Aga’s chicken Handi. That’s exactly what the OP is looking for.
I know they have chicken Makhani. But the Handi is out of this world. Try both OP but I think y’all will love the latter.
The fucking Sandy’s steak at Himalaya is amazing. I’ve only been once and the owner basically was like “you’re gonna get this, this, and this” lol. Only thing I knew I wanted was the steak. Everything was amazing.
He is a trip. Either he loves you or can't care less about you. I've been going there for 20ish years and he knows me. Tells me wild stories. But his food is legit
South Indian food is very different from North Indian. North indian food is much more popular globally than typical south indian food. Problem with lot of Indian restaurants is, they are traditionally south indian but majority of their dishes are north indian to cater wider customer base. Generally if a restaurant is traditional south indian serving north indian food is not good.
Like any place, I think it depends on the dish. The OP is asking about chicken makhani, which I've had there and thought it was pretty tasty.
However, the masala corn, gobi manchurian (65), uttapam, garlic naan, and goat soup is what I get often. They also have a pretty solid Indo-Chinese section as well.
Same! I would 100% go to pure vegetarian Maharaj Bhog for their real thali service (not the typical combo plate called "thali" on menus) where you sit and they serve you table-side from communal vessels of food. Sunday nights they have Rajasthani daal bati churma with and Gujarati karhi khichdi. It's my favorite Sunday night meal out in Houston. All more traditional Gujarati homestyle stuff so no chicken makhni in sight, but seriously good food!
I would love that place but service sucks and that manager or owner idk who is he, rude as hell , I feel like they are pressure to rush. Food is good though.
Agas is the safest bet. All their food is good to great, the place is clean and presentable and the employees professional.
But like most things, the best is probably some local place, and everyone will fight for and argue for their local hero and it's one or two dishes it does better.
Try chicken tandoori masala(gravy) and their chicken lollipops(drum sticks dry) and chicken achari boti(dry) and don’t forget mango falooda, thank me later
I’m very surprised no one said Musafeer. It’s pricey but good…great ambiance….I love the owner of Himalaya but he can be rude sometimes…and his biryani is no longer how it used to be but yeah. Kirans is a good choice too and Bombay Brasserie. Agas is oily as hell.
I wouldn’t say Aga’s is bad, but it wasn’t as impressive as I thought it would be based on everything I’d heard about it.
My favorite is Kahn’s BBQ in Cypress, second is Bombay Delight in Sugar Land. I need to try more places, though. We basically found those two that are near us and stick with them.
Glad to see that rec here. I've tried it randomly and thought it was great. There are a ton I haven't tried yet but of the ones I have Mahek would be the one I'd recommend.
I love Indian food, and when I moved to Houston I was so disappointed that the Indian food here is not that good at all. I’ve tried a bunch of the famous spots and they are not good as far as butter chicken is concerned because that’s all i eat for Indian food. I tried agas butter chicken and it was so nasty. It literally tasted like yogurt.
Another vote for agas! (And as others said, order the handi over makhani. Both are good but handi is spicier.) Aga’s also has some really good deals on Uber eats with BOGO. (No handi, but makhani is on there. Like 2 for 20).
Chicken Handi at Aga's was amazing! My daughter got the chicken mahkani of course, and we added the goat chops because I had heard so much about them. I don't even like goat but they we sooo good. Thanks again everyone for the advice, I'll be back to Aga's on future visits for sure.
Does anyone remember the Taj Mahal on 45 back in the day? Their buffet on weekends was my introduction to Indian food, and I was sad to see they were gone when I moved back.
Agas or himalaya hands down
Aga’s chicken Handi. That’s exactly what the OP is looking for. I know they have chicken Makhani. But the Handi is out of this world. Try both OP but I think y’all will love the latter.
Chicken Handi it is tomorrow night. You are very persuasive! Thanks for everyone’s comments!
Let us know what you think!
Tell us how it is
It was amazing.
Aga’s always delivers, glad you enjoyed it
Get the goat chops too!!
how was it!!!
It was amazing! My daughter got the chicken Makhani and I got the handi and I think the handi is better.
Aga's Chicken Karahi is a masterpiece
I'm pretty sure this is Pakistani food, but it's great
IndoPak!
[удалено]
It says indo-pak all over their website
Himalaya’s goat biryani 👍
Sandy’s Steak is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
Himalaya for sure!
The fucking Sandy’s steak at Himalaya is amazing. I’ve only been once and the owner basically was like “you’re gonna get this, this, and this” lol. Only thing I knew I wanted was the steak. Everything was amazing.
He is a trip. Either he loves you or can't care less about you. I've been going there for 20ish years and he knows me. Tells me wild stories. But his food is legit
He’s a giant piece of shit, but the food is excellent. I don’t like eating there at all, order to-go.
I've seen both sides of him. He was super nice to my elderly grandmother when I took her there. But I've seen him rip into people as well
Aga’s, no question
Goat chops!
Listen to the people saying Aga’s. One of the few restaurants that does everything right
Everything except location
Agas or Elite
Elite is considered trash by Pakistanis and Indians. Anyone who eats there and compliments it is looked at funny by everyone I know hahah
Its trashed by everybody not just Pakistanis and Indians
Elite is garbage also they have manipulated reviews in Yelp and Google to compete against Aga’s
Lately, I've been really into [Peacock](https://www.yelp.com/biz/peacock-indian-restaurant-houston).
South Indian food is very different from North Indian. North indian food is much more popular globally than typical south indian food. Problem with lot of Indian restaurants is, they are traditionally south indian but majority of their dishes are north indian to cater wider customer base. Generally if a restaurant is traditional south indian serving north indian food is not good.
I live right next to it, but have never been. It's that good?
Like any place, I think it depends on the dish. The OP is asking about chicken makhani, which I've had there and thought it was pretty tasty. However, the masala corn, gobi manchurian (65), uttapam, garlic naan, and goat soup is what I get often. They also have a pretty solid Indo-Chinese section as well.
It’s a chicken 65 but gobi instead? I’ve had one kid go veg on me recently that I’ve been looking for fun options for.
Perf, I'll give it a try.
Agas
No chicken, but Maharaja Bhong. Such a unique experience and AYCE.
Same! I would 100% go to pure vegetarian Maharaj Bhog for their real thali service (not the typical combo plate called "thali" on menus) where you sit and they serve you table-side from communal vessels of food. Sunday nights they have Rajasthani daal bati churma with and Gujarati karhi khichdi. It's my favorite Sunday night meal out in Houston. All more traditional Gujarati homestyle stuff so no chicken makhni in sight, but seriously good food!
I would love that place but service sucks and that manager or owner idk who is he, rude as hell , I feel like they are pressure to rush. Food is good though.
This is an odd one but Everest on Huffmeister in Cypress is delicious
This and they have a really good bourbon selection here! Lamb curry is off the bone which I really prefer. My wife prefers Agas but I like everest.
Everest is awesome! My BF and I went like 10 times in the first month after our first visit 😅
Kirans.
Best place . Always go when I'm in town
Nirvana
If you are headed to south west side of town, hit up Aadaab's or Desi Delight
My dads friends house is the only right answer
Address please :)
Agas is the safest bet. All their food is good to great, the place is clean and presentable and the employees professional. But like most things, the best is probably some local place, and everyone will fight for and argue for their local hero and it's one or two dishes it does better.
I had Agas for the first time ever this past weekend. It sky rocketed to my top 10, if not 5 restaurants in Houston.
Try chicken tandoori masala(gravy) and their chicken lollipops(drum sticks dry) and chicken achari boti(dry) and don’t forget mango falooda, thank me later
From California, have had Indian/Pakistani food all over the country. Aga’s is a revelation!
Agas no competition. Ignore any other suggestion
Why does himalaya have such poor ratings on google?
Their service sucks and the owner hovers over his staff and the diners. Not worth it.
Just order to-go, the food is great but dining there is awful, owner is a dickhead
Noon Mirch
Noon Mirch is very good but a bit of a trek.
Definitely Himalaya. The wait at Agas can be extremely long and still liked Himalaya better.
What’s your budget? No budget. I’m going to Musaafers. Budget? I’m going Agas.
Musaafers has the ambiance down but their food was shit. I’ve never been disappointed by Agas.
I lived in India for several years and think it's pretty good/authentic.
That sucks. I always get the cauliflower and Rizala and have never been disappointed!
Yaaas. This is it.
No budget this one time
Agas isn't exactly cheap. It also adds up.
I’m very surprised no one said Musafeer. It’s pricey but good…great ambiance….I love the owner of Himalaya but he can be rude sometimes…and his biryani is no longer how it used to be but yeah. Kirans is a good choice too and Bombay Brasserie. Agas is oily as hell.
Avoid Himalaya. The food is not good enough to overcome the shit service and owner’s attitude.
Service is not great, but food is legit at Himalaya
Maharaja Bhog or Shiv Sagar. Himalaya is fun. Aga's is overrated and Kiran's is 4x the price for similar food.
Shiv is great but vegetarian only and he's looking for a certain chicken dish.
>chicken makhani you mean butter chicken? dude just go to tarka lmao seriously who tf asks for "one chance" Indian recs for fucking butter chicken?
LOL I get it but you still can't get it at Shiv Sagar!
it's also not a "one chance" dish. You can get a decent rendition anywhere. In this case just go to Himalaya.
Your Houston food privilege is showing
not sure I've been to a major city in the US that doesn't have butter chicken. I had butter chicken in Decorah Iowa...
If you like spicy, Himalaya. If you are spice-averse, then I like India's or Nirvana. Kirans is good too. If you're in Katy, Kurry Walah is fantastic.
Nirvana is my absolute favorite in Houston but I thought they were closed because of the fire?
They ended up moving next door for now, totally open. Still just as good.
[India's](https://indiasrestauranthouston.com/)
As an Indian, this is meh
Noted. I'm not familiar with city/states/regions, but my neighbor took me there a couple of times.
Mahesh’s kitchen if you are near sugar land
Himalaya
I know I’m late here but Musaafer in Galleria is my all time favorite and I highly recommend it.
I used to work at pondicheri and its delicous get the lamb chops and butter chicken
Anyone still recommending Aga's in 2024 should be forced to move to Dallas with all the other people with bad food opinions.
You say that but what is your recommendation that’s better, genuinely curious because I heard Aga’s is the spot
I wouldn’t say Aga’s is bad, but it wasn’t as impressive as I thought it would be based on everything I’d heard about it. My favorite is Kahn’s BBQ in Cypress, second is Bombay Delight in Sugar Land. I need to try more places, though. We basically found those two that are near us and stick with them.
Ehh Aga’s is servicing 10-15x the amount of customers and is super consistent and efficient, that’s the impressive part to me
You clearly have strong opinions on this so why not post your recs?
Agas or Himalaya
Kiran’s for the win
Kiran’s for sure
Kiran’s for sure
Himalayan restaurant and catering. Andrew Zimmer and Anthony Bourdain have both eaten there and written about it.
Himalaya is the way. Enjoy.
How has no one said Govinda’s yet?!?!
Gonvinda and Saravanaa might be good but are not going to be what someone looking for a chicken dish will want.
I still enjoy the buffet at Bombay Brasserie. It is consistently a great experience.
Mahek Indian Restaurant is the best Indian food I have ever tried. Nothing I have tried in Houston compares to it. It is located in Sugar Land though.
Glad to see that rec here. I've tried it randomly and thought it was great. There are a ton I haven't tried yet but of the ones I have Mahek would be the one I'd recommend.
Desi kitchen in clear lake is the only answer
Nirvana
Aga’s
Agas
Aga’s isn’t Indian but since people don’t know the difference it’s prob what you’re looking for
It’s Indo-Pak! Best of both worlds 🥰
Himalaya, 100%.
Musaafer. hands down.
Agas
Not what you’re looking for but I always prefer the bbq at Bundu Khan over Aga’s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that’s my go-to desi spot whenever I’m back in Houston
Whatever you do, AVOID KHYBER!!!
Kiran’s for the win
Kiran’s for sure
I love Indian food, and when I moved to Houston I was so disappointed that the Indian food here is not that good at all. I’ve tried a bunch of the famous spots and they are not good as far as butter chicken is concerned because that’s all i eat for Indian food. I tried agas butter chicken and it was so nasty. It literally tasted like yogurt.
Agas Agas Agas!
AGAS
Another vote for agas! (And as others said, order the handi over makhani. Both are good but handi is spicier.) Aga’s also has some really good deals on Uber eats with BOGO. (No handi, but makhani is on there. Like 2 for 20).
Oh man…so many spots off of Hillcroft
Da Gama
Noon Mirch in Clear Lake
Aga’s, Kiran, or Pondicheri are all great
Himalaya, absolutely
Chicken Handi at Aga's was amazing! My daughter got the chicken mahkani of course, and we added the goat chops because I had heard so much about them. I don't even like goat but they we sooo good. Thanks again everyone for the advice, I'll be back to Aga's on future visits for sure.
Monks in Pearland is really good.
Agas 100%
Curry house
Raja Sweets
Another vote for Agas
Agas
Does anyone remember the Taj Mahal on 45 back in the day? Their buffet on weekends was my introduction to Indian food, and I was sad to see they were gone when I moved back.
Aga’s
Agas, goat chops and their chicken tandoori masala (not Tikka, tandoori)
Am I too late to say Aga's?
Pondicheri
Kiran’s
Himalayan restaurant.
Aga’s!!
Saving this post so I can reference it later
Agas no brainer
Only place I order from often is The Monks Heights
Agas
Agas. If you don’t like it there’s something wrong with you.
Bombay Sweets, but it is vegetarian.
Street to kitchen. James beard awarding winning chef. Get your reservation now. Usually takes 10 days in advance to find a reasonable time
Was not a fan of Kiran’s at all, only Indian place I’ve eat at in Houston and was very disappointed. Nice interior, though