Laree Adda - Indian & Pakistani Restaurant — Restaurant in Jersey City

Very disappointed with the service my family and I received here. Please see attached the photo of our main server - that has some sort of power trip issue.

We walked into a half empty restaurant and weren’t even greeted with a hi or hello just how many people & if we had a reservation. We stated we did not and he told us to go wait outside while they discussed if they had space to seat us or not. Mind you it’s raining and the restaurant was half empty, plenty of space for us and we had 2 children and 2 toddlers with us. As we are walking outside he tells us again go wait outside and it was very rude - why are you telling us to go if you see us going? It felt as he was trying to push us out the restaurant and definitely was not hospitable at all. We overlooked this issue as we drove from out of the state and just wanted to eat and not walk around in the rain.

Later on these four individuals also come into the restaurant without reservations and instead of having them wait outside he sat them down and even greeted them and was very polite and nice to them, see picture below as they are waiting INSIDE. Not sure why we weren’t given this type of hospitality given we spent almost $200 and were forced to give a tip (automatic gratuity) which he honestly didn’t even deserve a dollar of my money.

I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone even the chef was so off putting. He kept pouting bc we were taking pics of the indoor tandoor which is a clear glass they have built - literally so we can see the tandoor rotis being built. He told the waiter to tell us not to take pictures of his face which we didn’t and told the rest of our family but even when they clearly were taking pics of JUST the tandoor the other workers were walking around and told us again not to take pics of the chef… several times. I don’t understand why you would even space a clear glass window where everyone can see inside if it’s such an issue. Either place a sign asking people not to take pics at all or just cover it entirely or just get a different chef who’s not embarrassed/ashamed to be making roti!

Overall this place did NOT pass the vibe test and the waiter should def be fired or get some training at the very least. Don’t work in customer service if you don’t like people, it’s really that simple.

We didn’t cause any issues at the restaurant or even make a fuss about anything. But again definitely would not recommend and you have to go to the counter for every order, very annoying if I want to add to my order while I’m eating. They also did not refill the waters until we asked them to. When the tip is already included they don’t bother checking up or actually doing this job.

There are many better desi restaurants to spend your money on, I recommend going...

I first came to this restaurant in late 2021, I had an amazing time with the service, that I came back another time, and had the pleasure of enjoying the very same experience as I had before.

However, tonight when I came there with a party of 7 including myself, I did not experience that. The waitress appeared to have this attitude that she absolutely did not want to be there. I had the pleasure of experiencing the sheer incompetence of the waitress. The problem lies where the waitress was in a rush to take our order, and then about ten minutes later she brings out the food luke warm (for a better lack of terminology).

Approximately 20 minutes later, my wife and I walked to the counter to order our main courses, as the waitress began to take our order, she walked away, and began speaking to the chef, who in turn told her that us that the “kitchen is closed.”

She then comes back and tells my wife and I this. And we began arguing with the waitress about her not communicating that to us prior at 9:00pm. The waitress then tells us to speak to the chef. The chef approached in a very rude manner, and stated the kitchen is closed and that we should take our party of 7 elsewhere. I then advised that there absolutely no communication AT ALL between the waitress and our table. The chef in turn, told the waitress to take our order.

We were close being finished with our meal, the waitress has the absolute audacity of approaching our table due to a review that one diners that was with me left, and stated “Can you please remove the review, my boss is going to fire me, and I can give you anything complimentary.” To her surprise we didn’t give her an answer. She came back approximately 5 minutes later and attempted to bribe us with gulab jamun, which to be honest was extremely disrespectful and disappointing at...

I'd love to give Laree Adda more stars. I liked the food, but most likely, we won't be coming back - for one issue only.

First, what we liked: The biryani rice was flavorful, and the plain basmati was perfectly cooked—soft and well-hydrated. My wife ordered Chicken Tikka Masala and the Masala sauce, requested extra spicy, was the highlight: bold, flavorful, and served in a generous portion that gave us leftovers, which reheated beautifully. The person who prepared it hit the spicier tones very well.

Now the weaker points: The first one is trivial. The tap water was lukewarm, which is not ideal on a warm day. While I didn't mind the plastic cups, the warm water wasn't refreshing. But the real deal-breaker for us was the exclusive usage of dark poultry meat (legs, drumsticks). This can be understood with biryani, as the longer preparation might dry out chicken breasts too much, but for Tikka Masala, Kormas and other heavier sauces we prefer white meat, as it pairs better and offers a lighter, drier texture that we find more enjoyable. Plus, white meat creates a slightly more elevated, "cleaner" and "upscale" experience. Not to mention better nutrition, as white meat gives better quality protein and less fat. (We are Europeans by origin, and love and grew up on the "westernized" Indian cuisine that utilizes more white meat. In terms of Chicken Tikka - which actually is a Western, Indo-British invention - our preference is not altogether invalid.)

In the end, while many may prefer dark meat, it’s not for us. The food was still enjoyable, and we finished it all (we don't avoid dark meat like a plague, when it's served to us). But we won’t be returning due to this personal preference. It's a shame. Nevertheless, I would still heartily recommend Laree Adda to anyone who would not view this...