Indian Ocean

I love their food and wish they did delivery because I would be ordering more often!
Their samosa’s are the BEST! The first time I ordered the samosa’s I took one look at the sauce in the cup and put it back in the bag… biggest mistake! Now I can’t get enough of that sauce! The potatoes inside the samosa’s are perfect and I can’t order them anywhere else in fear that they won’t be up to the standards they have set.
I don’t like tomato soup, but after reading the description of their smoked tomato soup I couldn’t resist. BEST SOUP EVER! I love the texture, the flavor, and I like to bite down on the little black seeds. I use to take small spoonfuls and slowly enjoy the flavors of the soup… now I practically drink it!
I think their butter chicken is too sweet, but their chicken masala is good.
I was very nervous ordering the mustard chicken because I didn’t really know what to expect… now it’s a must have! It tastes great and the smell reminds me of the mustard pretzels from Snyder’s, I know that’s a weird thing to say, but I love it. It definitely needs some spice to be perfect.

Best Indian food! Always fresh and the owner is very friendly awesome customer service. The place is always clean!

I love this place! Food made fresh. Very tasty. Ordered the butter chicken. So delicious. And the bread/​naan bread is amazing.

I went here by myself, I was visiting a friend in town and he has a meeting so I walked to this gem. I was immediately greeted and seated. The owner came over and made me feel right at home. I had the butter chicken and saag paneer and some naan of course.
Everything was great. The service and food were well worth the walk in the cold. I can never pass up a chance to have some gulab jamon either. That too did not disappoint.
This is by far the cleanest Indian restaurant I have been too. I hope to be back.

Favorite Indian restaurant in the area. Samosas are flaky, almost like a croissant, and comes with chickpeas and chutney.
The owner (Raj) is a sweetheart!

Indian Ocean is so far the best in Indian cuisine in the Centreville area. Their food tastes fresh and well seasoned, they have a wide variety of items on their buffet. The salad is cut fresh and all items are refilled in a timely manner. They serve complimentary fresh baked Naan bread with the buffet. Service is always excellent and everyone is very attentive to their customers. Your water glass will always be full. The price of the buffet is very reasonable for very good quality Indian food.
I highly recommend Indian Ocean if you would like to experience Indian Cuisine at its best.

Indian Ocean is something special. I have been to many Indian restaurants in my life and there is nothing quite like it. We go out of our way to drive many miles, past many closer and very tasty Indian restaurants, to come to Indian Ocean. Why? Because the food is just that good. When you do come here, make sure to try the smoked tomato soup. It is nothing short of magical. Owner and staff have always been extremely friendly and welcoming to us, and our family has introduced numerous people to this restaurant, making enthusiastic fans out of all of them. Highly recommended!!!

I have been begging my husband to try Indian for years. He has fought me tooth and nail (this was a guy who loved Dinty Moore in a can for dinner when we met). Getting this meat and potato man to break out of his box has been exasperating to say the least. Luckily, peer pressure ensued and my husband resigned to the fact we were dining at a Indian restaurant but let me know he was already full before we left and not to expect him to eat much.
Well. I have a convert who is planning a trip to India now thanks to the wonderful dinner we had at Indian Ocean. To begin with, the restaurant has very nice ambiance, plenty of openness, and a wonderfully attentive staff. Raj, one of the owners, greeted us, explained the menu and helped us with menu decisions. He explained the difference between Northern and Southern Indian cuisine (which I did not know and was eager to learn about). Indian Ocean has their spices delivered freshly from India and then grind on the premises, «otherwise it is like a McDonalds burger. Who knows what is in it!» They take extra pride in their garam masala blend. Raj, and the entire staff including Tosif, our waiter, elevated our dining experience with their warm personalities and hospitality. BTW, I did not call my husband out as being a first timer — this is how they greet and treat every guest!
Most importantly, the food was exceptionally well done! The appetizer we tried, the Tandoori seared scallops, were cooked perfectly — not overdone as many restaurants tend to do. They seasonings enhanced the scallop flavor and the sauces were not even needed for each delicious bite. I enviously watched the table next to us devour their samosas (which were freshly made to the order unlike most places that re-​fry) — will try those next time because we decided to come back by the appetizer alone! They make fresh paneer and the tikka was simply delicious.
Each one of the main course dishes had the most authentic flavor. This restaurant clearly makes its own masala sauce to order. The chicken Tikka Masala had juicy pieces of chicken breasts, char-​grilled and simmered in masala sauce with green peppers, onions, fresh tomatoes. Outstanding! The Tikka Makhani was char-​grilled in a clay oven, then simmered in a sauce with fresh tomatoes, herbs and flavored with fenugreek and touch of honey — perhaps the best Butter Chicken I have ever had (and it wasn’t what I ordered). I had their signature dish, Aabe-​Gosht Garam Masala — tender and succulent leg of lamb marinated overnight in a blend of yogurt, cardamom, anis, cinnamon, and curry leaves, cooked in a curry flavored with their homemade garam-​masala. Amazing.
Thank you Raj and company for a memorable experience — thanks to you I can enjoy dining at your restaurant often with my husband!

Excellent!
If you don’t search for other districts, you’ll never know that there are great places in Centreville. This place was amazing. I really enjoyed speaking with owner and wait staff. They’re great people and really informative about their foods. I’ll definitely return. (:

WARNING: Please read the reviews by Indians for this restaurant. You’ll come to know how the restaurant owner treats Indians and that the food is not at all Indian.
I happened to go there on a Friday night with 5 friends after looking at the 4 star rating on Unilocal.We ordered 2 Samosa chat, daal maharani, chicken zaafrani, Goan calamari, palak chaat with some other items. Among all only Goan Calamari was decent. Daal maharani did not have any salt while palak chaat had too much salt concentrated in the center. They brought both samosa chats in same plate and still it wasn’t the regular Samosa chat we are used to eating. They bought 4 samosas with some chole in center. Anyway the samosa wasnt great either. Coming to zaffrani chicken, this is where the dining experience went from maybe 3 to negative. The zaffrani chicken was cold so i told the server and he promptly called the manager/​owner Mr. Manoj Sharma and it goes downhill from here on. He came and told us that the food is cold because there is chutney on top of it and it became cold in the time it was brought from the tandoor to our table. Instead of accepting its cold he started giving justification. We asked him to take it away. He however brought a new plate which was decently warm but the chicken was bland and tasteless. Meanwhile the quantity for all these items were small. When the bill arrived he did not take zaffrani chicken off it and we didn’t say anything. By this time, we just wanted to pay the bill and leave the place. So we gave him 6 credit cards to split the bill evenly. Again comes Mr. Manoj and says they cannot take 6 credit cards since it is their rule to not accept more than 3 credit cards. This did not go down well with my group and we asked for separate checks. He promptly said that since you guys shared the food i cannot give you separate checks even though we had ordered separately. We finally gave him 3 credit cards to split the check. When he came back, we told him that his behavior was very rude and he should have talked politely. His reply was «I always have problems with Indians while non Indians never have any problem.» This shocked us since he is a co owner at the restaurant. When we told the server that the owner should have talked politely and not behaved rudely, the server said he has seen this happen before as well and he cannot do anything since the server works for him. Also when we said that we’ll be putting negative reviews on Unilocal and Facebook, manager didn’t seem to care and asked us to go ahead with it. This just shows how he treats his customers. All in all a very bad experience at the restaurant especially with the way we were treated by the co owner Mr. Manoj Sharma.
My only suggestion to other Unilocalers would be to avoid this restaurant if you want to have a good time with your friends and family. Please checkout other reviews as well where people have mentioned about the rude behavior of the manager.

BAD EXPERIENCE — Bad food + awful service + rude manager.
The food is nowhere close to being called Indian. It was bland, flavorless, and «COLD». And to top it, Mr. Manoj Sharma, the manager, is one of the most rudest and unprofessional person I have ever met. Also, in Mr. Sharma’s words, this restaurant does not cater to desis (Indians).
If you are looking for authentic Indian food or at least a decent dining experience, look elsewhere. I or the group of friends I was with at this awful place, are never going back.

I wish I could give this place a negative star. We had the worst experience here. The owner Mr. Manoj Sharma is extremely rude and doesn’t know to talk to his customers. They served us cold food, with no taste and the quantity of an entrée won’t suffice one person also. And when we complained about the food not being hot, he started defending himself by saying there’s only one chef — by the time we cook and serve the food gets cold, we can’t do anything about it. This guy doesn’t care about his customers and I guess his employees too and treats them like anything! I wonder how this place is doing business and still in existence! People there are way better places than this, please think twice before going.

Rude Staff, Bad Food, Small Quantities, Expensive.
We ordered Zaffrani Chicken and it came out cold. We asked the waiter to change it. The manage came to us and told us rudely that it is got cold by the time it came out of the tandoor and they can’t really help.
We had an argument with the manager (Manoj Sharma) who told us he doesn’t care if we leave a bad review on Unilocal.We sope to the waiter afterwards and he told us that this sort of thing isn’t new and happens with him all the time!
All the food we ordered was very bland and came in very small quantities. I will never come here again!

$ 9.95 for a lunch buffet? Yes, please! Great food — the buffet had a lot of delicious options (including a yummy rice pudding for dessert), and our server brought out some piping hot, freshly baked naan. Speaking of service, the service at Indian Ocean is EXCELLENT. Very friendly, polite, and accommodating without being overbearing.
Basically this restaurant hit all three marks for me: cleanliness, taste, and service. Definitely would recommend to anyone craving Indian in the area!

We came back here again to try different food and they are all delicious. My bf loves this place since they serve delicious food for vegetarians.
I heard they have good lunch buffet and i think I will be back to try their lunch time.

The high rating is very misleading for Indian/​South Asian people. I think this place caters more towards Western people who cannot handle Indian spices. The staff was very friendly, no complains there but my 2 star rating is for the very average food that was dished out.
We started with the Goan Calamari and Chicken Malai tikka. I was eagerly waiting for the Calamari but was very disappointment to see calamari pieces swimming in a creamy curry (more like a kofta curry). Next was the Chicken Tikka that was just about ok, nothing great to talk about here.
Main course included — Goan Fish curry and Salmon Tandoori. Once again the Goan Fish curry left me disappointed — chunks of Salmon in a creamy sauce (very similar to the calamari dish). The Salmon tandoori came out as a whole fish, with its skin intact and grilled in a very bland sauce. My mother had the dish and she complained that it was raw in some parts. Both the dish didn’t have any Goan flavor in them — IMHO.
On the brighter side the garlic naan was terrific and the daal fry was very good — highlights of the evening .
Total damage was close to $ 100. Honestly it wasn’t worth it.

Indian Ocean offers the best Indian food I have had in Northern Virginia by far. My husband and I went there recently to enjoy their $ 9.95 (per person) lunch buffet special, and we were quickly greeted by some of the friendliest wait staff I have ever encountered. The buffet was well stocked with a variety of options, including several vegetarian dishes. Everything was the perfect temperature and tasted fresh. Their butter chicken was my personal favorite. The waiter checked on us and the other patrons regularly and kept our drinks and complimentary naan basket filled. For dessert, the buffet offered a delicious rice pudding.
After we paid, our waiter told us to have a great day, to which we provided the obligatory response of «You, too.» The waiter then grinned and exclaimed, «I am! And it’s only getting better!» My husband and I just looked at each other and laughed. We left with content stomachs and happy hearts.

We spent over $ 50 here and thought our money could have been better spent elsewhere. The food was flavorful but not impressive; the $ 17 curry fish was mostly sauce with 6 small grouper medallions. The sag was great (lot’s of cheese, nice texture etc).
It took us forever to get served and eat, timing is a big part of dining and we waited entirely too long between the appetizer and the main course.
I’m sure Indian Ocean will be here for years to come and they can work out some of these issues.

The food here was absolutely superb. Incredibly intricate flavors; the kind of food you truly want to savor. I can’t say enough good things about this place — it’s probably the best indian food I’ve ever had. I got the curried mussels and paneer baingan masala – both were truly outstanding.
11÷13÷14 Update:
Went back for Sunday brunch and it was really good. There were 5 entrees (2 chicken, 1 fish, and 3 vegetarian) – as well as vegetable samosas, salad, various indian sauces, rice pudding, and naan for our table. As a pescatarian, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many options there were available for me! The food quality was excellent, as well. However, one note is that the price for Sunday brunch is a couple dollars more than the general buffet price listed on their website. But still a great value! This is definitely officially my go-​to Indian place in the area.

Buffet is fair, but not a great selection of foods. My wife and I decided to try this place instead of going to our usual Indian buffet «Minerva».
In the end, we prefer Minerva. My wife had eaten something here and right away she wasn’t feeling well. We weren’t sure if it was something in the food or the mango drink that we had ordered.