Tarka Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in Austin

My husband, son (18mos) and I had the pleasure of dining here yesterday. We originally intended to go to our favorite Greek spot next door when we were devastated to find out they were no longer in business. Disappointed, we decided to try something new and conveniently walked inside this gem.

(Regretting not taking any photos now.) My husband had the Chicken Kabob, my son enjoyed the Kid's chicken kabob with fries, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Malai kofta. I took a shot in the dark with my choice, not having eaten genuine Indian cuisine before and I can say, I was beyond pleasantly surprised. The flavors are rich and delicious. The tomato-onion curry surrounding the delicious vegetable dumplings has been my main craving since my first bite. Luckily, the dish was so filling that I was able to take 2/3 of it home to enjoy today. Bonus points for the leftovers tasting as amazing as it did when freshly prepared. (Forgot to mention we also had the vegetable samosas (2 per serving) as an appetizer. Again, absolutely delicious and I could've drank a gallon of their mint chutney alone.). Husband stuck to what he knew (the chicken kabobs) which he did enjoy, he finished his plate, so I'd say it was 10/10. He also helped himself to some of my meal, which he couldn't stop raving about afterwards. It was too good not to share with someone I love.

I 100% plan on talking Hubs into bringing us back again sometime this week (if not tomorrow) to broaden my pallet with another dish I've never seen or heard of before. I think it's safe to say, you cant go wrong with anything on their menu. We're also on a mission to try their naan bread. We missed it on the menu when it was time to order, but it immediately caught our eyes while passing another guests' table.

Aside from food, the ambiance was nice, music kept at a level where you can hear it but also hear everyone around you. The place was clean and the dining area had a good amount of seating options (including an outside covered patio). The service was polite and as quick as humanly possible.

I am honestly so thankful we gave this place a chance. We may have lost our favorite Greek spot, but it forced us to try Tarka Indian Kitchen, immediately calling it our new favorite spot. We'll be seeing the staff easily 2-3 days a week!

Edit: Also forgot to mention all of our food (1 app, 2 meals, and a kids meal) was no...

Food was great very seasoned and full of flavor I was very impressed with the food but the service was horrible the customer service was horrible. We had a party of 5 adults and 3 children our order taker was very nice as we all explained it was everyone's first time trying Indian food he was helpful with trying to help us place our order. When they brought us our food the 1st thing that was wrong was they brought our food out lil by lil so our family was trying to wait so we could eat as a family but they didn't want their food getting cold. Secondly we ordered 3 different garlic naans for 3 different people but only got 2 baskets and when we let the server know they said we only order 2. I went back up there and showed my receipt then was told the put 2 orders in 1 basket but there was only 4 in each basket. So as I'm sitting waiting on my food as I'm watching everyone else eat I finally go and asked where my food is and they tell me they have brought everything out. I'm like but I didn't get my dish so I have to go back to the menu to show the what I order the so called "manager" looked at my receipt and said we brought that out so now I'm like "to what table?" I look for the young cashier who help us placed our order and I asked him what did I place and he said the same thing that I was saying so they finally figure out they gave my meal to someone else at our table and the cashier didn't ring up 2 of the same thing so the manager rudely ask do I want to purchase another meal I'm like why should I hv to purchase for a mistake that the cashier made so I didn't get my food I just ate with some and brought some chicken on the way home cuz I wasn't fixing to spend another dime with these rude people. They definitely need a customer service course on how to treat customers. I would definitely be trying Indian food again just at...

Listen, I don't usually take time outta my busy day to write reviews, and I absolutely refuse to write negative reviews UNLESS terrible things have transpired, so having said that... this review wasn't requested or incentivized. This is the real dill pickle. Call me old fashioned, but I grew up learning in my early jobs as a teenager that customer service was of the utmost importance. I don't feel like that was indoctrination so much as it was understanding how important it is to be the representation of a company (you trust and depend upon), and of course, as an individual. I'd find it a welcome challenge to try to make people laugh or smile, and it always paid off. My kids and I have been experiencing some less than stellar customer/representative interactions over the past few days, and I began to resign to the fact that maybe it's just that the new crop of kids are "built different". Tarkā on Anderson Lane has unwittingly restored my faith in humanity. I'm not even going to go into detail about how pleasant and well-mannered the staff was, because words dont do justice to how I felt walking in and leaving their establishment. It was such a breath of fresh air to feel that not only were they- dare I say, JOYFUL, but they were completely genuine. It really made my meal and the experience so much better. No pretenses, no pushy up-selling, no indifference or disconnect. Homeboy at the counter was all smiles and eye contact, totally respectful and had great manners (someone raised him up right), and as we were leaving, a young lady was super nice and refused to let me take my tray to the garbage can and thanked us for dining with them. Solid team there, and I thought it was worth mentioning some good news. Keep it up, y'all! It has not gone...