Dwaraka's Bawarchi Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in Columbia

I was really hoping this place would be good. It "replaced" Flavors of India which I used to really like, pre-covid. I confirmed they were a completely new establishment/new mgmt/new chef when I sat down. But for some reason the merchant still shows up as Flavors of India when they run your card.

First off, I appreciate when establishments suggest items to order. But even after hearing initial suggestions and trying to order my food, the waitress tried to persuade me to order two different entree's instead of the one I asked for. I had to tell her multiple times "no, thanks, this is what I want".

I was there with two people who dont like spicy food, but I love it. We were informed that their food was from a different region and would likely be spicier than the previous establishments. I took this into account when ordering and tried to order "medium" when I usually order "hot". That's when we were told they did not cook to order...that they cook a big portion all at the same spice level but could add cream to tame the spice a bit for my soft taste budded friends. This style seems more fast food to me.

My food came out 10 mins before my friends in which I found a long black hair in it. They took it away and brought me a new dish and were apologetic later in the meal. Thinking about it later, since they cook in batch, I still ate food that had hair in it. I had also asked for a side of butter sauce which they could not provide...never had this problem at any other restaurant.

We all order the gulab jamun for dessert and it comes out cold when it should be served hot. They take it back and reheat it. It comes back out slightly warm and just tastes funny; very cheesy. While these balls are made of cheese, they dont taste like cheese.

Needless to say we were all super disappointed and will not return. I'm sure this was evident since we had several issues with the food and did not even finish our desserts. This meal was a $30+ per person for fast food. As a chain restaurant this should've...

I've been visiting this place for months now, even back when it was called Flavors of India. It was great back then, but after they made the transition and were put under new ownership... it's been nothing short of incredible.

I've tried numerous items on their menu and it gets better each time. Their prices have LOWERED and their food quantity went HIGHER, while maintaining that excellent quality you come to expect. Staff is super friendly and attentive, owner is such a nice and respectful man, and it has been a pleasure trying so many awesome items on their menu.

THE PICTURES POSTED BELOW: So far, since the restaurant's new reopening, I've tried their chicken manchuria, chili shrimp, Rajugari chicken biryani, mango lassi, Gongura mutton curry and the Andhra chicken curry. Also in one of the images, it shows some free complementary bread with dips. It always used to come free but recently I've had to ask for it which is odd, but still fine.

I think my favorite one so far is either the biryani or the chicken curry. It's hard to tell, EVERYTHING tasted great. This is the one restaurant where I don't reorder the same thing over again because it seems almost everything on their menu is a must try. I'll definitely be visiting again to try more new items on their menu!

If there's any suggestions I have, it's that the interior itself should try to be a more traditional. Whether it be various decorations or simply playing authentic Indian music over the speakers, it's the only thing missing that would truly make this restaurant feel like stepping into a portal into another country....

Let me start with the ambience of the place. It is really nice and the staff who were attending the customers are very polite and are handling the customers very well, which is as important as the food that is being served. Location good. Lot of parking space. Atmosphere good. Now coming to the food, the taste is excellent. Not oily. I personally liked it very much and I would definitely recommend this place to my friends. Why only 4 stars???? Well, I ordered pepper shrimp fry and Raju gari Mutton Biryani. Shrimp pepper fry, excellent. But, I think I got Mutton dum biryani(I am attaching the pictures. Please let me know if I am wrong). Because the Raju gari Biryanis I ate at other places didn't look like this or taste like this. They might have given me a wrong biryani but the taste was awesome. I might be wrong, the chef here might have a different recipe for Rajugari Mutton Biryani. I am going to this place again and I might change the rating to 5 stars. All in all Excellent job guys and Good luck. Update from Dec 1 2025. Went again, this a big group. Talked to the owner and found out that they are not using chittimutyalu rice. As I said before, the taste was good. My nephew loved the taste(he is a very pickey eater) of Avakaya chicken biryani. Another pointer, if you are a spicy eater you have to mention "very spicy". Otherwise all the dishes are mildly spicy and that is what you will get if you don't mention...