Dvaraka Indian Restaurant

Nice option for solid Indian food in the area. Vast menu with decent prices and portions. The Malai Kofta is amazing and my partner who enjoys very spicy food was happy with the level of spice offered for their Biryani. I do not like spicy food and they very much respected my request for mild. All to say they will adapt the meal to your liking which can be rare. I brought a vegan friend here and she was very happy with the options for her without meat or dairy as well. It is BYOB and my friends and I enjoyed bringing beers from the shop down the street to enjoy with our meal. The interior is home-like with bollywood music videos playing on the screen and lots of seating - students and families seem to enjoy coming here a lot. I will say the booth chairs are a bit precarious as they can slide around when you sit on them. The lighting is also quite bright. The naan is really good and the servers are kind though while dining in they provided my party with less rice than we get when ordering for take out. They gave us a small bowl of rice to share when each meal would be given it's own container of rice otherwise. We ran out of rice quickly while dining in but they were not willing to give us any more without extra charge which was a bit off-putting.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Chicken Biryani, Butter Naan

The boneless biryani was completely off, with the meat tasting very strangely. The Tika Masala was just ok.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 2

By far, the best value restaurant in Princeton. Service is great and food is even better. For what you pay, you get a great, authentic meal with quality ingredients and preparation. Highly recommend for lunch or dinner with friends. They also do a great takeout and catering,

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Exceptional goat biryani.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I ordered butter chicken, salt lassi, garlic Naan and the combo dessert. It was delivered early and eaten so fast I didn't even think about taking a picture till the food was long gone.
This food makes me happy. The way it looks, the way it smells, the way it feels in my belly all makes me happy.
Thank you for being here and for making this delicious food and for allowing it to be available for delivery with ubereats. ❤️

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food was great. The service was also very good. The booth chairs we sat on were a bit shaky but it didn’t take away from the great buffet and fresh naan.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Butter Chicken

Whenever I want to take care of my personal needs, I treat myself to goat curry here. It's super fulfilling and makes life worth the hassle 😜 They offer complimentary rice refills. Just ask for it but be sure to tip for their kindness. Rahul, the server, is excellent at his job too.

Parking: Spring Street Garage

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

**Food Quality: *⭐⭐*
The Boneless Chicken Biryani, a usually flavorful dish, was bland and lacked the rich, complex spices one expects from Indian cuisine. It tasted more like Szechuan fried rice rather than biryani. Shrimp Biryani was very dry with no flavour except pinch of spices.

**Taste: *⭐⭐*
Flavors were muted across all the items ordered. The Biryani was dry and under-seasoned.

**Portion Sizes: *⭐⭐⭐*
The portions were adequate, no complaints in it. But given the quality, it didn't feel like good value for money.

**Value: *⭐⭐*
The prices are reasonable with very good quantity. But taste got compromised.

**Overall: *⭐⭐*
Restaurant falls short of expectations. The combination of underwhelming food and taste make it difficult to recommend.

Food: 2

Recommended dishes: Pepper Chicken

The food at Dvaraka Restaurant was absolutely delicious! Every dish that I ordered was bursting with flavor and cooked to perfection. I highly recommend the Paneer Tikka Special with Green Marination Sauce, Aloo Papri Chat, Vegetable Dum Biryani and their Vegetable Chilli Momos. Each dish was a delight and the presentation blew us away. The staff was very accommodating. I placed a catering order and they met me at my car with the food and carefully placed it in my vehicle. I can’t say enough good things about this restaurant. I highly recommend them. To the owners of Dvaraka, thank you. I will definitely come back in the near future.

Vegetarian options: They have an extensive menu of vegetarian dishes that are busting with flavor.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Indian restaurants often have a plethora of vegetarian options, and absolutely nothing vegan since the presence of ghee in almost everything. Dvaraka is one of the few Indian places that actually has 4 different vegan entrees, CLEARLY MARKED, that require zero modifications.

I ordered the Bagara Baingan, which was the most delightfully creamy eggplant dish. Naturally, being an ever-skeptical vegan diner, I had to ask the server what they used to make the dish so creamy. The server looked at me very seriously and said "Ma'am, no cream! It cannot be cream because it's vegan! We just use coconut milk!". Test passed!

I appreciate that they not only understand the difference between vegetarian and vegan, but take it seriously.

Not to mention, the food was absolutely delicious too. The Bagara Baingan is a new favorite of mine. It's absolutely nothing like the overly oily Baingan bhartas you see at most places (although I love those too). This was a creamy sauce that was almost nutty, laden with mustard seeds and whole pieces of Indian eggplant (yes, they actually used the tiny Indian eggplants, not the giant globe ones).

While the place is small and can get busy, they really won my heart with the deliciousness and vegan-ness of the food.

Vegetarian options: Lots of clearly marked VEGAN options in addition to an entire menu section of vegetarian options.

Dietary restrictions: Lots of clearly marked VEGAN options in addition to vegetarian options.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Photo attached, is that a chic65 and is that a biryani first if all… pathetic and The worst food and taste that i have ever ate in my life.. this is the 3 r 4th i have ordered and got disappointed every time. Coz of less options i have choosed this.. ordered chic65 biryani, its not all chic65, i really dont know how their business is runningand getting those many reviews… Never ever see this restaurant…

Food: 1

Absolutely loved the food. It does have a spice to it but the quality is it of this world. If was something we did not like he was able to make several suggestions for us for the next time ans the future I will definitely be back. He was nice enough to give us some minty lil candy.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Our family loved the experience.Gulab jamun was awesome!! Staff were very kind. Food is very tasty. Really recommend to eat here.?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Excellent vegetarian food. Their lunch bowls are a bargain.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Our go to place for indian food in princeton. They gave us a mango dessert which was great!