!!!!

BEST! 5- Food Truck?…read moreRestaurants are on notice ... this food truck is out to take your business. The food here bridges the gap between "restaurant" and "home" Indian food. Bold flavors that also allow subtle aromatics to shine! No wonder the people in line came from Worcester, MA to Manchester, CT just for this food. Beats 90% of the Indian fare in CT. And I only say 90% to reserve for others I haven't yet tried.

**Mayabazaar: Creative Concept, Underwhelming Execution**…read more You can't miss the Mayabazaar food truck when you spot it--the exterior is a creative mashup of Indian cinema meets Marvel, with Bollywood and Tollywood actors' faces photoshopped onto the Avengers. It's quirky, fun, and definitely gets your attention. We went in with high hopes and hungry stomachs. Here's where we might have gone wrong: Mayabazaar apparently specializes in South Indian food, but we decided to venture into their Indo-Chinese offerings instead. We ordered chicken fried rice, chicken Hakka noodles, chicken lollypop, and--staying closer to their wheelhouse--South Indian thagubothu chicken. The verdict? Everything was just...meh. Nothing had that standout flavor or quality that would make you think, "I need to drive out of my way for this." We were two families, seven people total, and we sampled what felt like a rainbow of preparations from their menu. The food wasn't bad, per se, but it wasn't memorable either. None of us have made the trip back. Hartford County already has a crowded field of Indian restaurants, each claiming authenticity and trying to carve out their niche. Mayabazaar has real potential--the creative branding shows they're thinking outside the box. But potential only goes so far. The execution needs to match the concept. Maybe we should have stuck with their South Indian specialties instead of the Indo-Chinese route. But when a restaurant offers a diverse menu, everything on it should be worth ordering. For now, Mayabazaar remains just another option in an already saturated market.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

It's become our to go place when we feel like eating at home but too lazy to cook The sambar has…read moresuch a home made taste and everything feels very homey and fresh. Service is quick though it can become too crowded during weekends. The owner and their staff are friendly and welcoming. We ordered dosais, vadai, mango lassi ( which tasted yummy, though it looked too bright a yellow) filter coffee, chole bhature, samosa chaat and gobi manchurian (which was surprisingly the best cauliflower Manchurian I have ever had) Every dish was tasty and the quantity was more than enough for a couple to share. I highly recommend trying out this place if you haven't yet!

Good enough Indian cuisine, cheap but lacking spice…read more Wanted to try a dosa, so opted to try one that had it in the name. Came here when it wasn't so busy. Ordered both lunch specials and a pani puri to try their take. Food came out reasonably quick. Server was a little hovery so we couldn't talk about the dishes as we ate them. Lead to some awkward moments. The dosa lunch was good. Very much different types of bread and sauces to dip them.none of the sauces had a lot of spice or flavor, which was a letdown. The fried bread was very savory, and the steamed bread was like a masa bread which was a good sauce sponge. Just needed more flavor. The northern Indian lunch was more similar to other dishes we had. The carb being rice and the curries with a bit more body to them. Still lacking spice, but not bad. The carrot and cardamom sugar dessert was a tad too sweet. Needed to tamper the raw sugar flavor down a bit to let the carrot and cardamom flavors play off each other rather than both getting obliterated by sugar. The dosa was fun, the peas and mashed potato were bland, but the crispy dosa had a cheesy like crisp to it which was nice. Price was cheap, everything came out to around 25 bucks. I would hope for more flavor out of these style of dishes, but it was okay for the money.

This placed used to serve proper Indian - Pakistani - Bangladesi food. During covid, these guys…read moretransformed themselves into a pizza kind of a restaurant with some desi food. Seems like a smart move. Everything in the menu is halal. I went for a peperoni pizza. It was good. But it was their lamb gyro I liked the most.

First time here. Ordered pickup, (no indoor seating by the way due to Covid) by asking which is the…read morebest selling pizza and was recommended to try the meat lovers pizza. Then I also ordered a goat biryani and Philly cheesesteaks grinder. I was asked which cheese I wanted on the grinder and I said mozzarella. Also if I want everything on it and I said yes. In about 20 min it was ready to take home. It all smelled great piping hot. The pizza was great but the menu said meat lovers. I could only see the halal pepperoni and cut up sausage and some few bits of maybe Turkey? No ground beef but just mostly two kinds of meat toppings carefully spread out and not really layered or loaded. I didn't complain for $17.99 because it was halal and during Ramadan. It was very tasty though. The crust was perfect. The sauce was great with Italian spices and flavor. The large size was plenty for my husband and I. The goat biryani looked plain and I missed not getting any raita. It's very pricey for $15 and had I noticed that I wouldn't have ordered it. Luckily it was not too oily and had mildly spiced tender pieces of goat and some bone meat pieces. Some would say it was not spicy enough and didn't have the masala of a typical biryani. I would say this was more of a pulao. The grinder had fresh veggies and bread was good and also fresh. But I looked and was so disappointed to see not a lot of pastrami! Not at all a thick layer like grinders at other places have piled on. I opened it up to see and realized that I would need at least a triple amount of meat that was in there. The pastrami was tasty and fresh but really way too thin of a layer of meat to make a good grinder. Then it was too much bread and not balanced out with the fillings inside. All in all, I would just order a pizza next time and ask for extra meat. Also this place is located next to a halal grocery market, Asian grocery, so you can shop while you wait. FYI, the bathroom has an out of order sign on it.