Bharath Cafe - Franklin St — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

The newly-opened Bharath Cafe at E. Franklin St. is the most authentic Indian restaurant I've been to in Chapel Hill, NC. Compared to many Indian restaurants in the area, Bharath has a more casual style, offering an exciting variety of authentic Indian biryanis, curries, vegetarian & non-vegetarian appetizers, naans, desserts, and imported beverages.

From the outside of the cafe, people can smell the fresh & savory spices they use for their curries & biryanis, which they serve in 3 spice levels: low, medium & high. Unlike what many Americanized Indian restaurants offer, Bharath's dishes are made with fresh ingredients, a variety of masala spices straight from India, with no preservatives. There's a head chef who assembles their secret recipe for Bharath's 2 locations: Cary & the newer Chapel Hill cafe.

Most of Bharath's biryanis & curries are named after real places in India. Non-Indian casual foodies like myself may not be familiar to the differences of their biryanis just by glancing at Bharath's brochure-like menu, so I asked them to help guide readers of this review:

Gongura has a tingling, lemonish flavor Ulavacharu has lentil soup, calcium & iron-rich Vijayawada is more plain/standard biryani & boneless

Bharath's biryanis are served in a traditionsl way as they come with 2 sauces:

Raita - white sauce made with spices & vegetables

Salan - a spicier, gravy-like sauce Both of these sauces enhance the flavor of biryanis, with the former being able to counter the spiciness.

I had the pleasure to try out 6 of Bharath's authentic dishes (medium spicy), and here are my thoughts:

Chef's Special Paneer - The best Indian appetizer & best paneer I've ever tried. Its deep-fried, crunchy texture, chili & sour cream-based spices create a heavenly taste.

Ghee Roast Mutton Biryani - Highly-recommended if you prefer goat. The meat is so tender, and the spices are so well-infused with the aromatic rice and lemon.

Vijayawada Chicken - Standard chicken biryani with mix of bay leaves, cinnamon, coconut & cashews-based. The medium spicy level was just right.

Curry Leaf Baby Corn - Veg. appetizer with powder curry leaf, tasted healthy. Not a big fan but vegetarians will probably enjoy this more.

Karaikudi Chicken - perfectly cooked chicken curry loaded with flavors that just hit the right notes

Butter Chicken - One of my clear favorites and the best perfectly-cut & cooked butter chicken I've tried. Its creamy tomato-based & butter sauce over biryani rice or on top of Chapati is just pure bliss.

The biryanis come in 2 sizes: Regular for 1 person ($16 to $19); Family Size for 3 people ($33-$38). One of the strengths of Barath Cafe is that they are able to serve authentic curry and biryani dishes with the flexibility to cater and adjust based on customers' preferences.

Bharath Cafe's ambiance is as warm and welcoming as its customer service. Bharath's professional website and mobile app with clear photos & detailed descriptions of each item in the menu make it easy for customers to order.

I haven't been to the first Bharath Cafe in Cary, NC that opened last year, but based on customers' reviews, it looks like it's thriving well. When I asked the owner Chari why they decided to open a Chapel Hill location, he said that he saw a gap, a lack of authentic Indian food in the area, and I agreed. I've tried a few Indian spots in downtown & other parts of Chapel Hill, and none of them tasted as authentic as what Bharath...

Saag paneer is my favorite dish - like, bordering on obsession - and I was excited to see that this restaurant opened nearby. I've tried Bharath Cafe's saag paneer four times now, and each time it has been disappointingly mild and soupy - more like a cream-based soup rather than a thick dish of spinach and spices.

I started with mild because, hey, you never know. Too mild. Next up, I tried medium, twice. Still too mild. Today I ate in and ordered spicy. Same mild flavor. So I went up to the counter and asked for a little container of spice or chili/garlic sauce to make it hotter. The person behind the counter politely double checked with me that I wanted it hot, and I said yes, that's what I ordered. He said they made it less spicy because I wasn't Indian. Ok... Wasn't sure how to reply to that one. He said that he didn't have any chili garlic paste or whatnot that I could add, but they would make it again for me, spicy. That was unexpected and completely above and beyond. It came out ten minutes later and had enough heat to it (although I've had spicier). Now if they could just make it less like soup....

There are at least seven other Indian restaurants in Chapel Hill - and that doesn't include Tandoori Bites right over the border in Durham; Bharath Cafe place has a lot of competition. However what sets them apart is their service. They were very gracious in re-making the dish and I appreciate their trying to do it right by me....

We decided to try this new Indian restaurant, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a frustrating experience. First, the wait time for food was ridiculously long — 40 minutes for our orders. To make matters worse, one entrée came out long before the other, leaving one person awkwardly without food while the other ate.

This seems to primarily be a takeout place, but if you’re dining in, don’t expect much. The dining experience felt like an afterthought: flimsy plastic utensils, paper plates, and absolutely no proper setup. Even the forks were so weak they practically bent at the slightest touch. The restaurant still has plastic shrink wrap on some things, which screams “not ready to open yet.”

Customer service is almost nonexistent — they don’t even bring the food to your table. You have to get up and grab it yourself. On top of that, the atmosphere was unpleasant, with an overly loud Indian drama playing on the TV, making it hard to enjoy your meal.

The food itself was decent, which is the only saving grace, but the overall disorganization, long wait times, and lack of basic dining essentials made this a pretty undesirable dinner location. Multiple other customers seemed annoyed by the wait times as well. Hopefully, they can improve because right now, they’re not ready to handle sit-down service. Would not recommend for anything beyond takeout —...