Shahnai - Houston

I finally decided to give this restaurant a try after living in the area for years without visiting. I've been to several other restaurants offering similar cuisine, so I was eager to see their take on traditional dishes. The lamb dish I ordered was quite nice; the lamb was tender and well-seasoned. However, the garlic naan was just okay, and I felt the portion was a bit smaller than I had expected. The saffron rice was also a little mild for my taste. My partner's dish had a variety of different flavors, but I found that the curry here wasn't very spicy.

As for the biryani, it was a mixed bag. I used the BOGO offer on UberEats, and while one portion came with five good-sized pieces of meat, the other only had three. The rice was quite oily, but the chicken pieces tasted alright. To ensure there were no unwanted ingredients, I transferred the biryani into a mixing bowl, as mentioned in previous reviews. Additionally, for $16, I expected at least some raita or salnah to accompany the biryani, but that was absent. Overall, I see no reason to return to this restaurant.

The butter chicken could use some improvement, but everything else that was served hot was fantastic. The cold dishes, which I think were the rascals, were lacking the cheese I was hoping to find. Additionally, the kheer could use a bit of cardamom for added flavor. Overall, I had a pleasant first experience, and our waiter was exceptional.

I visited the all-you-can-eat buffet specifically to try their chow mein noodles and kababs. They looked appealing and delicious, but unfortunately, when I sampled the noodles, they were hard and lacking in flavor. As for the kababs, they were quite dry and had a flavor that was predominantly just egg. I truly hope they can improve the quality of their dishes in the future.

The owner, Shahid, suggested that we should have kept the vomit-covered food in our fridge until they could inspect it. He actually said, "If you could save the nail, why couldn’t you save the food?" Furthermore, he told us to wait five days until he completed his investigation before informing us of his decision regarding the refund. To top it off, one of the employees questioned my brother about his religious background, which was entirely inappropriate.