Gayatri Bhavan

While I was in Houston this place really reminded me of the street food we used to get in India.

This evening we decided to try a new Indian restaurant off Westheimer in Houston. The Gayatri Bhavan is a hidden gem near the West Oaks Mall area. It's vegetarian Indian cuisine that has both northern and southern styles of cooking. We were greeted right away and had our drink orders taken. The restaurant was orderly as far as the cleanliness and decor go. The furnishings were simple and the wall mural was an interesting sight. The owners and staff were so hospitable, plus extremely attentive. The menu is extensive. There's a lot to choose from! We picked onion pakoda (like an onion fritter), samosa and chili paneer for our appetizers. The pakoda was crisp and seasoned well. The samosa pastry was crisp on the outside and filled so deliciously spices, potato & peas. I like that the samosa was not greasy considering it's fried. Same with the pakoda. The chili paneer was the star of the appetizers. There was a generous amount of real chili used in the dish and it was nicely prepared. I have to recommend the Punjabi pindi chole. No exaggerating here, this was the best chickpea dish I've had in a few years. The spices clung to the chickpeas with a barely there sauce. Like barely there. So the chickpeas were the star of this dish, not drowning in a gravy sauce. Much love there because it's a light dish and you don't feel heavy after eating it. The malai kofta was very tender. Firm enough to hold its shape but when you cut into it with your fork, it's yields very easily. The creamy tomato sauce for this dish was rich. A good balance in contrast with the light kofta. Peas pulao is one of the many rice dishes this place offers. It's basmati mixed with veggies and piled high when they serve it to you .The Kashmiri naan is different at this place. I've never had it where the filling was jam like. It was warm and sweet. The garlic naan was made fresh too. For dessert, I picked my favorite, kheer. It's a sweet rice pudding. Like a very straightforward dessert that had a pleasant flavor. Very light almond and a touch of sweet. At the end of our meal, they brought water with a lemon slice in finger bowls for each of us at the table. Overall, the place has items that range from inexpensive to moderate pricing on the menu. Not bad at all in that regard. We had an opportunity to speak with Chef Gayatri. She's very down to earth and puts love into her food! It is so damn delicious, it's crazy. This restaurant puts a lot of hard work into everything they serve. Will definitely return to this cozy spot to explore more of the menu!

I went for thali during lunch. Quality of food was good. Service good. But I was comparing to Maharaja Bhog. They bring you a full thali from the kitchen and refill by bringing food from the kitchen unlike Maharaja with servers all over. Plus two dishes were rice. Another was yogurt sauce another chutney. You get more and higher quality at Bhog. That being said the food was really good the daal was gratbso was the soup and Chana. I want to go back at night and just order from the menu. Oh my other issue. I like my thali with roti and puri to eat my dishes not rice as much. So I think that's why I prefer the other.

Food was good. Friendly owner. Clean restaurant.It is unlimited food during lunch, something like Maharajas. Frankly for the distance we had to travel to get there in the blazing sun, and the price paid for the lunch buffet was not really satisfying.

This place is not too far from our house and we pass it all the time so today we decided to have dinner here. They opened at 5:30pm for dinner which was perfect timing for is because we came in around 5:40. We started with the samosas and onion pakoda. They were both full of flavor and cooked perfectly. For our main course we ordered the chole masala and the dal makhni. We were surprised the dishes didn't come with rice but we ordered a side of rice with the meal (one order was enough for both of us). The chole masala was good but I would have liked a little more spice to it. The dal makhni made you think you were eating meat and had great flavor. The naan we ordered (garlic and the onion) were great. I also ordered the Kashmiri naan and it was a great blend of sweet and savory. Overall we enjoyed our experience and we will definitely come back! Update: Today was my 2nd time here and the food was terrible. Maybe they are better with sit down orders then take out because when we got home everything was disappointing. The onion pakoda and the samosa needed to be cooked a little longer. The aloo tikki was good and that was about the only thing we ate. We paid $11 for bhindi masala that was so small they should have been embarrassed to give that to someone. The vegetable biryani was so over cooked and flavorless that we threw it away. I hope this was just a fluke but I won't be back to find out.

My earlier review is missing, not sure why! Visited this place about 4 months back. Though the service was a bit on the slower side, the owners were very friendly. So I didnt really mind that slight delay. The thali looks very tempting, but unfortunately the taste and quality were not upto the mark. Both the curries were salty, and the chapati was half cooked. The only thing that stood out was the jalebi, which was delicious!

I loved this restaurant and I am extremely happy with the quality of the food and their service. Today was my 3rd time here and I realized it's time I wrote them a 5 star review they deserved.I have tried their North Indian thali, the South Indian one and their dosas and vadas. All of them were really good, which is rare. Most restaurants that get the North Indian dishes right don't get the South India dishes right but I was so happy to see how everything here was way above my expectation. Today I had their Senator dosa which had a upma stuffing in it. The Upma blew my mind! It took me back to the one my grandmom used to make - So perfect! The chutneys and sambar that came along were perfect too. The restaurant is very clean and hygienic and done up pretty well. The person who served us was very attentive. If you are in Houston around this area and love Indian food, try this restaurant!

I ordered here and had it delivered. I was disappointed with the service. They forgot my the main item I wanted, the mango mousse. I also order samosas and chai. The chai was spilled into the bag so I couldn't enjoy that.The samosas were pretty good. I do think they were overly spicy but the flavor was nice. I would still try them again however, I'd probably pick up myself or dine in.

Okay. I am a Paneer Tikka freak...and this place has BEST Paneer Tikka (Tandoori Paneer) in town. Although there were only 4 pieces for 8$ which was little disappointing. Chhole Bhature also too good. We ordered extra Poori which wasn't great ....should have sticked with extra Bhatura.Definitely ask for their pickle. Amazing taste.We came here for dinner. Next time gotta try the lunch.They bring warm towels after dinner which was really nice.

When I visited Gayatri Bhavan, it was a day old. I got a chance to speak to the owners, a couple, who are engineers by trade. Their objective is to fulfill their passion for cooking and serving their community authentic vegetarian food. Above all, the highest regard is held for cleanliness of their kitchen and giving their customers that feel of a home-cooked meal. I had a South Indian thali, and though I am not a fan of thalis in general, I thought this meal was superb! The ingredients were fresh and the spices were well balanced. We had 3 different sweets (gulab, payasam, Pholi), each sweet in its own right. The gulab jamun had cashews in it and was my favorite. Would I go here again? Absolutely! The food and the friendly ambiance makes it a clear winner for me.