Finally, some delicious butter chicken (Chicken Makhani) in Central New York! The Paneer naan is pillowy and delicious, the saag paneer is lovely, and the Minar Special Biryani is delightful! Given the pandemic, I got my meal to go, and found it quite good. The Chili Pakora didn't travel terribly well- two bits of advice about that. 1. Only get it to go if you can pick it up right away, and live close by, and 2. It's QUITE spicy, and that's saying a lot, coming from me. I'm so happy to find good Indian food in the area, and will be sure to come back. A lot of the vegetarian dishes look really tempting, and the chicken dishes, as well. read more

I am a vegetarian. I ordered a Paneer 65. I was told it was Paneer 65 as it was delivered to my table. Instead of getting paneer cheese, I was served chicken. read more

My family and I went here for dinner around 5pm on a Saturday. We were the first guests for dinner, and immediately greeted and seated. The ambiance was on, and the music was good. We ordered butter chicken, tandoori lamb, tikki marsala chicken, lamb curry, and veggie samosas. Everything was delicious. The spices and flavors were spot on. Highly recommend and will return in the future. read more

Obsessed with this place, best Indian I've had in a while. The flavors are amazing, you can never go wrong with the butter chicken but what takes the award home are the vegetables samosas, best I've ever had. Service is always great, quick and easy. Portions are big, food is delicious, it's a must at least once a month! read more

Love the food here!! Super delicious and flavorful. I've been here for lunch when they had their buffet and there were so many options! I've also gotten dinner and had a great experience. I especially love their vegetable samosas, paneer makhini, and mixed vegetable pakara. The ambiance inside is also great and the workers are friendly. read more

Minar - Buffet lunch - Indian Near Me - New Hartford, New York

We went here last night and everything was great! They were very friendly, the food tasted great and the portions were big . We ordered a lot of food and it wasn't expensive at all! We will be definitely coming back. read more

This place serves classic Indian We went 5PM on Tuesday. Nobody else in the place so we could chat for 2 hours. The food was excellent and we brought half of it home. It's got just the right blend of spices without being too hot to enjoy like some places. Next time we'll get to the lunch buffet to sample everything. read more

My first time dining here while passing through the area. Pleased with the prompt service and the quality of the food. Availed myself of the opportunity to experience two dinner items I'd not seen at other restaurants: the appetizer Bhel Puri (pulse flour, peas, peanuts, lentil & spices in a sweet & spicy sauce) and entree Vegetable Chettinad (mixed vegetables cooked with spices and coconut milk, served with basmati rice). In speaking with the owner, I learned that he also owns an Indian restaurant (Dosa Grill, Vestal, NY) near my home town from which a friend had once ordered takeout for us. I was greatly pleased by that experience as well. read more

Personally speaking, one of the best places I've been to. I've been to boston in Quincy market and their food out there came very very close but minar knocks it out of the park. My only quell with them is sometimes the buffet is way too spicy. Other than that it's a 5/5 for me read more

Minar has been a go to for us for all the years we've lived in the Utica area. We were proud that we had such a quality Indian restaurant 15 miles from our rural village. But recently the heat level has been creeping up on even the most basic food items to an intolerable amount. We've mentioned it when she asked how we enjoyed our meal after choosing from the buffet. Waited a few months before we came back to carefully order off the menu and it was even worse. If you like fiery hot chicken masala, this is your place. read more

First time trying Indian food in the upstate NY area, it was absolutely delicious! We ordered the Veggie Samosas (not pictured), garlic naan,Chicken Tikka Masala, & Chicken Makhani (butter chicken). Basmati rice was given with both entrees. Both dishes were very flavorful and just looked/smelled heavenly! read more

Minar - Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Makhani, Basmati rice & Garlic Naan - Indian Near Me - New Hartford, New York

Although this branch has been here 19 years, this restaurant is the changing face of Utica and upstate NY with its 6 locations in Utica, Syracuse, Albany, Oneonta, and Clinton. The food has a reputation amongst the South Asian community for it's authenticity. Which is why they cater a very many events. But restaurant it self has atmosphere and decor to match. Today, I placed an order to go. The very kind owner threw in to complimentary entrees. Excellent, authentic cousine, atmosphere, and generous staff. If you've never tried Indian food this is a great place to start. read more

Minar - a table setting - Indian Near Me - New Hartford, New York

The food was amazing . I got the chicken Marsala amongst 3 other dishes . The service was really good I have 5 kids and they accommodated me and my family and made us feel like priority . Very inexpensive definitely going back read more

Minar - Indian Near Me - New Hartford, New York

Every time I visit Upstate NY, I make a specific point to stop at Minar because they have some of the best Indian food I've ever had. The chefs are magnificent and everything is always perfectly spiced and prepared quickly. Not only do they put significant effort into consistent quality, their portions are extremely generous and their prices are beyond reasonable. It's very clear that management values excellent service, as the staff always treat you like family. During my most recent visit, my server, Ansari was extremely personable and hilarious making for one of the most fun dining experiences I've ever had. I also appreciate how welcoming they are with various menus to accommodate dietary restrictions. Can't wait to visit again! read more

Best Saag Paneer I've ever had! The buffet is a great way to try out Indian food for newcomers.

Looking for an Indian restaurant, I am glad I stumbled upon Minar Fine Indian Cuisine. I enjoyed my times here, which were the lunch and dinner buffets. I did not have the chance to try and order off the menu. You're seated as soon as you arrive. There are two dining rooms for patrons with options of dining in, take out, and buffet. Food is consistently decent with a variety of options for the buffet. There are about 8 options consisting of vegetarian and non-vegetarian items with a salad bar and dessert. Spice is essentially gone, but the flavor is throughout like the way Indian food should be. I believe Minar Fine Indian Cuisine downplayed the spice level, which is quite disappointing. Naan is included in the buffet but arrives later than your first plate because it is freshly made! Some items I remember from buffet: Goat Curry (2/5): Not spicy and had much better before. I didn't get this again after trying it my first time. Chicken Tikka Masala (4/5): Delicious like always. I think it's hard to go wrong with Chicken Tikka Masala. Most common dish. Plenty of chicken pieces but went for the sauce to eat with my naan. Chicken Dilbar (3/5): This was decent. Kind of bland in my opinion compared to the other dishes available. Chili Chicken (4/5): This was the spiciest dish out of all but was not for me. It has a slight sweet taste at the end, kind of like sweet and sour chicken. Rice Pudding (4/5): One of the better ones I've tried. Prior to Minar, I tried it at a place where the consistency was not even pudding. It was like soup. Gross. We ordered Garlic Naan, which was delicious! I highly recommend it to dip it in the sauces. Service was good and consistent the times I have been here. My water never touched bottom so kudos to that. Open 7 days a week. Lunch: 1130AM-0300PM Monday to Saturday Lunch Buffet: $9.95 1130AM-0230PM Monday to Saturday 1200PM-0300PM Sunday Dinner: 0500PM-0900PM Monday to Thursday 0500PM-1000PM Friday and Saturday Dinner Buffet: $11.95 0500PM-0900PM Tuesday and Wednesday read more

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Since we are on "PAUSE" and stuck at home we have been using Grubhub and Door Dash for our at home "date nights". There aren't a ton of options here so we have become familiar with the ones we have lol. Minar is a solid option, although we've had lots of problems with the delivery service. The biryani rice entrees have a good kick to it, so we like to add a side of raitha. The naan is great, and we have enjoyed the chicken and shrimp dishes we've ordered. They also have a great vegetarian section of their menu! When in doubt- add extra sauce for the rice (the plain rice is also good but extra sauce makes it awesome) and extra naan! Once we are allowed to be out and about we look forward to eating here in person, but until then the delivery option is a great break from the normal home cooking. We usually order a bit extra to have for the kids and ourselves for lunch the next day, and that works well and helps justify the costs (they are a bit pricey but fairly comparable to other eat-in restaurant options available locally). read more

Had the lunch time buffet. The food was delicious with a wide choice of dishes, and tea with desert too. The service was great. Would definitely come back again. read more

I've been here many times, but I haven't been in awhile. I went back today because I was craving for Indian food. It was disappointing. I feel like this place is sometime hit or miss. A few times that I have gone to Minar the food quality wasn't that good. Today was one of those days so I was disappointed. The rice was dry and so was the chicken curry. The fried veggie has been sitting out too long and it didn't have any flavor to it. The only thing that is still good was the rice pudding, mango juice, and mango custard. I probably won't be back for a very long time. read more

Minar - Indian Near Me - New Hartford, New York

I have eaten at or ordered from Minar over 20 times. It is the best Indian food in the Utica area. Full of flavor, fairly consistent, and well-priced. Perfect place for take out or delivery. The good: -Great food, lots of flavor -Great selection of dishes, and a nice buffet -Food is more consistent than most restaurants in the area -Friendly staff -Reasonable prices -Easy Parking The bad: -Proteins can be a little overcooked at times -Lassis are inconsistent in quality -Dining area could stand to be cleaner as some surfaces are a bit sticky read more

Food was hot and tasty. Ready at time requested, staff was very friendly when I picked up.

Came here for a large group lunch buffet on a Sunday afternoon. There was a good selection of food in the buffet including pakoras/tikkis, tandoori chicken, seekh kebabs, paneer, chicken tikka masala, a cabbage based vegetable, goat saag, daal makhani, Chinese style chili chicken, and chicken biryani. All the food was quite good but especially the paneer, goat saag, and biryani. In addition, there was a make your own chaat station but it did leave a bit to be desired in terms of the ingredients. The restaurant is spacious and casual with good service. PSA: be careful when you enter and exit as the steps to get to the door are quite steep! A member of our party had a fall due to the steps. read more

Great little find on a road trip. It wasn't too busy and the service was great. They have vegan options under the "vegetarian" section of the menu. I had the Chana Masala which is the same as the Chickpea Masala on the gluten free menu. My husband got a chicken dish and liked it. The naan is not vegan, but they do provide other options. They use soy oil, so I wasn't able to try them. For what it is worth, every table next to us got naan, so it is a favorite. Thanks to the great staff. They took care of us. An unexpected delight on a long trip. They even gave us boxes and silverware for our leftovers. read more

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We ordered the fried vegetable appetizer and the garlic Naan. Everything was so very good! read more

Minar - Special Chicken Chili Masala - Indian Near Me - New Hartford, New York

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This was some of the best Indian food we have ever had! The service was great. Definitely will come back when in the area.

This was some of the best Indian food I've had since I was in India. We came in late--almost closing time--and they seated us graciously and with good humor. Our server was delightful and funny. The food was delicious. We are from LA but if we are ever back this way, this is where we'll come for dinner. Fantastic. read more

Excellent food! Everything I've had or tasted here has been delicious! They are extremely generous on naan bread and rice. They have a huge variety of different things. This food may not be exactly what original Indian food tastes like because it is mild to not spicy (real Indian food is super spicy). But that is because they are being considerate of the average "American" taste buds. I honestly can't handle spice too well so I am glad they don't make it too spicy so that we can add in the spice ourselves. You can simply ask them for more spicy sauce. The manager is also one of the most generous and welcoming managers I've ever encountered at a restaurant. He isn't always there but if you get a chance to, talk to him! He really appreciates his customers and values the business so he makes sure he is offering you the best he can. read more

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My club organization always order catering from here for our largest fall event. Pros: - Nicest owner ever! He is very accommodating and gives great recommendations every time. He is always present at our annual event and makes sure that the food aspect is all in line. - I love their chicken tikka masala (sweet curry?) and garlic naan. I don't really like spicy food so I always get that dish :) - The waiters/waitresses at the restaurants were really nice as well (sometimes awkward but they leave you alone to enjoy your food) Cons: - You will smell heavily of curry if you eat at the restaurant, but that's also a good thing right? read more

Always delicious, and always ready very fast, I have ordered using DOORDASH every time and food is on its way I'm ten mins

Minar has always had great food with speedy service. Was busy running around and hadn't had time for lunch yet so I decided to stop in for to-go. I opted for the lunch box where they pack it for you because I had a baby in one arm. The hostess that packed my to-go picked everything delicious (and to my surprise pretty much what I would have picked) and it was only around $7.00. I will always return here for more whenever I get a chance. read more

I am so glad that I was introduced to this little jewel of a restaurant. Minar is tucked off the road a bit so you could miss the sign, but when you do find it just know that you're in for some awesome food. The restaurant is a nice size so if you wanted to bring the whole family there is enough room for everyone. The service is very good and the staff is nice and attentive. The prices are very reasonable, so if you're dining on a budget this place is for you and kids eat free at the buffet. Did I mention they had a buffet...well yes they do and it is everything!!! I did side eye the ideas of an Indian food buffet, because I've been to a few Indian food places that have the precooked and warmed food. It was good for the most part but not fresh of the stove good, so I was a little skeptic. When I tell you I was very surprised at the spread from salad, to sides to your main dishes, then I was actually hot and fresh. I got a few chicken dishes and I was so happy that it was good quality chicken and not ankles and bird beaks lol Everything was tender, well cooked and seasoned. The best part of it all was the price...two adults and one kids with drinks came to $25 and some change. You can't beat that, plus it's daily!! If you're in the area or not Minar is worth the trip. read more

I go to Minar every week to eat , such a nice place and the owner raj is very generous. He is very humble and hold very good reputation . Food is best in town. Even they donate food a lot at schools and colleges for students . I just found a article about Minar on Facebook , I want to share on yelp about serving food to school for no cost. read more

Minar - Indian Near Me - New Hartford, New York

Fabulous! Had the fried veg appetizer, veg ball entree and madras chicken, both excellent! Vindalo chicken pretty spicy - be prepared! And garlic naan - the best! Will be back soon! read more

Celebrated my son's birthday and graduation, all the food we ordered were all really good, don't know what we ordered though, my vegetarian sister and in-law told me what to order. The waitresses were all friendly and helpful. The only negative I want to mention, the coffee was pretty bad, just slightly warmer than room temperature, tasted instant from a bottle. read more

Every time my husband and I visit his family in Clinton, NY, we end up taking a big family trip to Minar. They deal well with a big group (there are often 9 of us there) and there are options for all of us to enjoy (we have vegetarians as well as meat-lovers, so it can be tricky to really please everyone). For appetizers, I recommend samosas and pakoras, especially with the onion chutney they provide (along with mint and tamarind sauces). On the other hand, my sister-in-law did recently have a disappointment with a salad she ordered: the menu claimed it would have tomatoes and some other veggies in it, but it turned out to be just lettuce/cabbage. The baingan bartha (an eggplant dish) is consistently excellent. They bring us as much rice as we could eat and keep the water glasses full. The staff is reasonably friendly, though I felt a bit of language barrier with some staff; feeling sure that my order was understood was slightly difficult at times, but ultimately we've always gotten the right order. Once they ended up offering us all a small selection of samples of their desserts when no one could make up their mind on what to try. Overall, a nice experience. read more

Yuck, what a terrible experience. From the moment we walked in, we were standing around awkwardly as two awkward hostesses/waiters half way acknowledged us. A busy looking guy walks to us, asks how many, points us to a seat, and seems to float away quickly. Weird magical powers. We ordered samosa and cheese pakora, pretty okay. Nothing special. Our entrees, on the other hand, we're horrid. Only the Saag was good. My lamb kebab was the driest meat I have had. My friends chicken tandoori and lamb Josh was horrid and dry. The Naan was just as bad. As a middle easterner, I cannot call this flour real "naan". And the wait staff was just so weird, inattentive and awkward. We would get a different person serving us each time, as if they are coming from nowhere. They were horribly useless, slow and lacked the personality required to serve at a restaurant. read more

I visited Minar for the dinner buffet last evening. Several large groups of Indian men were enjoying the buffet which is always a good sign! Overall the buffet was good but not at all spicy - I would have enjoyed a bit more heat, especially in the lamb vindaloo! Dinner included freshly baked naan which is always a nice touch. The only disappointing item of the night was the tomato soup which was not very hot. As I served my cup, the waiter came by and turned up the heat so I don't know if someone had turned it down by mistake perhaps? All in all a good solid Indian meal - I'd like to visit again and order off the menu to see what things taste like with a little more Indian heat! read more

I'd eaten here once or twice a while back (like, c. 2008-2009) and remembered it being pretty good, but I went here for dinner recently and was not very impressed. The service left MUCH to be desired. After being seated, our waiter literally threw a pile of silverware on our table and said, "Help yourselves to the buffet." Since we had not even been given menus, my friends and I looked at each other in confusion. When one of us tried to ask whether we could see a menu, the waiter insisted "You will eat the buffet. It's good." Um...okay? I later checked their website and they claim to serve dinner (from the menu) in addition to the buffet. I have no idea why we weren't even given menus. Did no one want to be bothered with cooking anything fresh? it was only 7 p.m.! The buffet items were okay--nothing great. Our waiter continued to be passive-aggressive throughout our meal. Definitely an uncomfortable experience. I'm mainly upset that we were not even shown menus or given the opportunity to place any orders! I've been at Indian restaurants before where there is only a buffet available for lunch, but this was dinner, not lunch, and their website lists a dinner menu. What one has to do in order to have the privilege of seeing or ordering from this mysterious dinner menu is beyond me. Disappointing! read more

By far the best Indian food I've had! I visited Minar for the first time 3 or 4 years ago with my family and have been back many times since then with my boyfriend and groups of friends. I've always gotten the buffet ($9.95 for Lunch and $11.95 for dinner) and the food is consistently delicious. There is a cold salad bar to start off with and they always have a featured entree on the far left which changes from day to day. There is always a variety of vegetarian and meat-based dishes which are all freshly served and regularly re-filled. Naan is served with every meal, and it is very soft and has the perfect amount of garlic and seasoning. You can smell the spices as soon as you walk in the door, but this place is totally fine for diners who don't like spicy food. If you're ever unsure what is in a dish, the wait staff is very helpful and will gladly describe the dish for you. Speaking of the service, I've always been highly satisfied at Minar. The host seats you as soon as you walk in the door, the waiters are very polite, and they are always on top of refilling empty water glasses. Aside from topping off your beverages, they generally do not stop by your table unless you call for them, which allows you to enjoy your meal rather peacefully. There are two dining rooms, but one is typically reserved for large parties and is rarely used. It's not a very loud restaurant, so it's a perfect atmosphere for conversation at normal volume. The bathrooms are clean and well tended to. My favorites from the buffet are the vegetable pakora, saag paneer, vegetable korma, chicken tikka masala, mint chutney, rice pudding, mango custard, and chai tea. There is always fresh jasmine and/or basmati rice to have alongside any of the entree dishes. Lastly, do yourself a favor and ORDER THE MANGO LASSI. A delicious, not-to-sweet, creamy mango smoothie. Goodness in a glass. read more

I travel throughout the state with a gaggle of co-workers. We've sampled Indian restaurants from Potsdam to Long Island and have found Minar to be without a doubt the most delicious. The fact that they have a dinner buffet? Whoop whoop! I saw a review saying that the spread was small. This isn't true it all. I actually haven't been in about 2 years and found it greatly expanded. Whether you love Indian or are curious to try it for the first time this is the place! read more