Saravana Palace

Went here for my birthday dinner a few nights ago (group of 5), service was lovely, so so polite and the food came really quickly (although the place was almost empty, we came quite early). All of the food we ordered was absolutely delicious and the portions were really good, the menu had a lot of options and was reasonably priced, I wish my stomach was bigger!

Visiting family in the area and found out about this place because we love Indian cuisine. Wishing we had somewhere this tasty and close back home! Great service and the buffet was set up very nicely. I loved the paneer tikka masala and yogurt rice. Everything was very dynamic and flavorful; great vegetarian dishes. I look forward to returning with both friends and family the next time I visit Fairfax — thanks so much Sarvana!

You will never be disappointed at Saravana Palace. Courteous staff, Nice ambience and Tasty food.
What else a diner can expect at a restaurant.
With 10 Min delay to our order, staff came with a plate of Appetizer paid on House. We didn’t ask any question, but the staff came upfront and explained the situation inside kitchen.
Thats honesty served out side the plate.
Am a returning customer.

I’m a fan. Phenomenal service and great vegetarian dishes. The dosas are where it’s at. The quality of the food is great and the prices are reasonable. The atmosphere is pleasant and the food arrived quickly. There is no shortage of fantastic Indian restaurants in this area. Nevertheless, this restaurant should warrant your attention.

I have been wanting to write a review for this place for quite long time now. Today I got a chance. First thing first, Sarvana palace is all vegeterian reataurant and food here is tasty. I found this place after I was fighting with my chicken leg piece and complaining that I have been eating lots of meat lately. After deciding to be vegetrian for at least couple of hours me and my friends decided to visit this place.
We arrived there at 1.30pm ish. The place was packed. We had to wait at least 10 min on the door before waiters could clean the table bad thing we didnt call ahead to check How busy is it. So I recommend you to check in and call just in case. We were seated right at the middle and boy! Wait was worth it beacuse I had three full plates of their vegetrian buffet. They have very good selection of vegeterian items. My favourate was sambar (mixed lentis). We also got some dosa. Turned out that dosa was included in buffet and and its there way of giving naan. Of course! I knew it after I was full or else I would have asked for more. haha. next time I am gona have lots of them.
Service was also very attentive. Waiters were all dressed neatly and looked very courteous except for one particular waiter who was drowned top to bottom on his sweat. Me and ladies friend were kinda looking him awardly as his sweat were dropping all over. May be heating was high inside or his body tempratures was unsual. Well I hope management will keep an eye on it and fixed it before anybody else notices it and complain.
All in all I would recommend this place and I would definelty be back in near future.

Saturday, 12:30 PM.
Quickie:
+ Food quality
++ Service
— Cleanliness
— Slow turnaround
+ Spacious Layout
And then???
Come with an appetite. We averaged three plates a person with the buffet!
**********
Stuffed my face in:
1. Buffet
+ Plenty of options, it’s like thali times three.
+ Tikka masala was a hit with the group.
— Naan/​roti was overcooked, too dry.
Constructive comments:
*Option to compost
*Source ingredients

The server was helpful in suggestion delicious and spicy vegan dishes; samosas were flavorful and perfectly done.

Our favorite place. This is our #1 option in NOVA. Buffet has plenty of varieties with better taste.

Vada is really good and so is idly. We tried dosa as well and its ok. Mysore bonda is not the same as something u find in India. they just used vada batter to make bonda. except for this everything else is good and i would definetely go back.

Outstanding service! Amazing food, even modified the dishes on their menu to be onion/​garlic free (Jain-​friendly). We ended up coming here again the next day.

We went to the buffet. I ate until my food baby looked like it was in its 2^nd trimester and then I slept until I looked un-​pregnant again.
I started with a mango lassi. The consistency and taste were on point. The butter paneer masala, noodles, and pani puri were awesome today. I also like how the noodles channeled a different flavor profile than a lot of the other foods, showing how diverse the food of India can be. My trick for pani puri is to put yogurt and the brown tamarind sauce on top. The naan was nice and fluffy. They brought stuffed dosas to our table without us even asking. The water pitcher at each table is a really nice touch, so we never ran out of water. I had gulab jamun (sweet balls) for dessert. I literally fell asleep on the way home. The food coma was too real.

I would say that if you come here you must eat the South Indian dishes. That is what they do best. My family ordered Punjabi and while it was good, I liked my dosa better (I tried both North and South dishes).
The staff is very friendly and quick.

I wish there was a negative rating system for Unilocal.Worst vegetarian food in fairfax… oily, stale, tasteless. I don’t know how these place is highly rated.

South Indian? Vegetarian? Sign me up.
Coming from a West Indian perspective, one is never really sure how to judge the food of a fellow former colony. Indeed, the idea of «Indian» food in a place with 1+ billion people is just bizarre. Chinese food has the same problem. What they eat by the coast is not what they eat by the mountains. Throw on various cultural perspectives and what not… you just can’t really typify what «Indian» food is.
For us outsiders, most Indian food comes in buffet form. Butter Chicken, Tikka Masala, batter fried vegetables aka pakoras, Samosas… That’s all well and good, but that’s like saying that all of American food is McDonald’s, when there’s things like Cajun and Creole and Barbecue among other things that are pretty developed cuisines that have little to do with special sauce.
Anyway, on to the review.
There was plenty of parking when I went. This is suburban Virginia, where the car is king.
Getting there was fairly easy.
Décor — You’re not gonna throw a wedding here, but fairly non-​descript. And for you insane people, it was super clean. The entire time I was there, one of the staff was sweeping something up or vacuuming.
Service was prompt and friendly. Often times when you go into a spot, staff is helping a customer and they DON’T acknowledge that you walked in — because they have 100% focus on the customer in front of them. That situation presented itself here, and like a consummate professional, the guy ringing up a leaving guest acknowledged me when I walked in. It’s those little sort of details that I remember. You can tell what kind of place you’re going to be in when they do things like that. So positive sign.
The Menu — I don’t think much about menu design, but this was laid out well. When you start exploring the cuisines of other places, it’s helpful when the menu and the wait staff can assist you in making a decision. This menu had it’s greatest hits, most popular, specialties, and a section for chili freaks. Ingenious. If you rock with «Authentic Chinese», this feature should be on everything. It might make you not pass over the double cooked pork.
Pricing — Wow, very affordable. Almost too affordable.
What did I get?
I went with the Mysore Masala Dosa — a nice dosa with flaky edges and firm yet soft as you eat towards the middle. Filling the dosa was some curried potatoes and onions.
Heat level wasn’t anything that a typical American would complain about. So no worries there. As a Jamaican, I wanted a bit more, but India is the home of some of the World’s Hottest Chilis — its very easy to put on your big boy pants and go for broke and ask for some heat, and then ask if they have any coconut milk as you realize you aren’t ready.
Didn’t partake in an Mango Lassi, but they had a Chikoo on the menu as a seasonal item. For my Jamaicans, that’s Naseberry. For my Latinos, that’s sapodilla. I’ve never seen that on anyone’s menu.
Recommended.

As an Indian who is in the holistic health field and also teaches vegetarian and vegan food cooking my interest in food goes beyond casual interest. I have enjoyed going to this restaurant often over many years with family and friends. The last change in ownership seems to have led the food to now be way more greasy and salty than before and that is disappointing to for some of us regular patrons. Service is good compared to Woodlands where one waiter is especially rude but that is another review.
Wish they reduced the grease and salt which is way excessive for even healthy adults leave alone seniors and children.

Good tasting veg food at a reasonable price.
Sambar & Rasam are amazing. Owner and staff are courteous. I will definitely visit this place again.

I frequently come for lunch with co-​workers and we always enjoy the food. Not a vegetarian but the selection is great and I don’t miss the meat. Great price for a filling lunch.

I wud have even chosen if there were any negative stars. worst indian cuisine ever. this place is terribly over rated and I feel so disappointed looking at the reviews made by fellow indians. no indian restaurant cooks biryani with double beans or uses string beans that big or uses bamboo in the dish, the worst was waiting for me more than this. they serve rasam (soup like) along with biryani, unimaginable.
Malabar parotta is a classic south indian (kerala style or madurai style either of these r considered authentic) served with avakka (raw mango) pickle and sambar. has this guy ever had a single meal or dish in his whole life from india??? Do they even know the importance of indian cuisine. .
I hate this place and the money I paid for the filthy tasting combinations this place served is all a big waste. the Pinacle of frustration was when one bald guy there asked us «do you want to go boxes» I felt like thrashing the plates on his face…
Desi fellow travellers pls don’t go to this place no matter what. this is the worst indian restaurant in the whole of this world. in the name of indian food these losers are misleading the public and I certainly will write to the food commission to ban them from what they do.
Worst worst worst to the power of worst.

This place is perfect! Their food is soooooo delicious and extremely flavorful. Do yourself a favor and order the assorted appetizers. That samosa was the best one I have ever had, so flaky with a hint of spice, yum! Their dosas are spectacular and the mysore masala dosa is my go-​to dish. It’s spicy and well balanced and served with lots of awesome sauce. Every dish is so good; that I think about this place when I’m not there, sad.
I love that they leave a huge bottle of water on each table and the polite manager (maybe owner) refills waters for you when time allows. They play bollywood movies and everyone there is very welcoming. I also like that about 90% of their customers are Indian, so I know the place must be doing it right. Lastly, they are all vegetarian, which warms my heart :) Try this place immediately; you won’t miss the meat.

Was brought here by cousins who love this place. I have to agree that this place is pretty good. Although their specialty is South Indian food, I’m not a fan of it so I decided to try their Punjabi dishes. And my favorite was the Paneer Butter Masala. We got many entrees and they were all delicious.
I hear the buffet is very popular and good so I’m hoping to go back and try that soon
This restaurant is strictly VEGETARIAN, do not expect them to substitute and item for chicken or other meats.
I recommend this place to all. vegetarian or non vegetarians.