Shalimar Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Indianapolis

First time visiting Shalimar tonight and we totally agree with others that it is the best Indian food in Indy. Since moving here in Sept 2021, we have tried all of the restaurants on Lafayette Rd (maybe 4+), 86th, 82nd, Carmel, Virginia Ave, and even Plainfield…none of them are even close in terms of taste and consistency. We had pretty much given up on Indian food here and would drive to West Lafayette to Taste of India to get our curry fix.

The service was excellent…attentive and friendly. Without a doubt, they genuinely care about each guest’s experience. The restaurant itself is clean and comfortable.

Our standard order is: veggie samosas, garlic naan, fish masala (spicy), aloo gobi (extra spicy), and sweet lassi.

I always get frustrated when other restaurants serve bland/mild food after I specifically request extra spicy. The guys at Shalimar actually listened to us (and believed us) when we asked for extra spicy.

The masala sauce was tangy, creamy, and thick (obviously they used heavy cream) like it should be. The aloo gobi was spot on…the potatoes and cauliflower were perfectly cooked (not undercooked or overcooked…a challenging task it seems). The garlic naan was outstanding!

To be fair/balanced, the one thing that I would suggest to give a little attention to is the veggie samosas. The filling was a little on the bland side and the pastry was a bit oily. They were ok but not great. Of course, everyone has their own preferences. ;)

Overall…a solid 4.8 out of 5-stars. So excited that we don’t have to drive an hour for good Indian food. :)

Update…third visit on May 10th. Outstanding experience! The food was incredibly delicious, and the service was amazing. They made our dishes xtra spicy (yeah, they listen to your spice level requests!). Also, we tried Bhatura...

Shalimar was the first Indian restaurant I had tried (locally) when I first moved to Indy 8 years ago. I remember it had snowed quite a bit so my friend and I opted to walk, and when we arrived the restaurant was very slow because of the weather. We weren’t entirely sure what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised when we walked in at how quaint the place was. It really did feel like we had been invited in for dinner and they had set the table for us. We weren’t sure what we wanted, so we opted to split the Vegetarian Thali, which means that we basically got to try a little bit of everything that was vegetarian on the menu. The food came out on silver platters, course by course. We were beyond impressed with the presentation and the service. I think we both left so full that we weren’t sure if we’d be able to make the trek back home on foot. I’ve been coming back to Shalimar consistently ever since and I’ve never once been disappointed. I’ve dined in, carried out, and more recently have opted for delivery via DoorDash. Each time the experience has exceeded expectations, which I don’t think many restaurants can say for all aspects of ordering (dine in, carry out, and delivery). I’ll recommend Shalimar to anyone looking for local...

First time i went there was last night, and it was AMAZING! The food, the experience, and location is prime. Me and my sister got samosas that were perfect sized and absolutely delicious, it came with 3 sauces and all of them were great! We got the chicken tikki masala and one of the vegetarian dish that we described to them and they got it perfect (don’t remember the name). The portion size may seem small but it’s actually exactly perfect portions. The garlic naan was great too! Vivek took care of us and made the experience memorable. We were fasting for Ramadan and he waited till we could break it to bring the food out, he knew exactly what dishes we wanted by description, and he was friendly with great conversation from the moment we sat till we left. Sometimes i don’t like eating in broad ripple because parking can be hard to find, shalimar is in a plaza with a lot of parking which is also a benefit. 10/10 i would highly...