Thali Express

Stopped by today and was surprised and pleased to see the new décor and buffet. Apparently under new ownership. I used to stop by there from time to time, so I definitely know what previous reviewers mean by the crusty managers there before! Yes, it was difficult for them to part with a styrofoam container for some reason. Maybe environmentalists? Whatever the reason, I guess they are gone now.
Greeted warmly at the door. Buffet had some awesome lentil fritters, lemon rice and the khadi pakora was awesome. The chili chicken was different from other Indian restaurants, but good. They aren’t Americanizing all dishes, as far as I could tell, some were nice and spicy hot, others a bit calmer. Nice variety. There were a few dishes I had no idea what they were, but they were good. Nice vairety of chutneys, too.
My child, on the other hand, is much freer with advice. Said, the butter chicken is very good, but it could be hotter. Liked the mango lassi, but said it could be less thick. Personally, I liked the consistency, I ate it with a spoon. It was yummilicious.
The vermicelli kheer was likewise delicious. My child had gulab jamin and pronounced it quite good.
They had Indian snacks, but I didn’t get to try them as I ate too much khadi pakora and had only enough room in my stomach for kheer. I like that there are dishes I can try next time we go there.
Also liked that a video of a classical Indian concert was playing on the flat screen. That guy had a great voice and played a mean harmonium. One does tire of Shah Ru Khan and other Bollywood videos, sorry to say — see, I don’t want to eat with Brittany either. I like vintage black and white Bollywood better or classical. Could you play more of those?

One evening, my wife and I decided to order a Paneer Makhani and Chicken Makhani for take-​out.
Unfortunately the food was not quite what we were expecting. The gravy was exceptionally sweet (cream) and weirdly spiced at the same time. There was no balance of flavor and we could not eat more than a bite of the curry.
The next day, I decided to go back to the restaurant to tell them about my experience. The manager apologized for the quality of the food and was nice enough to offer two more curries as compensation (Goat Vindaloo and Bhindi Masala).
The goat curry was delicious although the goat itself was chewy (seemed stale). The bhindi was decent.
Overall, the food was okay and I’d probably not eat here again.

Great food, always fresh. The lunch buffet is very good and lots of variety. You can take out also. Clean restaurant and friendly service.

They have updated the décor and buffet! It’s very nice and the food is still amazing! The owners are so nice and they will answer any questions if you are not sure about an item!

Fair warning, I didn’t try the food. I didn’t get a chance. I came in at 4:30 on a Saturday, it was empty. A lady sitting by the door texting… glanced at me then ignored me. I stood around in the dark room a couple of minutes, two guys came bustling out with bagged food. Someone in the kitchen said they forgot the nan, a minute later someone finally acknowledged me. He mumbled and unlike most Indian places was not warm and welcoming, more like embarrassed. I asked if they were not open. He mumbled some more and then asked the texting lady something, then said no, come back later. The hours on the door say noon to ten pm today.
I can’t recommend a place that fails at business 101 by not going by their posted hours and treating a customer like an unexpected inconvenience.

First time eating here. Found a short gray hair in my food so not impressed based on that alone.

The service is terrible! The lady at the counter had so much attitude and was very rude. She treated our enter family of 10 like we were children. She wouldn’t give us plates even for the a la carte items we ordered. When asked for containers to take items home she questioned how much food we were taking home as if after we spent over $ 100 she thought we were trying to steal her containers. She also wanted us to take curries in open Styrofoam containers instead of ones with covers. The food was decent though. If you’re not like me and don’t care for customer service then enjoy the food but I can not support an establishment with such little respect for their customers who keep their businesses running.

Very nice restaurant, very good customer service, the owner is very nice delicate lady … they help you to understand everything they have, they make sure your food is fresh & hot. I really love it but I’m looking for some deals& offers

Great food, a little on the spicier side but very fresh. They offer a thali approach throughout tr day, pick 3 with rice and bread. Flavorful and with the price

Mmmmm… this is my new go to for fast Indian eats when working in my Reston office. They were quick, tasty and filled my craving! I wish they were closer to home because I would be in heaven!

The food is above average. The curries were in fact spicy and very tasty. but the portions were too less for me.
the service and ambiance is also fine…
Recommendation: Go there if you want a quick spicy and tasty bite. I wont go there if I am very hungry.

I cannot believe this place is as good as it is! I don’t mean to sound negative, just realistic:) it’s very difficult to find a good Indian restaurant… especially one that doesn’t Americanize the food. The food is delicious! I had the chicken thali, and my husband had the vegetable thali. We both ate everything though, so I’m rating both the vegetables and non-​veg items here…
Everything from the décor, business plan, prices, quality, quantity and even cleanliness is awesome. For $ 20, both of us got HUGE portions… and felt stuffed when we were done. Most places don’t give you large portions OR if they do– the taste isn’t authentic.
We had the paneer, chole (chickpeas), and some kind of round veggie ball thingie that looked like meatballs. Additionally– on the non-​veg side, we had: butter chicken and peanut chicken. (You pick a thali «chicken/​fish/​veggie…), and then you get to pick three different types of chicken/​veggies, etc. we got rice, naan and raita too. Btw, the raita was actually so good– it tasted like some aunty’s homemade Indian food!
Each entrée had its own Indian flare… and the naan was fluffy and fresh.
I’m excited to go back already!

Not a place to go if you are looking for fresh and tasty Indian food. We went on weekend night and the food was stale, rubbery and quite tasteless. For the price point, I shouldn’t have high expectations — however they still managed to disappoint even with that low bar.
At the risk of getting on my soapbox, this is what happens when someone who isn’t passionate about the business they are in runs an establishment

My husband happened to find this place by accident. He came home one day with gol gappes and samosa chaat. When I asked where he got it, he said there was a new Indian place serving fast food dhaba style food. Yay!!! Once Aaoji closed, I was wondering if there was ever going to be another place like it in Reston/​Herndon. Finally there is.
I looked up the place on the net and found out that the chef used to work at Angeethi. Immediately I got excited and knew the place was going to have great good. We stopped going to Angeethi because the quality of food went down. Now I know why. Glad we found our favorite chef!
The food is your typical dhaba style food — butter chicken, tandoori chicken, chicken biryani, a paneer dish, chole, an aloo dish, kadhi, Naan, puris, paranthas, bhatures, etc… They have all sorts of thalis you can choose from starting at $ 4.95. Not too shabby. The malai chicken is their best non-​veg dish. The kadhi is my favorite veg dish.
The chaats are good. The portions are ok. I feel a bit jipped on the gol gappes. The raj kichori is delicious! Would definitely recommend that to people. Most of these dishes are $ 4.95. So you are getting a good deal.
My biggest complaint would be the service. Every time I go in the guy behind the counter is ALWAYS rude. He never says hello, never makes you feel welcomed, and hardly smiles. I walked in once and he says, Do you need something? Obviously! I am coming to the restaurant for a meal. Another time I ordered my food and after paying, he left my food on the counter and told me it was ready. I had to reach half way across the counter to pick it up. I am sorry, but poor customer service will not make me want to go back.
A smaller complaint would be when i ordered gulab jamun. I took a bite and tasted jeera (cumin). Then I noticed that the gulab jamuns had a few jeera seeds on them. Looks like the guy used a dirty spoon to place the gulab jamun in the bowl. Not ordering gulab jamuns from them anytime soon.
So basically they need to train the one guy on customer service and etiquette with customers. They also need to serve desserts using clean spoons. Once they get those things improved, things may pick up. Until then… they get 3 stars only.

I was there yesterday with a friend. We got there before the lunch rush. The place was clean. The server was nice and explained how to order. The Thali included a drink and dessert. The butter chicken was tasty, loved the bread and the tandoori chicken was just ok.
My biggest complain was that the food was NOT hot. All the food was lukewarm except for the naan but we were so hungry we didn’t ask for it to be heated. I may go back to try the «street snack» menu. Not sure I would make this my place for Indian food when there are 2 other places down the street with really tasty buffets for lunch.

I have been wanting to have chaat for a long time and we happened to have a livingsocial for this place, My husband ordered the vegetarian thali and we got raj kachori and papdi chaat.
The thali was pretty good but I was not impressed with either of the chaat plates.
I guess since its a new restaurant they still can improve, but I definitely hope in future they have someone to clean up the tables after,
Will give it a try again in a few weeks.

Wish I could give 0 stars. Generally a new Indian restaurant has good food for some period and then it starts to suck. Thali express takes the honors here in the first few months.
Food is horrible. I guess they thought that this thali system will be there differentiator. But forgot to pay attention to quality of food.
Will never eat here and will discourage others.

Dang. They already raised their prices on their Thali already. Now I’d rather just go to either of the Indian buffets around the corner. Sorry Thali, you’re good, but if its the same price as a buffet, I’ll stick with the buffet.

Thali Express is serving up Indian food fast. As a result, it’s not a bad place due to the price and quick delivery of food. Items here are served cafeteria-​style, except for various breads are baked to order.
Here, they use a metal lunch tray that has a setting for your choice of rice (biryani is extra), serving of salad and half a papadam, a setting for their yogurt sauce (has little chickpea dumplings in it), and 3 settings for curries of your choice. Overall pricing depends on how many sides/​curries you get and if they are vegetarian or meat. Naan is extra, but freshly made to order which is great. I think it is about $ 7 for a vegetarian thali meal.
For the meat curries, it seems like they will always have a mutton curry and some sort of chicken (there was curry chicken and butter chicken during my visit) option available. There’s a decent number of vegetarian options. Food overall is very similar to the other Indian restaurants in the area, such as Angeethi’s buffet options.
They have a decent selection of sweets, but we didn’t get the chance to try any. There also have a few «street snacks» too.
You have to bus your own table, which isn’t very clear. There’s a small bussing cart located in the direction of the restrooms.

delic we had an all-​veg thali feast! love this place and will be coming back soon for sure. tasty food, spiced well, and really great nice service! i am anxiously awaiting their brown rice, which they’ve promised is coming.
can’t wait to return.