Chatni
“Kids just soaked up the Chicken Tikka Masala and the vegetable Pakaoras, and the Lamb dish my wife had was tender and not very gamey at all.”
“We ordered the Garlic Naan to go with the food, and the bread was flavorful and fresh, chewy with a bit of crispyness.”
“Although my favorite was the Samosa Chat starter, the Chicken Korma and Garlic Nan were delicious as well.”
Chatni
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I came here for dinner with my two friends. I never had Indian food before and was so happy with my dish. We started out with the samosa appetizer which was great. Two large samosas come with that order.
I ordered chicken tikka kabab which is basically grilled chicken with the sauce on the side. I had an order of the garlic naan on the side. I highly recommend this dish. I asked for mild spice which was basically not spicy at all. Next time I'll ask for medium spice.
My friend ordered the chicken tikka masala. This dish was slightly over salted.
Overall, the food came out quickly and they provide you with a small treat before your meal and a small dessert at the end.
But each dish is about $15 for a rather small portion.
To sum up our experience here, "confusion" is the only word that comes to mind. Buckle up. This one might give you a headache.
First, we walked in with a Groupon, but I had purchased it a while back so I couldn't remember what was included. And neither could the first server we spoke to, who I shall hereafter refer to as "server #1." The details weren't printed on the voucher, so he went and found out from a second server (server #2) and came back to tell us the Groupon was good for two appetizers and two entrees. This later turned out to be 2/3 correct.
Second, the menu is enormous. I get that they're shooting for Indian/Asian fusion, but they could probably trim the 6 pages down to 3 and everyone would still find something to enjoy.
Third, yet another server (server #3) came over to take our order. Server #3 approached the table with a pen and pad and literally just stood there without saying a word. We broke the awkward silence by asking for recommendations between one dish versus another. Server #3's response: "I don't know. I'm American." Great, me too! Now how about you go find server #1 or #2? They're both Indian. They might know!
Fourth, we asked for naan bread to start, which server #1 told us was complimentary. Then server #3 brought us papadum, which we thought they confused for the naan. It turns out the papadum is complimentary but the naan is not. Ok. I knew complimentary naan was too good to be true, but they had my hopes up pretty high. In the end, the naan wasn't worth the excitement. It was much thicker than I'm used to and a little too crisp along the bottom.
Fifth, server #1 brought us a complimentary samosa appetizer, which was both nice and good, but they didn't explain to us what it was. Fortunately, I know a thing or two about Indian food and was able to figure it out. Still, I was somewhat confused because we had ordered samosa chat (samosa blended with curd, chickpeas and spices), which I envisioned being served in the triangular shape of a typical samosa, to the extent there is such a thing as a typical samosa.
Sixth, when server #1 solicited our opinion over the appetizers, I expressed my indifference toward the chicken choila – Nepali. Server #1's response was: "Yes, most people do not like this dish." Then WHY are you serving it?!?
Seventh, server #1 and #2 were pushing the dessert hard. "Why," I thought to myself. Is it included in the Groupon and we just don't know it? Recall that server #1 told us the Groupon included two appetizers and two entrees. Server #2 corrected server #1 by informing us that two drinks were also included, and that since we were already done our meal, he'd be willing to sub out the drinks for a dessert. Cool. We went with the kheer (rice pudding with cardamom and raisins). It was okay, but the rice grains were kind of clumpy, almost like it wasn't fresh. The Hispanic versions of rice pudding remain my favorite.
I really wanted to give this place four stars. Our entrees, the boti tikka masala (lamb), and chicken korma were both delicious and the staff is truly hospitable and accommodating. But I just can't get over the disastrous cluster of the dining experience, the oversized menu, and the little things, such as water spots on the silverware.
The reality is this: we enjoyed the main dishes, but there are simply too many other Indian options in the area (including a place literally right next door) for me to want to go back here.
Grabbed some take out with a friend.
We went with the lunch special which comes with a protein and a vegetable. I had the lamb vindaloo and aloo gobi and he had the chicken vindaloo and dall tarka. The portions were quite large for the $9.99 price which was great. They included some naan, a large portion of rice, papadum and condiments with. I also ordered mulligatawny soup, a mango lhassi and vegetable pakora.
The lamb was decent but was not spicy enough and had a sauce which was too creamy. The vegetable sides were okay but also need more flavor.
The appetizers were good and the soup portion was large and had a rich flavor. The mango lhassi came in a soup-style take out container instead of a to go cup and they also forgot to give us utensils.
I am still waiting for a truly great Indian restaurant to show up in Montclair.
Oooh, yum! Had a groupon for this place and decided to go last night. We took our daughter and had a spectacular time.
Service was very good, but the food was outstanding. First we ordered samosas for our appetizer, and they were huge as well as good. We all had different chicken dishes for our entrees: my husband had Chicken Korma, my daughter had her usual Chicken Tikka Masala, and I had Chicken Paneer Pasanda. My husband ordered his spicy and thought they did a great job. My daughter kept saying it was the best Chicken Tikka Masala she's had, and kept asking us to try her sauce. My Chicken was delicious, delicately spiced, and truly delicious.
Our groupon was for an appetizer, two soft drinks, two entrees and naan. We also ordered rice and our daughter's dinner. Our bill above the groupon came to only 17.00.
I'm going to have to try this place for lunch sometime. I liked this a lot better than some others in the area, hope they stay.
This place was empty for sunday for dinner. It is BYOB so that's awesome! We got all meat items. We got two apps which one was a tandoori mixed grill which had shrimp, lamb, kabobs, and chicken. The other was chicken in a cream sauce. Both were good but the spice level wasn't there. We asked for medium and it wasn't spicy at all.
For our meal we got the chicken tikka and another chicken item which I forgot but all were good too. We got mixed naan and that was also really delicious! Service was good but I would expect that since we were the only table there.
I was craving some Indian food and decided to try Chatni's lunch buffet. There are actually 3 Indian restaurants all offering lunch buffet within a one block radius but Chatni looked the most appealing. We arrived around 12:30 and the food was just being brought out. When at a buffet, it's nice to be the first to dig into the food before the masses come and breathe on it.
Some of the dishes offered:
-Vegetable Pakora – eggplant and cauliflower fritters; great when dipped in the tikka masala sauce
-Saag Paneer – the cubes of cheese were tender and Saag was tasty
-Alu Gobi – cauliflower and potatoes, very good
-Daal
-Chicken Tikki Masala – very good
-Chicken Curry
-Chicken Tandoori – meat was fairly tender
-A lamb dish
-Tiny fried fish
-2 types of Indian/Chinese noodles
-Dessert – Kheer
-Naan – a basket of warm buttered naan is brought to your table
There was a good selection of food both vegetarian and non-veg. For a buffet, the food was flavorful and had the right amount of spice. My husband especially liked the "Indo-Chinese" noodles, which is not often found in these types of buffets. For $10.99, it's a great deal. I did take a look at the menu and the prices for al a cart is a bit steep so the buffet lunch is the way to go.
I went with my boyfriend and my sister and her husband. We all tried different dishes and everything was truly delicious. They cooked to our spice level perfectly. I got the chatni special noodle and it was YUMMMMM lamb and seafood!! A little salty but flavor was BOOMTASTIC. The table had an array of items from the menu… We had vindaloo, masala, and something with a B I can't remember (ahhh still delicious). A mix of lamb and goat and YUMYUMMMYYUMM! Their naan was great and their chicken dumplings a crowd pleaser!! The service was excellent and they also have a patio!!! We will be back and it's byob! Keep in mind I believe this place has new ownership after speaking with the hostess. Lovely lovely!
Well done! We will be back!
So in attempts to find a cheaper alternative to Brick Lane, it has come to Chatni and its immediate neighbor Mausam. The place wasn't too busy which is nice. The servers were all very nice and I can say that was best thing about this resturant. The free papadum with sauces was ok but I've come to expect this now from these spots. So nothing special there. I got the goat vindaloo and while not terrible, it was the worst I've had when going up against other Indian spots. The meat was chewy and really hardly any at all, mostly bone. The actual spice of the curry was just ok. The naan was standard nothing special about it or that I could tell and lukewarm, the portions were ok but I've seen better and am overall pretty disappointed. The prices are ok and the menu is large and the service was pretty good so perhaps I had a less than great visit here but the 3 star avg. now looks about right.