Agni

Dining at Agni was an unforgettable experience, elevated by creative dishes and flawless service. The tasting menu impressed from start to finish, but two dishes stood out. The Caesar chaat-froid was a masterful fusion of textures and flavors--crispy, tangy, and refreshingly unique. It's a delightful take on the Caesar salad, reimagined in a way that captures the essence of Indian chaat. The Thai Malay curry scallop was another favorite; rich and deeply aromatic, with layers of coconut and spice that brought out the best in each ingredient. The flavors were complex yet harmonious, making every bite a treat.Equally noteworthy was the service: attentive, friendly, and exceptionally well-paced, allowing each course to shine. Agni is a must-visit, one of the best meals I've ever had!Additionally, I would purchase that granola from the pallet cleanser by the bag full!

Absolutely WILD experience and not in a good way. Please just go to Cobra down the street. TDLR: We got through 4 courses and asked for the check, the food quality was laughable, tastings were not creative, flavors did not go together, and the staff was honestly welcoming at first, but it got weird when we asked to leave mid tasting. The tea at the beginning was very yummy and they took the gluten free menu very seriously, but those are the only redeeming features. It took 3-4 staff members to "let us get out of the tasting". The people serving us our dishes seemed like they were in acting school. The "manager" was walking around in a sweatshirt and dress shoes. At $145/head to do a gourmet tasting menu - No thank you, just save yourself now. Course 1: squash tortilla = Tostitos chip with weird crunchies 6/10.Course 2: "McDonald's inspired" but worse - just go to McDonald's. 2/10. Mini "filet o fish" was chewy. "72 hour fry" was a literal single French fry sitting on a tomato sauce concoction. Mini McRib was just sub par and had less than half an oz of meat on a tiny bun. This course was honestly insulting. We were about to leave here, but got to course 3 somehow. Course 3: lentil soup with lemon zest 8/10, this made us wait until course 4 to decide to leave. Course 4: fried "Caesar salad" inspired- this was fried vegetables, with a bunch of purred sauces and flavors that didn't mesh, and stirred in with a sous vide egg. Also it had an ice cube on top? 1/10. Could fry a normal egg in 10 seconds and it would taste better than this dish. Everyone working there was extremely pretentious. When we asked for the check, our hostess came to the table and said verbatim "let's cut the shit - you guys are kidding right? You're just messing with us that you want to leave?" We were like no -- we would just like to finish our wine or take it to go and leave thanks.

This is another restaurant I struggled with the review. Mostly because of the raves from others, and especially , the chef being a james beard finalist for the great lakes region. So my expectations were through the roof and unfortunately, they fell through. The wait staff , service and atmosphere were great. It was the food......NOT A WOW! Good but not great. Lots of dishes seemed fussier than they needed to be. Sometimes, even the wait staff weren't for certain what all ingredients were in a dish. Don't get me wrong, it was good enough but nothing that would make me want to come back and try again. We had 12(?) Courses and the most memorable one was probably inspired by Mcdonalds.I hate to compare, but I have been to tastings at other spots ( won't mention names) that the food was just as good, and at times better, for less costs. They also included pairings. Oh yeah the pairings here are an addional $100. Probably best to come to Agni more for the experience and atmosphere than the food, and $200 a person is no big deal. IMO.

The only negative is that they don't offer parking (valet or otherwise). Otherwise, everything was outstanding. The servers were extremely friendly and helpful. The wine suggestion was perfect. The ambiance is casual but upscale without being stuffy. The pre-fix menu is expensive ($145 per person without wine pairing) but the quality was excellent. They do serve a 12 courses and by the end of it, we got extremely full. The flavors were outstanding -- from East Asia, South Asia, Europe, Mexico, all over but blended in very smoothly.

Bathroom is 10/10, they have a Toto bidet. Nuff said. The dining experience didn't disappoint either. This was my first time doing a "tasting menu" ever at a restaurant and hopefully it won't be my last. For any of you who haven't done this kind of thing I'll set the stage, and if you have then just skip to the next paragraph. With the tasting menu you'll receive 15 small portions of food carefully curated and selected by the chef. You'll experience flavors that you don't commonly see in typical dining restaurants with the caveat that your portions are limited. You and your group will receive these dishes one at a time with details behind the culture and history of the dish curated by your server. The menu will vary seasonally so what you get one time won't necessarily be there on the next visit.So let's jump to the food. It's amazing. Easily a wealth of flavors with great variety. The portions may be small but after you get around your 7th-9th dish you'll start feeling satiated. If the key to your arteries are foods that are savory then you'll have a great time. The Phanaeng was easily my favorite but the Caesar Chaat-Froid was a heavy-hitter too. The staff are so well-versed with the dishes and are very diligent with cleaning in between foods and providing proper cutlery. It even ends strong with some very nice and sweet desserts with the chai, saffron ice cream sandwiches being my favorite.The ambience is great with many Bengali and Hindu symbols around the restaurant. The area is clean and tidy and has a good setting without too much noise. There's street parking and parking around the neighborhood in German Village but no dedicated parking lot. Be prepared to spend a lot of time here for the tasting. My group had a reservation for 5:45 but we ended up leaving at 9 pm! It was a still a great time though.The only criticism I have is in regards to one word. Value. This restaurant is anything but cheap. Be prepared to spend $150 as a baseline per guest and then much higher if you partake in the wine/cocktails. If money isn't an issue then it's easily a 5/5, however with the price of entry I'd have to give this a 4.3/5 at this time.

This is easily the most special meal I have had in Columbus! We went for the abbreviated tasting menu which is a porch exclusive, and we ended up having the entire porch to ourselves which was super lovely. This was 5 courses, but with the extra snacks it was more like 9. I can't believe they serve even more courses inside- I was so stuffed by the end of this meal. I can't even begin to mention my favorite parts- the panipuri was so incredibly flavorful, the scallop with the crispy rice and eggplant curry was out of this world, the spin on a caesar salad was so unique. Every course had flavors I have never experienced, and were all so special and thoughtful. We had 4 different cocktails and they were also all great, our favorite was the spicy paloma. Dessert was also incredible, it was a play on cafe con pan that blew us away.Service was perfect, it was fast and everyone was excited to talk about the food with us. They brought us out a card and little containers of their chili oil, I'm so excited to cook with it at home! Thank you everyone at Agni for making our anniversary so special, I'm so excited to come back!

Such a lovely and interesting restaurant. If you want to be truly delighted and pampered this is the place! Staff were amazing- food was even more so. From all of the little extras- amuse bouche and in between to the truly unexpected, Agni delivered. The Caesar Salad reinvented course was an epiphany. Flavors, textures, and even temperatures all come together in a completely new way.I've never had anything like it and it was delicious. Also the way the restaurant honors the folks who work there makes for a very interesting menu. We ate on the patio and so had a smaller menu but were not left hungry. But of course we want more of Agni and will return for the full prix menu.

My husband and I had an amazing night dining here in celebration of our 9 year anniversary. Everything went great from being greeted on time, to the exceptional services that were provided and the wonder dishes that were served on their tasting menu. I will definitely come back here and recommend that if you would like to celebrate any special event, this would be the place to book it at. Comp to all the staff and chef there whom made our night unforgettable.

Okay so here's the thing. I am Indian. I was very excited at this concept. Fine dining south East Asian food? In ohio? Sign me up! Especially since joyas is so lovely However: The cocktails were only okay(I've had much better for the same price in Columbus), and the food was overal very good but not phenomenalOne course both the person I went with and myself full out did not enjoy- and I'm usually a huge fan of most food. I was kind of shocked and didn't take more than 2 bites The good: server was nice, ambiance is beautiful and it a nice long leisurely paced meal. However for this much money I would like to be wowed and inspired and this missed that mark

Oh... my... how do I explain Agni...?To sum it up - at the beginning of the evening we all arrived very excited, then at the end of the evening we all left wondering if it was worth $200 per person.The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous, in an understated way.The service was very attentive. The staff are very experienced, and well trained.The food was tasty.But - I can't think of a single bite where I said "OMG, that's one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life", or "I will crave this until I get it again...!" The food was all good, the flavors were interesting, but none was extraordinary. At these prices, some of the bites should have been extraordinary. But they weren't.And - some of the bites were a huge flavor bomb of mashed-together spices and flavors that made the taste overwhelming and difficult to figure out what you were tasting (example - the Pani Puri filled with tamarind tea - and we love Pani Puri - the taste was interesting, but none of us could figure out what we were tasting - it was just an overwhelming bomb of mixed-up flavors - I can't say it was "delicious", only that it was "interesting").The pace of the meal was very enjoyable. We knew they had a second seating later in the evening, but didn't feel at all hurried. We were there with good friends and this was a comfortably paced meal with plenty of time for conversation. It was an interesting and absolutely enjoyable experience.But... all that said... was it worth $800 bucks (EIGHT HUNDRED BUCKS) for 4 of us? And that's with each of us having only 1 cocktail, no bottles of wine, and no Supplements (not the offered food add-ons nor the offered wine pairings)$200 bucks per person (including tax + tip), with 1 cocktail each and no add-ons. That's the minimum you're going to get out of Agni for unless you drink only tap water.Let's be real - I'm not complaining. We knew what we were signing up for. We knew the price of their prix-fix Chef's Tasting Menu. And we're not cheap people, we're all pretty serious foodies, we love new food experiences, and I guess we could afford the tab.But did we each get $200 bucks of value and enjoyment out of the meal??? Probably not. Were we all mostly glad we tried Agni this one time? Yes, although I think all of us left wondering if the enjoyment was worth the stratospheric (by Columbus standards) cost.Are any of us clamoring to return, even for a special occasion? No.Did the high price diminish the experience? Absolutely.IN SUMMARY - enjoyable evening, beautiful restaurant, great service, interesting experience you can't get anywhere else in Columbus, tasty and interesting but not exceptional food - but know what you're getting in to and bring a FAT WALLET.If this had been $120 per person (with our 1 drink each) we'd be raving fans. But it wasn't.