Aahar — Restaurant in New York

This is the second time I've been here because the amount of food you get for the price makes it worth it. It's decent food at an affordable price that will leave you feeling satisfied. The staff have been super friendly and attentive to my needs both times I have visited

I went for the pre-fix lunch special and got an order of Butter Chicken with aromatic basmati rice, Cocktail samosa (veggie), Garlic naan, and Mango Lassi for under $25.

Food: Butter Chicken: I told the waiter to make it on the spicier side when I placed my order but I received the opposite. It was on the sweeter side which was okay but just a little disappointing. The butter chicken was flavorful and had a nice creamy mouth feel. I did find it to be more on the tomato-y side which overpowered the rest of the spices. The chicken wasn't dry and had great flavors. It was pretty decent but again I wish it had a little more heat to it. The basmati rice - although fragrant and tasty it could have been a bit softer with a little more moisture. 4.5/5

Garlic Naan: By far one of the best garlic naan I've tasted in a very long time. The dough was fully cooked through, super soft with crispy pockets, and the garlic was not too overpowering. 5/5

Cocktail Samosa: The exterior was light, crispy, and golden to perfection. The insides were stuffed with lightly seasoned potatoes and peas. The stuffing could have used more seasoning, although I did taste the cardamon a lot of the other spices didn't come through. What really saved this appetizer for me was the mint sauce (hari sauce), it was bright, fresh, and brought it all together. The tamarind sauce was too sweet for me and just sort of sat there. 4/5

Mango Lassi: This drink was sweet, sour, and extra thiccc. It was creamy and delicious, but it did take me at least 10 minutes to get it all down. Luckily I had a glass of water near by to help it go down with ease. 4/5

Service: Very friendly staff that will check in on you once in a little while to make sure everything is to your liking.

Decor: Dimly lit restaurant with a clean and cozy atmosphere. Plenty of space for large and small groups. The restrooms were cleaned and well maintained.

Overall I did enjoy my food, I left with a full belly and satisfied with my order. The prices are affordable for the area and the food is decent.

I'll def visit...

Absolutely waste of money w.r.t quantity, taste and staff (manager).

Visited this restaurant looking at google reviews. I am sad to say but honestly this restaurant doesn’t worth to visit.

Before visiting we called to check if restaurant is open. We were told yes it is opened and we must to reserve seat prior to visit, so we did the reservation at 2:00pm. We arrived at restaurant at 1:47pm; their we faced a arrogant manager who questioned our reservation in arrogant manner. We had to convince and explain him that yes !! it was really we who booked the seat 😀😀. He had no clue about bookings 🤦🏻‍♂️

Later this same guy was handling orders and customer. Whatever we tried to order, this man was trying convince us for another dish or menu; we started wondering why was the menu kept if this man has to suggest the dish 😀.

Finally we ordered

1. Palak chat - waste of money
2. chicken Chettinad - waste of money
3. veg jalfrezi - absolute waste
4. asked for butter roti and they served non butter.
5. tandgi kabab - doesn’t worth a penny and this restaurant has his custom version which is waste.

All the above items weren’t worth a quantity for price charged and absolutely taste less.

Later, In middle of lunch, we tried to order biryani, the manager arrogantly says it will take 20mins as his kitchen is overloaded. Soon we heard him saying the same thing to all customers who were trying to put Adhoc orders. come on; you are running a restaurant and not doing home cooking.

We understand generally number of tables are equivalent to capacity of people restaurant can serve or handle and if it can’t! then they must reduce the capacity or foot fall; Instead of justifying customers on load they have and this really doesn’t interest customers.

Overall it was worst experience and I would never recommend to visit...

I am not a big fan of giving negative reviews but I felt compelled to write this. I felt like we were treated unfairly by the owner(or could be the manager) for our race (I am a Tamil from India).

The red flag was there right from the word go but I was quite oblivious to it. First when we asked about a Fixed menu, the owner told us that, we are not allowed to share the food. I left it just like that but my friend was taken aback and thought that it was quite rude.

We went in and ordered the food. He then came and asked, "Are you guys from Chennai?" He might have guessed based on us conversing in Tamil. And then kept repeating, "you guys will like it that way isn't it", stressing on the word "you guys". I was also really taken aback now!! That was quite blatant.

Then came the final nail. No one came to offer us water until then. The guy came and asked, "don't you guys want water?", To which, we said, "yes. Water without ice" and he said, the water we serve is unfiltered, so are you ok with it? I was now sure that he was harassing us. His offer was to provide bottled water for a price. More than the money, it was the treatment that felt let down.

Sadly all of this was dished out to us, not by a foreigner but a guy who's Indian or of Indian Origin.

I suggest folks to be vigilant. If more people are getting the same treatment then I would recommend avoiding the restaurant...