Namaste Indian Restaurant

I'm a former restaurant owner and as such I think I have a better-than-average understanding of restaurants, especially small local ones. I am super happy with Namaste. They have everything that I'm looking for in a good Indian restaurant. What I look for begins with the rice. It needs to be a good quality, flaky, Basmati rice. Namaste's rice is always so good you can eat it plain. Next I want good Nan. It needs to be golden brown & fresh, with the smokiness of the Tandoor oven. Namaste's Nan is perfect. I usually get the Garlic Nan. Finally I want to see a Curry that has a lot of flavor, perhaps some fresh ginger, not only powdered spices. It needs to be thickened by slow-cooking, not by the addition of corn starch. And yes, Namaste's curries are always excellent, thick but in a natural way, and bursting with flavor. I usually get the Lamb Korma, but have also tried the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Saag. All were excellent and memorable, with little bursts of fresh herbs & ginger, etc. You can tell this is hand-made and fresh.I also look for home-made Samosas, and Namaste has that as well. I like the Vegetable Samosas. I like their Pakora as well. It is true that sometimes there is a long wait. Sometimes they are so busy they can't answer the phone. People in Scottsdale should be aware that at 6pm on a Friday or Saturday night every GOOD restaurant will be busy and have a wait. I usually resolve this by avoiding those busy times (I don't like noise or crowds) also I use Uber Eats occasionally and it has always worked out fine. Namaste is a small place but it is authentic and family-owned. I'm happy to see that even in the summer they are so busy that they can barely answer the phone. My advice to Namaste is to begin to look at expanding. Perhaps move to a bigger space or look to take over the space next to you. It might be time to have 2 kitchens- one for dine-in and one for take-out and/or catering. It is probably time to hire a Hostess / Phone person. These are all "good problems" as it means the food is excellent and they are being pushed to the limits of what the space can handle.

I love supporting Small Businesses and this family owned Restaurant is by far the best Indian restaurant I have ever been to.Wonderful service and the food was amazing!! The way the flavors came together I can't wait to come back!!

The food was fantastic. In fact it ranked up there with the best Indian food I ever had. I consider myself very knowledgeable and I speak fluent Indian menu. My wife and I started out with the vegetable samosas. These Samosas were the best I have had in forty years of dining. They were incredibly light, just spectacular. You have to try them for your self to believe it.Next we had the Lamb Saag. Words won't do the dish justice. Even the rice was special as was the Garlic Onion Naan.Enough with the words. Try it and you will be hooked. Every bite is a gustatory adventure.

Very small amount of chicken in the curry. The chicken was fatty. The curry tasted good. If you are expecting to a meal for $20 and be satisfied, plan to eat a lot of rice. This is the second time I've eaten here and both times left extremely hungry.

Been searching for a new go to Indian restaurant in the Valley ever since my usual place closed a few years ago, and I think it's safe to say after dining here a few times, that we've found a winner in Namaste! The food is phenomenal here. They don't skimp on the portion size, seasoning, or flavors. Some of my favorites from here include saag paneer, tandoori chicken, garlic naan, and their vegetable samosas. Their tandoori chicken is nice and juicy and seasoned to perfection. They probably have one of the better garlic naans I've tried in Arizona. Their vegetable samosas are also packed full to the brim, with a nice kick of spice, without it being too overwhelming. The ambiance is casual and comfortable. They have an adequate number of tables for their restaurant size, not too many tables close together where you feel like you're sitting on top of a neighboring table when it gets busy.Overall, the service is friendly enough, but can also be slow. I would not recommend this place if you're on a time crunch or looking for something fast.

Came here for the first time with a friend to celebrate her birthday and we both were dissatisfied with the food.I had chicken biriyani and she had goat biriyani. The rice was way too muddy as shown in the picture. It's look like they in rush in cooking the food because it was busy that night, but quality of food has to be the priority if you are in the restaurant business . I went to so many Indian restaurants before and stay in India for 3 months and I love Indian food, but that night wasn't my night.Sorry.

Warning: there will be an abduction of one of the lady chefs here. I must take home the chef who made the most amazing chicken biryani for me on Saturday night. It cannot be replicated by anyone else on planet earth. I don't care who dares to try to duplicate this dish. It won't happen. Perfection down to the moistness of the chicken and the addition of cashews. The beef vindaloo was great as well. The service was slow as it always is but the magical chicken biryani was worth the wait. I didn't take photos of the food because I devoured it quickly. But as I said before that chef is coming home with me. Watch out for the white van with no lights.

TL;DR good food, slow service My wife and I came here for dinner on a Friday. We waited about 35 min to be seated, another 20 min for the server to take our order, another 30 min for the food to arrive. We were served before a family that arrived way before us, they looked hangry and almost walked out. People waiting for their pickup orders appeared to be waiting longer than expected. The food was good. Not the best I've had, but not the worst either. We ordered garlic naan, butter chicken, paneer tikka masala, and lamb curry.Don't come hungry and bring a book to read if dining in on a Friday evening (probably Saturday too). I recommend ordering for pickup instead, you'll probably have time to see a movie at Harkin's before picking it up.

Wow, came across Namaste by accident and now we're hooked. Great menu, food cooked before you eyes in a glass walled kitchen, fantastic staff.Upon seating I had a large chip of out the glass where I sat, as soon as I sat down and before I had a chance to say something, our waitress changed it out and apologized. That really stood out, I've been to some really nice high $ restaurants in the valley where you have to ask for replacements of dirty glasses or silverware.Food was fantastic and plenty of it. We were there weekday lunchtime and they had a constant slew of pick up orders for delivery and customers being seated. We saw the food being packaged for delivery and the containers were very secure for the saucy dishes. The selection of the menu is really impressive, I was even able to have something made which was off menu but very traditional. Turned out great. Plenty of left overs for us.

This was amazing! Best Indian food i've had in AZ, can't wait to order again. The flavors were incredible and it was very fresh.