Gandhi Restaurant

Went for a weekday brunch. I have never seen a pasta dish in an Indian restaurant before going here. And they had two of them! One was a semolina halwa and the other was a curry pasta. I prefer more traditional Indian food. Someone correct me if pasta is traditional. I could make that at home. The biryani was dry or overcooked and the chili chicken was made from the fattiest cuts of the chicken. Tandori chicken was okay. Service was pleasant. The server welcomed in and fed what appeared to me as a very poor, perhaps homeless, slovenly dressed man. My guess is he is down on his luck. I thought this a great act of kindness. I thought the food was below average as I have delighted in eating Indian food for over 30 years. I hope this place reads some of these reviews and steps up the quality because they seem to have better people skills than food skills.

Excellent samosas. Excellent saag. Great price!
We ordered from Seamless (they beat their estimated delivery window – win!) and loved our meal. We got their delivery specials: 1 chicken saag and 1 chicken tikka masala. They came with onion bhaji (new to me, and I really liked it) and rice pudding. Great amount of food for the price for sure. Best saag I’ve had in Astoria, and the tikka masala was very solid too.
Their vegetable samosas were incredible. Next time, I’m only getting samosas – like a plate full of them.
Will definitely order from them again.

From the microwaved (yes, we can hear the beep and hum of your microwave running in your empty restaurant) appetizers to the non-​accepting of your Unilocal deal, coming to your establishment was a mistake. Sadly, my aunt bought the deal before I could encourage going to any other Indian restaurant in Astoria.
Side note: who suggested it was a good idea to put your Little Caesars franchise on your business card? It’s a really odd pairing. It gives the immediate impression that Gandhi is brought down to the level of a mass produced $ 5 «hot and ready» product.
It’s all just a little too poorly conceived and executed.

Let me start by saying: 1 star means fear for your life, safety, or expect to have a truly miserable time; 2 stars means I will eat the food, but I won’t enjoy it; 3 stars for me means the food is pretty good/​desirable; 4 stars means it is exceptional and I LOOOVE it. 5 stars means it will go down in my memory as one of my most beloved and memorable dining experiences across the 7 continents (NOT that I would go here every day, (because I probably could not afford to if it’s that good) but that I would go here on perhaps THE most important day.)
Ghandi has enough ambiance for date night and is very affordable. I had the saag paneer, which was good. The service was very good and friendly. The portions were large enough so that I took a doggy bag home. I shall return.

The 3 stars needs some clarification!
–The food: Is pretty good. Not the best I’ve had, but not the worst. We had the chicken tikka masala, and it had good pieces of chicken, and the taste of the curry was good too. The only thing is that the curry could have been a little thicker and spicier. The naan was also a bit flat and dry, which made me sad.
–The deal: It’s 12 dollars for an entrée, appetizer, and rice ! How can you beat that? Well, you can — That’s the dinner price. It’s $ 8 for lunch! Take advantage, Astorians! (And they deliver!)

This place has the best Indian food in NYC. I have tried nearly every Indian restaurant in NY, I think. Their Nan is so incredible every time. Mt fave dish is the Aloo Gobi.

My favorite Indian place by far. They never disappoint. The lamb korma is the best I have ever had. I order it every time. Also the garlic naan is soooo good. If in the neighborhood definitely try this place.

The food is good-it’s not amazing but I quite liked it. I’ve have had the chicken tikka masala and the lamb saag. I really liked the saag. Good spices, tender meat. Naan is quite good as well. Their mango lassi is totally awesome.
I came on Saturday afternoon for lunch. The place was totally empty. And yet the sevice was slow. Our waiter was nice but I had a hard time understanding him. I used a Unilocal coupon and it was really confusing (more a complaint for Unilocal than the restaurant). Finally we figured it out and he gave us the discount. Not sure I’d come here again but maybe for delivery.
I liked the restaurant. But it’s not going to be my go-​to place for desi food.

My wife and I ordered a lamb saag and a chicken korma… nothing too off the beaten path for delivery last night. The flavor of both was actually quite good, but both meats were quite tough. Its really difficult to enjoy rubbery chicken or tough lamb.
The delivery guy was polite, and you can tell the chef worked at the spicing/​seasoing, but I just cant justify $ 36 (with 2 orders of plain naan) for meat that is difficult to chew through.

My favorite indian place in Astoria!
Price is good, food is amazing
And service is delightful !
Love this place!!!

This is one of my favorite Indian food restaurants in Astoria and I order takeout from here all the time. The service is very quick (I always do pickup) and my food is ready within 10 – 15 mins from the time I place my order. The chicken tikka makhani and also the lamb tikka masala are among my favorite dishes. The staff is also friendly and accommodating. I left my cell phone in the restaurant and walked out once and the waiters chased me outside to give it to me. Great food and staff.

I bought a groupon and decided to try this restaurant. I was disappointed, food was up to the real standards ull expect for Indian food. I ordered over the phone and picked up the food to my surprise the restaurant was empty. Not a single customer inside. Now i know why…
Would i recommend? Na don’t think so.

Located on 30^th Avenue this Indian restaurant serves tasty inexpensive Indian cusine in a pleasing environment.
Atmosphere 75 It passes the grade
Service 75 Average
Food 80 Above par
Value 80 Lunch is a giv e away
If you are in Astoria, if you are near 30^th Avenue, if you crave an Indian meal, if you are watching your dollars… then… this is the place. It is on the better side of most Indian restaruants.

It’s a good solid place. Clean good service, tasty and consistent food. Very informative staff. They usually have good deals online and the regular. When I’m in the neighborhood and craving Indian I head here.

Not sure how Gandhi himself would feel about this spot, but my guess is he’d still consider starvation.
Gandhi was the first Indian establishment I ever visited when I first came to Astoria. Back then Indian places were considerably more scarce than they were now. I didn’t love the experience then or the subsequent delivery sessions from my desperation for all things curry. Considering it’s been close to a decade from when that all went down, some merit has to be attributed to the fact they’ve remained open the whole time.
And to their credit, the food has improved. My chicken tikka masala was edible, if not a little too spicy and the vindaloo wasn’t as unbearable as the first time. The service has also gone up a notch, which is half the battle is won and a near thumbs up on my end. Hell, there are even more customers than I remember, which is never a bad thing.
But I still don’t love the food. In our group, the sighs were loudest when it came to their bhindi masala (okra), sag paneer, and some really sad looking malai koftas. Veggie friends were depressed ones, seeing as the meat dishes managed to outshine the rest, even if it were marginal at best.
As much as I am a huge Indian buffet fan, it’s hard to justify their pricey spread when the local competition and beyond (Curry Hill, Jackson Heights, etc.) feature superior selections for significantly less. Yet, it is a double edged sword — don’t disappoint yourself over the a la carte items, experiment with more in buffet fashion.
Let’s hope like Gandhi, they can inspire themselves to go through some real change.

This place was just ok. My boyfriend and I went in because we were attracted by the special (appetizer, entrée, and dessert for 12). The samosa was good, the entrees where meh. The BFs Chicken Tikka was ok, I didn’t love my Saag Paneer though. It had a sweet quality that wasn’t balanced by any spice or salt that got to me after a couple of bites.
The Naan here was very good and fresh. We didn’t actually try the dessert as neither of us are big fans of rice pudding.
It was also kind of odd being the only people in restaurant. I figured it was just because we went on a Tuesday at 9:45 pm, but judging from other reviews its not uncommon for this place to be empty.
Overall ok, but if you don’t mind a more hole-​in-​the-​wall type place I would try Taste of Bengal down the street and around the corner.

A complete stranger told us not to eat here. That might say something…
It was a toss up between two and three stars, truth is, yes I have experienced better, but at the same time. it’s OK… I think…*actually putting some thought into it*
Going with two stars because in the end I won’t be coming back. It might be good for some but not for me.
My other half and I decided to use the coupon we had purchased via Unilocal literally back in September of 2013. The $ 10 for $ 20. This was the only reason for our being there. We felt that we should just use it now and «get it over with» because we knew we wouldn’t be coming back.
Service:
~It’s quick and very robotic. No smiles. No personality. It’s almost uncomfortable and awkward for me.
Seating:
~We’ve gone there twice for lunch and every time we go we are the ONLY ones in there. The whole time. So seating is ample.
Taste:
~It’s alright I guess, but I can get alright anywhere, you know what I mean. I’d rather get good for a cheaper price. The Chicken Tikki Masala ($ 11) was alright, though it seem a bit sweeter then what I am use to. My other half got the Lamb Korma ($ 12), as the pieces of lamb were mostly fatty.
Price: Like my tip mentioned: 2 meals + naan — $ 20 coupon, we still paid $ 8.
Random things I noticed:
~ Every time we pass them to go to Seva, there isn’t anyone inside.
~ As we were standing outside looking at the menu, a complete stranger tells us [nicely] «you should eat at the place around the corner.» and points in the direction of Seva. I told him, thanks.
~Their weekend buffet went from $ 12.95 to $ 9.95.

Simply put, Gandhi serves incredibly tasty Indian food at a great price, and for that I’m willing to tolerate the questionable décor.
Channa Saag with garlic naan and a mango lasse — yes!
$ 9 lunch special, $ 12 dinner special, $ 12 delivery special. Done and done.

Greetings,
My girlfriend and I came here on a Sunday night for dinner. This is my second time here in about three years. With that said I love this place. I am no I ndian food expert but the Sh*t tastes good haha.
We ended up doing the $ 12.95 special. Basically a three course meal for that price. I got Onion Bhaji (Fried Onion) for a starter, for entrée I had Chicken Tikka Masala and Basmati Rice and for desert the rice pudding. We ordered the Cheese Nan and they give you chips. lastly, we got a bottle of Pinot Grigio. The total bill was like 50 bucks.
This place is good and I will be back!
Create Memories!

This is really more of a 3.5-star review. But I want this business to survive, and I want people to experience this really solid Indian spot. So bumpin’ it up to four stars!
A date and I were trolling around the ‘hood, trying to find a spot for dinner on a day when were both feeling rather particular. We shot down a good five restaurants before stumbling upon Ghandi. We were drawn by the quaint appearance from outside, the semi-​romantic vibe for a nice, low-​key date, and the $ 12 dinner prix fixe menu. I was a little weary since there was only one table seated at 5 pm on a Saturday night. But something said go in.
The tables are well spaced. You don’t feel cramped when eating. The décor is nice. Not what you expect at an Indian restaurant. But nice.
Unfortunately, you do have to deal with the stereotypical «WAAAAAYYYYY overly attentive yet still have to repeat yourself to them multiple times» server, which is typical of many such restaurants. Still, our server was quite nice. He was quick, though we never felt rushed. He was talented at fitting everything on the table in a way that would still give us room to eat. He was decent with explaining certain dishes to us. And things arrived at the table as he described they would.
On the down side, we eventually began to feel stalked. I get that we were one of two tables. But he got to the point of pacing by our table, and literally watching us eat. I shot him a look, he got it, and we went away. But it was a little Stranger Danger there for a hot minute, especially when the manager/​owner started doing the same thing. But they eventually picked up on my vibe to give some space. Once business picked up, their attentions were spread, which also helped.
I also appreciate that servers have to upsell. But I should only have to decline your upsell once. I had to say twice that, no, we did not wish to order any extra rice or naan. I had to say three times — on top of mentioning that my date was not big on drinking — that, no, we are not going to order another half carafe of burgundy (which was a decent house burgundy).
Thankfully, everything we had was quite nice! The usual complimentary pappadam and all the three standard sauces were quite nice. While we liked the prix fixe menu, we wanted to go outside the norm. We tried the app sampler. Everything was quite nice. Just note that the samosas aren’t the same. The one with the red tip is chicken, the other veggie. Both lovely, and nicely spiced.
Now, my true test of such restaurants of non-​American cuisine: will you accommodate my request to spice my dish the way you would eat it?
I went with the Karahi Gosht for my entrée. My date went with the Balti Fish with Mushrooms. I asked the server if they could make mine extra spicy. The convo went like this:
Me: I’d really like it if you made my dish extra spicy.
Server: Medium spicy, or hot spicy.
Me: Hot spicy. The way you would traditionally do hot spicy in India.
Server: Sooo… hot spicy? You’re sure.
Me: I’ve traveled. I know your cuisine. I love it. I like to cry behind my eye balls with spice. Make it like you would want it.
He smirked and went away.
Lo and behold, they spiced it right! Not as hot as it could have gone, but far spicier than most restaurants have ever accommodated my request. And the flavor of the dish was still there! The spicing complimented it. Props! Lovely dish on its own. So nice to see a restaurant that can adapt a dish, yet stay true to it.
The Balti? Lovely! Mild dish. But an enormous portion. They served it with four pieces of regular naan… so very glad we didn’t order extra. And we loved that all of our main dishes were served in these nice cast iron bowls and woks. Awesome.
So, yeah! I’d recommend this spot for a nice, inexpensive meal in the ‘hood.
Ps — I noticed they seem to do a mondo delivery service. The dude never stopped running in and out with orders. Good for them :-)