Biryani House

Came here for the first time and immediately noticed the cleanliness of the restaurant, we were the only ones there at dinner time (sat at 7pm) which I found kinda odd, but they did have a lot of people taking out. The greeter was the waitress as well not a very large establishment, the service was fast and friendly. We ordered the chicken tikka, naan, rice and chicken kabob. Everything was served hot and fresh the kabob was served after the Tikka stating it took longer to cook. Everything had great taste and was well done. We were quite impressed for such a small place. We usually go to naan and curry in Concord and I think it’s pretty close to their food just closer to us, yay! I highly recommend this place. The tv playing Indian music videos was pretty entertaining as well.

Chicken tikka masala was awesome and the naan was delicious. I loved the service and would come back because of the staff.

i really like this place :)
ordered the vegetable samosa, chicken biryani, and gulab jamun with chai tea. all came out to just under $ 20.
The things I didn’t enjoy.
I did not really care for the loud music; that was playing next door. Also I have never tried gulab jamun before, so I asked what it was. The server explained it very nice at except for saying it was heated in the microwave. Might just be me, but I don’t like to know. That the meal I’m ordering at a restaurant. Can be made in a microwave.
The last thing is the chicken biryani was good, their was a lot of hard things that resemble bark. I had to keep spiting them out because I couldn’t chew them.

I don’t know why I came back, guess I was hoping the new menu design meant they changed but I guess not. I paid $ 9 for a tub of sauce and SEVEN, yes 7 small pieces of chicken. And I was disappointed, its not very good. I could have sworn it used to be better. At least the lamb was good. And I don’t get why they skimp so bad on the chicken in the tikka masala. I fished them all out to see just how little they gave me. Seven. The service lacks friendliness. And they stopped doing the buffet. Not feeling it. The Indian food is better in el sobrante on appian.

If you’re looking for bomb Indian food at fair prices outside of Berkeley, this is it.
My recommendations are the following–
Chai– warm, sweet goodness helps prepare your palette for the sensational meal you are about to enjoy.
obvi-​CTM– you have to try the chicken tikka masala in order to really know if you are going to be a fan of any Indian restaurant. The CTM at Biryani House is creamy and not too spicy– so so SO good!
Bangain bartha– eggplant dish
Palak paneer– creamy spinach with Indian cheese (delish!)
Bindhi– okra cooked with spices (they rarely have it which is such a shame since they prepare it so well!)
Lamb vindaloo– my hubby’s favorite! With potatoes, this dish is my man’s go to when we eat at any Indian restaurant.
Vegetable Samosas– comes with two
Naan, garlic naan, potato naan and rice help to complete the meal.
I had my 26^th birthday here and we were able to make a reservation for a party of 25. We ordered the food ahead of time so there wasn’t a long wait for my guests. Right next door is the Banquet Hall where we held my son’s baptism reception which seated over 150 guests.

Closed the first time we stop by here. At least get the hours right. Will make it easier for people to plan.

FOOD:
Best plate would be the Aloo Ghobi for me. I used to like the chicken tikka masala but I over did it, not their fault.
ENVIRONMENT:
Could use some extra cleaning on done I’d the dishes.
The servers are really nice and attentive.
Great buffet, but it is only on certain days.
I would recommend at least trying it once of you in the area.

It’s my go to place if I want some Indian food. I like the lunch specials, it comes with rice and naan.
I like the veggie tika masala and palak paneer.
Just make sure to check the dishes/​utensils as they are not as clean as you would expect.

I love getting the chicken biryani from here. It’s really spicy and has good flavor. It’s mostly empty in the restaurant as I believe they have a large take out clientele. I’ve eaten at the actual restaurant once or twice and it’s a little awkward because it’s so quite (no other diners and there is no music playing). Overall, good place to go if you want tasty chicken biryani!

Hit or miss depending on certain days. This was a definite miss. They pre cook their food and you can really tell. If a server brings out dal in less than 5 minutes, don’t eat it. Rice was stale as hell and don’t get me started on the Sabji. I seriously felt like puking.
Tip 1: You have to get down the sequence of when they rotate and prepare fresh food. Tip 2: Don’t take out because you never know what you are getting. Like forest gump and his box of chocolates.
Tip 3: If they bring the food out within 5 minutes, it usually means they precooked it and are now throwing it in the microwave or recooking it on the stove.

I don’t have any plans on ordering take outs here again. The portion they give you is not enough for the amount they charge. $ 8.49 chicken curry in a small container :(

My review is not for the food, it’s for the customer service. I called in for an order and the employee had no phone etiquette at all!

Food was okay, but I’ll defer judgement to those with finer palates for Indian food. The beef kebab for one I thought was pretty dry and bland tasting. Other dishes were too spicy for me but I’m admittedly a huge wimp with spicy foods. Tikka masala was good.
Waitress /​Hostess lady seriously needs to take a basic hospitality course. I understand that there is likely a language barrier in play here but I have been to plenty of Indian places with servers who can barely speak English but still manage to smile earnestly and appear welcoming, positive body language etc.
She took my sisters order wrong (lamb with okra) and brought out okra only. No big deal ultimately, but when we questioned the dish, she said in a very confrontational manner «you said just okra». Ummm no actually I heard her ask for lamb.
Later she dropped the check off without even looking us in the eye. Maybe she was just having a bad day but rest assured we won’t be back anytime soon.

Pros: The workers are nice and the food seems to be very good.
Cons: make sure you use the restroom and wash your hands at home. No soap in dispenser and it looked like the sink/​bathroom are rarely cleaned? The windows were also very dirty entering the restaurant.
Please someone tell the owner/​workers to clean the place/​restrooms and then they will earn additional stars.
Makes me wonder about the kitchen?

First time trying Indian food and I must admit, I actually don’t hate it… we got here around 9 PM so they were already getting ready to close at 10 PM.
We ordered a few items to share amongst the four of us and still had enough to take home.
Chicken tikka masala was very creamy and smooth and tasted great over basmati rice.
Karahi ghosht and karahi chicken were both nice and spicy, not Thai chili spicy – more of a curry spice spicy. Also good to pour over basmati rice.
We also ordered the biryani chicken which was good on its own, but I poured some of the curry over it and it tasted great as well.
My brother seemed to enjoy eating his naan with all the dishes, on the other hand.
The owner was our server, I believe. She was very nice and accommodating; although, a little slow even though we were the only table there. But she did have a banquet going on next door, so I forgive her for the slow service.
Will definitely come back if we crave Indian food!

Ate here on 11÷4÷14. found a long grey hair in our samosas and a roach in our main dish. The woman working the front counter, denied there’s any chance the hair or roach was their fault.
I will never eat here again.

This was not what I was expecting at all! The chicken tikka masala was tasteless. The spinach garlic dish was very salty. The fried rice was tasteless even with shrimp added. Ahh! The vegetable samosas were the best thing I had all night.
I have no need to come back here anymore. I was expecting true curry and other Indian flavors. Not here.

This was my first time here. Pros and Cons. First of all the atmosphere is beautiful and quaint. We were greeted by a nice lady. Although she couldnt attend to us as she should it is understandable the she was busy and alone. So Im not going to knock her for that.
However, I was disappointed that there was a buffet table there but when asked it was discontinued for almost 6mos ago. I did not like how the restaurant advertised the time for 1100am but was not open till 1130am. I think they should adjust the time properly. but not a big deal to me. Although other customers are more anal about things like this.
Food. I ordered the Mushroom Masala. It washad about the right amount of spice and I honestly couldnt complain. I enjoyed it and brought it home. Will probally eat the rest of it later. My significant other bought the lamb curry dish and from his look he was pretty satisfied. Thumbs up for the entrée. We also ordered the vegetable Bayani fried rice. Not a fan. It contained colli flower and a lot of big pieces of vegetables that Im not used to in a fried rice dish. Its an acquired taste for sure. but it wasnt terrible I just didnt care for it. We also ordered the Potatoe Naan bread. I expected more I guess. It didnt really have any flavor to it. Maybe if the potatoe had flavor then I would be a fan. I ordered the Garlic naan and that wad much better.
Overall the portion size is great. The staff was nice to us. The food was so-​so. I am definitely willing to try it one more time. maybe dinner time. We will see.

They have an ongoing promo that says buy any 2 entrée, get one free! (Chicken or veggie)…
Something was lost in translation because my understanding was if I bought any 2 entrees, I get either a free chicken or free vegetable. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. What they meant was «buy any 2 chicken or vegetable entrée, get one free chicken or vegetable entrée». So even though we ordered 2 lamb and 1 beef, they didn’t comp the 1 chicken we ordered. Doesn’t make sense to me. Tsk, tsk, tsk… makes me want to think twice about going there again. It didn’t help that the chai tea was bland and the kabob was too salty, overcooked and dry. At least the chicken tikka masala was still good even though there’s less chicken in there.

I finally had to review Biryani house because of two main things: 1) the taste of their food is delicious and 2) they keep running out of things and don’t mark it on the menu so you end up craving to eat something that they may not even have.
The quality and taste of their food has always impressed me. I always normally order the Chicken Biryani and tandoori chicken although I have ordered many of the other dishes. They truly make awesome biryani but if you’re not a spicy eater then make sure you tell them to make it mild or else you’ll burn your mouth.
I don’t appreciate them always being «out» of something. In the past, it’s been lamb and shrimp. Today, it was the mushrooms and kheema (ground chicken). It’s also not noted on the menu so how is a customer supposed to know not to order that specific appetizer or entrée item?
The restaurant is clean and well-​kept even though there’s a banquet hall right next door. The ladies who work there are nice and always seem to be very busy and overwhelmed by handling the customers and answering the phones to take orders.
I will be eating here again but I just can’t see myself rating it 5 stars yet because of their hit-​and-​miss food items.
Oh, and they no longer have a buffet; and there’s no estimate as to when it will be back. That’s what the hubby and I went for but ended up ordering separate dishes since they didn’t have a buffet.