Shalamar Restaurant

I have eaten here a few times before as a last resort when everything else was either closed or too far. Each time has been «ok», not great, but good enough to eat when you’re starving. I recently had a goat biryani plate that I ordered to go.
The rice was good, about the same as any other «indian» restaurant. The meat however… well there wasn’t any. Unless you count the globs of fat and sinew attached to chunks of bone. There was even a large chunk of smooth bone about the size of a ping pong ball (no meat, fat, nothing) just sitting on my rice when I first opened the container. Wow, thanks for saving me the best part guys…
I don’t know what you would have done, but I didn’t finish my food. I was so upset that I didn’t even bother finishing the rice. I can’t remember the last time that I was so blatantly ripped off by a restaurant.
Never coming back.

Shalamar is a decent Pakistani restaurant. It certainly isn’t the nicest on the interior, but the food is pretty good. I ordered the lamb Jalfrezi with rice, and my co-​workers both ordered the chicken biryani. We waited about 15 minutes for our food, which is a good sign in my mind, because it means the food was prepared after we ordered. There are quite a few Indian restaurants in the area with similar food though, and I think I would be more inclined to try some of these other restaurants. A few of them are more conducive to a sit-​down type of dinner, and are more aesthetically pleasing on the inside. Again, the food here isn’t bad, but the restaurant itself isn’t too impressive either.

Don’t make up your mind based on my experience. I will go back again, eventually, to give it another try.
I ordered carry-​out. The staff is very helpful and friendly. The items I ordered were not what I expected. The Chicken Tikka Masala was very salty and tasted more of condensed tomato soup with over cooked cubes of grilled chicken breast thrown in. It seemed lazy or hastily prepared. I ordered two other entrees, but it was more of the same.

Located in a small shopping strip this place is a little dingy. It’s not very well maintained.
The staff can be friendly but they are mostly direct & no nonsense. I swear I’ve seen 1 of the women that work here crack a smile at me once. The cuisine is mostly pakistani. You need to order at the counter & they will bring you the food when it’s ready.
The only 2 reasons I come here is to get the mango lassi & the samosas. The lassi is really flavourful & the combo between the yogurt & mango is perfect. The samosas are spicy & addictive, they come with a dipping sauce usually cilantro chutney. They seem to switch the chutneys every times I go, sometimes I’ll get a reddish one, another the green cilantro or a combination of both.
I hadn’t been in a few months because the samosas got really bland but they seem to be back up to where they used to be! I usually get my order to go. I have eaten in the restaurant twice & ordered some food. I do believe that they make everything fresh, it comes out hot.
I’m really not impressed with the rest of the food here. The tikka masala dish was very acidic both times, way too much tomato in the sauce. We’ve had the briyani, the na’an & one of the beef dishes, no bueno. Sad because they had brilliantly colored dishes.
If it wasn’t for the samosas, I wouldn’t come back here or recommend it.

It’s a very nice place to hang out with family and friends. Very friendly, welcoming environment. Love their samosas. Chat. Bar b q platter. Chai is good as well.

Have been coming here for years, the halwa/​chana puri is amazing! Décor and atmosphere is not the best, but that is not what you come here for, it’s the food!

A hidden gem! The kabobs are incredibly flavorful, juicy and tender. The masala is to die for, all at crazy cheap prices. The atmosphere is super chill and very family oriented. Friendly staff and clean. Great for lunch and perfect for a group that wants to try out all the flavors. It’s set up so that you can eat family style with multiple plates at the tables.
A must try for Clear Lake!

Very good! Reminder, this is not Indian!!! Mostly Pakistan food. They have a ton of desserts you can pick out of, like jalebi. They have mango lassie which are amazing. The restaurant is very creative with pictures of Indian and nice tables. When we got the food, nan fried rice ect. It was fresh made and AWSOME!

They served the food without properly heating it, forget making fresh. There is absolutely no service, you have to get up from your seat everytime you need something.

I can really only speak on the friendly service. We went in to use the restroom because Dan the pizza place didn’t have one. I didn’t want to leave without buying something so we bought a couple drinks and small appetizer that is sold by the pound. It was fried potatoes and onions and it was delicious. While we were they insisted we try their sweets and other things it was all really tasty. I will go back soon for a meal.

Great food. Everything i have tried i enjoyed… the only reason i stopped going is because they do not remove the bones so entire time your eating your scared your about to chomp on a tiny bone and crack a tooth. I couldnt enjoy my chicken curry because of this. So i recromend mogul much better and theirs no bones.

We love this place!!! It is probably the closest Indianish restaurant to UTMB Galveston. When my husband was in the hospital after surgery, I needed him to eat, and he certainly would not do that with hospital food. Each day I asked him what he was in the mood for, and each day I would go get it. When he said Indian, of course it was not buffet time, and many restaurants close between lunch and dinner service.
We had eaten here once before, same kind of problem time wise, and enjoyed the food, so I knew about it, and was more than pleased to go back.
I ordered a bit of a bunch of stuff– from samozas to naan, rice to shish kebabs to chicken. Everything was wonderful, spicy, fresh, flavorful. Ignore the fact that they barely speak English. Ignore the fact that they look at you a bit funny because you will probably be the only non «ethnic» person in the place. Enjoy the flavors that sing on your palate, the fact that the dishes are made in a «darn you we will make it like we make it at home, and we don’t care whether your American senses like it or not» manner. I hope they never change!!!
I told them we love raita with the naan, and asked if they could give me a «serving» extra, so I got about a liter of the stuff, with a smile, and a somewhat dubious look. The lady asked if I thought that would be enough, because she did not have any more. I think something was lost in translation, because I never asked for a liter, but I certainly was not going to try to back out of it. No idea of how to gracefully. We did manage to sop up a great deal of it, and we shared the rest at the hospital.
This place makes me smile just thinking about it!

Just moved here from Los Angeles and can say that this place is the first outside of India that gets Byriani right! Delicious. The vast majority of patrons are South-​Asian, which speaks highly of the food’s flavor and authenticity.

Vegetarian dishes review:
Ordered Saag Paneer, Matar Paneer, Naan … none of them were that good… just average. Salt Lassi was worst. Could take in no more than one sip.

I’m impressed with this little Indian restaurant. We ordered chicken masala, fish masala and chicken biryana. All are very good. However it’s a bit too spicy but flavorful. The naan is huge, its same as a small pizza. We didn’t expect that so we order too much. Definitely will come back again.

It’s a tiny hole in the wall place, but don’t pass it up. They are right next door to an Asian food mart, and it shows in the freshness of the food.
The lady behind the counter was very nice and sweet, seeing my confused ass trying my best to make out what the menu board behind her said. She offered me a fold-​able menu that told me what everything was. Thank god, or I would have ended up eating 4 pieces of naan bread and nothing else.
Not that it would have been a total loss. The naan was so fluffy, with a wonderful crispness on the bottom. I knew I was in for a treat from my first bite.
Got an introduction to basmati rice, and from what my girlfriend says, it was quite perfectly cooked. I agreed, savouring the long grains. Didn’t even need that much salt.
On to the actual food, the things you actually are reading this for and driving out to get. As a newbie to Indian food, but a lover of all things spicy, the girlfriend recommended I start with the classic chicken tikka marsala. I was expecting a sauce on a piece of chicken, what I got was a wonderfully warm flavoured yogurt sauce, full of tumeric, cinnamon, paprika, a light amount of curry, and just enough cayenne to make sure you remember it. It covered some very well made grilled breast pieces, and I quite enjoyed myself as I figured out how many ways I could eat it.
The girlfriend, who has much more experience in these matters than I, had Goat Vindaoo. If you have never tried goat before, do yourself a massive favour and order this. It’s spicier than the tikka marsala, but the goat (think it was spare ribs) was just superb. Juicy and tender enough to nom on, but full of flavour, one that will remind you of beef, but ready to leave the goat’s lumbering cousin behind. The actual Vindaloo bit was much spicer, as I said before, but this place’s version won’t have you screaming for water. I couldn’t get enough of it, and I finished off the place by using the naan as a sopping bread (sorry, old habits die hard).
Please, come pay these people a visit and give them more business. You’ll get out of here for less than Mughal and Cuisine India dine in will cost you.

Yum — had to try this spot and wasn’t disappointed. Had the chicken tikka masala, naan, samosas, and goat biryani. The naan is huge, soft, delicious… the samosas were a great starter. and the masala was piping hot with just enough sweet and spice. The goat biryani was tasty, but we are bigger on meat than rice, so wouldn’t get it again. We will definitely be frequenting here for the masala and naan and to try more items!

We frequent Shalamar at least once a month. The ambience is not that great so do the take out.
The food is very good compared to other Indian/​Pakistani places. We usually do the biriyani. Generally the dish is very hard to execute but Shalamar has the recipe down pat. I will say in the past few months the taste has changed but its still better then nearly any biriyani in Houston.
Also, try the chana masala for veggie folks.

The food here was served fresh, hot and it was a good flavor. We ordered two entrees, some naan, and some samosas.
I wish the samosas had meat in them but I expected potatoes and that is what was in them. They were spicy and tasted good, but not enough other vegetables, peas and other things in it for me. I like the ones with a little more variety inside. It comes with a small bit of sauce.
The food came with a little bit of salad — it looked alright but I didn’t eat it. The naan was good.
This place is pretty big and has a decent amount of variety to choose from. There are not very many Indian food type places around so I came here to try and I was not disappointed. I wanted my chicken masala to be a little spicier but overall I still liked it and also the curry/​brisket we tried.
Portion sizes decent. I would recommend getting an entrée and 2 naans. The cashier was friendly — obviously it was our first time there so she helped us out by answering a few questions. Another lady also helped with my to go box and seemed nice.
When I was there, there were only 2 other tables but a few people came in and out to pick up to go orders so that is an option too. Entrees are all a la cart though so if you need rice or naan make sure to order it.
They also sell pastries there but I didn’t try any so maybe next time. I will be revisiting this place.
PS– the survey asks if this place has a tv. They do but it’s pakistani channel so don’t think you’ll be watching sports or something…

Super Yummy food!
All the dishes I had here were Very Rich n Flavorful!
Friendly & personable staff!
(Especially Jessie! She was very sweet & helpful & made my first visit here a really pleasant experience)
I have been wanting to try this place out for awhile now. Heard lots of good things.
Lots of desserts!
Very glad I made the time to stop by!