Spice Express

Been here many times for lunch. It’s barely passable Indian food. The meat is always dry. It’s ok if you really want Indian though.

Used to be great but now they have changed the menu and decreased the serving. The prices are up as well. No longer deserves the same recommendation.

I have to agree with the reviews as of late. This place used to be my fallback spot if I was too lazy to decide on lunch. I tolerated the obvious skimps in the quality and quantity of their food, with the bland sauces and the substitution of ingredients. Com’n now, this place is called Spice Express and it lacks spice.
Once they raised the price to 3 choices of curry of the same quantity of food as before, I couldn’t justify staying. I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed.

I’ve been going to this location for about a year. The thing that kept me coming back was the price — $ 6.99 for two curries and rice. I was able to excuse the skimping on the chicken, the dry chicken and the tasteless curry.
But I went in today and noticed they increased the price — you now can get three curries and rice for $ 7.99. Except it’s pretty much the same amount of food. Now that lunch (without naan and without a drink) costs me almost $ 9, I expect a little more from my food.
Today I ordered the chicken tikka masala, the curry chicken and the palak. All of the dishes were bland. The curry chicken tasted like… well nothing. The palak… yep, nothing there either except maybe a little bit of a freezer taste. And the chicken tikka masala was so dry I couldn’t choke down several pieces.
I don’t understand the blandness — I went to the Spice Express on 19^th Street last week and the same dishes had quite a kick. It’s all the same owner, so why does it taste differently?
So long Spice Express, it was fun while it lasted. I’m taking my business back to Naan and Beyond and Tandoori Time for lunch.

Rice ok. Chicken curry has big chunks of white meat, but very little spice. Might be worthwhile to come back for the vindaloo, however.
The naan comes wrapped in foil so is a but soggy. By comparison Haandi has spoiled me for that.
Spinach tastes like frozen with just a touch of spice — fojol bros spoiled me for that as well.
Mango lassi is thick and tasty.
All in all a good value and worth walking 4 blocks in good weather to get Indian/​curry.
Thanks to LivingSocial for getting me in the door and paying half my bill. Without that discount, I’m not sure if I will come back.

Eh.
It’s not great, but I’m still eating it because I’m hungry. In the past I would have given it 3 stars, but lately they have really been skimping.
I got Chicken Masala and the few pieces I received are dry. I also got a rather meager amount of chickpeas — they are good but a few more wouldn’t kill them.
So basically, I am eating a vat of rice.
Eh.

I just saw the guy in charge of making the naan:
1. Make a half ass attempt to save a batch of naan that was about to fall on the floor.
2. Pick the naan up off the floor and put it right back on the counter to serve customers.
Its too bad that I have to give a review like this to a place. But if the owner wants to make sure to not get his patrons sick then he should reign in employees like that.

I am actually shocked at how low the star rating is at this place. I am almost tempted to up my review to five stars to counter-​balance this, though my quibbles with their food are enough that I want to reserve my five stars. I’ll start with the negatives, and move into the positives.
1. «Where’s the Paneer?» Seriously, the paneer dishes have very little cheese in them.
2. Rice. It was kinda not good in the past, they must have worked on their water to rice ratio or something because it is a lot better now.
3. Consistency. Sometimes their food is top notch. Other times, it isn’t. I tend to order the same thing every time I go (lamb vindaloo and palak paneer), but it comes up a little different each time. They are five stars on their good days. Three on their worst.
Okay, those are the quibbles, here are the good stuff.
1. Price. Reasonable.
2. Spices, a lot. I agreed with most of the reviews in 2009, though they seemed to have turned a corner in the past year. Dishes are no much more heavily spiced, and certainly not bland. I’ll even find a whole Cardimum pod on occasion.
3. Ownership. The owner is always in the store, recognizes and greats me when I come in, is enthusiastic about his food and often gives free samples. I can’t say enough about how important that is. If I ever have a problem with my meal, I know exactly who to talk to.
4. Special sauce. Ask for the «Very Hot» sauce. I don’t think it is very hot, but it is extremely tasty.

A dollar extra for the goat? That’s BS. If I knew I would have gotten something else. I hate goat. I got it just to try it out. Everything else taste the same. Plus I saw a tub of curry on the floor. I almost stepped in it.

Fast-​food Indian in a run-​down location. I was not impressed with either.

My mama always said that if I can’t say anything nice, I shouldn’t speak at all. But that would make Unilocal pretty useless, no? I’ll compromise by being concise.
Yuk.
Seriously, that sums up my initial impression of the food here, and it didn’t get any better. The curries were room temperature, soggy and terribly-​flavored (it was like Vinegar goes to the Near East). Also, the dining room is dark and dank and (on this January day) very very cold.
I think the philosophy goes something like, «Hey, the food is lousy, but we’ll give you a lot of it and won’t charge too much!» And more power to them if that’s a successful business model.. . but having sampled the goods once, I’ll never be back.

Our office recently moved to 15^th and L from U Street. While U street is a cool place (Ben’s Chili Bowl, Etete/​Dukem for Ethiopian, Busboys & Poets) there was no good Indian food.
Spice Express is a dream come true for lunchtime. The food is all very good and not overly «saucy.» The alu gobi is cooked just right and the samosas are nicely fried but not greasy and you can substitute it for one of the «curries» you get in the 2-​curry + rice lunch special.
For rice lovers — you get LOTS of rice. For carb watchers, just tell them you want less and they accommodate with a smile.
And the price is right.

This is probably my favorite lunch spot in the area and have brought most of my co-​workers here and they have all enjoyed the food. The line out the door of this place shouldn’t scare you, since they take your order about five feet from the door and the line moves rather quickly.
I really like their rice here, it is great and you get a fare amount… enough to fill a big kid like me. Then you get to choose from 2 «curries». I usually go for one meat curry and one veggie and have tried almost all of the varieties they other. Chicken Tikka Masala is a main stay on the menu and then the other three meats go through a rotation — I haven’t had one that I didn’t like.
As for the veggie curries. I really like the chana masala and also the potato curry; I alwasys have a tough choice between the two. Almost everything looks pretty good.
I usually end up getting a naan as well and the total comes to $ 8.86 which isn’t that bad for lunch in this area and it is a fairly large portion of food.
The containers always scare me on the walk back to the office since they use biodegradable stuff… curry ends to eat right through it and i’m worrried that it will go right through the bottom and all over the place. It hasn’t happened yet but it’s been close.

Long lines outside Spice Express are indicative of its recent popularity among nearby office workers but its hardly an indicator of quality. I opine that Spice Express’ success lies with its reasonable prices, expedited service, ample selections, and lack of competitors. However, I’ve noticed a decline in quality of food over the past few months here. In order to satisfy demand, Spice Express has become a curry factory churning out like a fast food restaurant. The basmati rice is hard and undercooked. The curries thin, oily, and lacking in complexity. The chicken dry. The portions meager and wanting. And, of course, I’m always curious about the boxed pre-​fab curry mix sitting on top of the stove. For a restaurant that demonstrated so much promise earlier this year, I’m disappointed that Spice Express failed to keep up with its customers. Spice Express demonstrates a real demand for Indian food fast. It would be a tragedy if another restaurant capitalized on the latest desire for Indian food by offering better curries. [Last Visit: September 8, 2009]

I had passed by this place plenty of times in the past and thought «meh, run of the mill lunch café.» Then I got word from a friend that the owners were turning this place into a happy hour and late night food spot. Though I was there on opening day, June 10^th, the service was still attentive and swift. Half price 24oz Taj Mahal beer? Yes please. A real meal (a lamb curry dish of which I can’t remember the name) of expensive restaurant quality for the price of a bar burger? Yes, thank you. Was personally greeted by the new management. more points. Also hear they’re serving food late night (until 4am) from Weds. through Saturday. Right around the corner from all the K Street clubs? I will be back many a time.
Tip of the hat to you, Spice Indian Bistro & Bar.

Passable and extremely cheap.
The curries are mediocre, but edible. The meat is low grade but cooked through. You get a ton of food for cheap and they’re extremely quick. Three stars for a value and expediency; two for the food itself.

The Washington Post «Food Section» reviews Spice Express today 5÷20÷09.
I’d like to add that I visited, today, its 2^nd location at 1020 19^th Street, NW, just north of K Street. M-​F 11am to 8pm, 202−331−9888
The setting is very clean, obviously in test-​drive mode. I took the Post’s advice and ordered chana masala (chickpeas) and vegetarian curry of which there were 8 choices. I settled on cauliflower with green peas and peas were green, green, not army green. Two curries and rice are currently offered for $ 6.99 and I threw in naan to fill me up.
The curries are excellent; the spices are pungent with some fire, but not enough to kill your ‘buds. The naan had some flavor, for which I did not care nor could I identify. The establishment is very clean and fresh feeling and the curries were NOT swimming in grease, so often my experience at other Indian fast-​serve locations. There are some seats; I got my dish to go, which is packaged in egg-​carton type box, (nice nod to green folk), but, after a hike, it wilts.
I will return, likely often. Nice to kick the meat habit with no withdrawal symptoms, I promise.
Friendly, smiley staff, too; and just around the corner on M Street is McD’s for a McFlurry :) to cool the curry.

Found this place while apartment hunting a few days back; it wasn’t in the neighborhood when I worked nearby, which is a shame.
We stopped in later in the evening, and had very friendly, personal table service from someone who was definitely a manager, if not an owner himself. The food was good, and the roti was delicious (though I did pat mine down with a napkin after seeing some of the grease/​oil on top of mine). We didn’t realize they’d closed while we were eating until the other couple eating in noticed and scrambled to get out of there (to let the workers go home); they assured us there was no rush and had never made us feel unwelcome though it must have been getting close to closing when we were served our food.
So to sum up: tasty, friendly, and affordable to boot! Yay Spice Express!

Update: I’ve upgraded from three to four stars. I really am a fan of this place now. I go probably twice a week. It’s still one of the best values in the area and they’ve stepped it up the busier they’ve gotten. They always have two vegan dishes, and they know what «vegan» means. The other veg dishes are not vegan, but it would be oh so nice if they were. BUT, still love ‘em, and the two on the end are always vegan. And nice flavors too – nothing will ever be spicy enough for me, but their dishes are flavorful. Overall, consistently good food, great value, friendly people. And the super nice guy there (perhaps a manager?) told me they’re opening a second, larger location at 19^th and K soon.
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Like it? Yes. Love it? Nah.
Two curries and rice for 7 bucks is a decent deal, but the veg selections are slim (usually 4 of 8 – 10), and the vegan even slimmer – lucky if there are two to meet the deal. They tend to put cow’s milk in things most Indian restaurants do not, and the food tends to be on the oily side. It’s fast indeed, but the flavors are rather bland and the «spice» in the name definitely doesn’t make it to the food. I did ask one day if they’d add something to make it spicy – the guy told me it already was. I told him I’ve been before and I know it’s not. A coworker had told me they would spice things up if you ask, so I asked. They weren’t very busy late in the day, so I figured it shouldn’t be a big deal. The guy (somewhat begrudgingly) spiced up my two curries, but really the only thing he did was heat them with gobs of red pepper flakes in a sauté pan.
The place is good in a pinch, and it’s a decent value, but there’s much much better Indian food to be had a few blocks down K in either direction.

I love this place. I go here at least once a week, and I am an addict.
For $ 6.99 you can get two curries and a large portion of rice. For $ 1.50 more, you can get three curries and rice. The three curries are a better deal, with a naan it is enough for lunch and dinner (I did that twice last week). They usually have about 8 curries, and more than half are vegetarian.
The people who work here are very friendly. If you are looking for spicier dishes, you can call and they will make a special order for you.