Raaga Restaurant

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for years. I felt it was time i left a review for this place. I have to say the service, food, and management for this restaurant is great. My family comes here regularly so we are always greeted with a smile like we are part of the family. The favorite dishes you have to try are the appetizer variety platter, shrimp curry, dhania gosht (great lamb cilantro curry), butter chicken (fav among kids), and assorted naan. Definitely try the mango lassi if you have never tried it, it’s not too sweet and a treat! For desserts I always order the rasmalai and masala chai tea. Overall, this place is one of my favorites in the DC metro area. Highly recommended!

Raaga is excellent in flavor, consistency and service. I’ve been there many times. There’s never an «off» night or a dish that was a little different than last time. My favorites are rogan josh and chicken korma. Tandoori chicken is also super. Weekend buffets are very good but dangerous because I can’t stop eating the pakora. Love this place.

What’s with all these top reviews? Yes, it’s good Indian food but nothing dramatic. I’ve been cooking Indian food for some years so you can say I have a reasonable palate. But the price tags that come with the menu certainly don’t show value. This is a down market location in a dumpy part of town. If you are going to go out, go to Rasika, Masala Art, or Tandoori Nights. More value for money.

I visited Raaga Restaurant last night for dinner with a friend. I had previously eaten here about ten years ago and remembered the food being excellent, but couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant. My friend had expressed an interest in meeting up, and this restaurant had good reviews, and so we decided to go here. To my pleasant surprise, upon arriving I remembered that this was the restaurant I had visited so long ago. I am pleased to report that this restaurant is still excellent.
Upon arrival, my friend and I were seated quickly, and we promptly ordered. My friend got the lamb rogan josh, which proved to be outstanding. I had planned to order the Laal Maas, as I had eaten it in Jaipur, India, and really enjoyed it. However, when I indicated my order to the waiter, he indicated that he didn’t care for it, and steered me to the Lamb Dhania Gosht. I was surprised that he said he couldn’t recommend the Laal Maas, but the Dhuania Gosht proved superb. It was as good as any food that I have eaten in India. The garlic naan that we ordered was hot and fresh, too. Between the high quality of the food and the outstanding service, my friend and l left both full and impressed. We will definitely be back.

Had a work lunch catered by Raaga and it was all excellent. I had a taste of all the varieties and I would definitely come back and dine here. The naan, spinach, cheese, rice, tandoori chicken, curry chicken, and samosa; it was all very flavorful and tasty. They have this amazing yogurt balsamic dressing for the salad that is crazy good. I’ve never had three servings of salad in one sitting before. Not to mention, their spicy green sauce has a little extra kick compared to some other Indian places which works well with my taste buds.

Terrific buffet. We have gone to raaga for years and we will continue to do so.

Great quality food, great friendly service. Really enjoyed their lamb vindaloo, and presentation in the hot pot. White table cloth place, but also family friendly. Great lunch buffet.

A fantastic Indian lunch buffet! I wanna go back there again soon;) I had 4 big plates. I wish they had more dishes, sauces, and desserts.
Taste: Fresh and tasty. Tandoori chicken is pretty good. Pakora is crispy and salad is flesh. I really like their eggplant and potato curry. Lamb curry is not stinky at all. Fresh nan. Simply good yogurt sauce. Scrumptious dried curry rice with tender chicken.
Price: Lunch buffet $ 11.95−12.95 Weekends are more expensive.
Customer service: Great and sophisticated.
Atmosphere: Clean and simple. I like they decorate fresh carnations on each table.
Parking: Free.
Location: Great! Close to shopping areas, a great Thai restaurant, one of the cheapest gas stations,…

I went for the lunch buffet. Everything was well prepared and very tasty. Resonably priced. Also they have very attentive staff.

Solid Indian buffet for ~$ 15 w/​tip. Not many meat options compared to other Indian buffets — only chicken tikka (colored red but not certain was from tandoor), chicken tikka masala, and chicken biryani. Naan was hot out of the oven and very fluffy
Chicken tikka masala was flavorful — very much on the tomatoey side. Bhargain bharta was good, very creamy. Plain palak was nothing to write home about. Liked the Kulfi dessert — very creamy.
Service was very attentive at the end of lunchtime. There was plenty of parking.

A little out of the way for me but this place really kicks-​ass. My sister is a flight attendant and craves Indian food and every time she hits the tarmac she’s asking if we can head over to Raaga (no matter how far away we area).
The ambiance in the place is pretty drab but the service and food are really amazing. They sell their Butter Chicken (Makhani Chicken) as Chicken Tikka (which are very similar) but never fear, it’s definitely the best dish on the menu. We also lamb roganjosh and their naan is always served hot and fluffy.
If you like Indian food, you have to try out Raaga.

Lunch Buffet Review
Let me tell you, I have had my fair share of Indian lunch buffets. This is probably the best one I’ve been to — and here’s why:
1. Free Parking. Private lot!
2. Naan is included in the buffet. Listen I feel bad enough every time I have bread, I don’t need to be financially punished, too.
3. Vegetarian options, a lot of them! So while I love meat, the majority of my co-​workers do not. Groups can dine here without feeling guilty about their token vegetarian.
5. Everything was delicious. Like, ordered it off the menu and not on a buffet table delicious.
Service was so good that it was practically invisible and the décor is cute enough. But who cares, the food is GOOD. So just go. Eat your naan and be free!

The malai kofta was not so good. It had a peculiar smell which was not distinct of the dish.
Came here based on the reviews but would not come again to this restaurant in the near future.

Great portion sizes and amazing food. Gulab jamun was sub par but still ok. Came here during a rain storm and had the perfect meal with great company. Coming back for sure!

Absolutely wonderful!!! I cannot do this justice but will try! Chicken Tikka (butter chicken) is absolutely heavenly — spiced perfectly, tangy, buttery, and rich! Palaak Paneer (spinach) was so fresh and light with the perfect amount of cheese. The mixed veggies were balanced and spiced wonderfully. The naan — scrumptious!
Last but not least — the service is EXCELLENT! Literally filled up our glasses everything we got partially low.
This is a true gem! You will not regret eating here — please go check them out.

4.5 stars overall.
Appetizers:
*Palak Chat — they flash fry the spinach! I’ve had better palak chat elsewhere. This had too much sauce/​dressing over it; made it a really salty appetizer.
*Samosa — potatoes, peas, spices stuffed in a turnover; it’s decent. The dipping sauces had an interesting after taste.
Entrees:
*Chicken Tikka Masala — rich, buttery, and yum! The chicken in both entrees are so tender!!! Really good entrée dishes.
*Chicken Korma — again, tender chicken. Good!
*Garlic Naan — most flavorful naan I’ve had and they definitely taste fresh!
Service was fine; staff was nice.

Very solid Indian food! My fiancé ordered take-​out for us from this place and brought it home to an eagerly anticipating me. We both ordered the chicken tikka masala (our usual) and I ordered the medium spicy, while my fiancé ordered the mild (also the usual). We also got an extra side of naan. The chicken tikka masala was pretty good! Our dishes came with the customary rice — it was a very generous portion of both rice and curry. My medium spicy tikka masala was just perfect and they were very generous with the pieces of chicken as well. My only real complaint is that the chicken was a bit dry and the naan was a bit plain. While not the most perfect Indian experience, I thought this was a great place to order dinner from and I would certainly want to visit again.

I am still a fan but Raaga has lost something… Perhaps my mistake was the buffet but it just was not as good. I did get to try a new to me green curry that had a nice flavor. I will need to check out my favorites again soon and make sure they are still as good a remember. I do really like the atmosphere and the service has always been excellent so Yay, I’m a fan.

Delicious indian food with excellent service! We’ve been here several times for dinner and the service is always friendly and quick and the food is always tasty.
We ordered the chicken vindaloo which has a spicy kick to it, chicken nilgiri which is a coconut curry but also very spicy, chicken tikka masala (always a great choice) and a lamb dish which I don’t remember because I don’t really like lamb so I only had a tiny bite. We also ordered the assorted naan and palak chaat which is amazing here. Super crispy and wonderful tangy sauce.
Definitely would recommend this place if you are looking for good indian food. Looks rundown on the outside but it’s clean and decorated inside!

Decent, stereotypical, westernized version of Indian food. I used to like it more a few years ago but the quality and flavors seem to have been watered down a bit. Service is attentive but maybe overly so (be prepared to get stared at by the staff as you eat).
The veg manchurian is a newer appetizer addition and is very good. The entire mixed grill kabob platter was a dry, minimally flavored disappointment. The channa masala is always decent and I recommend it because it’s 90% chickpeas as opposed to too much gravy so you get a lot of actual food. Just make sure it doesn’t come out lukewarm like mine did last time.
Good lassis/​desserts. Malai kofta and shahi paneer are good too but like all Indian restaurants, you’re left with tons of heavy cream gravy after the few pieces of actual food are gone. Gross.
I recommend the whole wheat laccha paratha over the naan (although it’s always fun to get a mixed naan basket). It’s a multilayered roti cooked with butter so one serving can be broken into a lot of pieces and it is moist and flavorful.
Not surprisingly for the NOVA region, the restaurant is stupidly expensive but that’s why I use deals. I’ve been exposed to authentic Indian food all my life so this place is just okay but I can see why most folks act like it’s the bomb. It helps that the food isn’t as super greasy as some low end Indian restaurants but it’s by no means light eating.
The nice décor inside would be elevated if they actually played classical Indian music instead of whatever else they play, if they play any music at all (awkward silence last time I visited). Don’t expect privacy because all the tables are right next to each other. I’ve heard good things about the buffet variety so I’d recommend doing that for a solid $ 11 – 12 versus shelling out a lot on limited variety. Overall a 3 out of 5.