If there is 10 stars i would have selected that. Delicious food, fireworks in your mouth in every bite. The food can be a bit on the salty side but fixable if you ask them to take it easy in the salt. Unusual food items that are very exciting for adventerous people. Will go back soon for the rose-pistachio-cardemon cale soon! read more

The food is absolutely outstanding, truly best Indian inspired cuisine! Had one of the best Old Fashioned cocktails I've ever had. Stephanie our server was delightful and always has the best recommendations. Highly recommended, you have to try it! Casual comfortable vibe! read more

I seriously love this Indian place!! They do meatless mondays to lessen their impact on the environment and I think that's amazing!! My brother and I got palak paneer and an egg curry that was in a butter chicken like sauce, but with eggs instead of the chicken. We also got a mango lassis, desi fries, and garlic naan on top of it all. Not the best mango lassi I've ever had, but still refreshing with spice filled foods. Will definitely be back! read more

Pondicheri - spread - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

My friend and I's goal in Houston has been to eat as many of Alison Cook's top 100 restaurants in Houston. Coming in at #7, Pondicheri was definitely a must-try for us. Since then, we've dined there several more times and have come to agree that it deserves a higher ranking as sometimes we've come to enjoy it more than higher-ranking restaurants. We have only ever been extremely impressed by every appetizer, entree, drink, and dessert we've ordered. Our dinner must-tries include: 1. Madras Chicken Wings - perfectly spiced, yogurt is an excellent complement 2. Chili Lettuce Wraps - also spicy but amazing! 3. Coconut Crab - recommended to us by the waitress, our favorite appetizer by FAR 4. Lamb Rajasthani 5. Ocean Thali - I believe this has slightly changed since I've had it, but it used to have the octupus kebab and it was fantastic. 6. Drinks: Rose Rita, Lush Lassi w/ Rum, Most of their craft beers 7. Desserts: Try their cookies! Keep in mind that the menu rotates every so often, which makes it very hard to ever get bored here! I notice that a lot of reviews complain about customer service, but we've only ever had very positive experiences. The first time we went, my friend was wearing an Outkast shirt and the host commented on it. Then, he changed the restaurant's music playlist to an Outkast one! The first time we were also served by Jennifer and every time since then we've requested for her to be our waitress. Her service and recommendations are SPOT-ON and has played a big part of our experiences at Pondicheri. She is also very approachable, friendly and eager to make sure you have a great time there. If you do come to Pondicheri, I would 100% recommend you ask for her and take all of her food recommendations! read more

I loved the food. I paid for a vegetarian dish + iced tea a little bit more than 18 dollars. A little bit pricey for the amount of food I received but really tasty. The parking is free and very close to the restaurant. read more

Pondicheri - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

Come to Pondicheri for inspired flavors and unique dishes for modernized Indian based food. Appreciated that there were so many vegan options. Just note, if you're looking for some classic/traditional Indian food, there are not as many options for thst. But still definitely worth checking out! read more

High quality Indian food at a reasonable price and a relaxed atmosphere. The hot and cold chai are both delicious, although know they are served unsweetened. Ordering is quick and easy at the register, then find a table. It can be tough to find a clean table before someone else snatches it up. Make sure to visit the bake lab upstairs! They have wonderful treats! read more

Pondicheri - Outside breezy seating in May, perfect weather. - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

Very tasty menu! Love the casual atmosphere and concept. Customer service is great as well.

Had heard about this place from a friend and wanted to give it a try. Loved the location, it's in a very nice shopping/restaurant center in River Oaks. You have the option of sitting either inside or outside; we decided to go with inside since it is Houston at the start of September and my hair would've been a frizz show if we had sat out. The inside is a bit cramped, and you are essentially right next to the kitchen counter area wherever you choose to sit, making the inside quite a bit noisy from all the clanking/kitchen noises going on. You get used to it by the end of the visit, but it is something to note if you're looking for a chill/relaxing dinner - this isn't the spot for it. With regards to food, I say the flavor was pretty good. We ordered a samosa, lamb chops, butter chicken, garlic/original naan and the chai pie. The samosa filling was very good and I enjoyed the peach chutney on the side, you do only get one samosa per order, however. Portions are a bit small based off what we ordered for the price, but comparing it to the other restaurants in the area I guess they are reasonable. The lamb chops were great, they were perfectly pink on the inside and had a beautiful char on the outside. Butter chicken was alright, nothing extraordinary in my opinion; it came with a side of white rice. The naan was good, but I honestly didn't taste a difference between the garlic naan and original, and I prefer naan to be a bit more soft and buttery, this was a tad drier. The chai pie might've been one of the best items of the night. It was creamy and exploded with a cardamom and spice flavor, not too sweet - very unique and unlike a dessert I've tried before. Overall the service was accommodating; the hostess let us switch our table, and the waiter was helpful and recommended us items and explained the menu well. The food is good, but portions are small, I'm not entirely sure whether I would pick this place again, but it was a decent experience at the end of the night. read more

Pondicheri - Chai Pie - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Consistently delicious food with fresh ingredients. Also kid-friendly at lunch time. I love the Bake Lab upstairs too.

We had the morning thali, Chilli Shrimp dosa, avocado dosa, papri chat, masala chai,iced tea and Shandy. The chai, Shrimp Dosa was good. Nothing to brag about. But we enjoyed it. The avocado dosa was terrible and the papri chat didn't really have any 'papdi' in it. The thali also was disappointing (oats in a thali? Seriously?). So that's about it for my review read more

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Met a friend for lunch - I ordered the carnivore thali and she ordered the herbivore thali. Came out super fast and we both decided it was a great way to try a lot and not be super stuffed. For lunch, you order at the counter and they'll bring the food to you. Water and silverware is self-serve. Ambiance was 10/10. I was slightly surprised about how small the space was from everything I've seen online. Food was good but I wish we were given more roti lol -- conclusion: I'd come again to try more read more

Great food! We ordered the butter chicken and it was amazing. We will go back for sure.

We started off with the samosas! My fiancé and I honestly couldn't decide which one was better- we got both the saag paneer and blackened chicken. Next was the chili lettuce wraps... THEY WERE A-MAZING. I know I could literally eat that peanut chutney that was served with them everyday and be fat and happy with my life! Then we split the earth platter, a scallion cheese naan and ended with your signature chai pie. We had a wonderful meal with wonderful food and wonderful service. James was our waiter and I want to give a shout out to him because he answered questions, suggested items, and was very attentive all throughout our dinner. It's safe to say we finally got to check this place out, and it's no wonder it's been on Allison Cook's top 100 for SEVERAL years. We live closer to Galveston but man... the food alone was worth the drive. We will be back, that is a definite! read more

In the heart of upper Kirby lies the sweetest little secret which is Pondi Cheri. I am honestly surprised that this place isn't talked about more! It's one of the cutest restaurants in Houston shaded between buildings with floor to ceiling windows and plenty of outdoor seating. But honestly the best part about Pondi is the FOOD. So far I have ordered the morning thali for breakfast which has a plethora of small bites so you can try different flavors in one meal without getting overwhelmingly full. For lunch I've had the butter chicken with rice which is super flavorful and filling. For dessert I've had the chocolate chip, coconut and mint cookie which has literally blown my mind.. I've never felt so deeply about a cookie before :0 Only complaint is that they removed my favorite meal on the menu which was the Beet Utapam. It was sort of like this purple pancake with fried egg, lamb keema and it came with a delicious side of tangy soup and salad. For a beginner to Indian food I highly recommend Pondi, it's not authentic Indian food but it's an amazing and respectful rendition of it. Highlyyyyy recommend. read more

Pondicheri - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I love Pondicheri. I've never come for their food but will soon. I got one of their green teas and several pastries. Their brownie was phenomenal but honestly everything tasted so fresh with great spices incorporated into their food, nothing was typical or mainstream. read more

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Pondicheri has great food and the bake shop upstairs does too (and it's a different menu). Highly recommend!

Fantastic, relaxing Sunday lunch. Each of our 3 dishes were sublime, tasty and oh, so good! The deserts look outstanding; we had a chocolate cake that melted in our mouths. Crab, shrimp, lentils, all outstanding! We plan to make Sunday afternoon lunches a thing; many recipes to taste. Well done!! read more

This review would be alot better if Pondicheri had trained their staff..or hired staff with better customer service skills. The concert is interesting...but both times I was here service was slow...the waiter took alot of time to take my order..and I have to be at work in less than an hour. My.work hours are strange because I work in the broadcast industry, and I hate how people assune you have ALL day when you're at a restaurant. The waiter also discouraged me from trying one of their cocktails, because "it's spicy" Don't assume I can't handle spice. On top of that, he got my drink order wrong. read more

I have been coming here for years and the food is just very clever. I am shocked by the poor reviews from Indians who are looking for "authentic" food - this is better than most "authentic" restaurants in my view because it has inventive takes on traditional South Indian items. The morning thali is one of my favorite here - the carrot paratha is excellent as is thr saag. Traditionalists will likely not like the upma, but it is clever and it is pushing the envelope. Critics who say the food is "Americanized" aren't getting the point. read more

Try the purple potato Somosas! I stopped in randomly and I'm dying to go back. I did have one of their $6 juices, I didn't like that it was warm, however I'm not a juice drinker so I didn't know what to expect. However when you walk in this place, the aroma alone will have your mouth watering. I love the decor, very comfortable with an Indian theme. You can earn points by ordering your food ahead of time through ritual. And I love a good bargain. I'll be back to give you a better review of the menu and drinks. read more

My friend and I went to Pondicheri on a Thursday morning and it was delicious! We were served quickly as there were very few customers there at this time, and the food was delicious. The coconut pancakes were fairly hefty but were very different from normal pancakes because of the rice flour, and the different textures put in. The caramel sauce was incredible. The egg bun was personally my preferred of the two because of the amount of flavor in it. The turmeric bun was very different, but the combo of flavors with cream cheese and smoked salmon worked well together. There was a bit too much avocado but I highly recommend it and the price for it was really good at $8 read more

Pondicheri - Egg bun and coconut pancakes! - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

My family and I recently ate at this restaurant for my mother's birthday, and it's safe to say that we enjoyed EVERYTHING! The atmosphere of the restaurant was very hip and relaxing, and the food was absolutely AMAZING. We all shared the pani puri, the paneer burger, rice, naan, and the meat thali. The waiters were also super nice. We loved this restaurant and we will definitely eat here again! read more

This is my second time trying Pondicheri. I really enjoyed my entree, Butter Chicken. As a appetizer, I had a samosa. My entree was on the spicy side so i I recommend mixing it with rice and trying some of the cooler sides. I wasn't a big fan on the chai pie that we ordered for dessert. Also, the air conditioning wasn't working when I went so the spicy food + warm restaurant wasn't the best combination. If it's your first time trying Indian food, I believe butter chicken is safe choice! read more

Pondicheri - Butter Chicken - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Have been to Pondicherry on several occasions but it seems like the food quality and service has gone down quite a bit unfortunately. Went there recently and ordered the pomegranate Pani poori, mushroom salad, chickfu Frankie and uppma. The Pani poori was probably the best with an innovative twist on the Pani. Mushroom salad was a bit lackluster and lacked texture while all of the ingredients were mushy. Even the Frankie that I am accustomed to seemed to be harsh on the spice level and did not seem to have a good flavor. They were superbly busy and I felt so with the staff as well who seemed were rushing from one table to the next. Did not feel like the server was really attentive or patient and unfortunately this may have added to the experience. I will be back but probably only for the bake shop + lab as that is amazing hands down. read more

Pondicheri - Mushroom salad - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I had higher hopes for this place, but it was an okay experience overall. I came for lunch and ordered the Pav Bhaji (cauliflower & potato masala with toasted pumpkin buns), which was good, but too salty. My mom ordered one of the salads. She can't eat really spicy food, which usually isn't a problem at most Indian restaurants, but the food was already pre-marinated here, so they weren't able to decrease the spiciness. She also has to eat gluten free, and there are a lot of gluten free items on the menu, however per the waiter they are all spicy!! Not much choice for someone who eats gluten free and low spice. The restaurant is decorated nicely with colorful fabric and has a lot of windows, so it is bright. I liked the atmosphere of the place in addition to the fact that the food comes out quickly, which is great if you don't have a lot of time. read more

Initially I was skeptical with the menu and modernistic Indian cuisine but I was so wrong. Everything that we ordered was absolutely delicious from the dosa eggs to the Thalis. The food was so well seasoned with extraordinary spices and it was truly one of the best meals I have had in a long time. Even the desserts were extraordinary! read more

Came here for breakfast and ordered the morning thali. I'm allergic to peanuts, so instead of giving me the same dish w/o the peanuts, I got an entirely new one. This was really nice b/c lack of peanuts can compromise the flavor profile of a particular dish, so they instead gave me a different one, which was fantastic! I enjoyed the "sampler" of multiple dishes, and it was def enough for 2 meals. Very colorful and beautiful presentation, and equally tasty. Service was on point as well! read more

The inside is very pretty. Theres a free parking garage nearby, and the bake lab above the restaurant is also very pretty. That being said, the food is average, but not good for the price. Butter chicken: 3/5 average. The chicken was dry, not seasoned, and the sauce was just slopped on. The lemon rice was good, as were the potato chips. The serving size is small. Chicken wings: 1/5 awful. It was way too spicy and ruined anything you ate after. The veggies were not good and only seemed to be the for color. The spiciness was overbearing. Lassi: 4/5 good after the wings. The yogurt drink soothed the burning of the wings. Was the right thickness, and tasted good. Samosa: 2/5 not very good. Not worth the price. read more

Pondicheri - Butter chicken, samosa, and wings - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

I came here because two people heard about the hype and thought it was worth a visit. Im gonna start with what i do like : they start you off with this salty mixture of fried things with raisins, popcorn etc that is , albeit salty, very delicious. Pondicherry has a very colorful menu- the flavors appear to jump out at you from the menu. They have a nice wine selection and their drinks are unique and have that indian touch. They also appear to have good coffee, cookies, etc. The menu is simple and not confusing. The interior is indian-chic ( is that a word?)- it's very trendy. The things i didn't care for. 1- The taste: I got the rancher thali- the lamb keema and vegetables ( cucumber, salad) were good. The butter chicken- definitely didn't taste like it and there were 2-3 cubes of actual chicken. The rice, daal were okay. I also needed a little bit of yogurt- their yogurt wasn't indian dahi, it was maybe greek yogurt? anyway didnt really go too well with the food in my opinion and they charged me a dollar for 1 tablespoon- eye roll. 2- The price: food in the thali was exactly how it was described on the menu: a sampler.. but for 24$ which is expensive. Thali + glass of wine + tax= 52$.. for one person, thats insane. Anyway, i don't think it's a terrible place, its a smooth, easy introduction to indian food. read more

Went here for dinner. This area is a little smaller but they do have seating for some larger groups. I really enjoyed the food. I felt that it was more on the westernized end but the food was very savory and we'll seasoned. I would recommend coming here for late dinner so you can skip the long wait time. Also in a really cute area so good location for a date too! read more

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What a terrific place. We live in New Orleans and can't get good Indian food there. I was really happy with our meal. The space is lovely, the service was attentive and helpful (even though it was the end of the evening). We had the fried chicken which uses a chickpea flour batter. Delicious. Juicy and super crunchy. It came with the most delicious dry fried okra. It was salty and cooked with chili and the seeds inside were crunch. Absolutely delicious (and I"m not an okra fan). We also had the chicken Samosa,and Egg Dosa. Both were fabulous. The samosa was especially good. The chicken was super flavorful and the case very crunchy. All in all quite lovely. We really enjoyed this meal. And I learned something new. At the beginning of the meal the give you some crunch salty snacks. Which included popped millet seeds. Like tiny kernels of popcorn. So good. read more

I visited Pondicheri for the second time today. At a previous visit, I tried the potato cakes(Sabudana Vada) and the Khandvi. The Sabudana Vada were delicious, but the Khandvi was a sore disappointment. It was more of a stuffed Besan Chilla. Today, I tried Mango Pani Puri, Saag Paneer and Mango Kulfi and I'm glad I did. I'm a Pani Puri fiend and I prefer mine crazy spicy but the mango made for a really interesting addition to my favorite snack and I liked it. If they started offering desi-spice-level pani full of green chillies, I'd probably eat here every day :) Saag Paneer was delicious, tasted much like how I'd make it myself. Kulfi was okay. Way too much Kesar(Saffron), not enough mango :/ read more

Delicious food and amazing ambiance. Felt transported back to the Motherland. There is so much eye candy and details that one cannot consume it in one visit. The owner has mastered the fusion of healthy and delicious. You feel like you are cheating on your diet but you're not because of the health benefits to what you are indulging in. A tour for the taste buds! Cannot wait to revisit this gem! read more

Pondicheri - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas

The service sucked. An ungracious, unfriendly millennial took our order at the counter, after not greeting us at all and answering questions with rude, dismissive replies at 11am on 8/7/19. But the food turned out to be tasty enough that that I tried to forget about her! I had the Avocado Dosa for $15. It's seared mushrooms & gunpowder smoked salmon on avocado masala with turmeric soup & potato cake. I loved it. I could've eaten another dosa immediately. I tried what my friend had, which, I think, was the Dosa with fried egg, smoked salmon, scallion cream cheese, pickled onions & avocado. I know hers had smoked salmon and yumminess, anyway. read more

This was my jam for my birthday this year. I had been wanting to try this place for some time, as I drive by it quite often, and I love Indian food. After eating here meow I can see why so many people like this place. I am slowly expanding my horizons of eating food and drinking outside. In my younger years I thought why go to a restaurant and avoid sitting inside in the air conditioning. Following up on my experiences with Parlor Market in Jackson, Mississippi as well as The West End here in Houston, my horizons are expanding. I no longer feel completely like a peasant to take my drinks and food outside. Pondicheri has a nice outdoor seating array to be calm and casual outside as you take in the experience of the West Ave complex. It almost makes you feel like you are "in the city" of a city like New York. It is not that loud outside even if all the tables are occupied but you still can take in some amusing eavesdropping. The interior is decorated in an upscale way. It looks like a place you would put pants on for. The cookies out on the counter just call out to you as walk in through the huge swinging glass door. And you know it is going to be a good experience because cookies are everything. Just like at Katz's where all the black & white cookies greet you in the waiting area when you walk in, Pondicheri understands that cookies equal happiness. This also leads to my first of two minor annoyances with this place that prevented a five star review even though overall it was a great experience, the small things stand out under heightened expectations of the birthday meal. We stood there for minutes waiting for a table (it was not that busy) while apparently the only person capable of seating us was on the phone with girl talk while I angrily stared because food, well lack of food in my stomach. I was hungry. Don't tell me that is not an emotion because I felt that deep in my soul. It took a while when it was not that busy and got in the way of stuffing food in my face right here meow. After we were seated it was on. The plummer sangria was the weapon of choice for the drinking. One drink is $8 and a pitcher is $20 so you know where this going. The waitress said the pitcher was about four drinks. However in reality I would say five if you are trying not to get sloshed because you still need to drive home, but if you were not driving, I would probably refer to this as one drink and attempt to insert a straw into the pitcher. Don't judge me. And this leads to the other minor annoyance of the evening: it took forever to get the pitcher. Like 20 minutes forever which is absolutely an eternity from the time of drink order to when you can start gulping the elixir of the gods. Every time I spotted the waitress doing other things inside than bringing out the uncle's cough syrup I said "Gooby pls!" and I said that several times. The sangria is quite good once you finally taste it. All that waiting was worth it. It is delicious. It comes totally loaded down with ice though. It seems weird to have that much ice in the pitcher, and even more in the king's goblet you are presented with. So you can see why depending on mood this is either five drinks or one. Overall I would definitely recommend it as a drink option over everything else on the menu. The food was an obvious choice: chicken tandoori burger with desi fries (you can get fruit or a salad but seriously why would you?) The burger is sliced and sauteed tandoori chicken and onion, cumin yogurt, and kasundi on a brioche bun. And it is amazeballs. The bun by itself is a great entry in the hall of hamburgers: soft, chewy, and lightly buttered. It is a suitable throne for the chicken to sit upon. The chicken is top notch, soft, tasty, and none of that generic cheap chicken stuff you are used to seeing. The flavorings and accouterments compliment the bun and the chicken tremendously well. It is a party in your mouth and everyone is having a nice time, nobody is urinating on the cat or vomiting on the sofa or pouring bourbon on your Xbox360 because quote "it looks thirsty." This is wholly different than a Lankford or Refinery burger experience: this is an art that draws together the best of the Indian subcontinent with our proud American heritage of hamburgers that only Inspector Clouseau could fully appreciate. The desi fries were basically all the good parts of Arby's curly fries reduced in size, increased in flavor, and amazingly complemented well by the "special" ketchup. The ketchup is nearly Sriracha inspired like Little Big's Sriracha remoulade - but better because it is not mayonnaisey based. This is ketchup like the banana ketchup of Filipino derivation, it takes everything I like about non-HFCS based ketchup and increased with spices to make you take notice that this is not drive-thru ketchup. I like it, like Marceline likes the Ice King, memorialized in the best episode of Adventure Time ever. I will be back for sure. read more

Perfect spot for Brunch. Even better for breakfast. If only there were more eateries around like this place. I'm bored with all of the coffee shop bruncheries. Coffee, standard food that may or may not reek of Sysco standardization. With bland cookies and baked breakfast items, then genera-coffee centric blended drinks (from mediocre syrupy lattes to acerbic regular cups of joe). Cheap Tazo-caliber tea in paper filters. Death in a teacup. Pondecheri breaks free of that mold. It's brunch done Indian-style (via RO). It's "safe" Indian. But still, it's amazing hybridism. Try not to over think and define it. Also, I do know that the owner is pretty focussed on the local and healthier side of restauranteur-ing, so many items are relatively healthy (ghee has no milk solids - low in fat and lactose-free) and many items are marked gluten-free. They make many standard things (that most restaurants would buy at the store or via Sysco) in house. Paneer, ghee, infusion mixtures, chai. This is all remarkable. I mean, they taste so fresh and remarkable. I had a Shafti Infusion. Cardamom pods, almonds, orange or lemon peel, and cinnamon and/or clove (I think - can't recall). It's one of their three in-house made herbal teas that aren't listed on their online menu. They also have a few chais that smell fantastic. I didn't take notes, so can't recall the finer points, but to quote their menu, "menu might change due to seasonally available ingredients, relentless experimentation, and musing moods." I also had the Saag Paneer Omlette (which I could have gotten with just egg whites) and a few cookies (3 for $5) for much later. The Saag Paneer Omlette was WON-DER-FUL. Perfectly spiced. Perfectly resting on a parantha. Somewhat heavy, but kept me going all day. I wound up at the Galleria shopping for winter-weather-worthy leggings for several hours, but survived thanks to this magical dish and Hue. The cookies? I got the Pistachio Cardamom Shortbread (needed rosewater), Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Chili, and the Chocolate Hazelnut Basil (gluten free). Oh, and a Madeleine (coconut, rosemary, and spice) was thrown in gratis. Sigh. I really wish macarons would die off and be replaced by Madeleines. If all the macarons in all the land ceased to exist and were replaced by only Pondecheri's Madeleine, the world would be better for it. The cookies were good too, but that Madeleine was where it was at. I plan to stop by for dinner, but if I limit myself to eating here once or twice a week, it's going to be so I can eat my way through that perfect breakfast menu. Although, the lunch and dinner menu looks divine. Fish Curry? Carrot Paranthas? read more

I was excited to try Pondicheri Cafe as I live nearby and love Indian food. The best thing about this place was the decor which can be described as "industrial-chic" and made me feel as if I was in NYC or SFO. However, every other aspect of my meal was a disappointment. I had their chicken curry which consisted of chunks of dark meat chicken swimming in a thin-ish, super-spicy sauce. It was more like a soup than a curry and I didn't care for it at all. It definitely was not worth the $14 pricetag. We also ordered some samosas to split but they were also so spicy as to not be enjoyable. (Let me just say that I do like and eat spicy food but the food at Pondicheri was on a whole 'nother level of spiciness.) The place was busy so the service was slow and we had to resort to flagging down our waitress whenever we needed something. In her defense, we were seated in the largest part of the restaurant and there only seemed to be her and another waitress waiting on the entire room which was packed. Given the lack of anything to absorb sound, the cement flooring and windows exacerbated the noise level which was extremely high. I could barely hear my friend speak which got to be very annoying. I am not sure who would enjoy dining on barely edible, overly expensive Indian food in cacaphonic surroundings, but I can say with certainty ... that person is not me. read more

Disappointing. Take this with a Rashomon perspective. One the one hand, this was merely a service misstep on the staff's part. Cluelessness, disorganization, whatever, led to us waiting for our plates of eggs for over 30 minutes. The bartender, on the other hand, was very nice. He was friendly and attentive, noticed we had been waiting, checked on the status of our food and reassured us it would be along shortly. Unfortunately, that reassurance was offered 10 minutes ago, and we had already been waiting longer than expected. While we waited, we noticed people who had ordered after us receive their order before us. This is one of my favorite places. So my feelings are hurt. I know I shouldn't take it personally, but again, that Rashomon perspective. This is my birthday week. I don't really live here anymore, so I selected Pondicheri for brunch with specific intent. I am not a spoiled brat. I understand being in the weeds, and this was not that kind of situation. So, missteps happen. I asked for a refund, and received it. The cashier gal seemed to think it was no big deal to wait over 30 minutes for an order of eggs, and I guess I can be down with that, but in our case, we were overlooked, so instead we left hungry, with the bitter taste of disappointment over this experience. read more

Late Sunday night I got a text from my best guy friend, who'd had a hot date earlier that evening that he really wanted to impress. "I took her to Pondicheri; you'd be proud," he said. So I guess I've talked about my newest restaurant obsession a lot recently. But considering that my BGF is about as opposed to Indian food as I am to rotten milk, I was floored. "WTF?! How many stars?" I asked. "4.5," he answered. "They were patient and took time to explain everything to me. Food was fiery but really good. We're going back." And that about sums it up. Pondicheri, little sister to Indika, is modern Indian done flawlessly. Don't walk in expecting a traditional Indian experience. Their dishes, much like their decor, are creative and edgy. Meticulous care and quality ingredients go into their recipes. Food this good doesn't happen by accident. The goat samosas dipped in cool yogurt sauce are so delicious that I find myself staring at them. I literally turn them around and analyze them with each bite I take because it's hard to believe that anything could be so perfect. The butter chicken salad with warm goat cheese and crispy toasted lentils is hands down the best salad I've ever had; no kidding. And if you order the butter chicken, get a side of garlic naan. Absolute heaven. There's nothing lacking at Pondicheri. In fact, I'm tempted to go back and downgrade some of my other 5-star reviews to 4 stars. It's like a culinary adventure every time...it almost makes Indika feel boring. read more

Pondicheri - Madras Chicken Wings - Indian Near Me - Houston, Texas