VEGZ — Restaurant in Washington

Shocked (and feeling a little gaslit tbh) to see such a mediocre place get such rave reviews—their clientele is clearly not made up of people well-versed in Indian food. Glad it makes the yuppies happy, but as an Indian, this is one of the worst Indian restaurants I’ve ever been to. We wanted to get a good feel for the menu so we ordered quite a bit for 3 people, reviews for each item follow:

Samosas: 4/5–tasted fresh, decent masala with amchur, decent chutney, fair price

Palak chat: 4/5–satisfying crunch and good flavor, would actually recommend

Vada: 4/5–crisp exterior, moist interior, good with chutney

Gobi Manchurian: 0/5–inedibly salty. The table next to us had the same issue, they sent theirs back to be remade and they still couldn’t even eat the second batch. We couldn’t eat ours either. The cauliflower was in tiny pieces which increased the surface area for soggy batter soaked in salty sauce. Would not recommend, also would avoid the gobi dosa since it seems to use the same cauliflower as its filling.

Masala dosa: 3.5/5–dosa itself was actually crispy and nice, maybe the best DC has, but the potatoes were too mushy and tasted waterlogged. Still enjoyable but definitely needed the accompanying chutney. Sambar was decent but not worthy of eating alone—it needs more tang.

Naan: 1/5–Premade dense pita-bread style naans? Total rip off—at least get frozen tandoori naan if you’re going to try to scam people. Trader Joe’s has better naan than this and you can get 5 of them for around the price of one tiny garbage naan from Vegz.

Palak paneer: 2/5–again, what is with the oversalted food here? Trader Joe’s palak paneer is better than this. Not enough masala/depth of flavor, just salt. Paneer itself had a nice bouncy texture.

Shahi paneer: 4/5–we actually enjoyed this. The menu only states this has grated paneer so we almost didn’t order it, but it does in fact have cubes of paneer, along with red and green bell peppers which, while not traditional in shahi paneer, did give a nice flavor to the dish. The dish was properly salted and spiced, and it had a nice creaminess and subtle sweetness. Would recommend.

Chole puri: 3/5—puri was good and tasted fresh and crispy, which we enjoyed. Chole was just okay. Chickpeas were not tender and creamy like they should be, and the masala/gravy was heavy on the tomato when it should be a more onion-based gravy.

Uttapam: 3.5/5–soft, fluffy, but soggy on the bottom. Would have loved a little gunpowder or other masala on top for more flavor. Corn and carrots were a strange addition—would have preferred more traditional red onion, tomato, and green chilies on top.

Mango lassi: 3/5, quite sour, not creamy, no cardamom, tasted like canned mango pulp mixed with a little yogurt. Still drinkable, but a very textbook average mango lassi.

I brought my parents here while they visited from out of town, and I was embarrassed to waste a precious dinner slot on such a mediocre place. I might (emphasis on might) come back for dosa or palak chaat but nothing else was worth it.

Our server was friendly, attentive, and accommodating, and we did appreciate her for that. The restaurant is quite small and very homely and scrappy—this would be cuter if the food was actually good.

TL; DR: would not...

I can hardly express how much I love this place...Vegz is an absolute delight, with its delicious and flavor-packed dishes and super-casual and laid-back vibe! And, as if that wasn't enough to seal the deal, everything here is vegetarian, and there are plenty of vegan options as well!

I first visited Vegz with a friend for dinner, and I admit that I wasn't expecting much when I first walked into the tiny restaurant, tucked away in a basement in the middle of AdMo with only a few tables and plastic chairs. Despite its small size and relatively utilitarian furnishings, Vegz delivered both massive portions and flavor. My friend and I underestimated how large the portions would be (especially given how cheap everything was), so we ordered the masala dosa, dal makhani, and chole puri. It was way too much food for the two of us, but, thankfully, the leftovers tasted just as amazing the next day.

The masala dosa is a classic for a reason. First of all, it's MASSIVE -- way bigger than any dosa I've ever seen, and it was absolutely delicious. The potatoes were fragrant, wonderfully spiced, and soft and hearty. They paired wonderfully with the paper-thin and crispy dosa, as well as the super-flavorful sambal. Every now and then, I also dipped the dosa in the chickpeas from the chole puri or in the dal makhani, and it also paired wonderfully with both of those...it was honestly just so warm and comforting, and it soaked up the flavors of anything that it was dipped in.

The chole puri and dal makhani were also delicious! They were both packed with flavor, with the perfect balance of spices, and I really appreciated that both were dairy-free (and they were both so wonderfully rich and decadent that I definitely didn't miss the dairy at all). The chickpeas were definitely the highlight of the chole puri; I enjoyed the puffed bread that it came with, but it was a bit too greasy for my preference. Even so, it was delightfully soft and soaked up the delicious chickpea curry perfectly. The dal makhani was incredible with both the masala dosa and the basmati rice that it came with, and was equally delicious that night at the restaurant and the next day for lunch.

Vegz has quickly become one of my favorite Indian restaurants in DC, and I am beyond excited for my next excuse to hop over to AdMo to give them another shot. The portions and prices are literally unbeatable, and I still can't get over how delightfully light and crispy their dosa was or how spectacularly flavorful each and...

Was a simple, nice restaurant. We ordered the paneer makhani, a naan, idly vada, a chole puri, a plain dosa and a salt Lassi. The dosa was the highlight, I asked them for an extra crispy dosa, and they did not disappoint at all. It was crispy and crunchy, not chewy at all - a major plus for me. The sambhar was decent, not a fan of the chutneys at all. The tomato chutney was vinegary and the coconut chutney was either frozen or used frozen cocunt that wasn't thawed completely (I make a lot of.coconut chutney from frozen coconut and have made this mistake a couple times and am picky about my chutney) The idly and vada were average, the salt Lassi was more like chaas than a Lassi, taste-wise it was a good chaas. The paneer makhani was creamy and buttery, the paneer was super soft, we really enjoyed it. The chole could use some more flavor and punch, it fell flat. The puri was one of the best I have had in the US, it was rolled thin and cooked all the way through, no half cooked semi-raw dough on top of the bottom layer. It wasn't too oily either, it was a really impressive puri overall. The naan was more like a pita flatbread than a naan, didn't like it was cooked in a Tandoor - personally not a fan. The service was pretty quick, the food was fresh and they were very attentive and stopped by multiple times to ensure we were taken care of. I would definitely recommend this place for dosas...