Angeethi, A Local Indian Mini-Chain, Down to the Final Herndon Location - Closed

[Anonymouze]

There is this good Indian restaurant across from the Tortilla Factory in Herndon that has a nice "spread". I apologize but the name is not remarkable but the food is!

On weekends you get bread baskets of hot naan at your table. They have a chaat bar with the little crisps, chickpeas/potato blend, yogurt & tamarind sauce and the fixin's.... also salad! I love a good CHAAT bar can't find any down here yet.

They usually have Lamb/Goat (I always confuse the two - don't ask!) a spinach dish, a vegetable dish such as okra with tomatoes or potatoes and peppers and other delicious stuff! Two kinds of rice are featured the saffron rice and a chicken basmati rice also they have Tandoori chicken and a real spicy chicken on a wok near the breads and pakora's. Their pakoras and other breads are great as is most of their food. For dessert they usually have Gulab Jamun and/or custard w/fruit or rice pudding (indian style). They have a generous bar and the owner is very nice! Now if I can find a restaurant in VA that makes Poori regularly and has papadum and Samosas in the buffet! (wink)

On a side note we've had mixed reviews from friends. Our direct friends loved it but on a separate visit... well, their friends said the waiter asked them "Where is your accent from" - they replied "We're from (another country)" to which the waiter purportedly said... "What do you think about .....(something controversial and NOT appropriate)?" which made them upset/concerned! They got up and left and told my friend about this. It would not make me NOT go unless it was said to me, or I overheard it... but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

[Al Dente]

[Joe H]

We went to this restaurant a couple of weeks ago lusting for curry and not having the patience to fly to Manchester's Wilmslow road. Perhaps remarkably we liked Angeethi. I don't think it is in league with Heritage of India but the fish curry (suggested by a passionate and rotund Indian waiter) and Kashmir nan (fruit and nuts) were, indeed, excellent. A side of spinach with cream was actually every bit as good as Morton's or the Capital Grille. Tandoori shrimp and the accompanying rice for both dishes were good but no better. I suspect that there are some very good dishes here. It may be just a matter of being led to them. Perhaps most importantly on a Saturday night this restaurant-which has had three previous incarnations that have failed-was packed with a wait for a table.

We'll go back.

[Hannah]

We had dinner here last night, and everything was very good.

The spinach pakoras are essentially a fried-finger-food version of the palak chaat at Rasika - super-crispy fried spinach in gram flour batter.

The paneer makhani is the best I've had in a while; it tastes like they're using substantially more cream in theirs than most of the other places around (Supper Club, Saravana Palace, Banjara, etc.), and more cream is definitely a good thing.

Angeethi is the only Indian restaurant we've run across this side of the Atlantic that has balti on the menu, and the goat balti was really a thing of beauty - goat simmered until super-tender in a savory curry sauce with lots of sliced onions.

And, the management gets extra brownie points for having made a deal with the church next door to allow overflow parking in their lot. I'm pretty sure that's what killed off all the previous occupants of this building, because there's very little parking available in the restaurant lot, and there used to be signs up in the church lot saying "no restaurant parking." Now, there's a sign at the front of Angeethi saying that it's okay to park in the church lot, and the no restaurant parking signs have disappeared.

We will definitely be back (particularly since we pass it on the way home every night!)

[bilrus]

I went for lunch earlier this week, too and I thought the buffet was very good. I loved the chaat bar - crisps, potato/chickpea/onion mix, chutneys, raita. I could just eat a couple plates of that and a couple gulab jamuns and be happy.

I thought the food was the equal of Minerva with the added benefits of being easier to get into and park and a much nicer setting than the banquet hall style at Minerva.

[Anonymouze]

Update on Angeethi!

I picked up supper for my husband and myself here the other night.... After never trying anything but buffet here, I can tell you it was real good! Hubby's wasn't spicy enough for him but he ALWAYS says that!

I ordered the Lamb Rogan Josh for myself and it was perfect, his Lamb Vindaloo was a bit chewy but tasty according to him. I ordered Puri/Poori and an order of Naan and mixed appetizers and each item was superb!

We ended our supper with rice pudding for him and gulab jamun for myself (I liked the slivered almonds on top!).

I have to update you on that incident: I wanted to mention that I spoke with the two owners, Sanjeev and (I'm drawing a blank sorry!) the other while I was there and mentioned to one of the owners the incident with my friends' friends that I had mentioned in my last post.

He was taken aback and said He has an idea who it is, that they have a bad habit of saying inappropriate things like this and that he will speak to them about it. I mentioned that out of 6 couples who have gone so far, 5 had a great experience so I mentioned that none of us will be put off unless it happens to us of course.

Out of my favorite Reston, Herndon, Sterling area restaurants the top 3 favorite for indian food so far IMHO are:

Angeethi, Mayuri and Minerva - in that order.

[Anonymouze]

Thought I'd bump the thread because they have some good holiday specials at angeethi with or without beer and for NYE too!

We went there today for lunch and they had shrimp, goat, chicken 4 ways, chaat bar (always) tons of free lassi and other drinks, rice pudding and gulab jamun desserts, rice 2 ways and 3 types of breads all for under $30. w/tip for 2!

It was a fine way to break a diet IMHO! Happy holidays to y'all and you really need to get over here especially on a Saturday they have made-to-order omelets and other goodies too.

[Anonymouze]

We went to Bombay Tandoor 8603 Westwood Center Dr, Vienna about 2 weeks ago on a whim to try to compare. Needless to say we returned to Angeethi.

I don't understand why it is rated higher than Angeethi, the bread was stale the service was slow and they had half as many selections 2 were not that warm , the only saving grace is that they had Lamb Rogan Josh and it tasted good. I will add only 6 tables with people so it wasn't busy at all but like I said the service was real slow. At one point I had to stop eating because I ran out of soda and water and I hate not having something to drink with my meal in case I hit a spicy part and need to swallow fast. I told hubby I would go up to the bar and refill it myself, but he stopped me. It would have been nice if the bread was fresh and hot at the least. Also the parking is highly restrictive with a fast tow away policy! (I wasn't towed but have been told by a friend they have been towed from that complex.)

So today at Angeethi they had their typical weekend fest now it's both Saturday AND Sunday! WOOHOO. Free Lassi, all kinds of drinks, omelets, breads stuffed with potatoes and other goodies just at one small side table they had filled with nice little treats. The back wall table had spinach pakora's and these hot knish type potato filled things (a bit too spicy for me but not that spicy) also desserts fruit filled custard and carrot halva. Behind you is a chaat bar filled with pakora's floating in a yogurt/tamarind sauce. Fresh fruits and salad and chaat and the things to put in it.

In the main buffet area they had curry goat, curry chicken, butter chicken, basmati and another type of rice, tandoori chicken, paneer with peas and other deliciousness, carrot/vegetable combo in a nice sauce, 3 other vegetarian and another meat dish. They kept my soda glass filled and a hot basket of fresh bread on the table at all times so I was very happy with them as I always am. If you have not tried Angeethi on Elden St in Herndon it is easy to get to from 267 or 7100.

If I find another great indian restaurant in the area I'll see if Angeethi remains #1 in my book but for now it IS! Hands down.

[DonRocks]

I saw last night where Angeethi is opening a fourth location in Bethesda.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[DanielK]

Hit the buffet in Herndon today for lunch. The Chaat Bar was a nice touch, and the service was excellent, but otherwise the buffet lunch was pretty meh.

Soggy, greasy nan - awful. Seeing Chicken Karahi on the buffet was unexpected, but this stuff isn't even in the same league as the same dish at Kabob & Karahi in Silver Spring. Pakoras all crunch and no taste. Dried out biriyani. Seafood curry was fishy without any chunks of seafood larger than a fingernail. Dry dry dry tandoori chicken. Three or four veggie dishes were fine, but nothing special.

Not that I expect grand cuisine from a lunchtime Indian buffet, but I've had much much better. Not immediately on my return list for work lunches.

[PollyG]

Alas, the Herndon operation is closed with a realtor's "for rent" sign in front.  

[DonRocks]

5 hours ago, PollyG said:

Alas, the Herndon operation is closed with a realtor's "for rent" sign in front.  

Maybe I'm wrong, but, "And then there were none?"