Mehak Indian Restaurant

The name was MEHAK means good fragrance and it was smelling badly… Place was disgusting…

Despite the reviews I’m reading for the first time, I actually enjoyed the Mehak. I found a better deal than Unilocal.Groupon offered $ 15 for $ 30 off the bill. When we walked in, the place was empty. I looked at it an optimistic way and assumed service would be great… and it was. We were greeted and seated immediately, perused the menu and decided on the chicken tikka, butter chicken, and lamb Vandaloo. The tikka was delish! The butter chicken was sooooo good especially when I dipped the chicken tikka in the butter sauce. I’m still trying to get the hang of lamb, but the sauce was good and the potatoes in the dish was a pleasant surprise. Eventually, 3 more groups came into the restaurant. The service was excellent and he kept the water coming! I will be back!

Service was really slow and felt that because I had a coupon and was alone I wasn’t getting the service of regular customers coming in more than one and purchasing the buffet. The food was okay but honestly would have gotten more for my money by not purchasing the deal coupon and instead paid for the lunch buffet. They were very busy during the lunch hour. Buffet was shabby looking but I did see they had a fully stocked bar and would have opted for a drink while I sat and waited to be served.

Horrible chicken I have ever taste … It’s not even marinade properly .
Horrible chicken I have ever taste … It’s not even marinade properly.

Came with my girlfriend. Server seemed unhappy to have is there. After asking about the lamb options the server didn’t seem to know the answers.
We left.

I had not been in while but find myself in the area again and suggested it as a lunch options. My co-​worker and I arrived a little toward to end of the lunch crowd but were still about to enjoy the buffet which is available until about 2:30. I had my fingers crossed it would be good and am relieved to say it was pretty taste and the service was excellent. The buffet was a little disheveled looking when we arrived and as the crowds trickled out but they did a good job of attending to it and cleaning it up even when it was just a few folks still partaking.
The gentleman assisting us brought us fresh warm naan, filled our water, removed used plates quickly, and asked if we wanted anymore of items before the buffet clean-​up. I will grant you it seemed a little Americanized, perhaps a little mild on several usually pronounced tastes but you sort of expect that with a buffet. I was glad they had two kinds of tikka masala as well as tandoori chicken in the selection. Their sauces were all good and I enjoyed the light desserts which included fruit salad, baked pumpkin, and sweetened rice.
It is a solid causal sit down lunch location in a busy district with good service.

The food just wasn’t good. I came here with my Dad and we ordered several things to split. The tandoori chicken was okay, but the palak paneer had a very bad aftertaste that I couldn’t quite describe. I always (always) order sagg paneer or palak paneer whenever I get Indian food, and I know how it is supposed to taste! Weirdly, the rice pudding was served on a plate, so there was maybe a quarter of a cup of pudding. Service was meh.
On a side note — a belligerent (likely homeless) guy came in part of the way through dinner and started yelling that the owner owed him money. Several of the waitstaff had to come out to escort him out, I’m surprised they didn’t need to call the cops or something because the man didn’t want to leave. Not sure how often that happens and overall I thought they handled it pretty well, so I’m not factoring that into the 2 stars.

We were in town for a few nights last month and decided to check this little place out. I’m used to going to any Indian restaurant and being harassed to order quickly, and harassed to leave quickly.
This was not the case here, we were very happily surprised to find out. The service was nice and slow and the butter chicken was awesome. Actually, everything was awesome. My one little acorn of knowledge for this place…
Find another restaurant/​bar/​anything to use the bathroom in, if you find yourself needing one.

Very good food is in Washington. Good biryani very close to South Indian. I would recommend this place

Worst Indian food that I have ever had anywhere!
And I’ve tried Indian food in a lot of places. To top it off the service is pretty bad and the restaurant itself is pretty run down. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys go out of business real soon.

I stumbled upon this gem! They had a great selection of lunch buffet for $ 11.95, this was reasonable considering you’re in DC!

My friends and I visited here on yesterday «April 3^rd» for dinner. I have been here twice for the lunch buffet but never for dinner. We arrived at a little past 5pm and I thought they had a dinner buffet but read the info wrong for the lunch buffet on Unilocal!We were instead greeted by a Mrs. «Kitty» the manager. She made us feel very welcome as we were the only customers in the restaurant at the time. For one of my friends it was her first time dining at an Indian cuisine restaurant. Mrs. Kitty made suggestions about drinks and even brought out a complimentary appetizer that she called «Indian nachos». We all had chicken tikka masala and buttered chicken. I also ordered a side of chicken pakora (amaaaaaaazing w/​green sauce).
Overall everything was amazing. It may look a little sketchy from the outside but this is a great place and should be rated higher. There are only a few great Indian restaurants in DC and this one definitely recommended in front of my second fav. Cusbah on H Street NE!
P. S. They also have a second restaurant that Mrs. Kitty informed us about on K Street NW. I think the name is Rasoi.

Really not at all happy. Bad food. Not a great service. I wouldn’t recommend.
People not introduced to Indian food– this is not authentic Indian food.

We went to the Chinatown location with a Groupon: two thali dinners for $ 25. The location was fairly easy to fin, a convenient walk from the Chinatown metro. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, cozy, with a pleasant noise level. We were welcomed warmly by the hostess, who also took our food order. She seemed a little overwhelmed, but managed to keep our drinks filled fairly well. I ordered a cocktail, which took a good 15 minutes to come out.
The food was average. Not the best Indian food I’ve had, but not the worst, either. The lentil dish was delicious. I had seafood curry, which was sweeter than I expected, and didn’t have much spice. The shrimp was well-​cooked, but the fish was overdone. My partner had the non-​vegetarian thali option, which came with a goat curry and butter chicken. Both were average. The rice pudding was delicious.
Everything really fell apart starting when the check came. The dishes were rung up improperly, in spite of the fact that we’d already shown our Groupon. After that was sorted, it took over 20 minutes for a man whom I assumed was the owner to run our credit card. Over 20 minutes. I could tell that the hostess was embarrassed, because she kept coming back to ask if we wanted more water.
When the owner finally came back with our check, he had brought the wrong check and credit card, and we had to track him down again to get those switched with the group that had gotten ours.
As a whole, I wasn’t at all impressed with the experience. Next time we want Indian food, we’ll stay in Falls Church and go to Haandi.

Ordered delivery. Got a completely different order — missing items, replaced items.
1– they replaced veggie samosa with veggie pakora. wish they wouldve called and asked, first of all, and secondly, when WE called about it, they took forever to finally admit they just ran out of samosa. unnecessary.
2– missing lamb biryani. during our call, I am offended to hear «well, dear, it isn’t our fault.» how insulting — YOU forgot an item we pay for and it isn’t your fault? did you think I added an extra $ 17 for fun? well, they do agree to send it — takes an hour instead of the promised 30minutes.
3 — the absolute worst part of this is the delivery guy. He is literally yelling as he is delivering our food (can’t understand what he is saying but it’s kind of weird). Then he comes back with the rest of our order (see above), and he just hangs the food on the doorknob and runs off to his car, slamming the door!
And lastly, the food was meh. Biryani and chicken tikka so bland they kind of tasted like nothing. I had to add sriracha for flavor. sad. Papadum and pakora, to be fair, were OK.
Won’t order from here again.

This place clearly said 10 for $ 20 deal and they failed to honor that. They said it was because of holiday season but this is clearly not mentioned on the deal restrictions. This is a crook attitude and I would never go to this place again.
The waiter blamed the owners.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a great experience because of the 3-​star rating. My SO and I walked in on a Saturday night, and it was practically empty. We got to sit at the table near the window. Chinatown on a Saturday night is the best people watching.
The server took our order, and he gave us some great recommendations for food and drinks. My SO ordered the Lamb Saagwala, and I ordered the Palak Paneer. For appetizers, we got the veggie samosas. The seasoning was nicely done. Usually, I would dip my samosas in the sauces but I didn’t have to. For drinks, SO had the Taj Mahal, which was a damn good beer. I had a Malbec. Though the Malbec was great, it wasn’t the best compliment to the Palak Paneer. I should’ve gone with the Riesling.
The Palak Paneer was creamy like I love it. Actually, it was the best I’ve had in a while, and the rice was cooked perfectly. The garlic naan was extremely tasty. It was a nice compliment to the entrée.
To truly make my experience a 5– star, the servers were friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. I definitely look forward to dining at this cool restaurant again.

These people are ballsy.
My friend and I both ordered the veggie korma, and what we got was a bowl of previously frozen vegetables swimming in surprisingly bland korma sauce (and a side of rice, of course.)
When I say «previously frozen vegetables»… We’re talking about the bagged vegetable medley found in your grocer’s freezer. We’re talking about sad, spongy little cubes of carrot. We’re talking about the veggies you serve on the side of a plain hot dog when you make dinner for your five year old nephew.
When my friend asked the waiter if the vegetables had been frozen, the waiter just nodded and said «yup» as if that’s totally cool and normal in the restaurant industry.
The sauce was creamy but didn’t taste like much, which is surprising to me because, you know, it’s Indian food, which is typically rather flavorful.
A bowl of dead vegetables and under-​seasoned cream would have been fine if I were a child or drunk, but as a sober adult I was really disappointed — especially since after tax, tip, and an order of roti that tasted like a paper bag, this meal cost me $ 20.
So, in sum, Mehak Indian Cuisine may be the leading exemplar of culinary negligence in Chinatown, but they are ballsy enough to charge the going rate for decent vegetarian food. Good for them, I guess.

Popped in for dinner on a quiet night. I was instantly greeted with the wonderful aroma of curry and when the host who seated me seemed genuinely pleased to see me, we were off to a great start.
I ordered the papri chat as my appetizer and it was delivered a few minutes later. A large portion (enough to share) with a nice spicy taste to it, good texture with some sort of chips, potatoes and chick peas mixed in, with chutney and a dollop of cooling yogurt on top. Yum!
For dinner, I had the lamb roganjosh. Medium spicy chunks of lamb in a bowl of curry sauce. Medium spicy, it had good texture and the meat was not gamy or chewy. Instead, it was just tasty. The basmati rice on the side was also fresh. Sometimes, it will be crunchy or overdone. Not the case here.
And as a side, I ordered a garlic naan. Whoah, it’s a good thing I didn’t have a date because this was loaded with tons of «Vitamin G.» Perfect naan bread — slightly browned, still a little bit doughy but a lot of flavor.
Great food, great service. I’m a fan!

I’m not sure why this place has such poor ratings! This was my first time having Indian food and I only ate here for a school cultural project and they had a $ 10 Unilocal offer. We arrived at exactly 5:30 for their second opening and we were 1 of 3 parties already seated. Our waiter Rahid was very polite and attentive. I had the Tandoori Wings and Assorted Appetizers with a garlic Nan and Regular Nan. All of that was $ 20 even and with the offer I only had to pay the taxes and tip.
The food was nice for my first Indian experience.