Nirvana Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Corvallis

We love Indian food so as we were passing through Corvallis we were very happy to see that Corvallis now has a couple of selections for Indian restaurants. After reading the reviews, we selected Nirvana as the one we would try. Upon entering, we were impressed with how clean the restaurant was, very neat and orderly, but didn't have a lot of Indian decorum. The Hostess (also our server) was quick to greet and seat us, then returned to take our order. She was quick, efficient, and very pleasant. The wait for our food was pretty quick (about 10 minutes - pretty quick for Indian food). I ordered the Chicken Makhani and my Wife ordered the Navarattan Korma, along with a plain Naan and she had the Chai tea. The tea came first, and it was very lightly spiced, so much so that it was more like warm milk. Both of our entrees had a very thin sauce - not the rich and creamy sauce that is the bedrock of Indian food. The flavor on my dish was very good, but my Wife's had a little too much of a spice called Mehti, giving it kind of a strange, almost floral flavor. The Naan was great, so we used it to soak up some of the sauce. Overall, I would say that the food wasn't the best we had ever eaten, but it also wasn't the worst, so I rated the food as a 3, the service was great, so rated that a 5, and the cleanliness of the restaurant was impressive, but lacking decorations, therefore a 4. I don't think we will return, but I wish the...

First time here after living at the opposite end of Corvallis for a long time and finally getting it together to go. I read the reviews before going and want to provide the following as a response to other reviews I've seen:

1. It was not too salty. I do not cook with a lot of salt myself, but I actually added a small amount of salt at one point and I thought that brought out the flavors a bit better. Just a little. So it seems like the people claiming there was too much salt have won, probably to everyone else's detriment.
2. I got it spicy and it was excellent. This was for dinner, so I can't speak for the buffet, but this was plenty spicy.
3. The rice was not short-grained, as implied in some reviews. It was not wet or mushy. It's rice. They didn't mess it up. I thought it was quite good. Maybe those reviews that mention a short-grained rice or whatever are from the days of pandemic shortages. The rice was very good.

I had lamb samosas (with two very tasty sauces) and the spicy chicken makhani with garlic naan. They spiced up the makhani in a couple of ways, including adding fresh peppers. It was all very tasty.

I have no complaints about the atmosphere, per se, except that it's in a mall. So I gave that part 3 stars. Parking was obviously abundant, but who cares? I rode my bike because the whole town is five miles from one end to the other. Cars kill cities. But I digress. This should be the downtown Indian restaurant,...

I Love this restaurant.

I have been eating at Nirvana for years, both lunch buffet and off the dinner menu. The two are different and I find that I have to add the right amount of hot sauce to amplify the flavors that are present in the buffet offerings. This is not the case with the ala carte options off the menu, but understandable because of the varied palates of the customers. I find the flavors succulent, savory and diverse and always want to eat more, but am sorely limited by my own capacity. The Chicken Tikka, yellow Daal and Sag Palak are definite favorites for myself and my family. Initially, as a novice to Indian cuisine, it took a while to gain an appreciation. However, now I can't wait to eat there. My daughters have found the same intrigue and choose Nirvana for birthday dinners; perhaps unusual for younger patrons.

The family atmosphere is pleasant and we have found the service always to be courteous and gracious. The brief hiatus has given us a chance to try other Indian restaurants in Portland as well as locally. Nirvana is still our favorite and we anxiously await the opening of the...