The Shahi Grill - Indian Food Lawrenceville — Restaurant in Georgia

I wanted to leave a hearty review for Shahi Grill simply because this place deserves it. I am a food critic at heart and have had my share of very tasty experiences. And whenever I try a new Indian place, I have high hopes that it will be a knockout. I will say - although their plastic serving utensils and dinnerware made us skeptical, seeing other Indo-Pak's dining there made us hopeful that we had possibly found a gem. Shahi Grill was a total surprise and I can't wait to share what we had!

Chicken Samosas - Crunchy and flavorful. Gone in 60 seconds.

Chicken Corn Soup - A bit too peppery for me, but it was still tasty. My Dad gobbled it up.

Garlic Naan - Soft, flavorful, and the perfect chew. You get a good sized portion for the price too, so definitely order some for your meal.

Butter Chicken - I was about to order the Tikki Masala, but the sweet lady taking our order told me that there's a "medium" spice level to it. Well, unfortunately, medium spice scares the ba-jesus out of me, so I went with her suggestion, the Butter Chicken. What a win! Not spicy at all, just TONS of flavor! My peeps thought that mine was the best of the 3 entrees. They scooped their Naan into the Butter Chicken sauce and moaned with every bite. There wasn't a drop left of it in the container.

Open Fire Grill Chicken Boti - Cooked perfectly, delicious flavor, and so moist. My dad got this served over saffron rice. He loved it!

Shahi Malai Chicken - This chicken was some of the most tender and flavorful chicken I've had in a whiiiiiiiiiiiiile. If I could beg the chef for this marinade recipe, I would....and I'd make it week after week. I think the flavor of this was my personal favorite. I'm still burping it up, and loving it. haha

There's NO doubt that we'll be ordering from here again. So grateful this is right around the corner from us. This was the neighborhood gem we were looking for. THANK YOU to the chefs back there in the kitchen. Please add some vegetables to your menu if you're reading this, but other than that - don't change...

We ordered pickup on a Friday evening. I called and ordered via the phone, but there are a few different places you can order online. The only negative I can say is that they told me it would only be 30-40 mins and it took about 50. The food, however made up for that transgression, and it also gave me a chance to walk around the attached grocery store/"Bazaar"

Food: ($50 total) We ordered the Chicken Tikka, Beef Samosas, 4 orders of Naan (which is waay to much but leftover naan isn't a bad thing), and Chicken Kadahi, which is the best Indo/pak dish I've ever put in my face. We ordered a couple garlic naan and a couple chili, garlic naan, but once we got them home, we couldn't really tell the difference which isn't terrible as it was just a vehicle to shovel curry into our faces. Pro tip #1: With each entree order you can choose between side of rice or two pieces of naan. A single side of of naan is $3 and a side of rice is $3, so if you're only getting one entree but want both naan and rice, get the 2 pieces of naan with the entree and an extra side of rice. Pro tip #2: The Naan re-heats really well in the toaster, but it is huge so I had to tear it into pieces that were small enough to fit.

Atmosphere: They have a grocery store that you actually have to walk through to get to the restaurant. When we went there was nobody dining in the restaurant, but there were quite a few that came to pick up orders. I think they have a AYCE buffet on Sunday's but they require reservations for it. We haven't tried it, but...

I was in the mood for Chicken Tikka Marsala and had never been here before even though I lived close. Finally went in and was very impressed with the food quality.

If there were a reason to lose a star, it would be that the pricing is a tad steep. $14 for the Marsala, Rice and Naan. The Marsala itself was only $8, but they charged extra for rice and then extra for a side of naan.

Or maybe I could take away a star for the complete lack of atmosphere. It's set up like a mom.and pop barbecue, has plasticware, and there is no music. So you sit in the quiet with your styrofoam plates and plastic forks and eat amazingly good food.

So while I would give them 5 stars just for the food, I realize that it would be way too generous if people went there expecting a 5 star experience. It's not. But the food is fantastic.

EDIT: So I went a second time to get the Marsala again and got it to go to avoid the ambiance and just eat at home. This time around it was gross. The container of Marsala was.mostly oil and the taste was completely different than the first time. So there is obviously a major consistency issue, so I had to take another star away. I may give them another chance, but this time...