Salt and Pepper Grill

Best Indian food in the city, and also very affordable.
First, even if you don’t always get appetizers, get the Chaat Papari. It’s got a mostly chickpea base and onions, yogurt, & a tangy sweet sauce that are a delicious flavor combination. And fried dough strips (they remind me of fried wonton strips you often get with soup at Chinese restaurants) give it a tasty crunch. Now I’m desperately craving one thinking about it.
I usually get the butter chicken, which is excellent, but so is everything else I’ve tried.
If you go to in, you can choose a couple options from different popular dishes that are ready at the counter plus sides (e.g. 2 chicken + rice & naan for ~$ 10!). For delivery you need to use the menu.
The one knock I have is everything is served in styrofoam, which is kind of a bummer.
Man, I’m so hungry now.

Go to for delivery or take out for Indian. Usually stick to the butter chicken or tikka masala — both always delicious. As is the garlic naan.

The lamb is fantastic. Excellent portions for a good price.

I am sorry to have to write this review, as I was a previous fan of Salt and Pepper’s food. However, I have never experienced such terrible customer service as what occurred today. We had placed an order online with Eat24 and after over an hour and a half without delivery, we tried to call. The restaurant claimed that they rejected our order, unable to find our address. I would like to mention that we have ordered delivery from Salt and Pepper multiple times in the past to this address and it is saved in the delivery app. When we called Eat24, they let us know that the restaurant had confirmed the order with them, hence why I received a confirmation email with order number. Salt and Pepper lied to us and Eat24, with multiple staff members claiming different things. All in all, it was a pretty frustrating experience and I will not be returning to this restaurant… And I am still hungry!

My go to for indian food delivery in DC.

Admittedly, I was a little leery of this sketch-​looking Indian takeout place, but I kind of think Unilocal has this one right. That is some pretty respectable food. The takeout I ended up with was quite flavorful and filling. It wasn’t ready immediately (which in a way gives me more confidence that some effort went into preparing it), but it was what I wanted.
For one thing, I checked the box to make my chickpeas very spicy, a topic which I am invested in but also rather jaded about. But someone definitely put something hot in there; this was the sinus-​clearing type, not the mild tingle just to let you know they tried. I was expecting mushy overcooked chickpeas, but if anything, they were a shade tough, though not problematically so.
They’ve also developed the nice solution of rendering their bhatura (normally one huge fried bread) as several little bhaturas, and in general did a competent job with secure takeout containers (not everyone does). Their chili bhaji comes with stems still on and seeds still in, but I got some pretty tasty ones. Altogether, I ended up with several meals worth of heathy stuff plus fried stuff (okay, mostly fried stuff), which is pretty much what I would hope for from Indian takeout. It certainly isn’t the best in the city, but I’d find it worthwhile to return (or perhaps try one of their two other locations).

Worst delivery service. They told me that my food would be delivered in an hour, and it took an hour and forty minutes. I live a mile away from this restaurant location, so there’s no reason it should have taken this long — especially without a call to notify me of the delay. There are plenty other Indian food delivery options in the area, with the same or better quality food, and they will be getting my business instead.

Very tasty Yet milder Indian flavours, a good variety of veggies and a bunch of chicken & goat entrees were ready to order. I really loved their salted lassi, probably a result of them making their own yogurt. They have the chai which is an amazing thing to try if you haven’t. Their naan was very fresh and their plum chutney was so delicious. The staff is very friendly and smily. The place almost feels like a little home, quiet and peaceful. Only down side if any, their food is not quite as spicy as the real Indian version, which is understandable. I highly recommend this place to everybody.

Fat Ass Score: 2.25
Cheap Ass Score: 4
«Meh» about sums it up.
Cliffs:
Ordered a veggie dish, it was bland.
Service took forever.
It could be cheaper, especially given the ambiance-​or lack thereof.

The reviews for this place vary wildly between five stars, and the inevitable person who «loves loves loves» the place, and the one-​star reviews by people who were outraged by some unique experience. Here’s the truth: it is solidly two-​star, or as Unilocal describes, «Meh, I’ve experienced better.» No explaining the five-​star reviews, except I think sometimes people find a hole-​in-​the-​wall place where the food turns out better than they think it is going to, and they’re enthralled because they think they’re having an authentic urban experience.
The chicken tikka masala is particularly bad — very bland tasting chicken, no sense that it has absorbed any of the flavor of the surrounding sauce, and the sauce itself is bland and overly sweet. I couldn’t finish that dish. The other items were better but also surprisingly non-​flavorful.
If you do go, stick with the vegetarian dishes, they are better. The potato dish (aloo palak) was actually good.

The food was good and met my expectation. The chana masala (chickpeas) was a little less in quantity compared to the rice but tasty nonetheless. The kebobs were good and tasty!

This place had some disappointing curry. But they are getting four stars for having some of the best samosas I’ve ever tasted. I’ll definitely come back for the samosas.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever given a one star to a restaurant, but the reason it is coming is because I will never go to the Salt and Pepper Grill again.
My friend and I wanted to try an Indian place in her new neighborhood, and this place had raving reviews. I have now decided that these reviews were all written by college students who are too exhausted from school to actually know good food from bad food and too used to university administration to realize when they are waiting too long.
First and foremost, the service was atrocious. We walked up to the counter and stood there for 5 minutes, until at last, someone came up to the counter and took our order. If only we had seen this for the omen it was!
We then proceeded to wait 45 minutes. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION. We were keeping track because we actually only had an hour total to eat before we were supposed to meet some friends. So, doing the math (60 – 5)−45 = 10 minutes to eat.
I kept telling myself, «When the food arrives, I’m sure it will be a masterpiece.» No. It was not. The tikka masala was overly sweet, the rice was bottom of the barrel long grain, the tandoori was EXTREMELY dry, and only one of our meals came with naan (everybody’s favorite part).
The naan was good, but for almost $ 40 (drinking water, getting no desserts, and having counter service at an out of the way location) we decided this place was ridiculous.
If given the choice between Salt and Pepper Grill and any other place, I would choose any other place.
Thanks but no thanks.

I took my staff here for lunch during a retreat and we all really enjoyed it. There are two options, the first is the cafeteria style to go options and the second is to order from the menu. We decided to go with the menu because there were 5 of us and we were going to share. We had pakora’s, and chaat to start. Then we ordered alou ghobi, palak paneer, eggplant, pees and potatoes a nan and a roti. The overall spice level was mild but the food was hot and flavorful. We also got two huge mango lassi’s.
A couple of small annoyances. The food came out in nice metal bowls but we still were given styrafoam to eat off of, which I always hate because of the waste. It took a little while for our food to come out, probably about 40 minutes. It suggests that they don’t get a lot of off the menu orders at lunch, or at least not for dine in. Just something to be aware of if you are in a rush.
Overall it was a really enjoyable meal at a fair price. I would come back often if this was convenient to me.

It’s almost depressing that there are so many people out there who are so deprived that they gave salt and pepper such high reviews because they think it’s up there with the best indian food they’ve had. *a tear*
I’m indian and I’ve tried different types of restaurant and home made Indian and Pakistani foods and I really wanted to like this place. Because this is the only Indian/​Pakistani restaurant I’ve come across in petworth. Unfortunately, and surprisingly the food was subpar. Surprising, because this place has high ratings on Unilocal.
I ordered the «salt and pepper» special meal that had chicken tikka (not masala), lamb tikka, some other kabob of questionable meat content /​chicken (?), chick peas, and okra. Also got pakora. And the person I was with got the spicy chicken curry.
The only thing I liked was the spicy chicken curry. It was flavorful and the meat was tender.
Everything else was… edible.
The pakoras tasted like they had been sitting in a glass case for a while (spoiler: they were). The chicken and lamb tikka were so dry and the chicken tikka was extremely flavorless. The other kabob tasted like frozen meat and it was rubbery. The chick peas and okra were okay I guess. But it’s not like those chick peas you get at kabob palace (crystal city) or food factory (college park) or even at any other mediocre kabob place.
I wanted this place to be good and I want this place to do well. I think if they used fresher ingredients and changed the chef, they will.

I ordered the salmon curry and entrée 34# — both were delicious! Loved the vegetable sides and the salmon curry was amazing!

We were craving a good Indian food buffet around the Petworth/​Columbia Heights area, and Unilocal reviews led us here. BUT THIS PLACE IS NOT A BUFFET PLACE. They have a «buffet menu» that allows you choose a meat entrée with sides of rice and naan. So, we were a little disappointed at this point.
We made the trip there, so we decided to give it a shot. The samosas, chicken tikka masala, rice, and naan were all good and tasty, but not the best I’ve ever had.

3 stars, averaged. Because depending on the time of day and my order my sentiment is «meh I’ve had better» «A-​OK» or «Yay I’m a fan»
Bottom line — I don’t think an Indian person would like their food. It’s simply not flavorful or spicy enough. I personally like my Indian food spicy, but I think you need to have both heat and flavor to have a good dish.
I order food there quite frequently, and my go to meals are the lamb karahi, chicken curry, butter chicken, and chicken tikka masala. I’ve also had their roti.
The butter chicken and the chicken tikka masala are pretty gross. NEVER order those things. I mean, they’re edible if you’re hungry … especially if you salt the hell out of them. Those two dishes are my go-​to dishes at Indian restaurants, so I keep ordering them at Salt and Pepper. But every time I order either there, I take a bite, and I’m reminded and I want to kick myself. Their version is gross. Even if you ask for extra spice — they come out bland and sweet. Like a bad Italian cook made chicken tikka masala. There’s no smoky spicy curry flavor. It tastes like bad undercooked tomato sauce with a ton of sugar. Worse, the chicken is usually dry and rubbery.
I had the same issues with their butter chicken. In fact, I can’t really remember the difference in flavor between those two dishes — the only difference being that the tikka masala is redder than the butter chicken. Normally I can drink the sauce butter chicken and chicken tikka masala come with, but I’ll just throw this stuff out once I’ve eaten all the chunks of meat.
I’ve had better luck with their chicken curry and the chicken vindaloo. The chicken curry could be spicier and more flavorful though. It certainly isn’t the best chicken curry but it’s not bad either. The chicken vindaloo is the best chicken dish I’ve had here so far — it’s in fact the only dish I thought was sufficiently spiced.
The lamb karahi is pretty good. The lamb is oh so tender and has a nice spicy flavor. Well… mild spicy flavor. I’ve definitely had better karahi at Ravi Kabob and Mr Kabob in Sterling (though a few years ago before management changed). My experience with karahi is this — it is usually so spicy it makes you want to cry, but the flavor is soo good you can’t help but keep eating until it’s all gone.
I’ve also had the roti — and the roti is flat and heavy and tasted like whole wheat. It kinda reminded me of the frozen pitas you can get at Safeway — you know the stuff weird ass hippies buy and stuff with sprouts. Normally roti is fluffy and yummy.
Their samosas were bland — I coudn’t even figure out what kind of vegetables were in there — but the green cilantro sauce that came with it had a nice flavor and almost made up for it.
The minimum order for delivery is $ 25, so with tax and tip, you usually need to spend around $ 32 – 35. (i.e. You need to order two entrees and a dessert or bread) It also usually takes them at least an hour to deliver. My favorite Indian dessert is rice pudding, and they don’t have that on the menu.
Yeah, I feel kinda bad because my review is pretty negative and the service is usually friendly. But now that I think about it, I only order at this place, because I don’t know of too many other Indian places that deliver to my place.

This is one of my favorite and go-​to places for delivery, though I warn you that when they say it’ll take 45 minutes (as they usually do), it does take that long. You also have to hit a $ 25 minimum. But the delivery folks I’ve seen are friendly, and more importantly, the food is delicious.
The biryanis are tasty, though perhaps a little heavy on the seasoning. I had the chicken curry recently, and it was one of my favorites, though you probably won’t have enough for leftovers.

This place is pretty impressive considering the location is far from the many Indian and Pakistani eateries in the outlying DC suburbs. With that said, it is fast food Indian style with styrofoam plates and pre-​made choices. The prices reflect the fast nature and preparation, and the décor is of a similar nature. If you are craving Indian food, this is a good choice if you want it fast. There was a steady stream of all sorts of people, so that means the food is going to be pretty fresh to keep up with demand– and it was fresh! I do not like when Indian food tastes in fresh, canned, frozen and/​or as though it’s been sitting around too long.
However, the food proportions are not my favorite. They give twice as much rice as entrée, so then there is leftover rice. The food may cater to clientele, so maybe most like the saltiness of the food? I was not impressed with the potato flavoring, but the cauliflower in the aloo gobi masala was fresh and well flavored in the sauce with tomatoes, onions and spices that included a few thin julienned fresh ginger pieces and sprinklings of fresh cilantro. It was made vegan by request, which was nice. The potatoes had a flavor belying their other cooking first before added to that dish. I might ask to have no potatoes, but I am sure the response would be confusion.
The vegetable samosa was a great tasting peas and potatoes combination at a fair price– this place is definitely great for price. I liked there were more peas than potatoes and the fried crisp dough was great. Freshly fried, so that was awesome. The sauces were very nice– a spicy cilantro and mint (? a bit?) green sauce was great, and the tamarind sauce was good. I used both up on my potatoes that were lacking flavor in the entrée.
If in the area, your craving for Indian and Pakistani fast food will be satisfied. They will adjust your order to be vegan. Good choice because price is low compared to most, and it has fast cooking of fresh food.