Bawarchi Biryanis Framingham, MA — Restaurant in Framingham

How to describe Bawarchi's. Biryani is a dish many Southeast Asians have eaten in their homes. It's a magical dish that combines rice, protein, and a spice mix that's a major player.

I will add that I went to Bawarchi's on a Monday night for a siblings birthday. I was sad because I didn't go myself to see how the customer service is or how the food is and that is going to be what this review is about.

On a Monday night I show up with four other people and ask to be seated which is quick but the seating area for 5+ people is near the restrooms and cooking area which I'm going to be honest isn't the best. What really ticks the golden mark of excellence is how the waiter person takes us to the area and asks us to pick any of the three terrible booth options and runs to attend to other people and the online pickups. I stumble around and decide the least bad option for seating and sit as family arrives and is surprised.

Luckly glasses were set on the table and we could grab a water bottle from the other vacant table while we waited. There aren't any menu's so be sure to charge your phone and have a QR reader. The waiter shows up and we ask a few questions and we order, the waiter did go to the chef to answer a question I had, wasn't the best answer but I appreciated what he did. After giving the orders we received the mango lasi in those to-go plastic cups and two cans of soda.

The appetizers arrive which were chicken 65 and the samosas. By all means if you want to try it you can but I didn't find it anyway special. I will say this the chicken 65 is deep fried chicken that had a thin chat masala coating with chat masala sprinkled on top, not the best for people who can't handle spice but otherwise fine for chicken popcorn. The samosas just weren't something I personally found good, from the taste, smell, and texture to the sauces they provided to eat it with, nothing was worth it for me as someone who has eaten spicy, zesty, flavor packed samosas at home and wanted the same. The sauces seemed watered down and made the samosas soggy instead of being a paste or pesto like it should have been, think of the green chutney as wasabai instead of soup.

After the appetizers one entree arrived, you can laugh because it was indeed funny. One entree arrived and it was the malai chicken which WAS AMAZING! the chicken was tender and marinated well and in all it was the sole best thing I ate at Bawarchi's that day.

The two Biryanis arrived about 15-20 minutes later. Remember how I said spices is what make a Biryani and everyone has their own mix and stuff well like the samosas I've had better more often from home but I won't blame them for that, the mix they used wasn't for me and I thought they lacked salt while someone else in my party loved it as it was dry Biryani and has not much masala or stronger flavors. The chicken was also cooked fine for the Biryani so no complaints there but I didn't understand why they added half a boiled egg, never seen that before and it didnt make any sense. Maybe because mom chicken in the bowl and baby chicken on the top? Confusing as heck.

I personally would go just for the Tandoor oven items personally. Maybe your Biryani experience will be different because of the day and how the chef is feeling but that day just wasn't they day. For the strange customer service and passable food I would recommend you visit because so many of your friends and neighbors recommending this place through the roof.

Ohh before I forget I order hot/spicy but not extra hot/spicy. For the Biryani it wasn't actually hot/spicy which for me...

Racist. I was picking up a to go order. It wasn't ready when I arrived. They told me 10-15 minutes. At 15 minutes I went back in. They ignored me. I waited 10 minutes at the counter. I politely said hello to a man standing in the middle of the restaurant doing nothing. I got loud but still friendly saying "hi! Hello?" Dude acted like I wasn't there. Then he offered to help a family that showed up behind me. I held my phone in his face. I have a to go order and I've been waiting. I had stopped being polite. The man had actively ignored me. 3 people had actively ignored me. The lady showed up. She was nice. She said front desk was her responsibility. I said ok so why did he try to wait on them if it's not his job to acknowledge a paying customer. Then the manager came out and told me to cancel my order. No I've been waiting 30 minutes at this point. Give me the order. Really I just wanted a reasonable interaction. He said it wasn't ready. 30 minutes?! I said did you import it from Mumbai? He said yes exactly that. Then he said to cancel my order. I went out to the car. My very large husband went in and they handed the order to him after he yelled at them. Why do I call them racist? Because when an African American is Actively Ignored for a period of time at a restaurant or store Then other people are waited on behind them, one can only read the behavior as racist. They wasted my time and they were outwardly rude. Except for the lady behind the counter. She behaved like a normal person. I should not have to send my large husband in to get an order that was paid for. I don't have to give you my money. There are dozens of places that make the same food equally as well who will acknowledge me like a person standing in space waiting to give them money. All dude had to say was "hi, let me check on that for you...my apologies, it's still not ready" if it was a language issue, acknowledge me and go get someone. Nope that was too much for them to do for the Black lady waiting for over 30 minutes....

Updated 9/8/20: This time we ordered Biryani and their Butter Chicken. I have to say it couldn't have been better. They have improved the customer service, they carefully listened to our last complain and catered to it. I feel that they don't properly note down when orders are mentioned on the phone. If they improve that there will be less mistakes in terms of takeout orders. I am looking forward to going there again.

Update 12/25/19 : We ordered online a family biryani and two Chicken curries, but got Goat in one of the curries. We also mentioned that we need very mild curry, they didn't even try to reduce despite clearly stating.It was super spicy and had goat. Definitely ruined our dinner. I submitted feedback and contacted through email but nobody responded yet. Very disappointed. Because I loved ordering from them. Not only that we ordered online and was given a pick up time of 5:50pm. When we arrived they were clueless, It was 6:20pm by the time they were able to give us the food. For a place with no table of customers, this is pretty late. No attempt from the staff to even apologize for the extended wait really. Poor customer service and quite disappointing for a regular customer. Unless they reach out I may not go back.

Great Biryani, Actually one of the best in Boston area I think. Both spicy and mild Curries were extremely delicious. I always love their freebies ( appetizer/ dessert and some curry some days) with the family pack biryani ( must try) . Reasons why I gave 4 Star are because the service wasn't the best, too much waiting, waiters didn't even come and ask if we needed anything even though the place was empty the day we visited. And the Rasmalai wasn't good but gulab jamun was good but they only served 2 very small gulab jamuns. We tried both paneer and chicken dishes with naan and biryani. They were pretty tasty except the rice that came with Curries (entres) was...