RUCHI'S INDIAN CUISINE | Houston, TX — Restaurant in Houston

We have ordered takeout from this place frequently, but had never gone to dine in. We went with a group of 6 people and they were able to accommodate us easily.

We had a great time overall! The food was wonderful and the staff were friendly and helpful. The samosas were hot and crispy, but the chicken 555 was one of the best appetizers I have ever had. The chicken had such a good crunch in the outside without being dry, and the sauce was delicious. The mango lassi had more of a yogurt flavor than others I have tried which I liked.

We ordered all of our dishes medium which had excellent flavor, but wasn’t so hot you were sweating. We had the madras curry with lamb which was tasty, but our favorite curry was the methi curry. The bowl was scraped clean when we finished. That is gonna be my go to dish from now on. The garlic naan was also SO GOOD, so crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. We liked the paneer biryani quite a bit as well, lots of good spices and flavors. We haves tried other biryanis here in the past but the paneer is our favorite. We also got a dosa which was HUGE, interesting flaky texture and quite tasty. We also liked chapati, we just preferred the garlic naan.

We tried the Indian salad which was a platter of veggies with some spice mix sprinkled on top, very cooling and it paired well with the other dishes. We did have the tandoori platter (non veg) which was a special that weekend, we liked the tandoori chicken drumsticks and the shrimp, but didn’t love the fish or the other chicken dish as they were dry, but still with good flavor.

The presentation overall was gorgeous and the decor was cute. Small space with about 10-15 tables, but it was utilized well. The parking lot is small but we had no difficulty finding parking.

We will...

I’ve always passed by this spot so I thought I’d give it try and I am pleased to say that I will be going here from now on when I am craving Indian food. This is a family-run restaurant and at first, I was worried that not many people come here since it’s tucked away but during my dinner, I was happy to see many people came by for pick-up orders and a decent number of customers came to sit down to eat. The restaurant is decorated nicely inside and can seat a decent number of people. My friend and I ended up getting the chicken biryani, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, and coconut ice cream for dessert. The chicken biryani’s portion is generous! The chicken was a tad bit dry but the flavors were all there and went very well with the two sauces that came with. As for the chicken tikka masala, the presentation was well put together and it was absolutely delicious! But what really impressed me was the garlic naan. The initial bite was nice and crispy and is followed by a nice warm soft/doughy texture. And with the garlic and cilantro on top paired with the curry, I was blown away. The coconut ice cream was a great way to end the delicious meal. It was creamy/rich and I loved the dried rose petal and crushed pistachios on top. Just a heads up, they serve bottled water but it was no charge (though I’m not sure if it would have been extra if I wanted more). The service was welcoming and relatively fast which was great. Overall, I’m very happy to have finally tried this local spot and am looking forward to...

RIPOFF! You want $17 for an "entrée" that is miniature in size? Consider calling it a sampler/appetizer perhaps??? Have you even compared your portions to other restaurants and Indian restaurants in town? Please take a look at the pictures I am posting. Their so called entrées are a 4x4 inch serving container with a 1 inch depth. Imagine what kind of food fits in there, For comparison, I have a 500ml water bottle next to it. Wow...... this is Texas and everything in Texas is supposed to be BIG or BIGGER except......this restaurant with their rebellious portions screaming small and smaller. I am going to stick to Hilcroft's Indian restaurants in future. You go to a place like Longhorn Steakhouse or Denny's or anything similar just look at what $ 17 will get you. They give you your entrée and a choice of 3 sides with no hesitation to give you extra condiments like ranch or thousand island dressing etc. Simply providing good tasting food doesn't do justice to a restaurant. A restaurant is an all round experience with ambiance, food quality, courtesy of the servers etc. Sorry to say it was a total disappointment at your restaurant. Another thing I learnt here was that the owners keep the tips. So next time if you eat here and wish to tip, I would recommend paying the servers cash instead of tapping that fancy 15%, 18% or 25% button on the card machine. That tells you a lot about the kind of management they have. Basically you guys pay your servers out of the tips they receive eh? Bravo! NEVER...