Indian-American cafe — Restaurant in Harrisonburg

Let me start by saying: I came to Indian-American Cafe looking for lunch… and left with spiritual enlightenment, three new taste buds, and a renewed sense of purpose.

I used to be a bland person. I wore khakis unironically. My spice rack had exactly two things: salt and a bottle of cinnamon I bought in 2009. But one fateful Tuesday, I wandered into Indian-American Cafe because Yelp said the butter chicken was “pretty decent.” Friends, Yelp lied. It wasn’t “pretty decent.” It was an experience.

The moment that creamy, tomatoey, perfectly spiced nectar touched my tongue, I saw colors I didn’t know existed. Somewhere in the distance, I swear I heard a sitar solo and the faint whisper of my ancestors cheering me on.

The naan? Fluffier than my childhood teddy bear and warmer than my grandma’s hugs. I used it to soak up every drop of the chicken tikka masala like it was a sacred duty. The samosas were so crispy and flavorful, I briefly considered proposing to one.

I ordered the vindaloo thinking I could handle “medium” spice. I could not. My face turned red, my ears rang, and I may have briefly left my body and hovered near the ceiling. But when I came back down? Clarity. I now understand suffering. I also understand flavor. Worth it.

By dessert (which, by the way, gulab jamun is like doughnut holes that went to private school), I was a changed man. I left that night and immediately texted my ex, forgave my enemies, and signed up for a Bollywood dance class. I even started saying “chai” instead of “chai tea,” like a cultured human.

In conclusion: Indian-American Cafe didn’t just feed me — it rebuilt me. My credit score went up. My plants started thriving. I can moonwalk now. Do I understand how? No. But I attribute it all to this restaurant.

Highly recommend. Don’t wear white. Bring tissues....

This is the definition of mom n pop shop or hole in the wall if you're from the west coast. The food was amazing, so full of flavors!

I got the tiki masala spicy, samosa and side of garlic nann. If you like to cry order it extra spicy as their spice is not as extreme as some places. The samosas were extremely tasty and full bright spices. A little on the dry side but they serve it with a yummy tiki style sauce that has a mild kick. I cant even explain how good the tiki masala was. Best ive ever had. It was thick but not chunky, so creamy and flavor was perfect. I cannot emphasize how important it is to not have your sauce separate the ingredients from the butter in any sauce and this was just perfection ❤️. The garlic nann was so fresh, crispy outside soft inside! Its on the smaller side, think slightly bigger than a dessert plate. I recommend one/two per person if you're like my husband who eats it before, during and after the meal.

My husband got the lamd curry and chicken tandoori and garlic nann The tandoori chicken was so juicy, flavor was very mild compared to other places we have been, and the pieces were definitely made to share. Only think is im used to it being slightly charred. Again different restaurants because still delicious. The curry was definitely something different for my husband as he's not one to try "gamey" meat. He got lamb and loved it. It was cooked perfectly not dry and the curry wasn't overwhelming enough to mask the lamb flavor but spiced and seasoned enough to take the "game" taste away.

Small restaurant, calm quiet vibes with limited but extremely friendly and helpful staff!

Over all the restaurant gets a...

Very disappointed!! Never expected this kind of customer service and food from this restaurant. First disappointment was, we placed an order online via the restaurant’s website but by the time we went to pickup our food it wasn’t ready. On top of it, the staff was so rude, they were constantly saying that they didn’t receive our order…..when we asked them to recheck, the portal showed up our order. Secondly, about the food - we ordered creamy mushroom soup which was not creamy at all and felt like mushroom added to its broth; grilled chicken was tasteless…there was no salt or spices…the chicken was not grilled in fact it was oil fried- the outer layer was so hard, dry, among two pieces one was completely burnt which I couldn’t eat rather than trashing. Tandoori roti wasn’t seemed to be baked in a clay oven (as they mentioned in the menu) in fact it was frozen roti which I buy regularly in Indian grocery store. The curry inside Samosa was so dry but honestly the gravies provided as side were a bit flavorful. Sorry to say that we wouldn’t recommend going back to this...