Biryani City — Restaurant in Hanover Township

My family has been eating at this place since they opened quite a few years ago. It is not a super fancy place but it gets loud and always lots of Indians eating there. It's an Indian restaurant! Obviously, the food is genuine and the Native Indians like it. They give you a bunch of choices when you order dinner in terms of mild medium or hot American, or mild medium or hot Indian. I gather that hot American is not nearly as hot as hot Indian. Never had the courage to try it. If you have kids with you it is super fun to order the dosa which is like a gigantic crepe thin pancake curled up and everyone pulls slices off it and dips it into the various tips that they put on the table. All the dips are delicious and it's an appetizer that won't make you full before your main meal. Mainly it's fun! If you order the main dish and namesake Biryani itself, then expect a lot of spiced rice with egg and herbs and whatever meat or veggies over the center of it. When I get shrimp Biryani I always ask for more of the extra white sauce which is not heavy and has onions and spice in it. Fan favorites like butter chicken and chicken tikka our wonderful. You can tell that the chicken is cooked fresh and hasn't been sitting in a pot for days or being reheated. Sometimes they are a little stingy on the rice so when they serve your entree just ask for extra rice right away. The service in here can be a little spotty and slow, and some of the waiters really don't understand English much, but the friendliness of the staff make up for that. The main guy usually walking around and sitting at the front cash register is super nice. We ordered takeout him about once every week or two all through covid, mostly because we liked their food, but also because we didn't want to see them go out of business and support them during a difficult time. This is a good place to go on a date except that it is loud but that's because people love it. It's also a great place to bring a big group and share each other's dishes. Definitely try the mango lassi. Even if your service is a little slow or gets messed up, keep in mind that these guys probably work for peanuts so leave a reasonable tip. I will always be a faithful customer. No one turned their noses up and you can dress up or dress down, but the food is...

We were told to go to this resturant by several Indian coworkers who said Biryani had the most authentic Indian food in the valley. It was very crowded (We went on a Friday night around 7:45) but we were sat within 5 minutes. The menu was funny. Everything on the menu was described in a comical way, I really appreciated the humor. The service was prompt, but the server spoke incredibly fast & had a thick accent, so just be prepared to throw on your listening ears or say "I'm sorry can you repeat that slower" about 50 times. I was slightly leary because none of the waiters wrote down orders, but everything came out relatively fast & correct. For 2 "ethnic" sodas (a lemon lime & a cola like soda, an appetizer (fried seasoned cottage cheese) & 2 entrees (chicken curry & goat biryani) & an order of garlic naan our meal was about $45. We came home with about 1/4 of the appetizer because the portion was literally a mountain, also about 1/2 of my goat biryani, again the portion was litterally a mountain. My husband finished all of his curry but he was very full & said he probably should've stopped eating & brought some home aswell. The waitor never checked back in after we got our food. I know this is more so the norm everywhere else but the U.S. however, it's still unusual to experience that here. There was also confusion as to where to pay when you were done. The emoloyees seemed weird when we asked them as if it were obvious, but it wasn't. My only other slight issue is that I did not like their naan nearly as much as Nawaab in Bethlehem. Biryani's naan is more on the thin & crispier side while Nawaab has thicker more "pillowy" naan. Other than that we had a pleasant experience and we'll definitely go back to try some...

EDIT: I went there recently got veg munchurian an aloo ghobi and got so sick I got vertigo and nauseau. I thought maybe it was something else I ate so I laid down to heal and got up again and ate the leftovers. I got sick all over again. I did like them in the past but I don't know what that was.

The onion and spinach pakoras are crisp and delightful. They come in various shapes and are pressed and squeezed by hand giving each it's own form. They tasted full and crisp and delicious. I thought they were a little too spicy but that can be changed with a request.

My friend got the Paneer Tikka Masala. Unbelievable flavor. Thick, rich sauce with form cheese cubs perfectly seasoned with onion and other spices. The dish itself is worthy of 5 stars.

The garlic naan was crisp on the bottom yet pleasantly chewy on the top. There was actual garlic on the naan which in addition to the oil and cilantro gave the naan a true garlic flavor. Probably the best Naan I've had anywhere in the valley.

The mango lassi was nice but very, very thick. Still well flavored but so thick it took effort to slurp it up the straw. It could probably afford to be a little runnier.

The Fish Curry which was my entree, was not the best. The tomato base was not flavorful, the fish tasted like it was thrown into the sauce or of a bag without seasoning or preparation and I couldn't taste any curry.

After the meal I spoke to the chef and staff and complimented them on the meal but mentioned the fish curry needing to be sauteed on onion before preparing the base.

Great, friendly staff. Comfortable atmosphere. I would definitely...