Sangam

I love their evening menu. I don’t recommend the daily buffet. While they do make fresh naan bread, everything else seems to have been sitting for much to long. After 5pm, I’d say GO! It’s amazing. They have been offering a lot of Groupon specials lately too. Definately worth it!

The décor… ugh. Christmas lights? It’s just so tacky, and it looks like they just threw them up there.
The portion sizes were quite small, but the food was decent. Service was great — it seems that the owner stops by each table to see how everything is going.
Parking is next to impossible during peak dinner times.

I had a groupon-​style deal for this place, which I’ve seen before but had not yet tried. I love Indian food, so I figured we’d check it out.
It’s located in a gaudy strip mall, so I wasn’t expecting it to be super high quality, but I was hoping to discover a hidden gem. We walked in and they directed us upstairs to the dining room. We were the only ones there aside for one other couple. Later, a third couple joined the room, also with a Groupon deal. I tried checking in on Unilocal and saw that they had a free drink special, but the waiter said there was a technical difficulty with the Unilocal check in feature, so we couldn’t use the deal. Oh well, not a big problem since we were using a groupon anyway.
But towards the end of our dinner, one of the other couples called over the waiter. The next thing I know, he’s on the floor with a napkin. At first I thought the girl had lost a contact or something and maybe he was helping her find it, but… he was after a roach. The third couple in the dining room was looking over alarmed as well. He killed the roach and we immediately called for the check.
Regarding the food: the chicken tikka masala was okay, as was the paneer in tomato sauce. I’ve had more flavorful Indian food at pretty much every other place in Arlington, though. For the prices they charge ($ 12 – 16), and for the lack of quality ambiance, I feel like the food should have been better. I didn’t absolutely hate it, but I won’t be going back.

We were in the area dying for dinner, and Unilocal led us here! Sangam had okay ratings PLUS a 25% off Unilocal offer and a check-​in offer for a free beverage. Sold! Alas, it turned out they’re having liquor license problems so the mango lassis were rumless (sigh), unfortunate because the food, I have to say, could’ve used some beer goggles, or, er beer taste buds. We came in pretty late (9:30pm or so), so I’d like to think that’s part of the problem. We were the only people in the house — including both downstairs take-​out area and upstairs tableclothed space — besides a waiter and the owner, who was sitting down to dinner downstairs as we came in. Not surprising, I think, given the location and the time, so I still had hopes for the food.
The papad you start out with was quite good, and we were optimistic! Then, our food came out super fast, despite other reviewers’ experiences of glacial serving paces, again not surprising since we were the only table, but I still appreciated it. Alas, aside from speedy delivery, the food went downhill after the papad. The vegetable samosa, one of my favorite foods in existence, was especially unfortunate — it both smelled and tasted like dough, and there was no danger of any peas or potato chunks falling out because the filling was the texture of mush. Bummer. We enjoyed the aloo papri chaat, but were ashamed to admit it because it appeared to be aloo papri chaat doused in raita and the two sauces that came with the papad (
). I can’t imagine that’s authentic. Our chicken was dry (him: chicken curry, me: chicken makhni), both sauces lacked flavor, and I really had no desire to eat either beyond sating my hunger.
Nonetheless, the owner was very nice, popped in to say hello at some point and didn’t overstay his welcome. He even said how nice it was to see us again, even though it was our first time in! We appreciated the sentiment. I wish I had better things to say about the food, but unfortunately it seems to need some work.

Having grown up in England I am quite picky about my Indian food (its the one food we do well).
I learned about Sangam at ‘Taste of Arlington’, have been many times and will continue to do so. The dishes are full of flavor and the blend of spices are just right. I am always surprised at how low the check is when it comes.
I recommend going with friends and sharing individual entrees instead of the taster platter.
The staff are very friendly although it can feel like you’ve been forgotten if you’re in the back.