Hoboken Dhaba

Soooo good!!! Love this place and so excited that they opened. I’ve been looking for a good Indian place for a long time!

***INSECT IN CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA***
Never go to this place if you want to keep yourself healthy!!! So, a few days before me and my husband went for dinner here. We ordered a fish appetizer which was drenched with salt but was tolerable. We also ordered chicken tikka masala that had not only hairs sitting in there but also an INSECT!!! The staff was trying to apologize for this when they saw the insect lying in the plate but this is too big a mistake on their part beyond apologies. So please guys don’t eat here.

Went here a few weeks ago kind of late on a Saturday night, and feared they may have closed the kitchen up. Instead, they were very accommodating, and I was able to get an order in before they closed the kitchen. Chicken vindaloo was great as far as I’m concerned.
The waitress was attentive, made sure everything was good, and double checked that I didn’t want anything else before they officially shut down. They let me eat my late meal and didn’t rush, and overall the staff was pleasant. Thanks!

They need a new chef. Period.
Food taste and quality has been extremely inconsistent and BAD. This place used to be pretty decent a year ago.
I ordered chicken curry and aloo gobi, both flavorless. The chicken dish had a ton of chopped green chillies making it in edible. Upon complaining they were kind enough to switch it for somethjng else and I decided to pick eggplant hyderabadi. Both the aloo gobi and eggplant tasted very similar, and equally flavorless. In fact the chicken curry had the same curry base.
These are meant to be very different dishes, but the chef probably doesn’t know that or doesn’t care. We had to toss our entire dinner. No kidding!
I do not think this place will survive for long. It is virtual empty every time I pass it.
If the restaurant owners are reading this, please do something about the taste and quality of your food. That’s your only product. people do not have much patience or forgiveness in this rather competitive market.

I have eaten at this restaurant and ordered takeout from here several times. I love Indian food, I love Karma Kafe, and this food is JUST AS GOOD. I am surprised that more people in Hoboken haven’t discovered it yet; authentic food, nice décor, BYOB, perfect for a date or dinner with a friend.
I went for lunch this past weekend and they were doing HALF PRICE entrees. We had a huge, delicious meal and it cost much less than it would have at Karma! We had mango lassi, chili fish, naan, lamb vinadaloo, and the tikka platter. All of it was great, with the perfect amount of spice without being so hot I had to chug water! We will be back.
If I had to give constructive criticism, it would be for small things. They have created really nice ambiance in the restaurant and are very attentive without interrupting you too much. The water needs to be a bit colder or come with ice, they occasionally struggle if they get really busy, and the bathroom needs to be better maintained. Other than that, they have my business.

Great food, but TERRIBLE service. Placed an order for pick up and was told 25 minutes until it would be ready. Got there at about 22 minutes and waited for pretty much another 20 – 25 minutes! Unbelivable. Now granted, there was only one woman working in the front, but there were only two tables with customers. I didn’t understand. Regardless, I will probably still go back to eat only because of the food, but I do not ever recommend sitting down to eat there and I recommend getting there at least 10 – 15 minutes, maybe even 20, after the time they say it will be ready.

I really enjoyed my dinner here, i started with bhel puri, it was really nice. For main course i tried kadhai chicken. They many options on the menu. Service was good. Surely i am going back.

I would write a review. but its almost 2 hours later and my food still hasnt come.
keep it, im not letting the delivery man in.

So after the worst experience ever I mustered up some courage to go back to this place 10 months later… Saw some good reviews and I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing out on anything. That is actually 3.5 stars. I would say I was pleasantly surprised. I was sad to see the new décor. I had actually loved the quirky Indian décor! So minus half a star for making the restaurant look so generic.
I went in for a lunch buffet on a Saturday. It was a rather tiny buffet! No salads or pickle or chutney or papad to begin with! That is so quintessential to any Indian buffet! I was surprised that they hadn’t put anything at all. The buffet began with a vegetable cutlet of sorts disguised as Aloo Tikki! And that was it! No more appetizers. :(And then straight to rice. There were two kinds to my astonishment. I tried the vegetable biryani-​looking rice. It was decent. The other things I tried…
Dal Makhani — On the sweet side (??) Close but not so much!
Coconut Beans — Interesting dish but not seasoned enough.
Chana Saag — Loved it!
Chicken Tikka Masala — Again on the sweeter side but decent (nothing great I would say)
Chicken Korma — One of my favorites
Naan– Amazingly fresh, soft and thin and not too bready! Cooked to perfection!
I would go back there to try other things at some point but it may not still be my go to place for Indian food. I knocked off another star for service. It wasn’t great. it was just A-​OK!
The overall experience wasn’t half bad but for $ 10 on a weekend I can get much better buffet options with millions of dishes at Indian restaurants around the Hudson. They need to add some more dishes to make the buffet worth it! I am curious about the Biryani and Chinese options. I am still a little skeptical when it comes to going back there! What do I say. I am very particular about my food!

Pathetic service. There were a total of 6 guests on 2 tables here, including myself and my 2 friends. But they took forever to bring bread (bread is not available at the buffet counter). Desserts are not available at the buffet counter either; took more than 15 minutes to bring desserts out to the table. Finally, it took them more than 10 minutes to process our check.
Very mediocre food quality. Same curry base for vegetarian and chicken entrees. Frozen dessert.
Avoid at all costs!

Oh man… so so bad. Karma Kafe is my go-​to for indian food in Hoboken, but I wanted to try Dhaba because it was new… let’s just say Karma Kafe has nothing to worry about!
Delivery took 70 minutes, they forgot our sodas and it took them 30 minutes to bring them to us after the fact. Veg samosas were cold all the way through and tasted like old oil, the tamarind sauce was so ridiculously sweet and syrupy. Chicken tikka masala was in a watery sauce that tasted like campbells tomato soup, absolutely no spice or complexity at all. We ordered 3 types of naan, all three were cold and slightly stale.
The only reason I’m giving this place one star is because it didn’t give me food poisoning. If we had been eating in the restaurant, I would have sent the food back to the kitchen and left without paying.

What happened here?
Just got dinner delivered from here tonight via seamless. The Chicken 65 had absolutely no flavor and tasted like it was marinated in sand… I also got the kadai chicken which was average at best… barely any seasoning. extremely bland. My brother got the Szechuan fried rice which had an odd chemical like flavor to it. ugh. The only thing worth while was the chilly cheese naan which was mostly just plain green chillies. What a waste of $ 45 :(

I never thought I’d say this, but I think I’ve found an Indian place in Hoboken I prefer over Karma Kafe.
Ordered on a Wednesday night and the food came in 45 minutes after an estimate of 20 – 30 minutes, and the second I had the food in hand, the smell of spiced deliciousness hit me immediately.
This place has figured out the secret to keeping the onion bhaji crispy and hot when delivered. They were excellent little fritters.
The chicken tikka masala was just a touch spicy (nice afterburn heat, not a kick you in the face heat), and the chicken was succulent and delicious. You could tell it was cooked on a charcoal grill, and it was perfectly tender, with a creamy, spicy, deep sauce. So good.
The saag paneer also had a little bit of heat, and big chunks of cheese. Didn’t blow my mind like the tikka masala, but still totally solid.
I’m looking forward to hitting up the buffet to sample more items, but do far, off to a great start.

Let me start off by saying the service was great. Our waitress was really nice and accommodating.
The samosas tasted just about how they were supposed to. A bit spicy. The sauces were meh.
My cousin and I each ordered the Chicken Kofta Curry. The meatballs were a bit dry, and the sauce, while tasty, had an overwhelming lavender scent and taste (my cousin thought it could be cardamom or anise). In fact, after we left, we went to a couple of bars to have some beer, and we kept burping up the same flavor for about the next 4 hours or so. We chose the spiciest option which was just right for my palate. I’m sure there are some who would like even more spice.
The family style rice was a bit of a surprise. I would have preferred to have been given a spoon, but luckily I was with my cousin and a close friend. The bowl was a bit small for 3 people to share, so we definitely had to call the waitress over for a rice refill.
The décor is underwhelming, and I feel they should put a little more effort into the design and the furniture. The booth towards the front is uneven. It has a bit of a seesaw effect. I can jump onto my side and lift my cousin up a little.
I do like the owner is on Unilocal.I think a few minor changes can go a long way.

The first time I went to Hoboken Dhaba was with a large group of babbling girlfriends (around 10 of us) and came away blown by the food and service. I ordered the vegetarian thali (all you can eat lunch box) and it was excellent. From the apps — crunchy mix of veggie pakoras, to the 3 main curry dishes of which the palak paneer was excellent and the gulab jamuns to end it all with at $ 9 — it was ALL well worth it.
I also sampled the butter chicken from my companion’s non-​veg lunch box and it was the best I’ve had in a really long time. The service was very attentive, our glasses were replenished with water without asking, the manager came out & chatted with us about the food… all in all, great experience.
Recently, I went back again with the husband and we got the veg & non veg lunch box respectively. The service was okay, and so was the food, very average. The veg dishes, all tasted the same — sweet, spicy with no variation at all. Clearly, the sauce was the same and different veggies were thrown in. Ditto for the non veg dishes ;) And no butter chicken or palak paneer in sight — sigh. It was on the ala carte menu, but not in the lunch box — so disappointing. Go figure.

Ordered the Lunch Box. A little bit expensive but it is really very tasty food. I ordered the non-​vegetarian one and they gave me the vegetarian one (after an unreasonably long wait). I ate it anyway and loved every bite.
Service and value could be improved, but on the food-​quality side of things they have nailed it.

3.5 stars.
I stopped in for the $ 9.95 all you can eat lunch special, which is kind of confusing, as you basically get an appetizer sample, one giant tray of pre-​selected Indian food variety with a big scoop of basmati rice in the middle, and a dessert sample. OK, well, that’s pretty much all I ‘should’ eat anyway, but I thought it was a little confusing. Anyhow, it’s nice to have a casual Indian eatery to get your spice fix. I was in the mood for Indian and this lunch was tasty.
The food tasted fresh and the sauces were good. As for the spice strength, I’d say a seven on a scale of 1 – 10, which is a good place to be. Two of the chicken dishes were with small pieces on bone, which taste good, but don’t assume everything is chunks of chicken breast in the sauce.
The server and manager were kind and pleasant. I’d suggest being more proactive wiping off tables and filling water glasses, a little extra service goes a long way. The restaurant is pretty small, so I imagine they will be very busy with delivery. Worth another visit to try a la carte.

2.5 or so?
chips and chutney to start the meal. I didn’t like either of them, though my gf did, so take it with a grain of salt. I said I make better chutney, she agreed. (see recipe in book: «from mom with love»)
$ 11 chicken Saag tasted fantastic. Chicken was a little overcooked but the flavor made up for it. Very good. So good that I said it could almost overlook everything else that was bad with the meal.
Seekh Kabab (Lamb)
Ground Lamb with spices wrapped around skewers $ 14.
–This was very dry, but very light (a plus). Though it tasted great when i slapped on some saag.
appetizer of:
Chicken lollypop… $ 7.00
Chicken wings marinated with garlic & chillies
This looked like something that was from the frozen food aisle of shoprite. Too much sauce, had to take off the layer of fried «skin». This was not skin from the chicken but more likely a congealed skin of flour or corn starch… gross

Filthy. Took me 10 minutes to wipe down the baby chair and each baby wipe came up BLACK. Even after the 15^th wipe. NASTY.
The tables and bathroom were revolting.
Chicken Vindaloo came without any potatoes and I asked for some and they told me «that is how it is made». .really? I have been eating Chicken Vindaloo my whole life and it has ALWAYS come with potatoes.
This place is under staffed, slow and filthy.
Only good part is that it is fairly cheap and the staff is friendly.
Best to walk a few blocks to Bombay West

Slightly Americanized Indian food with a unique twist on the buffet concept:
Pros
— — -
Unique table side buffet — items fresher than the sterno heated buffet.
Tikka masala — creamier than typical, but absolutely melts in your mouth
Tandoori chicken — also slightly Americanized it seems. More flavor and coating than traditional Indian restaurants, but this too was delicious.
Cons
— — –
Inconsistent buffet time… First time food was 5 minutes, next time waited. 25 minutes. Not ideal for a quick lunch
Daal — very watery and lacked flavor
Fish tikka masala — sauce was incredible but fish had strong flavor. Did not taste fresh
Chicken Curry — Chicken extremely dry and chewy.
Overall, I would recommend skipping this place until they find some consistency in their service and food quality.