CAUTION : this restaurant used to be AMAZING but now they are stretching their once velvety, delicious Butter Chicken/Tikka Masala sauce with water to make it go further and also using small shreds of chicken/skin/gristle instead of chunks of tandoori smoked chicken like they used to. To describe it best would be a thin curry scented soup slop with chicken shreds and bone/gristle mixed in it, absolutely disappointing. I understand that during shortages it was rough for restaurants but now that things have returned to lower cost baselines, they are still charging the same for horrible quality Indian food and pocketing the extra profit. I thought it may have been a one off occupancy so we tried takeout once and once in restaurant and nope, consistently bad. I’d steer clear until there’s a change in either practices or ownership, I know for sure they won’t get another dime of my money.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
Kevin S
Nice little place with very good food. Pretty reasonable prices as well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Naan
Adam Mitchell
I've had Indian food from TONS of places in multiple states and this is by far consistently the best!!!
Laura Gallihugh
Had been wanting to try this place for awhile, so glad I finally got to because HOOOOO BOY I tell you hwat, that garlic naan was DEVINE the mango chicken? SLAPPED the onion bhajia??? Chilis awesome blossom ain’t got nothing on that onion bhajia absolutely
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Garlic Naan, Mango
Kat S.
We dined in house with a group of 6 and loved the food! Chai was excellent, extensive menu options, food is fresh, flavorful, delicious - with your option of spice level on any dish.
Alex Lichty
The food was excellent and full of flavor. The staff was also really nice and helpful. The building itself is also really cool and has some unique artwork and architecture.Parking: There is a free public lot at the end of Davis street across from the Love sign. There is also street parking but difficult to find a spot.
Food was absolutely amazing. Very authentic and the chili sauce was super spicy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Curry, Naan
David S.
Website and menu clearly states Tuesday-Sunday lunch buffet. Arrived Saturday at 12:30 and was told buffet was ONLY SUNDAYS. Seems a lil false advertised
Roxane Holmes
Their food is delicious especially the vegetarian and meat tallis. The service was rather slow and one person didn't get their meal, but we still love their food. We had a group of six and called ahead but they were still pretty slow. We will go back and we do recommend them. The naan And garlic naan was delicious.Vegetarian options: loved the tali.
This is one of the best Indian restaurants my wife and I have experienced. Whenever possible, we always order from here when we commute from NoVA to Charlottesville. You can order online or call the restaurant to place your order. I recommend calling simply because you can get extra spicy when you call! We never dined in because we found this place in the midst of COVID shutdowns but the staff are very friendly and the environment is filled with the mouth watering aroma of their food whenever we enter the establishment to pick up our food.
John B.
Pleasant ambiance and attentive service. Really enjoy their sampler dish and love their curries. Really have not been disappointed by any of the food served.
Becca Rose
I ordered takeout, $17 worth of food came to $30 after delivery fees. The garlic Naan bread had no garlic at all, maybe just some garlic powder, the serving size of butter chicken was very small , the sauce was good but the chicken not good at all, tasted like leftovers. Some older crackhead looking lady delivered the food with her crackhead looking sister or someone in the car who was staring at me with her mouth open. I work at a medical practice and this was a bad look. I wont be going here ever again, very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Annie Heckel
Natraj Indian Cuisine is a lovely restaurant and we were surprised at how empty it was on a sunny Saturday morning. Service was friendly, patient (we had a cranky child), and helpful. They do mild spice levels well--low or no heat without a loss of other flavors. Note that biryani is little spicier than other options just on a base level; this is in line with pretty much every other Indian restaurant I've ever been to.We had lassi (mango and salty), chicken soup, garlic naan, chicken tikka, chicken biryani, dal saag, butter chicken, and paneer tikka masala. All were delicious and the portions big enough that we really should have ordered one fewer entrée. All entrees except the biryani come with rice. The dal saag and paneer tikka masala were particularly good; this is an excellent choice of restaurant if you're looking for a vegetarian meal. Even omnivores will not notice the lack of meat in the vegetarian dishes (which is honestly one of the best things overall about Indian food)--these are real comfort food dishes.All in all, I hope that business is good for Natraj, as their food and service are wonderful and it's a type of restaurant that we don't see enough of in towns like Culpeper. I want to stop in next time I'm in Culpeper and order modestly enough that I can try the gulab jamun for dessert!Vegetarian options: There are lots of vegetarian options and the fully vegan options are clearly labeled. Vegetarian options are just as good as omnivore options--there's no step down in taste or quality, just a step down in price!Dietary restrictions: Be aware that many dishes have dairy and/or nuts. Definitely talk to your server about safe options if you have allergies. If you're on a low-carb diet, look to the kebab/tandoori menu for low-carb options; the rice comes separately, so it's easy to avoid.Parking: Parking is limited in general in the Davis/East St. area. The Spencer St. parking is a good option, but will require walking.Kid-friendliness: Picky kids may have trouble here. Lassi is always a safe bet; just communicate it as a smoothie. Plain naan should work for kids who like bread, and if you can get them to taste a few dishes, they may really enjoy the food. Our 14-year-old and 10-year-old were both quite happy (the 10-year-old ordered the butter chicken and insisted I leave a 5-star review), but the 8-year-old was cranky and ate nothing but lassi, garlic naan, and a little chicken soup, which was weird because he really likes bean dishes normally.
CAUTION : this restaurant used to be AMAZING but now they are stretching their once velvety, delicious Butter Chicken/Tikka Masala sauce with water to make it go further and also using small shreds of chicken/skin/gristle instead of chunks of tandoori smoked chicken like they used to. To describe it best would be a thin curry scented soup slop with chicken shreds and bone/gristle mixed in it, absolutely disappointing. I understand that during shortages it was rough for restaurants but now that things have returned to lower cost baselines, they are still charging the same for horrible quality Indian food and pocketing the extra profit. I thought it may have been a one off occupancy so we tried takeout once and once in restaurant and nope, consistently bad. I’d steer clear until there’s a change in either practices or ownership, I know for sure they won’t get another dime of my money.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nice little place with very good food. Pretty reasonable prices as well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Naan
I've had Indian food from TONS of places in multiple states and this is by far consistently the best!!!
Had been wanting to try this place for awhile, so glad I finally got to because HOOOOO BOY I tell you hwat, that garlic naan was DEVINE the mango chicken? SLAPPED the onion bhajia??? Chilis awesome blossom ain’t got nothing on that onion bhajia absolutely
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Garlic Naan, Mango
We dined in house with a group of 6 and loved the food! Chai was excellent, extensive menu options, food is fresh, flavorful, delicious - with your option of spice level on any dish.
The food was excellent and full of flavor. The staff was also really nice and helpful. The building itself is also really cool and has some unique artwork and architecture.Parking: There is a free public lot at the end of Davis street across from the Love sign. There is also street parking but difficult to find a spot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Dal Saag, Chicken Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan
Food was absolutely amazing. Very authentic and the chili sauce was super spicy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Curry, Naan
Website and menu clearly states Tuesday-Sunday lunch buffet. Arrived Saturday at 12:30 and was told buffet was ONLY SUNDAYS. Seems a lil false advertised
Their food is delicious especially the vegetarian and meat tallis. The service was rather slow and one person didn't get their meal, but we still love their food. We had a group of six and called ahead but they were still pretty slow. We will go back and we do recommend them. The naan And garlic naan was delicious.Vegetarian options: loved the tali.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Vegetarian, Samosa, Gulab Jamun, Chicken Tikka Masala, Naan, Chicken Tikka, Vegan, Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan
Very nice personnel, got the food super quick and it was absolutely delicious! We couldn’t even finish all the food!Can recommend 100%
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Naan
Restaurantji Recommends
Nice place to sit and
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
This is one of the best Indian restaurants my wife and I have experienced. Whenever possible, we always order from here when we commute from NoVA to Charlottesville. You can order online or call the restaurant to place your order. I recommend calling simply because you can get extra spicy when you call! We never dined in because we found this place in the midst of COVID shutdowns but the staff are very friendly and the environment is filled with the mouth watering aroma of their food whenever we enter the establishment to pick up our food.
Pleasant ambiance and attentive service. Really enjoy their sampler dish and love their curries. Really have not been disappointed by any of the food served.
I ordered takeout, $17 worth of food came to $30 after delivery fees. The garlic Naan bread had no garlic at all, maybe just some garlic powder, the serving size of butter chicken was very small , the sauce was good but the chicken not good at all, tasted like leftovers. Some older crackhead looking lady delivered the food with her crackhead looking sister or someone in the car who was staring at me with her mouth open. I work at a medical practice and this was a bad look. I wont be going here ever again, very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Natraj Indian Cuisine is a lovely restaurant and we were surprised at how empty it was on a sunny Saturday morning. Service was friendly, patient (we had a cranky child), and helpful. They do mild spice levels well--low or no heat without a loss of other flavors. Note that biryani is little spicier than other options just on a base level; this is in line with pretty much every other Indian restaurant I've ever been to.We had lassi (mango and salty), chicken soup, garlic naan, chicken tikka, chicken biryani, dal saag, butter chicken, and paneer tikka masala. All were delicious and the portions big enough that we really should have ordered one fewer entrée. All entrees except the biryani come with rice. The dal saag and paneer tikka masala were particularly good; this is an excellent choice of restaurant if you're looking for a vegetarian meal. Even omnivores will not notice the lack of meat in the vegetarian dishes (which is honestly one of the best things overall about Indian food)--these are real comfort food dishes.All in all, I hope that business is good for Natraj, as their food and service are wonderful and it's a type of restaurant that we don't see enough of in towns like Culpeper. I want to stop in next time I'm in Culpeper and order modestly enough that I can try the gulab jamun for dessert!Vegetarian options: There are lots of vegetarian options and the fully vegan options are clearly labeled. Vegetarian options are just as good as omnivore options--there's no step down in taste or quality, just a step down in price!Dietary restrictions: Be aware that many dishes have dairy and/or nuts. Definitely talk to your server about safe options if you have allergies. If you're on a low-carb diet, look to the kebab/tandoori menu for low-carb options; the rice comes separately, so it's easy to avoid.Parking: Parking is limited in general in the Davis/East St. area. The Spencer St. parking is a good option, but will require walking.Kid-friendliness: Picky kids may have trouble here. Lassi is always a safe bet; just communicate it as a smoothie. Plain naan should work for kids who like bread, and if you can get them to taste a few dishes, they may really enjoy the food. Our 14-year-old and 10-year-old were both quite happy (the 10-year-old ordered the butter chicken and insisted I leave a 5-star review), but the 8-year-old was cranky and ate nothing but lassi, garlic naan, and a little chicken soup, which was weird because he really likes bean dishes normally.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Biryani, Chicken Tikka, Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan