Looks like it's closed down. Closed signs and phone disconnected too.
Angela C.
This used to be our go-to for Indian buffet. India Cook House was actually responsible for converting my hubby into an Indian food lover. He was so addicted that we'd go once every 2-3 weeks! Sadly they've changed ownership and the food is just not the same. Prices have gone up too which is understandable since the original price had not changed for years, but I'm not about to pay more for food that's sub-par. I don't expect that hubby and I will be going back.
Mugdha D.
We had a wonderful dinner here on a rainy Saturday night. It was just us 2 girls and the manager gave us a booth from which we could people-watch, which was nice. They serve poppadums on the house which is a nice touch. We ordered Lamb vindaloo for my friend and Malai Kofta for me, with a garlic naan and raita. The entrees came with a side of plain rice. Our food took longer than usual and so they gave us another naan on the house which was sweet. The food was very tasty. My friend said that the vindaloo was redder than usual but she loved the flavors. My malai kofta had a really good curry. It would have been perfect if the koftas were a tad softer. The naan was very well made. They can perhaps spruce the rice up by adding cumin and a bit of cilantro.overall, we were full and satisfied. I really like how thoughtful the servers here are because they usually bring a dessert for your birthday and will sing for you. It happened to me a couple of years back when I had my birthday party here. :) The complex is big but the parking can be tough with usually full, really tight spots. Carpool!
Annie Y.
Sadly, this visit was a departure from the old days of India Cook House. Service was mixed (two super nice, two rudely brusque). My husband and I got the dinner combination for 2 at $39.99, which was reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. (Heads up--the entree portion sizes are much smaller when getting the combo.) Unfortunately, they served me lamb vindaloo instead of chicken and the remake of the entree was clearly rushed and incomplete. I ended up with chicken in runny tomato soup. Quite a disappointing dining experience to say the least. Other items were passable and non-memorable.
AJ D.
I am sad to have to write this review because I used to really enjoy coming here. I used to LOVE this place particularly for thei chicken malai and chicken tikka masala. Granted, the service has always been a little slow. But now under the new owner the service is wayyyy worse. Dishes and silverware they brought out were dirty. And it over an hour for us to get our food. I will say the malai is still good, but the tikka masala is definitely different and not for the better. The main reason for the one star is that I had a gift certificate that the owner refused to honor, simply because it was issued under the previous owner! Are you kidding me? He claimed he wanted to keep us as customers, yet refused to do the right thing because he said he couldn't afford to take the loss. Well sadly he's going to suffer a much bigger loss in losing me and my whole extended families' business :(
Zara A.
Great food and great service with a very reasonable price. I enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, will come back soon.
Alvin T.
A hidden gem. Have come here many times and figured a review was finally in order. Food is fresh and flavorful. Your choice of regular or garlic naan is included in the lunch buffet. Staff is super attentive. For $10.95, it's a bargain without compromising quality or flavor.
Archie S.
This Indian cuisine will be found in the Heritage Plaza by Culver and the 5 fwy. If you know this area, you know it gets really busy at peak hours and parking is a hassle. They have a large menu here! Probably one of the largest menu in any Indian cuisine I have seen. According to the owner it's a Northern Indian Cuisine so their touch with Spices and hot food is much more gentle. I am very familiar with Indian/Pakistani food as I have spent a good amount of time in the region. To start of, I had ordered a Veggie Samosa. It is filled with potatoes and peas in contrast to the meat samosa. As for the entree I went with the most popular item the Chicken Tikka Masala. You are started off with some Papardam which is like a flaky sheet of bread with Fennel Seeds. The Samosas were just okay. The spices dusted on it added a very different flavor to what I have tried in the past. The Chicken Tikka Masala was defining not spicy at all even though I picked medium. The chicken tasted good but the curry itself could have used a touch of salt or more flavor. The entree comes with rice that works great with it. You can order naan for your Chicken Tikka Masala as I have had it like that several times and it's delicious. Service was very attentive and the owner checks on you to make sure you're experiences the best.
Ani W.
This is great place to eat for lunch or quick dinner Not fancy but good food . Good service too and quite atmosphere. I was there 3 times with a group of 10 people each time and we all loved our dinner
Mohamed K.
The best Beriani I ve ever had, Customer service is great Food is very tasty, mango lacy is also very tasty Strongly recommend this place. Nour el Ain was very nice. The beriani lamb was just perfectly good, lots of meat portions, big big portion plate.
I hadn't been to the India Cook House in several years, due to irritation about the bill as mentioned in my earlier review. But when I saw here on Yelp that they were under new management, I decided to give another try, while being a bit worried about the several quite-negative reviews. A friend and i had dinner last night, and to my pleasure it was a generally excellent experience with better than average food. The decor was much airier and better-lit than what I vaguely recall from the previous visits. I had had an unusually large breakfast, and wasn't wildly hungry for dinner. So I ended up ordering less food than normal, for example skipping the appetizers for which I would almost invariably enjoy some samosas. My friend always gets chicken tikka marsala, so for the first time I (a lamb aficionado) decided to try the lamb tikka marsala. They brought quite crisp papadums, and I declined their offer of more due to being less hungry than usual. My lamb dish was excellent. The sauce was tasty, and my medium specification for seasoning was perhaps a little less than I'd have preferred, with just a smidge of "kick". The lamb had substantial chunks, most of them fork tender, and along with the rice made a quite enjoyable meal. My friend similarly enjoyed his chicken dish. He had ordered garlic naan, and I had just ordered the plain. Both were excellent. I had ordered a Coke, and perhaps my only "beef" was that they never offered to refill it. But the water glasses were topped up constantly. Irvine water is surprisingly bad compared to my water in my adjoining community, but that's not their fault. And that water seemed to negatively affect the soda as well. We lived. The waiter tried several times to "upsell" us on dessert, and I refused due to being adequately fed. My friend finally tried some sort of pistachio ice creamish dish and pronounced it good. I took the mint chutney from the popadums home for my wife, who is extremely fond of "green slime". She said it was sub-par and watery, but devoured it on some crackers without complaint. While the meal had come out quickly, and the service was very attentive, it took quite a while to receive the bill after we'd clearly finished with the meal. Again, not a particularly big deal; I was in no rush. All in all, I had a terrific meal and walked out of the restaurant very happy. Thumbs up!
Evgeny Petrovitch Trufkin
Great place. Great food. Great service. I honestly don't know the names of the dishes, but i've had a few and they were all great.
Betsy Villalobos
I love this food, but it could be perfect if you have more options for kids and vegans.
Julia Y.
This place has been totally renovated. It's clean and beautiful. The new owner is a very nice Indian guy who knows how to run business. The food is fantastic and service is really great. We have been coming here for many years. We always loved the food. It has been a very pleasant surprise to see the dramatic changes.
Deirdre Kelly
4 reviews 5.0 star rating 8/2/2017 I stopped by the Indian Cookhouse yesterday to grab lunch as they do a great buffet! I was delighted to see the fabulous renovation they just completed under the new ownership. Before the renovation I would have said this was a great stop for lunch as food is great but it lacked the decor for dinner out with the husband. Now after the renovation I'd highly recommend The Indian Cookhouse for 'Date Night"! P.S. For those of you who like Natraj, in my opinion the food is better at The Indian Cookhouse! YUM! YUM! YUM!
Looks like it's closed down. Closed signs and phone disconnected too.
This used to be our go-to for Indian buffet. India Cook House was actually responsible for converting my hubby into an Indian food lover. He was so addicted that we'd go once every 2-3 weeks! Sadly they've changed ownership and the food is just not the same. Prices have gone up too which is understandable since the original price had not changed for years, but I'm not about to pay more for food that's sub-par. I don't expect that hubby and I will be going back.
We had a wonderful dinner here on a rainy Saturday night. It was just us 2 girls and the manager gave us a booth from which we could people-watch, which was nice. They serve poppadums on the house which is a nice touch. We ordered Lamb vindaloo for my friend and Malai Kofta for me, with a garlic naan and raita. The entrees came with a side of plain rice. Our food took longer than usual and so they gave us another naan on the house which was sweet. The food was very tasty. My friend said that the vindaloo was redder than usual but she loved the flavors. My malai kofta had a really good curry. It would have been perfect if the koftas were a tad softer. The naan was very well made. They can perhaps spruce the rice up by adding cumin and a bit of cilantro.overall, we were full and satisfied. I really like how thoughtful the servers here are because they usually bring a dessert for your birthday and will sing for you. It happened to me a couple of years back when I had my birthday party here. :) The complex is big but the parking can be tough with usually full, really tight spots. Carpool!
Sadly, this visit was a departure from the old days of India Cook House. Service was mixed (two super nice, two rudely brusque). My husband and I got the dinner combination for 2 at $39.99, which was reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. (Heads up--the entree portion sizes are much smaller when getting the combo.) Unfortunately, they served me lamb vindaloo instead of chicken and the remake of the entree was clearly rushed and incomplete. I ended up with chicken in runny tomato soup. Quite a disappointing dining experience to say the least. Other items were passable and non-memorable.
I am sad to have to write this review because I used to really enjoy coming here. I used to LOVE this place particularly for thei chicken malai and chicken tikka masala. Granted, the service has always been a little slow. But now under the new owner the service is wayyyy worse. Dishes and silverware they brought out were dirty. And it over an hour for us to get our food. I will say the malai is still good, but the tikka masala is definitely different and not for the better. The main reason for the one star is that I had a gift certificate that the owner refused to honor, simply because it was issued under the previous owner! Are you kidding me? He claimed he wanted to keep us as customers, yet refused to do the right thing because he said he couldn't afford to take the loss. Well sadly he's going to suffer a much bigger loss in losing me and my whole extended families' business :(
Great food and great service with a very reasonable price. I enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, will come back soon.
A hidden gem. Have come here many times and figured a review was finally in order. Food is fresh and flavorful. Your choice of regular or garlic naan is included in the lunch buffet. Staff is super attentive. For $10.95, it's a bargain without compromising quality or flavor.
This Indian cuisine will be found in the Heritage Plaza by Culver and the 5 fwy. If you know this area, you know it gets really busy at peak hours and parking is a hassle. They have a large menu here! Probably one of the largest menu in any Indian cuisine I have seen. According to the owner it's a Northern Indian Cuisine so their touch with Spices and hot food is much more gentle. I am very familiar with Indian/Pakistani food as I have spent a good amount of time in the region. To start of, I had ordered a Veggie Samosa. It is filled with potatoes and peas in contrast to the meat samosa. As for the entree I went with the most popular item the Chicken Tikka Masala. You are started off with some Papardam which is like a flaky sheet of bread with Fennel Seeds. The Samosas were just okay. The spices dusted on it added a very different flavor to what I have tried in the past. The Chicken Tikka Masala was defining not spicy at all even though I picked medium. The chicken tasted good but the curry itself could have used a touch of salt or more flavor. The entree comes with rice that works great with it. You can order naan for your Chicken Tikka Masala as I have had it like that several times and it's delicious. Service was very attentive and the owner checks on you to make sure you're experiences the best.
This is great place to eat for lunch or quick dinner Not fancy but good food . Good service too and quite atmosphere. I was there 3 times with a group of 10 people each time and we all loved our dinner
The best Beriani I ve ever had, Customer service is great Food is very tasty, mango lacy is also very tasty Strongly recommend this place. Nour el Ain was very nice. The beriani lamb was just perfectly good, lots of meat portions, big big portion plate.
Restaurantji Recommends
I hadn't been to the India Cook House in several years, due to irritation about the bill as mentioned in my earlier review. But when I saw here on Yelp that they were under new management, I decided to give another try, while being a bit worried about the several quite-negative reviews. A friend and i had dinner last night, and to my pleasure it was a generally excellent experience with better than average food. The decor was much airier and better-lit than what I vaguely recall from the previous visits. I had had an unusually large breakfast, and wasn't wildly hungry for dinner. So I ended up ordering less food than normal, for example skipping the appetizers for which I would almost invariably enjoy some samosas. My friend always gets chicken tikka marsala, so for the first time I (a lamb aficionado) decided to try the lamb tikka marsala. They brought quite crisp papadums, and I declined their offer of more due to being less hungry than usual. My lamb dish was excellent. The sauce was tasty, and my medium specification for seasoning was perhaps a little less than I'd have preferred, with just a smidge of "kick". The lamb had substantial chunks, most of them fork tender, and along with the rice made a quite enjoyable meal. My friend similarly enjoyed his chicken dish. He had ordered garlic naan, and I had just ordered the plain. Both were excellent. I had ordered a Coke, and perhaps my only "beef" was that they never offered to refill it. But the water glasses were topped up constantly. Irvine water is surprisingly bad compared to my water in my adjoining community, but that's not their fault. And that water seemed to negatively affect the soda as well. We lived. The waiter tried several times to "upsell" us on dessert, and I refused due to being adequately fed. My friend finally tried some sort of pistachio ice creamish dish and pronounced it good. I took the mint chutney from the popadums home for my wife, who is extremely fond of "green slime". She said it was sub-par and watery, but devoured it on some crackers without complaint. While the meal had come out quickly, and the service was very attentive, it took quite a while to receive the bill after we'd clearly finished with the meal. Again, not a particularly big deal; I was in no rush. All in all, I had a terrific meal and walked out of the restaurant very happy. Thumbs up!
Great place. Great food. Great service. I honestly don't know the names of the dishes, but i've had a few and they were all great.
I love this food, but it could be perfect if you have more options for kids and vegans.
This place has been totally renovated. It's clean and beautiful. The new owner is a very nice Indian guy who knows how to run business. The food is fantastic and service is really great. We have been coming here for many years. We always loved the food. It has been a very pleasant surprise to see the dramatic changes.
4 reviews 5.0 star rating 8/2/2017 I stopped by the Indian Cookhouse yesterday to grab lunch as they do a great buffet! I was delighted to see the fabulous renovation they just completed under the new ownership. Before the renovation I would have said this was a great stop for lunch as food is great but it lacked the decor for dinner out with the husband. Now after the renovation I'd highly recommend The Indian Cookhouse for 'Date Night"! P.S. For those of you who like Natraj, in my opinion the food is better at The Indian Cookhouse! YUM! YUM! YUM!