Spice Kraft ( Alexandria ) — Restaurant in Alexandria

Instagram led me to Spice Kraft for my birthday, and I couldn't have been more pleased. My family thoroughly enjoyed the food and the service was superb. I would definitely recommend the location, and my fiancé and I will be back soon.

We came for lunch, and all four of us ordered the lunch special curry rice bowls. For the bowls, you choose the rice, protein, and curry. The bowls come with naan, which can be upgraded, chickpeas, and a piece of papadum (lentil cracker). As there were four of us present, we each chose a different curry (korma, saag, tikka masala, and vindaloo), and we were all very happy. Each curry was flavorful, and the level of spiciness could be customized. Three of us upgraded to garlic naan and one of us chose the goat cheese and olive naan. The naan was so soft and perfect for absorbing the curry. We also ordered samosas. They were VERY generously sized and came with two chutneys. An order comes with two pieces, but each samosa could be cut so that four people can easily share a single order. Presentation for each dish was excellent. I ordered a mango ginger lemonade and it came topped with an orchid and a lemon slice. It had the sassy appearance of a cocktail despite the lack of alcohol.

We were also very happy with the service. Our waiter was friendly. However, the manager (I think?) on duty was also making rounds and checking on everyone, which was nice to see. We had a great conversation about other Indian restaurants in the area. He actually overheard me mentioning that it was my birthday, and while we thought we were expecting the check, I was actually surprised with a complimentary coconut bread pudding (it was warm and not too sweet and an excellent dessert for any coconut lover) and a note from the staff. It was such a touching and considerate gesture, I would come again for the service alone.

We will...

11/21 Update! I ordered the dum biryani again tonight for the 2nd time and the recipe seems to have changed and it is EVEN BETTER than it was in my original review!! The rice is a different color, a bit darker with less of the colorfulness, but somehow much more delicious. The spice level is now perfect, exactly as spicy as I enjoy my biryani. Also, they did away with the diced, raw red onions which I did not miss at all. I was nervous when I saw the boneless chicken pieces, as often they can be too dry compared to chicken on the bone, but each pieced was cooked to perfection, tender and packed with flavor. Would love a lime wedge to go with this, but did not care that there was no boiled egg served with it, as I usually do not eat the egg anyway. The flavor of the entire dish tonight was spot on and now I cannot wait to order it again.

Thank you to the chef, PremnathD for sharing your delicious cooking with me!

I have been looking for a place in northern VA that serves not just any biryani, but DUM biryani for over a year. I only know of 1 other place and it's quite far away from me. When I found this place not only had it on the menu, but offered delivery via Uber Eats, it was a no brainer that I had to try it.

I was very pleased and will certainly order again next time I'm craving dum biryani. My only wishes were that the red onions were cooked/fried and that the dish were spicier as this one seemed very mild in comparison to my favorite dum biryanis.

All in all, loved it,...

The food at this restaurant is delicious and that's why we have come back multiple times. But their service continues to be atrocious especially when they run specials for their pre fix menu. Everytime, you go pick up, they are consistently running behind the pick up time that was scheduled by over 30 minutes. Then they get the order wrong but the servers never acknowledge or apologize. First time was for Christmas and they ran out of the desserts that was part of the pre fix menu and they had no replacement for it. We had to eat the cost as it was already paid as part of the pre fix menu. Their attitude was sorry nothing we can do about it. Same thing happened today for Mother's Day where the pick up was for 12 30 but the food wasn't ready till after 1 pm. Order was for Vegetarian special for 2 but they gave me the non vegetarian special instead. I showed them my email order and what they actually gave me and once again no apology, just have to wait until we fix it between our restaurant customer orders. Which meant waiting another half hour or so at least so I asked for a refund. I don't understand their disorganization around this as the pre fix orders are put in days in advance so they should already have those orders planned out. Why continue to run these specials if you can't manage them? We will probably not come here for a while or until they can fix these issues. Luckily, there is good Indian food AND service plenty elsewhere...