Darul Kabab

This place is now called Kabab House. They have the best chicken kabab biriyani. We get takeout from here all the time (ask them for spicy– if you are a wimp they do offer medium or mild). If they are busy your order might take forever. If you like Indian food, it’s nestled in a group of three Indian shops. One side of the restaurant is the Indian Pastry House; on the other side is an Indian grocery store if you need to kill time waiting. Or there is always Total Wine nearby. ;-)
If you like Indian, this is pretty authentic and affordable. Our order of chicken kabab biriyani costs about $ 15, but we get two meals each out of one order. I don’t recommend the mint sauce that they serve it with, but that’s just my preference.
They also serve a buffet with biriyani specials two days a week. I haven’t checked it out, but if you aren’t sure what you might like, this could be a good option.

Great Food and excellent service. The prices were also great!

Tried butter chicken and boneless fish curry with rice and naan from their lunch buffet. Food was great. Friendly service. Restaurant was pretty empty except two others. Looked clean and food area was very clean. Expect self seating, plasticware and Styrofoam plates. Pay when you finish eating. I will go back.

I was in an impression the reviews about this place are olright and I should check it out myself. I was there for lunch buffet. The full place was empty despite they have 5.99 lunch thingie. It had no appetizers as such in the areas. The owner said it is over and I can get it made but will take time. All the curries were super diluted to look like a large quantity. The food was not at all palatable the service was super slow. The owner kept talking on phone for so long despite he seeing me standing there for asking him to get some more bread. The mango kheer was the only thing which was not diluted and was having some taste. I won’t recommend this place to anyone!

I have always been skeptical to try this place since my brother told me to stay away from this restaurant. As they relocated next door and changed their name, we thought we should give it a try. What a mistake that was. This would be one of the worst Indian restaurant i have ever been to. We went for dinner buffet and most of the dishes were tasteless and loaded with oil. There were no servers in the restaurant and was managed by the only lady at the counter. She was serving, managing takeout orders and handling payments at the same time. I had to ask several times for a naan. After a wait of 15 — 20 minutes what i got was a burnt naan. When i asked for another naan, she gave me this nasty look. I didn’t find a single good thing about this restaurant. Poor food, poor customer service and poor ambiance. Never ever will i visit this place again.

This little, unassuming hole-​in-​the-​wall has my favorite Indian food in RVA. We live in Charlottesville now but still come here when we visit.
Hardly anyone ever comes for the buffet (most of their business is carry out), probably because this place lacks atmosphere. It’s a dimly lit, narrow restaurant with old furnishings and no music. But what it lacks in atmosphere it truly makes up for in flavor — every dish has a rich complexity that comes from the spices. The meats are always tender and fall off the bone. My favorite dish is the spinach and potatoes, and the potatoes are always perfectly cooked to a buttery texture.

Delicious biryani and generous portion sizes. This is where all my Indian and Bangladeshi friends go for takeout in Richmond. we got several meals worth of food out of one biryani and one butter chicken takeout order.

The food is pretty bad — the goat biryani was all rice and bones while chicken tikka masala had so much color, that my dishes turned red! We ordered a soda that’s usually highly carbonated and strong. It came in a bottle without any manufacturing info and tastes so mild that I suspect it was counterfeit.
Not to mention the dirty interiors — tables had not been cleaned.
Stay away!

The food was delicous. The naan was freshly made. We were impressed with the generous portions. The kabobs did take about ½ hr to cook.
We didn’t go for the ambiance. It’s not fancy but it was clean. Definitely will be coming back.

Authentic Biriyani specially if you like Rich Tasty Yummy Biriyani. Best in Richmond by a long way!

If you love biryani, this is your place. No other restaurant in Richmond can match the complexity of their biryani. You can order it mild, medium, or spicy, but the medium is probably hot enough for most people. I have tried the chicken biryani, paneer biryani, and chicken kabob biryani, and they were all first-​rate. They give you so much, I get two meals out of one order, and the price is very reasonable. Also, the put huge chunks of chicken and paneer in their biryani. In short, great quantity as well as quality.
As others have said, order your food to go, as its pretty much of a dive inside.

The first time I went to Darul, I will agree I was not very impressed by the ambiance but once you eat here, there is not turning back! Darul has an amazing buffet over the weekends and for all you meat lovers out here, this is it! The buffet is super cheap (only 10 $ or so) and unlimited! They make the naan fresh every time you order more naan and its the best naan you’ll get in Richmond area! (If you are a naan lover like me, you NEED to go here). The ambiance might throw you off like it did me, but rest assured that its worth it. The owner is a very nice and friendly guy. And this place is definitely worth the money!

I had heard about this place and have been meaning to try it for a while. When I drove into the plaza where it is located, I saw Indian Pastry House too, which reminded me that I needed to go there too since I haven’t been in a while.
Darul Kabab is a very straightforward little eatery. They advertise their lunch buffet on a banner right upfront, which seems like a good deal, but I was there during dinner. There were some tables in the back, but overall, the restaurant was very simply decorated. It was also fairly empty except for one group of three dining in the rear, but I think a lot of people get takeout.
I decided to get chicken korma and saag paneer. The two entrees came with plain naan and rice, and I decided to add on a piece of garlic naan as well. I got everything to-​go, and had a decent wait, but I guess everything was just being made fresh. The portions were generous, especially the naan and rice.
Some other Unilocalers have mentioned how amazing their naan is; I didn’t really get that impression, but it might have been my fault since the naan was wrapped up in foil and wasn’t as fresh by the time I drove home and ate it. The chicken korma was tasty; I didn’t mind the bones, but actually had more trouble with the various peppercorns and cloves in the curry, since I was trying to eat the sauce with a spoon. The saag paneer was okay, but not as spinach-​y as others I’ve had; the paneer was not bad. Both curries were a little spicy (I had not specified a spice level, so I guess they came at their standard heat level).
The employee working the cashier/​taking my order was probably the most memorable part of my visit, since he was very friendly and I got the vibe that he made it a point to serve the customer.
Overall, very good flavors and prices comparable to other Indian restaurants.

This place is a great place to get some great tasting, flavorful, authentic food. The menu is pretty extensive and has basically all the things you would want from an indo-​pakistani place.
The prices are on par with the other places in town that serve around the same cuisine. One of the things that I value from this place in particular is the consistency. The food is consistently flavorful and consistently delicious. Portion sizes are enough for leftovers when ordering to go. I had the buffet today for the first time and was pleasantly surprised with the amount of main dishes. In another review for a different local kabob place, I complained that there was only one or two main dishes. Today’s buffet consisted of goat curry, chicken curry, butter chicken, some vegetable dish that I didn’t try, a delicious chick pea dish, tandoori chicken, salad, and a few others. All for $ 7.99! I had almost all the dishes and it was fantastic. I try to order from them at least once a week. The biryani dishes are enough to last a week. Well worth the $$.
Overall, this place is consistently good and providing Richmond with top quality food. The prices are good and the buffet is delicious. If you haven’t already, give this place a go!

Nobody can beat the Extra Spicy Goat/​Chicken Biriyaani of Darul Kabab. My wife and me are ultimate fan of their Biriyaani. My friends who relocated or of Richmond to DC and Baltimore demand that they bring a to go Biriyaani when we visit then it is that popular among my friends circle.
Just the ambience is not up to the mark for a family dinner, so we prefer taking to go and enjoying it from home

You like modest food. This is the place.
Goat biryani, Chicken combo and butter chicken are my favorites. I drive up from Williamsburg and get these packed, between my wife and me it comes for atleast 4 – 5 meals.
Super value for money and the flavors are rich. Great takeout.

Overall not good. Would not return. Went for lunch buffet. Not many choices and not many customers. They had very traditional food — which I like.
The nan bread is fantastic. The dishes are very flavorful. But here’s the problem — there’s no meat in the meat dishes. The tandoori chicken had a wonderful flavor. But all the serve is the end of the leg. You can suck the bony end I guess. Same for the butter chicken — tiny chicken leg bones in a pan of sauce. No meat. I had goat — thought it was beef. Not a fan of goat. Ugh.
The basmati rice is spicy. As in eat a roasted Jalapeño pepper by itself spicy. I was trying to get full on rice I guess and it caught up to me.
Definitely passing on this one.

I’ve become a really big fan of this place, for a few reasons.
1. The flavor isn’t watered down. It seems like a lot of the Indian restaurants in this area have inflated prices and deflated quality — curry that lacks a rich, spicy punch. It’s boring. I was surprisingly pleased that this place did not follow that path. I found the flavors of my food to be very satisfying.
2. Their prices are fair. I get a large order of curry and it feeds 4 for half the price. With naan and a boatload of rice included.
3. The chicken!!! They make a fantastic tandoori chicken. It comes with my butter chicken, and it’s great. Usually when I get Indian, I am mainly in it for the masala and the naan, not going to lie. But I am addicted to their chicken. Mmmm. A couple of times it was slightly overcooked, which made me sad, but usually it’s very good.
I tried the chicken karahi and it had a strong flavor. The chicken was also bone-​in. It wasn’t for me, but I can see how others might enjoy it. I stick to the butter chicken or the biryani, and it’s great. As for their naan, they give you a lot, but it comes out slightly charred. I don’t mind it since it comes with the meal, but yeah, I wish it was smothered in ghee or garlic or something. But I’ll take what I can get: D

I was craving Indian food so of course I scrolled through Unilocal!A lot nearby had 3 stars with not so pleasant reviews while others were more fine dining that didn’t open till 5. Ahhh! Must I settle for so-​so mediocre?! Homegirl just wants a quick fix!
Still not giving up in my search, I then came across Darul Kabob and remembered my Bangaldeshi friends raving about this place… even the Unilocal reviews sounded familiar… ghetto looking kind of place that serves up amazing Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian cuisine.
Quickly, I ordered for pick-​up! The gentleman on the phone was very nice and attentive with my orders. He mentions each order also came with a huge piece of naan as well as basmati rice. Happily, I devoured everything clean alongside with my paneer dishes!
Food tastes delicious and fresh, I will certainly be back.

This place is ghetto. There is no atmosphere. There is no exemplary service. It’s not really all that clean-​looking. You go in, fix your paper plate (s), get your drink, eat and pay.
What’s great is the price and the quantity. If you’re trying to fill up on Indian food, you can definitely do that here. There’s lots to choose from, too. I LOVE saag. I don’t think I’ve ever had bad saag. Now I have. Their saag tastes like greasy spinach. Their tandoor chicken, however is really good! Their curry chicken is good. The naan is good… and they’ll bring you a ton of it.
I only saw men working here, and they’re nice. But it could benefit from a woman’s touch.
This entire strip now caters to the Indian palate. You can leave Darul Kabab, and go get some pastries next door or do some grocery shopping at the other next door.
2.5 stars