Had been meaning to try out Samudhra for a long time, and finally got a chance to, when I was traveling by the area. We chose to dine outdoors - they had a decent setup with spaced out tables, although the 3-4 songs playing on repeat was a bit off putting. They started us off with some fryums. We ordered the chicken Kalmi kabab as appetizer, the goat biryani and the veg biryani for mains. The Kalmi kabab wasn't what I had expected - they basically served me a Tangri kabab (marinated chicken legs that were cooked in the tandoor/grill). Traditional Kalmi kabab is supposed to use chicken thighs confit like a lollipop, and the marinade is supposed to be more cream-based, with minimal use of spices. It tasted well but nothing out of the ordinary. I was happier to see the biryanis though - huge portions, well presented and a tempting aroma. The biryanis tasted good too, the meat was cooked well, but the biryanis lacked spice and were a tad bit on the bland side. We probably should have specified/clarified the spice level before placing the order, but our server did not ask. The restaurant is definitely on the fancier side in terms of the interior design, the wide array of dishes, but my first experience based on the few items we ordered did not live up to the hype. I may visit again to try some of their other popular items, and I hope the food tastes better the next time. read more

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Love this place - the appetizers and entrees were extremely flavorful The waitress was attentive and kept us apprised of the timing of the appetizers and entrees If you are looking for a place for a leisurely Indian meal - this is the place to go Be aware that the pace is slower than most places so come prepared I was in no rush so I didn't mind but if you are in a rush - this is not the place to go Will definitely come back read more

If only i could give a zero stars. Allow me to explain. I was flying in from San Francisco for business trip and I made a reservation for 4 to have a evening dinner with my office colleagues on a Monday morning evening. I been here before and enjoyed the food and i knew about the dress code, which to begin was ridiculous but hay thats their rules so no issues. We all showed up at the restaurant and most of us are in office attire and one of us is wearing a closed toe pant (jogger style at bottom but its cargo) so the people at entrance kept arguing that its a track pant and wont allow us. We kept educating them that its a casual pant and you cant use that for active use like running training etc and its a regular casual pant. They kept arguing saying no we cant allow. So we looked at their policy and it says no flip flops and both their manager and the lady at the front desk are wearing what i called as flip flops and she calling as sandals. Again same argument for what she is calling track pant for a cargo closed toe pant. So its ridiculous that first to treat people with such bad customer service and two you yourself don't follow your rules but apply to customers. More importantly if their owner is listening to people and understand customer service should think about what is that they are trying to solve by enforcing a dross code which they interpret in their own way to enforce and more importantly in a strip mall with nail salons next to it and not even considered a high end restaurant. Definitely lost customer who was spreading word of mouth about the food here but only to realize how poor customer service and adamant and arrogant people at the front desk. Change your attitude and customer service approach. Sometimes and always its good to be nice with people rather being idiotic about rules that you want to enforce as you please. read more

Average food. Drinks are watered down and horrible customer service. Bad attitude and they act like it's an exclusive restaurant but the service is not at all at par with their own standard. read more

This place has considerably reduced in quality! Also, the waiting time is awful!! We visited on a Saturday night at 8:30 pm for dinner, and were finally served with our main course at 10:30!! It was the longest time we ever waited at a restaurant for the food to be served. They ran out of biryani and made us wait that long to finally get it prepared and served! We requested for a cancellation of the biryani as it was taking forever but they kept saying that they just need 5 more minutes until the dish is ready, but honestly it took them 2 hours to serve the dish after ordering it. Never going back to this place again! The food no longer tastes like it usee to. read more

Today we made an impromptu decision to swing by Samudhra! To our surprise, we were glared top down including my child who was wearing sweat pants because he was returning from practice! We were to our horror refused a seat based on our clothing! Horror because we are not used to be scrutinized top down! What cultural values and biases are we teaching our kids, the bigger picture! Once a customer arrives and is willing to pay, not desssed in the most obscene fashion detrimental to society, I don't see why my child has to be stared on for validation to the restaurant! Why are we as customers supporting this idea and thought! It was a hot summer day and we were offered a seat outside, Based on the fact that our attire passed their standards ( yes the standard of discriminating) ! How would dressing heavily in the outside be healthy? As far as we don't misbehave and pay we should not be refused as customers! Although the restaurant has disclaimers, it can be discriminating and inhumane for customers who have to dress in a certain way! This thought and approach was not expected from an Indian restaurant no matter how good their food is known to be! It is ultimately the experience you carry after! We carried feelings of rejection and we wanted to treat our son to some fun Indian food that we keep raving about! India known to be a country that believes in hospitality at every cost and is known for its generosity and values Is misrepresented in this restaurant! It's just not the food but the entire experience you carry back as value! read more

Normally I don't write reviews, but this was very disappointing. Here it goes... Good ambience and good staff. Coming to dining, very disappointing experience. The drinks were messed up, the food was not so good. I would not go back again. Krishna read more

Amazing atmosphere and friendly service! Food and drinks were top notch. Had the Mumbai velvet margarita. Also had spinach chaat, pattar ka gosht, and non veg thali. Each item was perfectly cooked and flavorful. Loved the spice level, i would say most dishes stood at 5/10. Overall a great experience and would come back to try more dishes! read more

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This is the new hot spot for culinary delights and a very cool bar to go with it. The best Indian food I have had, EVER!

They don't know how to treat their customers. I reserved the seat in advance and after driving 40 min with family, they rejected an entry into the restaurant because my kid was wearing sports branded clothing. They have gone crazy, arrogant and stupid by not being courteous to their customers. By the way quality of the food keeps deteriorating. I am not going to step into your restaurant nor recommend to anyone. read more

The food was so average , nothing special tojustify the cost - this place happens to be in a strip mall in a corner - so the dresscode bit is quite exaggerated. Nice strategy though... u have avg foid , high prices and u say formal dresscode ..there are so many places with better food in Nj read more

We had a delicious meal outdoors with tables spaced far apart. Attentive and gracious service. And of course delicious food. The coffee at the end of the meal is made to order, somewhat like a robust cappuccino . read more

Samudhra - Dosai - Indian Near Me - Franklin Park, New Jersey

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Great ambiance and great food. The chicken melts in your mouth like butter. Cocktails are good but too sweet. Overall good experience.

My husband and I have been to this place a few times now. Service is great, people are nice. The food is amazing. Everything we've ordered so far we've loved. The thali is great! My husband ordered kheema ragda patties and loved it. They also surprised us with a birthday song. It's a little pricey but you get what you pay for. The ambience is great! Overall love this place, would definitely recommend and will be going back again. read more

Samudhra - Plain dosa, butter naan, chicken biryani, andhra chicken curry, kheema ragda patties. - Indian Near Me - Franklin Park, New Jersey

Amazing food and ambience!! We had ordered Paneer Bullet, Chatpata Gobi amd Paneer Tikka Kebab. All were good appetizers. Quality and Quantity for entrees is more than expected so think before you order different dishes. One entree could be good for 3 ish people depending on the appetite. We had ordered all vegetarian and returned home with happy tummies. Our server Mahesh took great care of us! Guided us very well through the menu. He is a very chill and calm dude. read more

We had a reservation for a special birthday party and they created a fuss about rain boots (on a rainy day). Will not visit this place again. There was only policy being read out but no human element. We drove over 40 minutes read more

Shame on Samudra. Denial of service. Not accepting guests wearing premium Alberto luxury golf pants. Manager John (tried to discipline public). Apparently Ragged and Torn jeans are okay. Cotton burmudas okay it seems. Insulting behavior and attitude. read more

Dress code is shit, food took ages and tasted like dogshit, would not go there ever again.

We ordered take out food and it was our first time. We drove 30 min as we read good reviews. We ordered tawa paneer, gongura kodi and Subzi pulao. Tawa paneer was sweet and gongura kodi was very very sour in taste. You could not taste anything else but only sour. Subzi pulao was really good. read more

Food and service quality is excellent. Emily at the lounge was very helpful with the drinks selection and customization. Have tried the Seafood Thali and several vegetarian options and would recommend the Jackfruit Biryani, Masala Papad, Makhana curry, Palak chaat and Palak Paneer. The only feedback I have is to improve the quality of the audio system in the lounge and add some healthier options to the menu such as salads and mixed nuts/munchies snacks which are not fried in the appetizer section. read more

The food here is awesome. I strongly recommend Samudhra restaurant for authentic Indian food. They have a wide variety of options to choose from including Veg and Non-Veg Thalis. read more

The atmosphere and the ambiance of this place were exceptional. Our server was pleasant at times but it took three requests to receive the water upon being sat. As for the food, we got the Chatpata gobi, paneer bullet, the paneer tikka masala and the malai kofta with garlic naan. The chatpata gobi and the paneer tikka masala were deliciously cooked with the perfect amount of spice. The malai kofta and the paneer bullet had the same filling so it was disappointing to eat. read more

Upscale South Indian restaurant that never fails to provide authentic dishes. Highly recommend. Polite staff to complement the experience

Worst restaurant,Bad attitude, will never encourage people to come here. I will like to go to restaurants with positive feeling not just ambience and attire. read more

We checked their menu on the web and thought it would be fun and great experience to lunch at Samudhra. However, we were stopped at the reception and we were told that they have a dress code in a rude manner by one of the two receptionists. The receptionist said to her colleague while pointing at me that he wore a track pant and they won't allow it. We felt totally humiliated and immediately left the restaurant. Dress code is an important message and it must be on their homepage. And their staff must be trained to deal with it in a compassionate/polite way. In any case, they lost a potential regular customer. I have been to Restaurants in several dozen countries and had never thought that I would be stopped at an Indian Restaurant ever. read more

Samudhra is certainly a cut above. The service is superb, consistent and the dishes are simply awesome. It is easy to know that it was freshly prepared. The condiments and spices infused are just right to awaken the palate. Overall Seven STARS! Sekhar V. read more

I think this place is overrated, overly priced, decent food joint. The only thing I like about the place is it's decor and the Non Vegetarian Thali.... others are not worth the hype... service most of the time is extremely sloppy with inexperienced service staff... most of them probably don't have any experience in servicing customers before ... Cocktails are ok, not worth the price... so sticking to beer is better option... but yes I will definitely recommend the Thali ... that's the only good thing about this place ... wish the management would have focused more on the service just not the decor ... read more

we had a very bad experience today with this restaurant. we missed to book a reservation and drove about 45 mins to this place. When we reached there - at the reception the tall man and a lady told us that the wait time is 1.5 hours and were so rude and unpleasant. They even did not try to comfort us, it looked like they were not interested in service. I asked for the Manager, Jyoti they said she's not here. BTW - Jyoti is superb and a very nice person. If they don't take care of the customer somebody else will. Such bad experience and a bad day. read more

We made a reservation for a group and had a poor experience. Below are the highlights. Very disappointing and would not recommend!! This was actually our second visit here. First was when they opened and would have been 3 stars. This last time 1 star!! Pros: -Drinks are excellent! If I were to ever come back it would be for the drinks during happy hour as they are overpriced at regular price -Palak chat was great! Only item of the evening we finished! Cons: -Paneer bullet was extremely bitter. Tasted like poison. We sent this back and they came to apologize as I guess they also sampled it and something was wrong with the paneer. Thankfully they did take this off the bill -Mysore bonda was super oily and also uneatable. I also sent this back but was still charged for it -The did not give us papad. After asking twice they finally brought it out. Was extremely oily as the oil was literally dripping onto my plate -Murgh malai tikka was also disgusting. It looked like a clump of soggy meat rather than tandoor. We did not finish this and left over 70% of it untouched. I also was charged for this. -Entrees of dal makhni, malai kofta and murgh tikka masala were all below average. We left 50% uneaten and did not pack the rest to go. -I ordered a roti with my meal and was given naan instead. When I told the waiter he said I can keep it and he will bring me a roti. He never brought the roti. When it was time for the check I told him the roti never came and he asked if I wanted it at that time. I said no but was still charged for the naan that I never ordered. -Service was below average. While the server was nice, he was very forgetful, had a lackluster attitude and kept forgetting things (papad, my order, onions, etc) -18% gratuity was automatically added. Probably the reason for lackluster service -Bill was $200 and had a overall very poor experience. Nobody seemed to care either. Will not come back. read more

We are big fans of Samudhra and frequently enjoy the lounge. We love the atmosphere and the food is great. However, we had a bad experience dining there today. We had a big family reunion with 9 people and ordered lots of food and drinks. They added 5 extra dishes amounting to almost $125 to our bill. Thankfully we noticed but we're not sure if it was a honest mistake. Please check your bills carefully... read more

Great restaurant from the food to the ambience. I had the vegetarian thaali and the "Jumbo Jamun" and both were delicious -- definitely worth the price. The service was also great and very family friendly. read more

Samudhra - Vegetarian Thali - Indian Near Me - Franklin Park, New Jersey

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very good food and very good service food was yummy and they treated us good and gave us a brownie for my moms bday

Taste, Service, Ambience all amazing! Highly recommend for Indian food in NJ. Kodi 65, goat biryani, and mirchi bajji were extraordinary!

Too expensive. Most of the food was good, but very spicy (though I asked for medium spice). I'm told their meals package was good. Didn't try it myself. read more

This might be the best thali in all of New Jersey! We had the non-veg and seafood thali. Fresh, brilliant food. And true Andhra style. The spinach chicken and garlic shrimp was so good. No slimy North Indian generic suspicious curries as sides. Please go eat at Samudhra! We can't recommend it enough. read more

fancy upscale and pricy restaurant. service staff is good but food takes forever to come out wish they could expedite their kitchen service to have the food come out in 10 to 15 mins rather people wait for 45 mins for an appetizers and 1 hour plus for any take out bar bites or apps should be delivered faster for the least mgmt should definetly monopolize this aspect if they want to keep up in business and positivity of the upbeat trendy place bar lounge aera if have attentive staff can do much better pease keep ur fryums as bites for bar people for the least . place has a lot of room for improvement . please do kindly stop regularly asking for info at entrance its annoying for regular people coming there once in system no need to ask fix that system and procedure read more

This place is amazing! The food was delicious and the cocktails were just as good. Was a big fan of the honey turmeric martini - can't wait to come back soon. read more

This place is so so so nice. The ambience is great ( the lounge) and the food is amazing too. Probably some of the best Indian food I've ever had. I will definitely be back. read more

This restaurant is amazing in food and service. Located in a strip mall on Rt 27 in Franklin Park, they have a sit in bar and also aesthetically modern dining area. I was there with my family on Dec31st lunch, the Thali (special of the day) being widely the choice of other patrons around, we splurged a little and went Ala-carte. We started off with Honey turmeric martini (hubby loved it), I had the Sangria... Gost Sukka Kalmi (with bones), Machi Tikka Kebab as appetizers. Our entree's were Gongura Mamsam (yum yum), Kodi Kura Gara (good with rice) and some naan. We finished off with Qubani Ka Meetha(Hyderabadi specialty made just right) and my favorite Malpua Rabadi (amazing!!). The food with most Indian restaurants around that area are blah and expected or just outright reheated and served, but you will be surprised with THIS PLACE!!! To the chef: PLS KEEP UP THIS STANDARD OF COOKING & SERVICE and you will grow exponentially. Assured future diners to this establishment!!! I loved it!! read more

I have visited the place twice for Lunch Thali. The food was delicious and service was prompt. Deepak Lall read more