Mehfil Restaurant & Bar - Sterling — Restaurant in Virginia

I'm new to the area and happened upon this restaurant by accident. I just had a glimpse at the online menu nd kabob caught my eye. I didn't realize until I got there that it was an Indian restaurant. It was a late dinner to go and there weren't that many people but boy was I surprised when I walked in. It was a banquet restaurant alright and I could already visualize booking this place for a future occasion.

The host was friendly and took my order. I asked for a few recommendations especially since my husband loves lamb, he suggested which curries would best go with lamb. I ordered my usual go-to butter chicken and I got the lamb with palak curry.

When I got home at first I thought the serving wasn't that much but looks can be deceiving. After digging in I actually had at least 5 more bites left before I surrendered to my full and satisfied belly.

I was a bit nervous when I took my first bite of the butter chicken. It had been so long since I've had it because I hadn't found any place that could compare to the first time I had it which was homemade from a friend. However, this was a different story and to be honest it had been so long since I tasted it that I wasn't quite sure what to even expect. That first bite, it was an explosion of flavor. Sweet at first then a spicy kick, complemented the tender chicken and of course the classic basmati rice.

I didn't get to try my husband's but he seemed to like it. I was to engrossed with my butter chicken.

The only "sad" story here was that I was craving it again the next day but didn't realize they had a break between lunch and dinner service so I had just missed the lunch service.

But oh well, I'm just so grateful to have found this place especially while still being new to the area.

I cannot wait to get that butter...

This really just happened. Where should I start? I'm on a food tour of my new neighborhood. Basically just scratching restaurants off my list which I will never go back to. I'm a little strict. Especially with Indian food since I'm Indian. When I order from a new restaurant, I always order at least one staple dish that any self respecting north Indian restaurant should get right. Like cholle/bhature or mustard saag with corn flower roti (i.e. Saron da saag/Makki di roti). So I ordered a few items and added an order of cholle/bhature. The owner was on the other end of the line and tells me instead of bhature, I should have an Amritsari kulcha. And I thought, ok, even better. I'm from Amritsar - the land of kulcha. Let's see what you got.

So, I got there on time and he tells me that he had made a Kulcha for me, but it wasn't perfect. He's tossing and and start another one. I will have to wait. He's rather make me wait than to serve me a sub par kulcha. Nice! That got my attention.

Then he brought me my food and told ME it's going to be the real thing. That I will not find anything like this in northern Virginia. I thought to myself, "whatever dude. I'm from Amritsar." But then it turned out he's also from Amritsar. So, it's Amritsar vs Amritsar and a kulcha is on the line. I couldn't wait to go home and try this kulch. I had ordered a bunch of other food and all this guy could talk about is the kulcha.

Right before I left, he says to me, "you will be compelled to write a review." And I told him, well see about that. Besides I hate writing...

I went to Mehfil with my family of 6 adults and 2 toddlers for dinner. It was a special occasion and we wanted to go to an Indian restaurant. Mehfil is conveniently located in Manassas near 66 exit and offers a wide variety of popular and some unique Indian and Punjabi dishes. My family truly enjoyed all the variety of dishes we ordered and the best part was the staff and owner's hospitality. For apetizier, we order chicken 65, chicken pakora, sns veggie pakora and for entre we ordered plain naan, qeema naan, goat rogan josh, chef special lahori chicken, tandoori chicken and of course rice comes with entree. For desert, we had ordered kesar kheer and kesar lassi which wre both great. I highly recommend chef special lahori chicken, tandoori chicken to all and especially for kids, chicken pakora seems very good option. They staff were extremely courteous to us and the owner personally came to check on us few times and sought feedback on the food. Everything including the service, ambience and most importantly the food was excellent even though the restaurant had only been opened since a few days after a change in ownership. The restaurant is huge itself plus they also have a separate banquet hall space upstairs. They also have plenty of parking space. I highly recommend anyone looking for northern Indian or Punjabi food to give Mehfil a try, and anyone looking to host parties or celebration they can also reach out to Mehfil. Thank you team Mehfil.My family will be back at Mehfil next time we go out for...