Taste of India — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

I ordered Taste of India today with DoorDash, as pickup. We ordered the tofu curry, chicken biryani, matar paneer, and garlic naan. We got everything with a spice level 4 (out of 5).

Overall, the food was pretty good, but there were some issues.

First, the good:

Matar Paneer -- this was DELICIOUS, and the best part of the entire meal! It was very flavorful and spicy. Wherever they get their paneer (cheese) it was some of the best we ever had!

Garlic Naan -- VERY garlicky and a little crispy. Excellent garlic naan!

The 'meh':

Chicken Biryani -- it was tasty, but a far shot from the tastiest biryani I've ever had. I probably wouldn't order this again knowing that Matar Paneer is on the menu!

The rice -- nothing special. Some restaurants season their rice pretty heavily with cardamom and cumin seeds. I do think that they had some cumin seeds in the rice, but the rice flavor wasn't anything special. Still, serving as the vehicle for the saucy food, it did its job.

The service -- I have to include this. When I walked in and asked about my order at the host stand, they told me they still needed a few minutes. I sat by the bar (which is on the side, not integrated with the restaurant, so it was VERY clear that I was sitting there right next to the host stand), and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, after about 30 minutes, I walked to the stand and asked for an update. Apparently, my food was already done and sitting in the back -- and then, the server asked me to confirm my order (which I've already done). I made eye contact with all the servers several times, and no one thought to ask me why I was just sitting there at their bar. That made me a bit salty.

The 'not so great':

Tofu Curry -- this dish confused us immensely. It was crushed tomatoes and tofu -- no coconut milk, no seasonings, no spice (although we ordered spice level 4). I think they forgot to make this into a curry? It was very upsetting and disappointing. I've included a picture of this "curry" to illustrate how barebones and how definitely-not-curry it was.

Overall, I'd say the food was pretty good, but the variability of dishes was pretty significant. It's hard to believe the matar paneer and the curry came from the same restaurant. Also, the service wasn't bad, per se, but I'd say it could definitely improve.

Would I eat at Taste of India again? Honestly, I'm on the fence. I'm hoping that, should we decide to return, it'll meet the high expectations we've had for them. Having a go-to Indian restaurant is a...

Update from two years ago: We went back in hopes that maybe something had improved. Unfortunately, hope was all we had, and that hope went away the moment we started eating. We ordered chicken biryani, but it was more like unseasoned boiled chicken thrown into some (only slightly mushy) pulao (the slightest improvement from before, as the first time, it was completely mushy). Even at spice level 4/5, flavor was sorely lacking. The main flavor was that of some variation of tomato ketchup. The gobi manchurian wasn't any better. The sauce was too ketchupy-flavored, and the pieces of cauliflower were ENORMOUS. At any good Indian restaurant I've been to, they serve lovely, bite-sized, crispy pieces of cauliflower. Samosa chaat was alright! It certainly wasn't bad, but it was rather bland. All in all, I think we just have to realize that Taste of India is not actually the real taste of India. For everyone who hasn't had the chance of trying other Indian restaurants, I truly recommend taking a stroll over to Atlanta where you'll find wonderful, authentic-tasting Indian food. Unfortunately, Taste of India is a rather rude insult to the art of Indian cooking.

If people like the food, that's fine, but in no way can this food be considered Indian food. It's quite a shameful excuse for it. It's no wonder that the Indian community of Athens find Taste of India so highly distasteful. Again, if you like the food, fine, but it's not Indian food. It sorely lacked flavor. We eat quite spicy food on a regular basis and therefore ordered our food spicy. Spicy is all we got. There was no flavor otherwise. The rice was overcooked, dry, and broken. The chicken was finally cooked well at least! When the server asked how the food could be improved, we were told that they "use red chili powder, which kills all other flavors." I don't know what kind of red chili powder they were using, but we use plenty of red chili powder in our own food, and we have eaten spicier food with FAR better flavor. Please, if you want authentic Indian food, please try one of the many wonderful places around Atlanta. It's really no wonder so many of my Indian friends and coworkers have said they would be ashamed to introduce someone to...

I called Taste of India to check if they had patio/dine-in seating. No one picked up, but then I realized they didn’t open for another 10 minutes or so. No problem. I’ll just call back after 11. Right at 11, THEY called ME back because they saw a missed call. Confirmed they were open both for patio and dine-in and kindly explained their hours (11am-2pm, 4-9pm,) their seating limitations inside, and that they stop seating an hour before closing, so 1pm and 8pm. This was going to be my first visit since they moved to the Eastside, so I was already impressed by the kindness and helpfulness.

There were only two other couples at the restaurant when we got there. There are about 7 tables on the patio and maybe 6 on the inside, very spread out from each other. All the workers we saw had a mask on. My husband got the tikka masala lunch with lamb ($13.) I got the puréed mango lunch with lamb ($13.) We both got a side of vegetable pakora. The pakora was brought out first, and I thought it was a nice and tasty appetizer, especially dipped in the tamarind chutney. My husband compared it to a fancy onion ring. Our entrees were both delicious and had very tender lamb. The tikka masala has a creamy tomato sauce, so it’s much more savory. The mango dish has ginger and scallions with it, but is pretty sweet overall. I really enjoyed it. The naan and basmati rice helped round out the meal, and we both left feeling nice and full. When we were leaving, the owner, Akansha, thanked us for visiting and had a nice chat with us. Overall a wonderful experience. I highly recommend checking out...