We had a catered a graduation party here in one of their rooms and it was awesome. Had a buffet and…read moreseveral guests who were not familiar with Indian food loved it. Service was great, the room was nice and everyone enjoyed it. Raj was incredibly easy to work with and helped us create a menu that was perfect for our party. I highly recommend hosting your events here!

Probably one of the better Indian restaurants in the area…read more Baingan bharta- best dish. Super flavorful and not too greasy Chicken tikka masala- pretty standard, gravy was good but chicken was slightly overdone. Not bad Palak paneer- needs way more flavor Gobi Manchurian - decent flavor but not as crispy as I wanted. Would not get again

First time to Annapoorna and it won't be my last! Came for their $17.99 lunch buffet. They had a…read moregood variety of meat and veg dishes, and you get a basket of fresh garlic naan. My faves were the aloo gobhi, navratha korma, and tandoori chicken. To my surprise, I even liked the desserts gajar ka halwa (carrot & milk pudding) and the mango puree with fruit. They did a good job clearing our plates and refilling our water. The buffet items kept getting replenished. Very efficient! Food is probably closer to four stars, but the garlic naan and value bumps it up to five! I'll be back!

My husband and I chose Annapoorna Indian Cuisine in Irvine for our Valentine's Day dinner, and it…read moreturned out to be such a beautiful, intimate experience. The restaurant itself is on the smaller side, which honestly made it even better for a date night. It felt cozy, clean, and incredibly comforting almost like being welcomed into someone's home. The atmosphere was calm and intimate, perfect for actually enjoying conversation without feeling rushed. Now let's talk about the food. Absolutely delicious. The butter chicken was the star of the night rich, flavorful, and incredibly satisfying. I genuinely haven't stopped thinking about it. We also ordered chicken masala (and possibly biryani we were too busy enjoying everything to keep track!), along with both garlic naan and regular naan. The naan was warm, soft, and perfect for soaking up that amazing butter chicken sauce. We also had the veggie samosas, which come with two pieces and two dipping sauces. They were so good that I honestly wish they gave more that's how addictive they were. Crispy on the outside, flavorful on the inside, and paired perfectly with the sauces. Portion sizes overall were generous. If I had one small note, it would be that the butter chicken had more sauce than chicken I would've loved a bit more protein in the dish. But flavor-wise? Incredible. I also noticed they offer an all you can eat option, which I definitely plan on coming back to try. Service was excellent. Our waiter was attentive, friendly, and on top of everything without being intrusive. The entire experience felt relaxed and special, which made our Valentine's dinner even more memorable. Highly recommend if you're looking for a cozy, intimate Indian spot in Irvine with delicious food and great service. We will absolutely be back.

Your new Indian spot for your cravings…read more I had: 1. Apollo Fich 2. Chicken Lollipop 3. Babycorn Manchaian 4. Hyderabadi chicken 5. Dum Binari 6. Irani chai - similar to milk tea. Really yummy, highly recommended

I have been wanting to try the food at this restaurant for sometime and today my friend and I…read moredecided to do so I was surprised to see a wide variety of foods even though the name said "Biryani pot". We were the first to enter as soon as they opened and we decided to try the dosas. I ordered the Mysore dosa and my friend got the masala dosa. We also ordered the fried pepper corn from the appetizer menu. It was fantastic. The dosas were crisp and tasty. We really enjoyed it. As we were eating the crowds started slowly increasing and by the time we left the restaurant was pretty full. It's a nice little restaurant, clean and tidy and service was quick and the servers were friendly and welcoming. I will definitely go back soon and I must try the biryani. Highly recommended this restaurant.

I am super happy to have found this Indian food spot. Southern Spice hits on all sides. The food…read moreis amazing, the staff are really friendly and the interior is very cool and nice, outside is welcoming. Now to the food. We were there during their happy hour luckily, they have some nice deals as well as their regular menu. For happy hour we got Onion Spinach Pakora with Chutney's and Karam Podi Chicken, both only $6 and $5 each, portions were great, the Pakora was soo good and the Karam Podi Chicken had a really nice spice to it and full of flavor, great deal, so good, we had to get another order. From the regular menu, we also got a couple orders of Garlic Naan, Vindaloo Chicken and South Indian Fish Curry. I prefer the Lamb Vindaloo, but they were out of Lamb, the chicken was really good regardless and the Fish curry had big chunks of fish in it a the flavor profile was was complex and tasted great. The main dishes also came with a couple sides of rice. Everything we had was just as good as the next, personally I really loved the Karam Podi Chicken the most, the spice was perfect. Probably going back to take my wife and kids for Mother's Day. Go and support them and have some of the best Indian food you will find in the area. Enjoy!

Prepare yourself, dear reader, for a tale of the worst birthday dinner imaginable, courtesy of…read moreSouthern Spice, AKA, "So we're just lying Spice." I brought my wife and two sons here for dinner, as it was our oldest's birthday and he wanted Indian food. We ordered about $80 in entrees -- 1 saag paneer, 1 chicken tikka masala, 2 paneer masala (the kids' favorite), and a basket of garlic naan. You are required to pay the full bill in advance. (Never a good sign!) The misadventures would begin shortly, when maybe 20 minutes after we ordered, our saag dish came, with one side of rice. Now, dear reader, so you can properly visualize, there are four of us in our party, and one dish of rice is not enough for everyone to have a decent portion. We were like a pack of hungry jackals each staring at the single entree and dish of rice--mom is the only one who likes "the green dish", but she's too polite to want to eat alone while we're all hungry. The waiter tells us the other dishes are coming soon (lie #1). It's maybe 10 minutes later before the chicken tikka masala comes out, with one more shallow dish of rice, again, not enough for four of us to eat. By this time the first dish of rice and saag have gotten cold. No naan yet, either. Where is the paneer, you may ask? (We did.) "I gave it to the wrong table," our waiter says, motioning to the happy family eating in the corner of the restaurant. "So, are you getting us a new one?" "Yes, it will be 10 minutes." (Lie #2) Mind you, the restaurant is full and many other tables are getting their food. Baskets of naan are being delivered and we're flabbergasted. My son even jokes, "you should write a Yelp review that will take as long to read as it took for us to get our food." The minutes continue to go by. 10 minutes and nothing. 15 minutes, no sign of our cheese. 20 minutes, and the boys are wondering if this is a prank of some sort. 25 minutes, and my wife is no longer saying that it's not a big deal. "This is really not OK." 30 minutes since being told the food was 10 minutes away--nearly an hour since we first sat down and ordered, and the food still wasn't there. We try to convince the kids that we can ask for a refund and go get some McDonalds instead, but they wanted their paneer. It's about 40 minutes later, after every other table has been served and the take-out queue is empty, when the food finally arrived, alongside some plain bread (I had ordered garlic naan.) When asked what happened, the waiter blames it on the kitchen, saying that they gave him chicken instead of paneer, so he had to put in the order again. Why not come to our table and tell us? Give us an update and let us decide whether we wanted to continue waiting for the slowest birthday cheese ever? We watched the kids eat and I went to the kitchen area to talk to someone about our experience, but the manager was nowhere to be found. Our waiter had also disappeared. My wife had work to do at home and we couldn't afford to wait around any longer, so we left. Unsatisfied overall, disappointed in the service, and committed to never return. Let this be your warning, dear reader. Learn from our experience and go to Annapoorna instead. This place absolutely sucks. Happy birthday, kid.

Excellent food and service. Fish curry, chicken masala and Daal Malkhni by chef Nani was awesome.read more

How have I never tried this place until now?! Wow, I was impressed!…read more We originally tried this spot because they had a deal on DoorDash - and now I can't stop coming back! I am obsessed with their butter chicken (medium spice is perfect for me). Their portions are large and also great leftover. It is a little on the pricier end for "fast casual" but they do make their portions larger than most takeout spots. I'll be back soon!

Service is wonderful. This review is for a catering order…read more We ordered 20 butter chicken burritos (and they offered to turn the order into 40 mini burritos. Perfect!). The burritos individually wrapped and were the right size for the parents, though even at mild, the butter chicken was a little spicy to me. I asked about allergens, and the lady let me know that they were going nut free in a week and everything would no longer have nuts. The butter chicken does contain dairy in the form of queso. We also ordered a tray of the corn bhel (this was AMAZING) and mixed salad (in hindsight, probably not the best order for a bunch of four and five year olds). Both are dairy-free and nut-free. The food was delivered promptly to the venue exactly on time. I paid for the order via Zelle when I placed the order.

What did I just eat?…read more I'm genuinely confused after eating at Maast Indian in Irvine, because I don't know how something can look so promising on the outside and taste so disappointing on the inside. I was skeptical walking in, not gonna lie. The place wasn't exactly packed -- maybe three tables had people and there was one person waiting on an order -- but I figured hey, every new spot deserves a fair shot. The interior actually looks really nice. Clean, modern, good layout, good lighting... it feels like a place that should be delivering quality food. Then I ordered the Tandoori Chicken "Panini Sandwich". First of all... $15 for a sandwich like that is wild. And if you're going to charge $15, the food better be memorable in a good way. This was memorable in the worst way. The flavor was just off. The chicken didn't taste like tandoori should. It didn't have that smoky, spiced kick you expect -- it tasted bland and kind of weird, like the seasoning didn't know what it wanted to be. The whole sandwich felt thrown together, and the "panini" part didn't add anything except disappointment. And what really got me was the value. No fries. No chips. Nothing on the side. Just a sandwich. For $15. During lunch hours. That's crazy. For that same price, I can go to Curry Hut, Curry Time, or other grab-and-go Indian spots and get a full combo plate that actually fills you up and tastes like Indian food is supposed to taste. This wasn't even in the same league. This wasn't a "maybe I ordered the wrong thing" situation. This was a "how did this make it onto the menu" situation. I hate leaving negative reviews because I understand how hard it is to run a small business, and I'm not here to tear anyone down. But the food needs a serious reality check. The presentation and the space are great -- but the kitchen needs to match that same standard. If the owner sees this, I'd honestly love to talk. Feel free to reach out. And for anyone reading this: you know I don't throw out 1-star reviews like that. The only reason this isn't a 1 is because I genuinely don't want to hurt a small business. But this experience was not good.

Food: The food here is really good! Be sure to try garlic naan, any of their paneer dishes, and…read moretheir dry gobi manchurian!! Ambiance: The ambiance is nice. This is a request to India Gate to please play Indian songs on your TVs again! Service: The service here is phenomenal! They are extremely attentive in taking your order and refilling water, and they will remember your name if you come for a few weeks consistently!

Food excellent. Service ex ellwnt…read more Price excellent. Highly recoend. Been coming for years. MJ .

Just get the Goat Cheese Kulcha. It's worth it. My boyfriend said it's the best thing he's ever…read moreeaten and I agree. Everything else was also fantastic. We'll be back. Pictured: paneer, tikka masala, goat cheese kulcha, malai naan, rice, mango lassi, Honey Dew Me Good service and safe if you have food allergies. Really nice atmosphere.

I went again and dined in. The restaurant is beautiful. The service is great. It was packed even on…read morea Tuesday night! We ordered a lot. The shrimp curry was good. The black dhal was OK. We ordered the kharai lamb. It was a little too salty for me. The highlight was the chicken tikka masala, of course. Their garlic naan is great. The portions are pretty small. We tried the falooda for dessert and that was just ok. Overall, I like the food, ambiance and service.

Came here in a rainy night and it was packed. We were hungry and ordered so much food and the…read moreflavors of everything just hit the spot. The chicken tikka masala was not anything spectacular as I have had better elsewhere. But it definitely hit the spot. The samosa and the paneer were stars as each bite produced additional flavors which continued to build on each other. I could just eat these two dishes forever. We tried the dosa and the goat. The dosa was perfectly crispy when it was hot. I personally didn't enjoy eating it as leftovers the next day. But I couldn't stop eating it and dipping it in all the curries and sauces when it was piping hot. The goat surprised me as I'm not a huge fan of lamb or goat. But the flavor profile and the spices made this a dish that was more flavorful than our usual go to tikka masala. Will definitely come here again and again.

We tried this place out with family again and the floors this time were not sticky. The tables were…read morebetter positioned and less crowded. Unfortunately the food experience was similar. I tried the gol gappa, chicken samosa, beef biryani, malai chicken, beef nihari, channa chaat, chicken Tikka masala. Gol gappa - although they had the liquids, I couldn't find the stuffing to put in it. It was very plain. Chicken samosa - this was food. The crunch of the samosa with the filling inside dipped with green chutney was the right flavor. Beef biryani - when I saw this dish swinging by before the people started linning up, it looked super promising. But by the time it was my number in line, it was mostly yellow rice leftover. People must have pulled all the meat. Very disappointing. Beef nihari - this has little to no flavor that you would expect from this dish. Chicken Tikka masala - this was better and had a good taste. Channa - it was a mix of chaat and a cholay salan and failed to stick out on either. Malai chicken - it was okay. Overall the experience was better. Still getting fresh naan to the table. But food taste is still mediocre. The chai was also not right. Needed more milk.

Amazing! We got the tiki masala and it was the best we have had. Definitely try the lamb vindaloo…read moreand make sure to get the garlic naan. Even the complementary mango vanilla pudding at the end was delicious. We will be back again soon!

Authentic flavors and spices. The best chicken tikka masala I've had. Truly 5-star service!read more