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    Vajra

    4.4 (227 reviews)
    Closed 5:00 pm - 9:00 PM
    Updated 2 months ago

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    Recommended Reviews - Vajra

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    Christina H.

    Came here for their weekend lunch which is only $23 per person and although the variety was good, I wish the food was hot. They could have put a bigger flame on the bottom or had lids for everything in my opinion. Nothing was necessarily cold but you could tell somethings have been sitting out for a while. I also saw some people grabbing things with their hands which isn't ideal. Despite that, service was great and the produce tasted fresh. The best thing I had was the aloo gobi and chicken tikki masala.

    Lunch buffet
    Cheryl W.

    Great place for an Indian/Nepalese buffet if you're in the neighborhood. The lunch buffet is a steal! The place is nice and spacious for large parties and the service was wonderful. Parking can be a little tough since it's such a busy area, but it's possible to get street parking.

    Amy D.

    Vajra just launched their brunch buffet, and it's an absolute winner! For just $25, the spread is diverse and delicious, with a tapioca pudding to end with. The quality and variety make it feel super worth it! That said, the cocktail I tried (the Banana Republic) was too strong, overpowering rather than complementing the meal. Stick to the buffet, and you won't be disappointed--it's a fantastic addition to the brunch scene in wicker park. I'll definitely be back! -AT

    Dynamite shrimp, kulcha and samosa tart
    laurence h.

    We had a lovely evening at Vajra last night. It was nice to see this space open again, we still have fond memories of it many years ago when it was Spring (one of the best restaurants ever in Chicago). The food was very good. We enjoyed the dynamite shrimp (but they need to warm the chutney that goes with it, ours was refrigerator cool, which didn't improve the lovely hot shrimp). The kulcha was excellent and the samosa tart was a nice change on the traditional samosa. The butter chicken was very good and the black dal was very nice (almost as good as my wife's). Service was friendly and efficient and although small, we thought the wine list was excellent and well chosen. We are big on Indian food and have eaten at highly regarded Indian restaurants in London, the middle east and Mumbai - Vajra did not disappoint.

    Kari C.

    I'm as disappointed as you are that I'm giving this 1 star, but alas here we are. When we walked in, we immediately thought it was a gorgeous spot. Very well done ambiance. We were then seated and told our server would be by shortly. We sat for a bit until someone came by to fill our water and left. After some more time our server showed up. If we had a reservation at a busy time this wouldn't have caught our attention but it was 5:30 and there was one other table with plenty of staff standing around. Our server was very timid and quick to walk away and while that wasn't a pain point in the beginning, it soon became one. There was a sign out front that mentioned happy hour but we were told it was for bar guests only. Not an issue, just worth the mention. Server finally came back to take our drink order and we put everything in because it had been a while. I ordered a soda water with lime and was told they didn't have lime and so I said lemon was fine and was then told they didn't have any fresh fruit. No worries-- just the soda water then. My husband ordered the eternal flame (great taste, slightly tart and Smokey) The raj kachori chaat -- terrible. I've only ever had warm or hot kachori, as has my husband who is from India so it was quite the surprise when we took our first bites and it was ICE cold. Like it was sitting at the back of the fridge were things almost freeze. We didn't eat it... We'll come back to this later. Lobster momos-- flavor was fantastic but they definitely could have been hotter, were room temp at most Lahsuni chicken korma-- pretty tasty but I will say when I think of Indian food containing chicken, chicken breast isn't really top of mind and that was the texture it had. Came with complimentary rice-- and they even called it that when they dropped it off which made me lol Chana masala-- overall, disappointing. Needed salt badly, wanted to love it but it just wasn't doing it for me Butter naan & garlic naan-- tasted fine but both were slightly burnt and so crispy they fell apart when you touched them Food was underwhelming but was plated nicely so I'll give them that Ok back to the kachori.... We didn't eat it because it was cold and the person who took it was not our server so later my husband let the server know it came out so cold we couldn't eat it and so the other person had taken it She said no worries, they could take it off. We thought that was that. It was not. Someone else came over to the table, guessing a manager but they did not introduce themselves. They started by saying they were told our kachori was cold and that it is actually served that way and had they left it there it would have been fine. Most managers would just say I'm sorry you didn't like that-- can I get you something else. She never apologized, that's fine... but it got weirdly aggressive when my husband said it wouldn't have been an issue or we wouldn't have ordered it if someone had just mentioned it would come out cold because she just kept trying to tell us that's the way it's made and that they had never had anyone complain which was ironic since we were. Like if that's the way it's made FINE, we just didn't like it, but it just kept going We just didn't want to pay for something we didn't eat. So she said if we didn't eat it she could take it off and then proceeded to ask us again if we ate it or not. We said no and she said she would take it off. That was that. We didn't order anything else, we just wanted to leave. It took forever for our server to come back, when she did we got the check and paid by scanning the receipt so we could leave quickly because it felt so awkward. We got home and checked the receipt and it was still on there. We were so disappointed with the whole experience. We won't be back and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

    Goan Fish Curry
    Sivakumaran N.

    Stand fare Indian menu and quality is above average. Nothing exceptional but still good. Ambiance is nice and good service.

    Chicken Momo, Chicken Chettinad, Goan Shrimp Curry, 2 Garlic Naan, Mango Mousse Cheesecake
    Tracy L.

    We were wanting comfort food but something different than we typically order in. Vajra popped up, and there were great reviews, so we decided to give it a try. Pricing was a tad high, but they had a Dinner Date for Two option on UberEats. It seemed worth it, and we liked everything we selected. The flavors were tasty, a touch of spicy, which we enjoyed. We both liked the Goan Shrimp Curry flavors more than the Chicken Chettinad, but the shrimp was a little overcooked/rubbery, whereas, the chicken was tender and soft. The Chicken Momo looked like soup dumplings but without the soup. The dipping sauce was needed bc they weren't very flavorful. Garlic Naan was soft and chewy, but they didn't reheat as well. The Mango Mousse Cheesecake was too sweet for my preference, but it was good- jelly mango layer, whipped cheesecake mousse, and graham cracker crust.

    Butter Chicken and Garlic Naan
    Samir K.

    Ended up ordering Indian food to work so my coworker could finally try it out. He was elated, but I wasn't. I guess that's the difference in a first timer and an Indian. We both got butter chicken and garlic naan. The chicken was cooked well but too tangy on its own. The gravy was very nice and creamy but the overall flavor was off from what I am used to. The garlic naan was super garlicky but didn't have any fluff. I personally prefer a fluffy naan rather than a thin and crispy one so I switched over to the rice for the rest of my dinner. Overall, a good amount of food but pricey. So far the best traditional Indian food I've had in the city but the bar was pretty low.

    My plate
    Padma A.

    We attended a private event and i personally loved the minimalist decor and clean look to the restaurant. The food was delicious... our hosts were vegetarian so we had the best variety veggie food from paneer to dal makhani, Baingan barta, pakoras etc . They had a list of mocktaiks and cocktails... I had the old fashioned which was good but had better. Loved the use of micro greens on all the entrees. Apparently their mock-tails were better. We will certainly revisit,

    Raj kachori

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    3 months ago

    The chicken biryani and butter chicken is to die for! I've only had takeout but I would love to come to the restaurant!

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    10 months ago

    Vajra is a great mix of traditional Indian and some fusion dishes. The momos and vindalu really stood out. Highly recommend eating there!

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    2 years ago

    Excellent authentic Indian food. Highly recommend the Palaak Paneer. Everything else tastes great too!

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    7 years ago

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    Vajra R.

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    2 years ago

    Take out was fantastic. Not too spicy nor salty. The flavors were subtle and complex.

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    Ask the Community - Vajra

    What's the spice levels on the food? When ordering it does mention

    I wasn't asked for the spice level on the foods I ordered, but I'd say it was between mild and medium spicy.

    Is Vajra open for dine in?

    Not yet according to their website. They are doing takeout or delivery and the food is still excellent quality.

    Hello, any vegan dishes available?

    Is the chicken or meat halal?

    The meat is not Halal.

    Are there any gluten free options? Gluten free menu perhaps?

    Yes, there are plenty of gluten free options, actually besides the samosas, goat momocha and naan bread everything else is gluten free.

    Since there is no current liquor license, is it BYO?

    Hey.. they got their liquor license 2 weeks ago and they have some fun cocktails

    View All 8 Questions

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    Fantastic service and absolutely delicious food!…read more Every dish we tried was full of flavor, and the staff made us feel very welcome. Really nice atmosphere to dine in, but lots of people doing takeout as well. I'll definitely be coming back!

    Well every now and then I crave Indian food and it's one of those moments it's actually the least…read morefavorite of the ethnic cuisines of Asia. But they are distinct that I like some of their food and I didn't know any buffets and I kept seeing this restaurant whenever I go to work in downtown Chicago. When I take the blue line and I kept seeing this restaurant when I would eat at Thai lagoon across the street. Well this was my payday and I decided to give this place a bucket list try. It is also still lent so I'm still following the Catholic not eating red meat or poultry. The waitress in regards to service since they just opened up I learned by coincidence since they were renovating mentioned that they did have seafood entrees and of course I didn't want shrimp I ate more on the fish side and they had salmon. But to start off I had the crispy onion pakora which was delicious for an appetizer It's basically almost like a deep fried onion ring with a fresh spinach colored emerald green dip that compliments and it was not too greasy. Then came My main dish of the salmon tikka masala and garlic naan. I would have ordered this in beef or lamb for tikka masala but since it's lent for me I have to eat fish It was okay but it would have been better if this was lamb if I could imagine chewing and savoring The pasty almost tomato like sauce with its spices and tanginess but it also tasted good to it salmon but lamb would have been better. The naan was ok I think a bit too garlicky but I would probably order the butter one next time cuz this was a garlic naan. They're mango lassi was very fresh however one of the reasons for the four stars although they gave me one on the house because they had a very limited dessert menu with ice cream and that's not really traditional Indian. But going back with the lasee the portion was just too small for $5. I would come back again other than that they gave the second last seat on the house and I didn't get charged but I would suggest they add a bigger mango lassee I had mentioned to the waitress or server. Ambiance was a little modern like I said they just opened after 3 weeks of being closed otherwise I came by coincidence that they just opened since the renovation.

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    Went here to celebrate a friend's birthday. The food was so good! Our server Laura was very sweet…read moreand attentive. I had the J'adore 75 cocktail which had vodka, Prosecco, lychee and hibiscus served as a martini. I was nervous it would be too sweet but it was perfect. I ordered the sheet roasted cauliflower for an appetizer and had the vindaloo curry with braised lamb and asked they make it spicy. Usually when I've gone to Indian restaurants they don't make it spicy enough but Kama made it spicy! My friend had the paneer tika masala that she said was really good. Each entree came with a side of basmati rice. We also ordered garlic naan for the table that was very tasty. We went to Kama on a Saturday night so it was busy but our food came out quick. Laura surprised us with a birthday dessert for the table that was a kulfi dou ice cream that was flavored pistachio and had a blueberry chutney. I've never had that kind of ice cream before it was very unique. They also brought out lit up candles so we were able to sing Happy Birthday. This was the best Indian restaurant I've been to and I can't wait to go back!

    Kama has probably the best HH drinks and food in the city. Their cocktail program is phenomenal and…read moreat $10 from M-Th 4-5, F 3-5, it's a great deal too! I tried the Pisco and Smoked Berries, both are very tasty and fruit forward, well balanced You can mix and match tacos so got to try the lamb and beef. The beet salad is delicious and the chicken tadka with the lemon cream sauce, delicious. I've had their mussels before and enjoyed those as well.

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