Mehek

Its the best in princeton for sure, chicken is amazing as well as the bharta and naan, all i have ever ordered from there, the other Princeton places are okay, this one is clean looking as well

more like Meh-​ek to me. the lunch buffet offerings were pretty standard, but some of them were even room temperature or cold (despite being kept in trays to ostensibly stay warm).
the tandoori chicken was not fully cooked (I cut into it and saw the telltale signs before eating), but the vegetable curry was alright. the gulab jamun were cold and hard as rocks.
service was friendly and the pricing for lunch buffet is alright, but after what was literally a lukewarm reception, I won’t be returning.

Very nice lunch boxes with tasty dal, curry of your choice, rice and delicious, fluffy naan + small flavoursome dessert. Good value for money.

This is the best Indian food in Princeton. The paneer bhuji (spelling?) is fantastic.

OK how in the * bleep* did this earn 3 stars? Obviously the high ratings are from people who: a. don’t have Indian friends who cook and b. Have never visited James Beard award winning chefs in Indian restaurants.
Seriously we were directed here when on a college tour. The info neglected to tell us that: a. it’s BYOB; b. it’s mediocre at best; and c. if you’re seated near the door, it’s also near the bathroom, directly in front of the A/​C and you will have people breathing on you while waiting to get in. On a Saturday night, it took 2 hours for them to deliver 3 orders of paneer tikka masala to our table – and when it came, the first thing my kid (who happens to have an amazing palate) said was «I waited 2 hours for half-​balked cheese in a Campbell’s Tomato Soup?» followed by «Water is the super star of this meal.»
The most astounding thing is that there was a huge line waiting to get in – which speaks to the culinary, or lack thereof, scene in Princeton.
Can’t believe I passed up a Fro-​Yo and a Panera for this joint.
Bleeeechh

Mehek is a solid Indian restaurant located in the heart of Princeton. While not the best Indian food I’ve had, it makes all the staple dishes and does a good job of it.
My go to dish here is the lentil daal which is vegan and really good. It comes in a fairly large portion and goes well with the naan bread or over basmati rice. It has a slight spice to it which makes it an overall good dish for those seeking a meatless option.
There’s a decent sized seating area in the restaurant and also a small sized outside seating area on Nassau street. The chairs for the outside area are a bit uncomfortable and so are the tables, but an outside option is always a plus.
Overall Mehek is a good option for Indian food in Princeton. It certainly isn’t the best Indian food ever, but overall it’s good and has all the basic Indian dishes one would be looking for.

I don’t know what it is about mehek but its one of my favorite places to eat out in Princeton. Other people swear masala grill and tandoori bite are better, but mehek is my favourite. I’m not sure if it’s the cute décor or the memories, or I just prefer their interpretation of Indian food.
They give you popodoms before your meal to keep the hunger at bay and it never takes too long to get your food. I love the naan it’s nice and buttery and they give big portions. The curry is flavorful and I’ve yet to order a dish I don’t like.
My only gripes are: during restaurant week their menu was kind of a rip off and basically forced you to order more food than any human should eat in one sitting.
And they refuse to serve the naaninis and naan wraps upstairs. I discovered this when I sat down at a table excited to order the much anticipated naanini and I was told I couldn’t order it. Me and my boyfriend had come specifically to try it so we tried to petition them and they made us leave to go downstairs and order it where we had to wait in what looks like someone’s disused basement. They should serve the full menu upstairs even if there’s a surcharge on cheaper items for use of the dining room!

Came here for dinner and was already pleasantly surprised by the décor: a small cozy gem in Princeton for moderately priced Indian cuisine.
I ordered chicken korma. It was different from what I was used to – creamy, yellow (comfort food) sauce – lighter, more vegetables, red, less of a cashew flavor sort of sauce. Would say I prefer what I’m accustomed to.
However, the chicken curry was friend ordered was AMAZING. The sauce was creamy, flavorful and DELICIOUS. Didn’t realize how full I was after mooching on her sauce with naan.
Most definitely recommend this restaurant.

I ordered $ 28 worth food for myself– Biryani, Two paratha’s, chilli paneer dry and 2 samosas. Samosas were the only good thing of the lot and biryani was the worst I have ever tasted. Given I come from Hyderabad I have high standards for biryani but this one didn’t even have the rice cooked properly forget taste etc. The raita was decent. The chilli paneer, the paneer wasn’t fresh and the taste decent. Samosa, I must agree was good and the ‘mitthi chutney’ makes your day.

You can get a respectable lunch for a good price at Mehek: for $ 7, you get a vegetarian entrée, dal, rice, a whole naan, and a tiny portion of farina halva. The only problem is that it’s not all that great. The entrees range from bland-​and-​mild to bland-​and-​spicy, and the dal is quite watery. Still, the naan is very good, and for the money the whole thing is a respectable deal. Samosas are not bad. Nice tables outside if it’s a pleasant day, or there’s one indoor table.
PS: There is a 10% student discount that I will no longer qualify for after this week. :)

My friend and I went one summer day to try it out and found the space cramped so we moved outside to eat. The food was not very good, somewhat boring, uninspiring, and overcooked chicken. Also turned me off of my first mango lassi experience, which was a super thick consistency and quite pricey. Would not recommend– I’m sure there are better places for the same price to grab a bite.

I’ve tried the naanini, samosas, and butter chicken from here. The naanini was huge, had some great flavors, and was really cheap. Also the samosas were surprisingly great. The butter chicken was decent, but was overpriced for the amount of food you’re actually getting. $ 18 for 5 chunks of chicken in curry? A bit of a rip off.

I had the buffet and it was average-​good, I wish they had more desserts. The price was really good though.
My boyfriend had a chicken massala wrap which was enormous.
We didn’t not like the way the two waiters were constantly looking at us from one or two feet away… it was akward.

I went with 3 friends for dinner tonight & we were pleasantly surprised. We were immediately served wonderful chickpea crackers and tamarind & coriander chutneys.
We ordered a lot of food: two orders of vegetable appetizers, cups of chia tea (no refills), a variety basket of breads, one order of very hot spicy bread & 4 entrees. The appetizers were crisp, delicious and not greasy. We loved every morsel of bread. The vegetable korma was our favorite entrée but the lamb and chicken dishes were good too. We loved the mango chutney we ordered.
The service was excellent, and we were very happy except in a way that made this a three rather than four star experience. The entrees dishes seemed to be particularly skimpy… loads of delicious sauces in tiny bowls with only a very few chucks of meat or veggie in each. The chicken Tikka masala only had 3 relatively small chunks of chicken so that the four of us could not each try one. One of our party thought the meats were dry but the rest of us didn’t find this to be so. We are all experienced with Indian food and felt this was not consistent with the portions for similar dishes at basically comparable prices.
I would recommend the restaurant with reservations re portions. They have a buffet during the week that I’d be interested in trying.
One last comment really applies to so many restaurants these days… the flimsy cheap containers for take home leftovers. The container that was sent home with leftover sauce and rice leaked everywhere. I think this is just an awful practice that causes resentment after a nice meal.

Still solid with a good take-​out option downstairs. The chicken makhini was creamy and spicy, and the broccoli aloo was a nice, semi-​light twist on the traditional aloo gobhi. It came to about $ 24 for both entrees and a samosa, which isn’t bad. It’s fast and convenient, for sure.

Went to this place accidentally, and checked their eclectic menu. To find that they had indian style paninis and Nan Pizza! Tried the paneer tikka nan pizza and I must say it was amazing. Perfectly baked bread with tikka sauce blended to perfection! Very underrated place. A must visit If you’re around the university!

I came here for my birthday while at TCNJ and enjoyed it.
1) The ambiance is excellent. I really enjoyed the small cozy feeling.
2) The food was good. Everything we ordered, we liked.
3) However, the price was somewhat expensive.

There aren’t too many affordable dinner options in Princeton, especially for a large dinner run by a non-​profit with a limited budget, and once again we found Mehek to be the best option. They really don’t have great Indian food, but our group of 25 or so got a 4-​course meal for I think about $ 13 a person.
We had a 5:30pm dinner reservation and took up most of the restaurant. They were all set up and ready for us, even though we were early, and the service was pretty fast.
* Naan — 4 stars
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Best part of the meal by far, and pretty legitimately good (not just relative). Great fluffy pieces with a bit of crisp.
* Chicken masala — 3 stars
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The only entrée dish that had a bit of flavor, though the sauce was still watery and the chicken was a bit dry.
* Saag paneer — 1.5 stars
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Very water, and completely flavorless.
* Dal — 1.5 stars
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Mostly a water soup and not much flavor. Not very enjoyable.

IN SHORT: If you can get over feeling like you’re eating in someone’s overcrowded living room, Mehek is a convenient, cheap spot for quality Indian food, with a very budget-​friendly lunch buffet.
THE STORY: Mehek is the best choice for Indian food in Princeton if price and convenience are your biggest motivating factors, otherwise the quality of food will leave you feeling (and smelling) a little oily. The masalas also tend to lack a bit of spice, as if Mehek were trying to occupy the most neutral territory in their buffet flavors. Even the Garlic Naan begs for more garlic, a shock since almost everyone can smell the Mehek kitchen from the street.
The dining room is crowded with tables, even though reservations aren’t generally needed for any lunch or dinner. The atmosphere ends up feeling a bit like you’ve been relegated to the kiddie table at Thanksgiving, since service runs a bit slow as well. But for the price and the serving size ($ 2 naan!), Mehek is sometimes worth it if you’re really craving Indian.

Feel that I’m giving a fair and unbiased review for this restaurant. Some of the a la carte selections are pretty decent at this place but the service is very unprofessional and sets a low mark. Will never come back here.
Had three separate incidents with the «chief of staff» waiter who thinks he’s really witty but is far from reality. The first time we dined here, we had a beer each and on my way out I forgot my coat for a second and when I turned around, «boss man» was waiting with the coat and asked me if I’m drunk to have forgotten my coat.
The second time around he gave me a 101 course on the art of pouring and enjoying wine, which I felt was totally unnecessary and awkward. The same night he was busy flirting with two women at another table with some random humor but ignored us competely for a good 10 minutes until we hollered across the room at him and we got an annoyed response.
The third time he was fussing about a $ 20 minimum charge on the card. We had a Groupon on this particular night and we thought of putting the balance plus 20% gratuity which came out to around $ 15. Ended up walking 4 blocks in the snow to the ATM only to find out that he agreed to take my wife’s card at the very last minute as I was entering the restaurant with the money. We wanted to post this review since forever and finally got to it.
Three strikes! Now that’s being tolerant.