Basmati Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Annapolis

Visited for dinner 1st + last time. Older male waiter was abrupt when seating me. He spoke broken English. Being older u'd think maybe hes been in America awhile & could speak better English as he's working customer service & taking orders daily. Where's his friendliness? Not 1 smile. Very Creepy.

I ask do they have Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke? He asks me back "Coke?" I said "No. DIET COKE please." I ask for Lemon Water but he brings plain water no Lemons. Its already not going well. He seems irritated or hostile but it's an hour and a half away from closing time, not a time to be irritated.

I tried to ask a few questions about Chicken Korma, if it's made with milk or cream, can it be made without? "No customer changing." So that restricted alot of menu choices bc I'm allergic to dairy.

Ordered a starter of Samosa Chaat. Samosa was stuffed w dry Keema meat only, nothing else. Outside was overly fried hard & dry. Hard to cut open. Dry meat inside fell right out. Nothing held it together so I could not pick it up & eat it. Not a fan of hard dry Samosa. There were 3 sauces but no toppings so technically it's not Chaat. No Papad either.

Next I got Karahi Chicken. Couldnt get Butter Chicken bc it had milk/cream. He said "You get Katahi." Sounded like he was ordering me, not helpful. Karahi was not the best I've had and Im a huge fan of this dish. It was just ok, not rich, thick or tasty as other Karahi. It was also a small to medium portion bowl, not a generous amount.

Being diabetic, I dont eat white basmati rice. Ask to substitute & upgrade to fried rice without paying another $15-$19 for "Biryani." He refused to upgrade my rice so I had to accept the basmati unwillingly.

Added Garlic Roti. It was partly burnt & smelled burnt/gassy. Not a fan of burnt Garlic Roti. Have had beautiful Garlic Roti at other Indian restaurants that looked & smelled much more appealing.

Older male waiter was not at all pleasant, not once did he smile, couldnt communicate well or put a customer at ease. He seemed rude, abrupt, made me feel very uncomfortable & unwelcome. He presented as angry & stiff as a board.

Will not be going back bc of his angry, stiff, unfriendly manner & the complete lack of any effort made at genuine customer-oriented service!

Damned shame to be so badly represented by an employee who chases brand new customers away on 1st visit.

Not recommended for Dietary + Allergen Restriction customers bc they flatout refuse to accommodate ANY customer-hazardous allergen substitutions to make it safe or expand menu options. Not allergen friendly.

This restaurant could do much better & would be much friendlier without the rude angry older waiter on duty who chases customers away with his sour face & doesnt have good, friendly customer...

First the good- the ambience is very relaxed, the buffet has many options and the service is outstanding. The mediocre - sadly the food. We tried the mulligatawny soup - it was watery and insipid. I have prepared some mulligatawny soup with garbanzo flour, coconut milk, cumin and garam masala that tasted much better, in my opinion. Could not finish half a cupful…the appetizers and chutneys were very good and abundant. The raita was watery and needed more thickness, onions, cucumber and mint. The mango lassi too thick and tart to my taste. The mushroom paneer lacked good Indian taste. As I was eating it I wondered if the chef was Indian at all. The butter and tandoori chicken were slightly overcooked but had plenty of onions to moisten the taste. The white rice lacked some saffron and maybe ghee. The bread was fresh and tasty sprinkled with parsley (cilantro would have been better?). The gulab jamun and kheer for desserts were very good. My review may read as harsh but I like the taste of a good curry and other Indian dishes spiked with the gamut of the many spices in their culinary armamentarium. Although I am not Indian, is the first kind of ethnic food I look for when I go places. One easy litmus test for a great Indian restaurant to me is the presence of many Indian customers. There were none in an almost full house when I was there. Granted that Annapolis does not seem to have a large Indian community and Basmati is trying to accommodate the desires of the local non-Indian population that may not be fond of very spicy food. But nearby Rockville and it’s surrounding does have a large Indian population and many Indian restaurants I have visited many of those establishments and ranked many as a 5 out of 5 stars serve. I honestly was not looking for a Rasika, Indian Palace or Minerva when visiting Basmati so my 3 out of 5 stars stands as an accurate reflection of...

Basmati Restaurant came highly recommended by an Annapolis resident, but we found it a tad disappointing and will stick to our preferred Indian restaurant.

For this lunch-time visit, the restaurant was not busy - there were a few scattered small tables of diners and a fairly brisk carry-out. There appeared to be adequate staffing for the level of business, despite Covid’s overall impact on restaurant staffing. Plenty of space for cars in the parking lot of the small shopping center. Nice restful decor with widely spaced tables and masked staff, ensuring safe Covid practices.

As we were only moderately hungry, we ordered the Tandori Mixed Grill and Lamb Vindaloo, skipping apps and deserts. Our go-to Indian puts out a deliciously spicy Vindaloo, so Basmati’s very mild version was a disappointment. An overall decent flavor and tender lamb but the lack of spice and relatively small portion size for the money was a big disappointment. The Tandoori grill was a better choice, the menu listed 4-5 varieties of Tandoori meat as well as shrimp Tandoori. I did request a swap for one of the meats, which the restaurant did. This was a decent portion, the chicken selections were diverse and flavorful, but It only included 1 smallish shrimp. The dish was accompanied by a boat of Masala sauce. Both dishes came with a large bowl of very nice basmati rice and we also ordered a serving of Bhatura (fried bread) for sauce swabbing 😋. The Masala sauce was very nice, flavorful and served hot. The Bhatura reminded us of a cross between carnival fried dough and a grilled tortilla but was really good while warm.

Not a bad restaurant but there are many better ones within easy driving distances, including one 5...