TIKKA 𝓝 KABAB- Halal Restaurant — Restaurant in Columbus

If you don’t know already about “TIKKA N’ KABAB” …you should! This restaurant is a locally owned hidden GEM! Starting with the impeccable hospitality, following with the welcoming, quaint, cozy atmosphere, then leading up to the amazing food!!! They specialize in two cuisines of Halal Chinese & Indian. Both are fantastic, I steer more toward the Indian Cuisine because being an Executive Chef myself and living in the Columbus Metro area it seems to be challenging to truly find the real deal in Authentic Indian Cuisine. Now I I know I will not need to search any further in the Columbus area for the authenticity of true Indian dishes. One of the dishes I want to make mention of is the Chicken Curry, the curry sauce has a unique & floral taste due to the combination of sweet and savory spices…I myself tasted hints of Cinnamon, Cardamom & Clove giving it a sweet undertone along with Cumin, Turmeric & Bay leaves adding a deep savory, earthy taste…and there is a flavor I can’t put my finger…but, that must be their “secret” ingredient that takes this dish to a 5+ star rating!!! And I need to also mention the OUTSTANDING Samosa (ALL 3 flavors) are top notch along with the refreshing Green Chutney dipping sauce. I HIGHLY recommend checking out this diamond in the rough! A GIANT shout out to the TIKKA N’ KABAB staff…you definitely will see me again sooner...

Sorry but I cant give them a pass on this one. I ordered pickup through door dash. They didn't start the order until I got there. As annoying as that is I'm not going to hold that against them and just review the food. The samosas were the most bland that I've ever had in my entire life. It's like they put the veggies in with no seasoning. I've had better from the frozen section in the grocery store. I didnt finish them. For some reason they also tasted like funnel cakes. Funnel cakes are delicious but not exactly what I want my samosas to taste like. The raita was a bit off. I found that there were no veggies inside of it like traditional raita. Probably what ruined the flavor profile since it was just yogurt. Now for the main course: My chicken biryani. Also a bit of a disappointment. Biryani is traditionally a spicy dish. Though everyone has their own take, this is the first biryani that didnt even tingle my tongue. Even worse it seems like they took their chinese fried rice and then added indian seasonings to it. This caused the Indian flavor to be overwritten by fried rice. Again fried rice is tasty, not what I want my biryani to taste like. Flavor profile aside, at least the food tastes fresh. That's the only saving grace here. Maybe their Chinese food is better, but I'll get my...

NOTE: Photo is my leftovers, not the actual dish. I was hungry and excited and forgot to take a "before".

This was my second meal at the restaurant. The first was amazing with just my son and I, and so I vowed to return with my wife. We did today and it was every every bit as good as last time.

Both the veggie and lamb samosas were hot, fresh and flavorful.The goat jalfrez curry was awesome, and was spiced to the exact level I requested. I brought a friend with us too who is a vegetarian, and he was very happy with his meal, and that there's another restaurant in the area with a wide variety of vegetarian options.

While my wife and daughter enjoyed their meals, despite not venturing into the Indian faire. The fried wontons we're good, but while the wonton soup was good soup it wasn't what would be expected of "wonton soup". Still, the combo fried rice was good, and the beef lo mein was exceptionally good.

Again I made the mistake of ordering the naan though. Not that it wasn't absolutely amazing, but the fact I was so stuffed already I ended up having to share most of it with everyone and taking some the last two pieces home as leftovers for my son.

Will be back again, and will continue to work my way...