Biryaniwalla Ottawa | Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Ottawa

This place deserves 0 stars

Went with high expectations and was utterly disappointed. Short advice go somewhere else save your time and money. Here is my experience:

The name is biryani Wala and they ran out of the biryani I wanted so I had to order a different version but wait that wasn’t even the problem. Here is a long list of reasons why you should not visit this place

We waited 1 hour for our food ! After 15 minutes of placing the order the waitress who was also part owner approached us and asked if we were notified that there is a 30 minute wait for the food after placing an order. In total we waited 1 hr for food. Note during this time they do not even provide any complimentary appetizers so they literally expect you to just wait. During this time we asked 2 servers when our food will come , both never returned with an answer. Eventually I had to go to the manager. We ordered a mixed grill which consisted of ONLY chicken. Not sure how that is classified as “mix” note that they do not mention on the menu what comes in a mix grill so you can assume whatever you what but you will only get chicken. When the mix grill arrived we asked our server for naan that we ordered before hand to come with the food. We got the naan 15 minutes later after the mix grill was completely cold. There are multiple owners of the restaurant some on the floor working as a server some in the kitchen. I spoke with two owners, one gentleman who I complained about the ridiculous wait time to and the other lady who was our sever and asked us about our experience. Both of them did not even apologize ONCE, they just justified their actions and continued to make excuses. Business 101 : make sure your customer is happy and if they are not then apologize for their experience. The only gesture we received from the gentlemen was a replacement of the grill because it was cold that too we declined because the rest of our food had arrived and we started eating . Also quite frankly I wasn’t in the mood to wait another hour for a grill which only consisted of chicken pieces. The food was terrible! All we could taste was spice , spice and spice and not just regular spice it was raw spice. All the food was not cooked correctly it literally tasted like raw spices which were uncooked. You might as well put a spoonful of raw chilli in your mouth because that was the legit taste. Lastly beware they automatically add a 18% tip without your consent. After this terrible terrible terrible experience we realized that an automatic tip was charged. So not only did we pay for overly raw spicy food but we also tipped them …something they definitely did not deserve.

Please save your money! This restaurant is not worth it. I will ensure that I do not visit this place ever again . I will also circulate this feedback amongst my community of...

My husband, myself and my two year old went in to order take out at 630. We have never had Biryani, but based on the photos and reviews, thought we would give it a try. I went to the take out counter, was presented with a menu. There was no description of anything, so I asked for help. A staff member was very kind and seemed genuine with offering suggestions. I told him that my toddler and myself could not handle heat. I asked if they have any dishes that have no heat. He said yes, and suggested the chicken65(wet), veg kofta biryani, and the shahi chicken Biryani, and garlic naan. The bill was 65$ for these 4 dishes. We were told it would be 45min. We asked if they could accommodate a shorter time, and they were quite respectful and offered 35min. At 705, the food was ready! I don't know if it is because it was take out...but it was very small portions for the price we paid. The biryani dishes were about 90%-95% rice. Looks absolutely nothing like the photos posted on the reviews. But the REAL problem is that 2/3 dishes were spicy. So spicy, my nose was running and after taking a bite, it even made the garlic bread taste hot. I was soooooo disappointed 😞. I called the restaurant, explained what I had asked for and what we received. The gentleman on the phone explained all their dishes have heat, just varying degrees of it and that these three were the least hot. I mean...ok...but that isn't what I had originally asked for. I asked how it could be rectified, and the gentleman asked what I wanted- which was super awkward. I wasn't sure as I don't really know what options were available. So, ultimately, I asked if I could get a refund if I returned with the food.

After all, 2 out of the 3 people eating couldn't eat 2 out of the 3 dishes that I spent 65$ on, based on their recommendations!

I was told: "If it was a mistake of the restaurant, they would offer a refund but since I chose to order these dishes they would not offer a refund." They also went on to explain they could give me a discount the next time I ordered food. What? Lol, if I told you I can't handle heat and you tell me EVERY dish has heat, then why would I order more and be in the same situation?!

Super disappointing. Now I am out 65$ for food I can't eat even though I expressed as such...

I've been a regular customer of this Biryani place in Ottawa ever since they opened.

Let me start by saying that they serve hands down the best biryani I've ever had in Canada. Their dum biryani is nearly as perfect as the Bawarchi Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani in Hyderabad, which is saying something! The raita and mirchi ka salan taste authentic too.

After trying their chicken and mutton dum biryani, we decided to try something different and ordered the Nalli Ghost biryani and chicken 65. The chicken 65 was fantastic, full of the flavors like you'd find in Hyderabad, but disappointingly not spicy at all. It seemed like it was tailored for non-Indian palates, lacking that authentic kick of heat.

As for the Nalli Ghost biryani, it arrived with a generous shank piece and was indeed spicy, but it didn't quite hit the mark as a biryani. It tasted more like a lamb shank curry served with rice cooked separately.

After that experience, we thought we would just stick to the dumplings biryani but every time we tried to order our beloved Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, they claimed to be out of stock and canceled our order, which was frustrating to say the least. It happened atleast 3 times.

Determined to satisfy our biryani cravings, we decided to dine in instead despite living very far from the restaurant . However, once again, they were out of Dum Biryani. So, we settled for the Guntur Chicken biryani, Karivepaku Chicken Biryani, and chicken 65 with extra spice. Despite being promised a fiery Guntur Chicken biryani, it failed to deliver on the spice level and tasted more like chicken 65 mixed with biryani rice. And as usual it was tailored for non-Indian palate.

To add to our disappointment, the service was incredibly slow, considering how busy and huge the restaurant is. The Karivepaku Chicken was another letdown, lacking the bold flavors we were expecting.

While I won't won’t say that I would stop ordering from them entirely, as there isn’t any place that offer authentic biryani in Ottawa, I'll certainly be sticking to their Chicken Dum biryani moving forward. It's the closest thing to authenticity I've...