Shahi Cafe — Restaurant in Austin

I have mixed reviews about this place. If you are going to buy groceries here, it's a good place. I have had multiple bad experiences here. I often have received food that is extremely salty to the point that I had to throw them away. Last weekend I ordered some kebabs along with two orders of Mango Lassi. They brought me my food in a to go bag. I assumed the drinks were also in there. When I got home and checked the bag the drinks were missing. I thought to myself, okay, this is not a big deal, I will just call and they will fix it right away. When I called them they could not confirm whether they really did mess up. I told them that I am not willing to come back to get my drinks, instead I will just pick them up another day. At this point I was told well I am not sure if we will remember that. This was a disappointing response from a store I visit often. Needless to say after all the bad experiences I will probably not be visiting them...

I was in the area and wanted to try a food truck but it was closed. Noticed Shahi Cafe was near by so decided to have lunch there instead. The staff member was courteous enough to let me know that the lamb shank would be gamy, so I ordered the kafta kabob platter with naan. Firstly, they no longer make their own Naans, they just heat up the frozen ones from a packet - which at $13.99 per plate is ridiculous. At least they should've let me know. Secondly, the Kafta kabob was extremely bland. I have had kafta at several persian / middle eastern restaraunts and this one appeared to have a lot of fillers and baking soda. I sprinkled one with salt, pepper, and lot's of sumac and managed to finish it as I was hungry but I left the second kabob untouched. It was that bad. The side salad was tiny and for $13.99 I expect at least a side of hummus but it wasn't included. I will definitely not repeat. It's shameful to server customers this...

For those of you who don't know, this is both an Indo-European Grocery store and Cafe combined. That means it has a mixture of Middle Eastern and Indian food, for those not aware.

As for my visit, I received nothing but friendly vibes. I am not sure if the gentleman behind the counter in the cafe was one of the owners (that's the vibe I received tho), but we had a lovely conversation about the many different editions of several dishes there. As I gave him feedback on my taste preferences for certain dishes, he made suggestions that were spot on.

Can't wait to go back! I like low key, friendly, casual (not to mention healthy) and Shahi filled all of those roles. Also, you can't EVER go wrong with buying pre-made puff pastry and making cheese filled puff pastries at home.

They even have baby goats. Not sure how I feel about that, nor do I care to see, but I understand it's a cultural thing,...