Namaste Jalsaa, Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Alexandria

I’ve walked by this place a hundred+ times over the years… I love Old Town and have spent many a day and night there. I’ve always wondered about this place, but was hesitant to stop in for two reasons: It’s an Indian restaurant and me being Pakistani, I’m not too fond of the style of curry the Indians prepare. The biggest reason though is that typical of these Indian places along popular/busy thoroughfares, they “Americanize” the food too much. Thus much of the authentic flavor, spice, and heat isn’t prevalent. Since I was in the area for work, I stopped in for a late lunch. The lady working the dining room was very friendly and helpful. Their menu is huge! But it’s all Indian food… as an example, Chicken Karahi wasn’t on it, but Kadai was.

I started with their veggie pakora. Pakora is a fritter where they dip veggies (or meats, but mostly veggie only) into a spiced, orange-colored batter then fry it. They make them fresh, so the end result of the fried goodie has strings of the batter in its formation – YUMMM!!! But their pakora was a patty. It appears they used a similar batter and minced the veggies and then patted them all into a patty and sautéed them. The form factor was way off and the way they prepared this actually did affect the flavor… not for the positive.

Next up was the entrée, Chicken Kadai in a medium heat. The heat was respectable, definitely far from spicy. The chicken in it was boneless, flavored quite nicely, and very tender. The sauce was decent, but overdone and thick from the pre-preparing they must do… It appeared they pre-made the sauce and then add the protein when it’s ordered. The bell peppers were added fresh and that was a nice touch! The rice that came with the entrée was decent.

Finally, I asked for a side dish of palak or saag – I’m not sure which they actually serve. Palak is simply spinach, saag is a mix of mustard greens typically with spinach… I prefer saag for the depth of flavor, but I do love both. I have to say, they ground down/stewed down their greens perfectly! It had the perfect texture, which should NOT resemble steamed spinach! It should simply be a thick, green pasty texture. The flavor was decent, though I felt it was missing some spices and the flavor wasn’t as rich as I prefer. Heat was on the boring side, at least for me it was. And lastly, I like sauces, so I asked for a bowl of their raita. It had a slimy texture rather than the typical thick, rich yogurt texture. It also was lacking the cucumber slivers that make it bright like a tzatziki. I really didn’t like it at all. Frankly, it didn’t seem fresh to me.

I’m not a fan of using utensils to eat my curries, rather I prefer roti, it’s thinner and not as filling as naan, but should have a nice mix of wheat and regular flour. It should almost resemble a tortilla, slightly thicker and usually these are made in a tawa, which is a much flatter style wok. I absolutely love a properly made roti (I grew up calling them chapati) – Theirs was decent. It wasn’t too thick. The flavor was on the bland side, but the texture was spot-on. It definitely worked fine to use as a way to eat my curry.

Overall – I can see why this place is rated so high. But what I’ve learned is that “Authentic” Pakistani (and other ethnic joints, like Szechuan) places are absolutely BEST when there overall rating is middle of the road (like 2 – 3 stars), as most “typical Americans” don’t know what to expect, so they rate these authentic places based on how they rate the local Outback, Texas Roadhouse, etc… This place deserves the 4 stars I’ll give them for their style and presentation. But would I return? Probably not…. But have at...

I am a vegetarian and my wife is 90% vegetarian, so, naturally, we eat and cook Indian food often. And because we eat a lot of Indian food, we have a pretty good idea of what is good. The food at Namaste Jalsa is superb. It is authentic and made with great care. Indian food takes time and attention to prepare, especially when it is vegetarian, because it takes skill to make simple ingredients taste good. It is hard to do. Namaste Jalsa achieves that feat.

Samosa chat is one of my favorite Indian dishes. Namaste Jalsa's was the best I have ever had. The chat was creamy but not heavy and packed with flavor. The samosa filling was luscious. Again, the best. We also ordered the veg sampler appetizer and each item was spot on. We then each ordered the Veg Thali because you get a sampling of various dishes (and I had a slight cold so we didn't want to share so as not to pass along my cold). It's like a mini-buffet. Everything was exceptional and spiced perfectly (I ordered medium), but the Saag Paneer was the star. I make this myself, so I know how hard it is to achieve a creamy texture because of the cashews. It was so silky and the spinach was not muted and the paneer was of excellent quality. Mine doesn't come close to theirs and mine is pretty good. I could on and on about each item in the Thali, but each one was just as good as the other.

We made a mistake (our fault, not theirs) and misread the items that came with the Thali. My wife had previously been to Namaste Jalsa and was excited for me to try it because of my love of Indian food. She loves their Paneer Tikka Masala (which, again, I make) and insisted I try it. We thought a portion came with the Veg Thali, but, again, we misread the list of included items and it is not one of the items that is included. We did not complain because we made the mistake and I was happy to have such a variety. I was literally like a kid in a candy store. But, sensing her disappointment, the staff brought her a sampler size portion of the Paneer Tikka Masala. She was right; it is one of the best I have ever tasted. It was bright and vibrant. It was a very kind gesture by the staff and it made her night.

Namaste Jalsa cares about the food they serve and they certainly care that their patrons have a good experience. The next time we are in Old Town Alexandria, without question, we will eat...

MOST ATROCIOUS INDIAN RESTAURANT ON THE PLANET! I have to many Indian restaurants that serve food that is generally too greasy, too spicy (instead of flavorful) and too old (you can tell it was made last week). However, this was the king of disgusting Indian restaurants conveniently located on King street (pun intended).

From the very start, the food was dismal. The pappad were not unevenly toasted so we were munching on uncooked hard chips. Then the opening star was brought in, Mango Lassi, which is mango smoothie and it wasn’t even sippable. This drink was so thick, it was like frozen Greek yogurt. When we complained to our server, she gave us a “how dare you complain look” and proceeded to tell us that it came out of the cooler so that’s why it’s thick. My friend then just mixed some drinking water herself and drank it that way.

Then came our vegetarian thali. Of the four subzi (or curries), only one which was saag panner, was heated up. The other three were frigid as if they forgot to microwave this store bought food altogether. The kheer (rice pudding) was way too sweet to the point of there being more sugar than rice and milk combined in it. The cucumber yogurt was okay. The rice were not cooked well either. The food was so bad that my friend and I came in super hungry and ordered one thali just to sample and then order more but we ended up not even being able to finish this one and losing our appetite altogether.

When we complained to our server again midway our meal, she said, “Our chef is not in today.” Which means this is definitely a few days old food. When we complained to the manager, he said “you should have told me before, we could have done something. I knew about the mango lassi but not the food.” To which I replied, “I told the server! And nothing was done about the mango lassi!”

Basically, stay away if you have any form of taste buds. This was absolutely despicable! I don’t want to have Indian food for a year now and I...