Desi Chowrastha

possibly Las Vegas' most authentic Indian spot This is a restaurant chain with locations in Hyderabad, India and cities across the US with high Indian populations. It can take some extra effort to understand and enjoy this place but the food is amazing.Ambience: -It reminds me of a cafeteria. very brightly-lit, you serve yourself water from a large jar on the table, there is table service but it doesn't feel like a typical sit-down restaurant-mural art on the walls-part of the time we were there, there was no music, but then they turned on kinda loud music later in the nightMenu:-The menu doesn't have any explanations of the food. most stuff just has the Indian or Hindi name. It's worth it to look up what everything is in advance and look at photos of it, so you know what sounds interesting. We tried:tandoori chicken - it sizzles a lot when they bring it out, it's hot. it was good. they cook it in an actual tandoor (traditional oven thing) dhaba chicken curry -- this is the kind of chicken curry you would get on roadside cafes in North India, for like truck drivers, road trips. ("Dhaba Style Chicken Curry is a simple recipe served on almost all the dhabas on North Indian highways.... Dhabas are roadside eateries, very common on the highways across north India. It is a place for travelers to stop, have a meal, and relax."--Whisk Affair). It was really nicely spiced. We asked for it to be 10/10 spicy and it felt fine to me (I cook a lot of Indian food at home) but my dad felt like it was slightly too spicy. I think it had some giant, really succulent curry leaves in it that were just beyond any curry leaves I've been able to purchase (I have gotten mine from amazon but they are small and dry). It comes in like a vase thing but the amount of food is great. basmati rice - you have to buy rice on the side, the non-rice-involved dishes don't come with rice, but we got a huge portion of rice by placing one order of riceHyderabadi chicken dum biryani - my first time trying dum biryani. you could tell it had been cooked very delicately, it was moist, the chicken was soft, the aromatic spices were infused through the rice. it's kind of a delicate rice dish. really magical spices. I don't like eating THAT much rice so I'm not sure I'll get it again but it was nice to try. When we go back, I'm interested in trying more of the "gravy"/curry dishes like Navratran korma, Kadai vegetable curry, Nizami handi vegetables (Hyderabadi dish), Chowrastha special chicken curry, Andhra curry (from Andhra Pradesh), chicken vindaloo. Pros:-This place will actually make food spicy if you want it. I cook very spicy at home and have never been able to get anywhere in Vegas to make food at the level o spice I like until this place. They understood the assignment. -There are so many Indian dishes you can't get anywhere else in Vegas. I cook from Indian recipe blogs, and these are dishes that people in India cook. If you want to branch out from the dishes that are often offered for the American palate (butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, etc.), this is a good place to try new things. -They seem to have staff who know what they are doing. They refer to yogurt as "curd" and such, they have a tandoor, they have high-quality curry leaves. I think they are cooking the Indian food properly, as far as possible for a large-scale restaurant, and not in some weird fusion or American way (I saw some videos of Red Fort on tiktok and ... they were trying to cook Indian food as though it was Chinese stir-fry, using all these Chinese techniques. it was hilarious but disconcerting.) -You can explore Hyderabadi food in particular -- there are many Hyderabadi specialties on the menu. -The prices are pretty reasonable for Vegas. -If you have dietary restrictions, the communication can be a little hard, but I got them to substitute coconut milk for milk/yogurt since I can't have dairy. A lot of the dishes are marinated with yogurt (the biryanis, for example) and can't be dairy-free. Probably more than half the dishes have dairy in them traditionally. I think most can be reasonably gluten-free, not sure if it's celiac level but there isn't much gluten aside from the fried items and Chinese/soy sauce items.Cons: -It's not at all your typical nice sit-down American Indian restaurant. It's more like a cafeteria chain based in India. If you can see it like that and want that experience, you should enjoy it. -no ice in the water IIRC, a bit chaotic, the lights are extremely bright, they add 18% tip automatically to parties 4+ (but didn't even allow us the option to tip with our party of 3, they just charged the card and chose no tip) just a bit of an intense environment. Can get busy at times. might be better to go on weekdays or off-hours. I don't think they offer the normal menu except at dinner. Lunch is buffet only.

On January 19th, while hanging out with friends, we wanted to go to Hashtag because we love the food and hospitality there--it's always next level. Every time I visit Las Vegas, we make sure to eat at Hashtag Indian RestaurantHowever, this time, we found out that Hashtag was closed. Since we were craving Indian food, we decided to try Desi Chowrasta Las Vegas, as it was the nearest option. When we called, they confirmed they were open, so we placed an order for three goat pulaos and one chicken biryani. They told us the food would take 15-20 minutes, so we waited and arrived at the restaurant after 25 minutes.When we got there, the food still wasn't ready. When I asked about it, they said, "Just 5 more minutes." After waiting another 5 minutes, I got frustrated and asked again, as we were in a hurry--some of our friends were waiting outside, and we had plans to go to a club. Again, they said, "Just 5 more minutes."After nearly half an hour, we finally got our goat pulao, but it was cold and tasted awful--the worst I've ever had. The chicken biryani still hadn't arrived. I asked them again about it, explaining that it wasn't fair for three of us to be eating while one person had no food. They again told me, "Just 2 more minutes."After waiting another 5 minutes, I asked again, and they repeated, "2 more minutes." Eventually, we gave up on waiting for the biryani and decided to share the goat pulao among the four of us. We finished eating, and just as we were about to leave--20 to 30 minutes later--they finally brought out the chicken biryani. At that point, we had lost all patience. We had a couple of spoons, but we left most of the food behind because we were so frustrated with the service and the quality.To make things worse, throughout our time there, we had to call the staff multiple times just to get water, despite the restaurant being nearly empty. The service was horrible, and the food was even worse.The final bill was around $120, which was shocking considering the terrible experience. It felt like a complete waste of money.Overall, this was the worst dining experience I've ever had. I'm never coming back, and I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone--family or friends.

Desi Chowrastha is located across Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. You'll find them at a strip mall in the same area as McDonalds and Sayulitas, they're right next to Panda Express. Parking is limited and there's additional parking around the back. Inside is clean, bright, and inviting with plenty of seating and good Indian music playing from TV. Each table has a water carafe and cups are available near the buffet station.Pricing for lunch buffet is $19.99 (adults) and $12.99 (kids). Buffet comes with complimentary naan. I opted for garlic naan, it's freshly cooked, light, crispy, and delicious!Unlimited items include malai tikka chicken, home style chicken curry, chicken tikka masala, chilli chicken, jalapeno chicken, chicken dum biryani, pulav rice, onion pakoda, french fries, idly (steamed rice cake), bendi/bhindi fry (stir-fried okra), paneer butter masala, yellow dal tadka, sambar (lentil vegetable stew in tamarind broth), baby corn manchurian, salt & pepper chickpeas, veg dum biryani, white rice, assorted fruits, cucumber, various chutneys, and sweets such as semiya kheer (vermicilli kheer), gulab jamun, and rasmalai (soft cheese morsels).I also had Mango Lassi (12 oz, $5.99) which comes premade.There's even an a la carte menu offering a nice selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian appetizers, sizzler and tandoor, dosas, breads, Indian wok, entrees with gravies, rice specials, dum biryani, pulao, and desserts.Overall, food and service is good. Hostess was soft spoken and staff members are polite. The place has a casual atmosphere.

So far this place is pretty close to authentic. My friends from India and said it's amazing ! All the food was delicious! come to eat here!

Great food, chicken tikka masala was both sweet and spicy. Would definitely come back!

I am South Indian and finally there is resturant that serves South Indian food in Vegas....I had the dosa and the chicken...both the dishes were absolutely delicious.....if you like dosa, idili, spicy Andhra chicken this is the place to be....I am definitely going back

My daughter loves Indian food so we decided to try Desi Chowrastha. We parked in the back because the front was a little busy. Walking in, the ambience was bright and really modern & cute. Food was so flavorful and delicious! We tried a few different dishes. Jalepeno chicken (my Husband loved it the most), Chili shrimp (my favorite, a little more on the spicy side but I love spicy), buttered chicken, chicken tikka masala, and the chicken Mandi which was HUGE! We also ordered some garlic & butter nan. For a family of 5, we had plenty of leftovers. I forgot to take photos of everything we ordered because once we started eating, everything was just so good.

Gave it 5 stars for pricing and flavor of food and satisfaction but it is actually just a 4 star place for lunch buffet Service is hit and miss, they try, it gets so busy during buffet hours, food runs out quickly and can dry out a bit but it is still very tasty! Overall very satisfying for the price and food flavor!Ambiance is like a small cafe, nothing fancy

Absolutely mediocre buffet. Barely any vegetarian options and dry, stale food, and tasteless food being served for the most part. Not worth it.

"I had high hopes for desi Chowrastha on my sunday visit for lunch buffet but my visit left me disappointed. The food quality was subpar--flavors were off for both veg and non veg, and it didn't feel tasty as other reviews. To top it off, they had provided paper plates, which felt cheap for a sit-down meal. The serving vessels were kept empty with low quantity. , and when I asked for refills, they barely topped it up.methi paneer was topped with paneer by just dropping fried paneer in gravy, how could u get taste of methi paneer. Overall, it was a letdown, and I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a satisfying dining buffet experience."