Yaar Spice Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in Maryland

YAAR Spice at Holi DC Festival – Review

If you’re ever lucky enough to catch YAAR Spice — whether at a pop-up like the Holi DC Festival or their brick-and-mortar location — go for it!

My friend and I stopped by their booth today, and everything about the experience was phenomenal. You could feel the good energy immediately — every single staff member, from the cooks to the servers, greeted us with huge smiles. They even made my service dog, Handsome, feel welcome, which meant a lot. The service was not just friendly; it was genuinely warm and made us want to stick around longer.

I ordered the biryani and veggie samosas, and wow — the flavors were incredible. Perfectly spiced without being overwhelming. They also surprised us with fresh roti and a variety of dipping sauces to try for free, which was such a generous touch. Everything tasted authentic and homemade — you can tell they put real heart into their food. I believe they mentioned they’re originally from Mumbai, and it shows in the care and flavors of every dish.

The whole vibe was joyful and welcoming, fitting perfectly with the spirit of Holi. Great food, great people, and unforgettable energy. Can’t wait to visit their permanent location soon!

Highly recommend — five stars...

I went for dinner with my children and ordered onion kulcha with mutter paneer, chicken manchurian, and egg noodles. There were two Spanish ladies at the counter. The shorter lady took my order. While they served everything else, they forgot the onion kulcha.

When I asked about it (since my mutter paneer had been served long before), she replied very rudely, saying that if I wanted, I could take the kulcha home. I explained that since my family was eating at the restaurant, I wanted the kulcha served there. She still did not apologize, and I even noticed them laughing in the kitchen.

Previously, I gave 5-star reviews to this restaurant because the staff was polite and helpful, but this time the service was disappointing. Because of this experience, I am giving...

$20 lunch buffet. For the location and quality, I would say it's a fair/good value. Comes with tea and drinks(soda), which is good on them, and makes the pricing feel even better.

What they have is what you expect, I guess... I especially liked the biryani because it had a clove flavor/aroma on the stronger side, which I prefer. Which I feel is not common in buffet biryanis. I see a lot of places kind of mellow out the flavor to try to be palatable to many people.

I actually finished what they had left of their biryani haha 😅 And it was refilled right away.

People seemed nice and from what I observed, happy to talk with anyone.

I was surprised it had little reviews, and learned they opened recently I think? Hope...