Aanchal Indian Restaurant
“So, I was a bit skeptical when this spot opened in the Court Square area.”
“But after seeing some improv at Queens' creepiest venue (Secret Theatre, lookin' at you), needed some grub.”
“Our staples from Aanchal include Paneer Tikka Masala, Malai Kofta, Garlic Nann and the yummy Biryani.”
Aanchal Indian Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
delicious delicious delicious!!!!!
First off you have to get the Coconut Shrimp with the cheese and tomato naan. I promise you that this is all you will order once you have that dish. The sauce is this deep yellow with all these tasty sauces. The shrimp is always very tender and goes perfectly. At times tho I feel like all you need is the sauce just for dipping that sweet sweet naan into, such a tasty delight.
The other dish that I like to order is the Chicken Tikka Masala this also pairs well with the tomato and cheese naan. It is always a lot of food so you can share with another person. Their rice isn't too bad either. I found that their samosas are by far the best.
One thing to point out is that they deliver very quickly. I've been to the actual restaurant and it is clean. Sadly, I did not use the bathroom. But the way they handle their food it is with love and really makes the consumer enjoy what they are eating. I am a little confused about their hours because their website says different from the yelp site.
So I really liked this place, and gave it a great review, and then got ROTD for that review. I have led you astray, Yelpers.
Since those first two delicious orders, we got Aanchal another five or six times. The food quickly became mediocre, and then we had real issues with the service.
The first major blow up was a slow delivery time. We ordered dinner and it took an hour and a half to arrive. During this hour and a half, the delivery guy called us on his lovely tour of Queens. We got calls from the Socrates sculpture garden, from northeastern Astoria, and from near the Pulaski.
If I seem at all unsympathetic for the delivery man, it is because I live several blocks from Aanchal, on the same street. And we ordered on Seamless, where the address is printed to avoid confusion. On each of these calls, I would ask where exactly he was, and he usually responded with "okay" or "soon." When I asked him what cross streets he could see, he responded several times with parallel avenues.
When the guy arrived, finally, he was cursing at us and the food was of course cold. We were also missing things. When I called the restaurant, they just said he was new. No comp was offered to us for either of these issues.
A month later, we tried again. We received the wrong order, and some manager started yelling at my girlfriend on the phone saying she didn't know what she was talking about and we did order what we received. That was enough for me.
As I mentioned in my initial positive review, Aanchal was expensive for what it was, which was good Indian food in a sub-prime location. But old buffet food that is delivered whilst I am treated like an asshole is not worth any price. We have not ordered from Aanchal again since.
Ordered via Seamless during a snowstorm and the food arrived fairly quick and was still hot and needed no reheating! We had 5 orders – 3 chicken vindaloo, 1 lamb vindaloo, and 1 chicken tikka masala. One thing that would be useful would be if they labeled their containers, just in case people who don't usually eat indian food and know what to look for can distinguish between dishes.
Dishes are somewhat pricey for what I usually pay for Indian food – between $12 for chicken dishes and up to $20ish for other meats.
I personally had the chicken vindaloo – the dish was spicy, but definitely not as spicy as what I expected for vindaloo. The chicken was SO tender! I usually hate chicken, but this chicken was really good. Really tender and not dry at all.
Rice was a bit tough and dry for everyone's liking.
Overall, quick delivery, good chicken and seasoning (but not spicy enough), but dry rice and a little expensive.
This is another LIC restaurant that is near my apt. We came here on a week night and it was pretty empty. Don't be discouraged though. They have a huge lunch crowd nonetheless.
We got the lamb vindaloo and chicken tiki malasa and both are delicious and come in decent portion. The naan bread is also chewy and buttery. They also play very interesting Indian music video/TV show in the background to keep you rather entertained.
We will be back for some Indian food!
Ordered the murg kolapuri but somehow got the palak or mataar paneer instead in my takeout so I didn't know till mucho mucho later. Kinda pisses me off when I paid for a chicken dish but got cubes of cheese in spinach instead. The names of the dishes sound totally different as well so I'm like wtf?! Not kewl.
They specifically asked me for my spicy level, to which I replied "oh veeeeery spicy" and gave her that knowing look that sais, yeah I'm asian so I can handle it at the real very spicy level if you know what I mean sista! Then the woman was off to place the order. Wrong dish of cheese cubes was mild if at best. Not kewl again.
It was late into the night and 30 minutes till closing but that is no excuse for a completely opposite order of food. I'm extremely disappointed with this fact alone but the cheese n spinach dish wasn't that great anyways and wasnt even really spicy so you feel me right? Yeah. Jerks. So not kewl.
Another solid Queens Indian place. And this one is across the street from my apartment. I ordered take out yesterday; had enough chana masala for two days. I wanted to try everything, but until I can get the BF on board with Indian, I can't all out binge. I do want to try this lunch buffet and sample all the treats! It was ready quickly, and the few minutes I was inside, I thought the staff was polite and friendly.
I think there is a psychological shift in everybody's head when a restaurant offers buffet food and then throw those magical words next to it…"All you can eat". Voice to my self- challenge accepted. It's no longer how good the food taste, but how much food can I eat and enjoy. This restaurant is one of a few in the community (i mean very few) that offers Indian food.
Common food items that they usually offer: Salad ingredients (For those semi healthy folks- the mere fact that you are going to an all you can eat location, the salad bar is rarely visited), fruits (I highly recommend, it helps the stomach processed the food), rice, some vegetarian options- usually chic peas, chicken, lamb, a dessert option. If you were wondering about bread, the waitress brings it to your table. I would rate the food as decent. There is nothing speculator that blows you away. Since it is a buffet, some of the chicken and meat options can be on the dry end as it have been sitting there awhile. All you got to do is cover it with some sauce and you will be okay. The atmosphere is usually quiet- often there is a bollywood music video on the tv screen/background music.
Considering the price of $11.99 for an all you can eat experience, it's well priced. I always like to think when I am done, customer 1 restaurant 0. Sometimes, it's restaurant 1 customer 0 when I step on the scale. Why must "All you can eat" be so tempting.
I have a friend who loves authentic Indian food so I've tried many places in Manhattan. However, there's nothing around LIC until this place came by. I saw a 4.5 star review so decided to give it a try. The place really is EMPTY, but it's clean and bright and the service is good (but do realize that we were the ONLY customers there so it wouldn't really make sense if it was bad service….).
Food was actually pretty good but nothing that special. Among the 2 of us we ordered a Mango Lassi, 2 orders of Naan bread, Chicken Tikka Masala, Palaak Paneer and a Kheer (Rice pudding). The entrees were good, not too sweet and quite good portion. BUT, it is pricy for Indian food especially for their Naan bread. Even though the Naan came out hot and good, but they charge you 3.95 per order of Naan which is quite expensive just for a small piece of bread. The rice pudding was even worse, it's the first time I see rice pudding in such small portion, literally in a shallow soy sauce dish and it costs 5 bucks. Absolutely ridiculous………
Overall this place is ok for its taste but not great. Consider its price, $25 per person, this place is not worth it and I would not go back.