Anarkalee Restaurant

Simple menu. Okay food: not very flavorful. I’d rather go to Sansar in Livermore. We won’t be fighting over the leftovers…

Had to add a star, but the place is closed! It looks like they just closes up one night and walked away…

I have a feeling that its over for us. We have been here in past. Food was always above average even though décor was not so good. But this time around, it was so gloomy and dead. There was only one other table seated on Friday eve. No napkins, chutney, glasses or salad. Saag chicken was tasteless. Chicken Tikka was still better. Strange thing it was cash only, and all items’ prices were raised without change in menu. Seems like owner is paying no attention to this place anymore. It’s sad for trivalley area that we are losing Indian food talent slowly.
2 Stars for free Mango lussy for Unilocal check in.

This was one of the first names to pop up on my Nearby Halal Restaurants search. Other than very nice pleasant people running the place, really cannot recommend at all.
Ordered mutton biryani and chicken tikka masala. Both were just heavy on spice, not on taste and definitely not in terms of authenticity.
Maybe we ordered the wrong items, maybe their other dishes are better, but my meal was ordinary. I’ve ordered better meals from tiny shack hotels near my place back home. Sorry, guys.

Food is so so, tries to mimic Shalimar, but fails to do so.
Same sauce is used for Kofta and Chiken tikka masala, so they tasted the same.
on the positive side, it is cleaner than Shalimar. Definitely friendlier service a opposed to no service. White linens napkins felt out of place, or shall I say unexpected, hence three stars!

I called in y’day to order a Chicken Tandoori and Chicken seekh kebab to eat after a nice run. (Well, if you are going to eat protein, why not eat some yummy protein? :))
I called in at 6:30PM and once my order was taken, I was told it will be ready in 20 mins. I walked in at 6:50PM and as I was walking in, I noticed the server bring it over to the take away counter. Only $ 8 for a piece of Chicken tandoori breast and a kebab!
The kebab was phenomenal. I pretty much inhaled it. The tandoori, though yummy, was a little dry. Tasty, nonetheless!
I do feel happier about this place :)

Really delicious biryanis, specially the goat biryani. Their lunch buffet is very good and reasonably priced.
Their chicken tikka kababs are well seasoned and perfectly cooked. Chicken Keema is also good.
Complimentary hot chai! Friendly service.

First I must say that everyone expecting the same Indian food here will be disaipointed as this place is owned by a Pakistani and as such has wonderful Pakistani/​Indian food. The food is different in that they do not use a lot of heavy cream.
In speaking with one of the owners I found out that Pakistani food uses a lot of meat where Indian has a lot of vegetarian dishes, so if you are expecting a lot of vegetarian dishes this is not the place for you! (Explains some of the low star ratings)
I especially enjoyed the Chili Chicken — I have never seen it before and it had just a hint of sweetness with just the right amount of spice as to not be too hot. I do not enjoy overly spicy foods where the burn overtakes the flavor.
I will be back for sure!

Lunch buffet had limited options for $ 8.95. Salad consisted of a bowl of iceberg lettuce and a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. Food was average at best. Another bad sign was that there was no one in the restaurant at noon.
They don’t honor the coupon from their own website. I presented it to the short, fat guy and he tells me that he doesn’t know anything about the coupon and asked that I bring it back next time when the owner is there. Well, there won’t be a ‘next time’.

I’ve been wanting to try this place for sometime. I remember when it was Sugandh and another Indian place after that. I had a coupon from one of those entertainment books so I thought I’d give it a try. We ended up getting birayni rice, chicken tikka massala, eggplant and garlic naan. It was a pretty decent amount of food that we surprisingly finished.
After finishing our food, the server told me that they don’t normally take printed online coupons from the entertainment book. I’ve never had a problem using them before so they took down my info in case the owner doesn’t accept it. I’m hoping it will be okay, especially if they go on the website, you can see that they have a print function from the computer as well as a physical copy. Kind of weird though, because the «free item» was only about $ 6 and we ordered over $ 30 worth of food at the end. I could see if it was an expensive item. Be aware of this when you stop in, just an FYI.
Everything we ordered was pretty spicy except for the rice and the naan. Other than that, it’s a decent place to eat if you’re in the area.

This is just like Shalimar Restaurant, but the ambiance is much better, it’s less crowded and you can really relax and enjoy your meail.
Here’s what I always order:
2 Chicken Tikka Masala
2 Chicken Tandoori (legs)
2 Naans

We enjoyed dining here prior to Walmart.
Tandoori leg was moist, perfectly spiced and delish.
Bindi (ladyfinger) too overcooked for our liking and a tad bland.
Curry fish quite good (fish was crisp fried and then simmered in curry) with good flavor depth.
Naan was not the best in class but still good.
Food could be spicier. **** value for a Unilocal deal.
PS. Not a fan of the vacuum after clearing table practice.

This place is top notch Pakistani/​Indian food. Do not bother listening to those who know nothing about and probably did not grow up eating this cuisine (ahem Nora S. and Goldilocks J.). I find it best not to listen those people who truly don’t understand a cuisine and are scared away from places that don’t cater to the typical white american palette.
Been coming here for a while and often go with family for big gatherings. They have catered parties I have been to. I also recently went here for Navrose (Persian New Year) and my birthday and both times were enough to leave me craving it enough to make the 45 minute drive out to Pleasanton.
A lot of first timers are intimidated by a place like this. If you haven’t been before here is a sample meal plan I would suggest for first timers. This should be enough food plus leftovers for 3 – 4 people:
1 – 3 Tandoori Chicken Leg, Boti, Split Breast, Tandoori Beef or Lamb Chop (Pakistani BBQ, ask for it washed if you cant handle spice)
1 – 2 Seekh Kababs (Marinated ground beef or chicken on a skewer)
1 Nihari (Fat trimmed beef brisket with lots of gravy)
2 – 5 Naans (Flat Bread to dip and eat with everything)
1 Biryani (veggie or meat rice pilaf style dish)
1 Palak Paneer (Mustard Greens and Spinach with homemade cheese curds)
1 Channa Masala (spiced garbanzo beans)
1 Raita (yogurt and veggies to cool down the spice)
If you are expecting to waited on like a 4 – 5 star restaurant, don’t bother coming. If you don’t mind grabbing a pitcher of water from the cooler when they are too busy to get it for you and you love Pakistani/​Indian food you have found your new favorite spot.
The service is very friendly, very helpful, and brings water as quickly as possible, but for those with weak palettes for spice will be reaching for more water than the staff has time to deliver. Oh and did i mention the prices are excellent?

Service was friendly.
Choice of items at the buffet was excellent. A lot of choice and variety including some lamb dishes and even dishes I had never heard of before.
That said, the food is incredibly greasy. So greasy that everything melded together after awhile and tasted the same. One of the goat dishes was just bones and fat. I couldn’t find any meat on them bones! To be fair to them, most of the meat dishes had plenty of meat.
There were a few standouts like the Tikka Masala (very nice flavor) and the Chili Chicken. But even the vegetarian dishes, usually a favorite of ours, were too rich to be enjoyable.
Beware of eating the desserts. Delicious, but so rich it will make you sick. These dishes are literally ghee, ghee and more ghee.
I am used to Indian/​Pakistani food being rich. But, oh my… Even though we only sampled a little bit of each dish, my husband and I had a stomachache for a couple of days.
If you like ghee, well then you’re in ghee heaven…

Good authentic food at reasonable prices (seems a lot of the bad reviews are from people who may be confused about what is commonly found in the SF Bay Area targeted towards a more «Western» palate vs REAL authentic ethnic cuisine). Service was great — I asked for no cilantro (hate the stuff) and food came out with cilantro anyway (this happens a lot wherever I go so it’s not a big deal). They were quick to respond, friendly, kept us up to date with the progress of our food, and followed up and asked how it was. Took our
certificate with no issues.
Open late (even on Sundays!) is always a plus.

This review is for lunch only.
I hate writing this review. I work close to the restaurant and am there fairly frequently. I am recognized as a regular customer and treated as such and I appreciate it. I would love to give them a rave. The problem is the lunch buffet which is what I eat is just barely OK. When they opened they did not have a buffet which disappointed me at first until I sampled the dishes they had for lunch. They were tasty, ample and reasonably priced. Yet, I was pleased to see the buffet return — until I tasted it. I just have to think their hearts are not in it. Without going into details I would have to say it is limited and dry.
have a strong suspicion that their dinner menu is better but cannot say.

My brother took me here last Saturday. This is a Pakistani place with lots of different kind of dishes that you can choose from a wall which is ther menu when you come in which is also kind of cool.
There garlic naan is so good is goes with anything. I prefer goat and butter chicken with it .
The staff there are very nice and friendly. I can’t wait to go again .
My son loves the rice there too ! He couldn’t get enough !

This review is for dinner.
The bf and I came to Anarkalee around 6:30 on Saturday.
You walk inside and order food at the counter, then seat yourself, grab your own drinks and utensils, and they bring the food out to you. Pay on your way out.
We got the Paneer Masala and Chicken Tikka Masala. Side orders of Naan and Rice.
The food took 15 – 20 minutes to arrive at our table. and when it did my jaw dropped, in a bad way.
I should have taken a picture of our food but was too much in shock of how much oil was in our dishes… The pictures other have posted really do it justice.
We’ve been to we’ve been to 20ish Indian restaurants in California and Nevada, and ordered the same dishes, but none have ever been this greasy. The oil had even separated out and it was more like a bowl of oil with some curry.
Halfway through our meal the lady who took our order who was very nice asked how it was, we told her it was too oily for our taste and she explained to us that it was because my dish was creamed based, as it was twice as oily as the Chicken Tikka Masala, and then said that they were actually both cream based. The she offered to drain some the oil of what was left of my plate.
Normally i wouldn’t accept for my food to be taken away from me once i’ve begun chowing, but it was really bad and i barely ate anything as i had to eat around all the oil.
I’ve gotten this dish before at other restaurants and never had either the CTM or Paneer masala been oily like that, so the fact that it’s cream based does not excuse that at all.
She came back with my curry, with a lot less oily in it but still pretty oily and said that next time we could ask for it with less oil…
Reading through the other reviews it seems as though oil is a huge problem at this restaurant and if they can cook it without the oil… they REALLY should.
We got a coupon for 10 or 15% off when we paid so we’ll be back to try the lunch buffet (8.95 + tax) only because i hate leaving bad reviews.
If you are in the Berkeley area, go to currylicious on College for another self-​serve indian place with much better food and better prices.
As for the people giving 5 stars… it must have been your first time having Indian. Try just about any other Indian place for a SEVEN STAR REVIEW!

Just off Hwy 580, tucked into an office park close to the BART Station, is this very authentic Pakistani — Indian restaurant. There is a lunch buffet and a regular menu to choose from. It is immaculately clean and frequented by Pakistani and Indian patrons.
The buffet line is clearly divided into vegetarian and non-​vegetarian entrées, so non-​carnivores need not worry. Ditto for the menu. Although Pakistan and India share many similar tastes, there are differences. I very much appreciated how each dish is described, not only as to content, but also where it is traditionally served and who eats it.
A very helpful collection of photos of the various dishes in up on the wall, so the novice can see what is being offered and can obtain more detail from the cashier or wait staff.
Prices are reasonable, staff friendly and you can order beer if you so choose.
Give the Anarkalee a try. It is very good.

Definitely weird ordering at the front, get your own plates, cutlery, and drinks, and get a number. We didn’t see much of the servers, they were nice during brief interactions. It’s Ramadan, the place was packed, every seat full at sunset. It looked like some people got fruit plates, we didn’t, we couldn’t tell if they got them because they ordered them or because they looked like they were celebrating Ramadan. The waiter asked if we were fasting, we said no, no fruit plate for us.
The food was good. It’s cheap, but portions are small. Naan was deliciously soft and buttery on one side, toasted on the other, and a bit garlicky. The chicken tandoori was on the dry side, nothing a little raita couldn’t fix, although the raita was disappointingly thin and watery. I was bummed the palak paneer, the spinach cheese thing, had two pieces of cheese in the whole plate, was virtually tasteless, and gave everybody who ate it gas and stinky farts the rest of the night. I think we got a lamb tandoori dish too, I vaguely remember it was well spiced.
I think the service is ok, it would be better if they took the order at the table, as there are menus on the table (literally, under the glass tabletop), as a line can form at the front and it’s awkward to stand around all bunched up in the front of the store. Paying up front afterward is fine. The get your own utensils, plates, water isn’t classy, but if it keeps the prices down, fine by me. I didn’t like seeing the kids STANDING in the refrigerator, their sneakered feet on the same level as the pitchers of water, as they got sodas off the top shelf. Parents, help your kids, and perhaps the business owners can move the sodas down and the pitchers of water up in the fridge. The ambiance is lackluster, just tables in a rather empty looking store front space.
I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to go back, but it’s fine for a quick, small bite.