I love this place, their food has a lot of aroma and spices. It's like calling out to different…read moreparts of India that we haven't gotten a chance to try in dsm. I am obsessed with their buffet to try other things. Sat-sun 12-4 for buffet. The environment is very clean and service is authentic

We always crave spicy Indian food at the end of our trips, so finding a spot in Des Moines was an…read moreawesome surprise! We walked in just an hour before closing, and there was only one other table occupied, but they still had the buffet going. We went for it, and it even came with hot, fresh dosas made to order. The service was great, and while the buffet food was just okay and could have been a little warmer (probably because it was late), it totally satisfied our spice craving. :-)

We stopped by Desi Bites late in the evening around 8pm on a Friday night and surprisingly the…read moreplace was busy. The restaurant is located inside a grocery store and set up as a take out counter where you place your order and pay first, then wait for your name to be called to pick up the food. They have a cashier to take the orders and also a kiosk (where I was directed to place my order). There is a designated seating area to eat the food. I would say there was about 8 tables and it looked bright and clean. There were families there with little kids dining in during my visit. I placed my order on the kiosk and stood aside nearby waiting for my name to be called. The cashier was nice and mentioned that it would be a while before my name would be called so I should have a seat. Instead I decided to walk around the grocery store which I enjoyed. I should have looked at the ticket that the kiosk printed because it said my order would be ready in 50 minutes. It did take 50 minutes because there were so many people whose order was ahead of mine. This place is popular! I ordered the butter chicken and the 65 chicken. The butter chicken was delicious. It came with a side of white rice and was nice and sweet and creamy. I was able to order the dish in mild spicy level which I appreciated. They use cashew paste in the dish so if you have a nut allergy, then this dish is not for you. It came in a sealed yellow container that I thought was spill proof. Unfortunately the oil from the dish leaked out onto the bag and onto my jacket. This is something to consider if I decide to pick up my order again or have it delivered. The 65 chicken was good too but the kiosk would not allow me to order it mild so I was forced to order it at a medium spice level. It was too spicy for me. The chicken was at the bottom of the take out container and covered with fried rice. It seemed like a lot of rice and not enough chicken. The rice was very good. It was mixed with cashew nuts so if you have a nut allergy, this dish is not for you. I had never had 65 chicken but knew it was a popular dish. I am not sure I will order this next time despite the large portion it came in. Overall this is a great alternative to other Indian restaurants in the area. It is competitive because some items are cheaper than what you would find in a restaurant (i.e. an order of naan here is $2.50).

Food was delicious. Located inside grocery store, so not a good atmosphere for dining in, but fir…read morefast food or carry out its very good!

Honestly the best Indian food I ever had!!Highly suggest the lunch platter! It had 7 little dishes…read moreof AMAZING food! It had everything I usually order plus an amazing dessert I never knew existed! Highly recommend.

Unfortunately, this place went downhill. My parents went to Bawarchi and ordered some Pani Puri…read more The server asked if they wanted the sweet water or spicy water (pani). My parents said both because that's a very popular and traditional way of eating Pani Puri. To their surprise, the server said they cannot offer that. They must pick either the hot water or the sweet water. Translation: take it or leave it. So my parents took the obvious hint and took their business elsewhere. I was one of their biggest advocates when Bawarchi initially opened. We even ordered catering from them in the past, but the way they mistreated my parents has negated all of that. These people have clearly lost the plot.

Ate at this restaurant tonight and it was fabulous. Service was attentive and professional, food…read morewas delicious and the atmosphere of the restaurant was very pleasant. We will definitely be back again to try more of the extensive menu. The lamb thalis was a great introduction to a variety of unfamiliar dishes. Be careful on the level of spice you request, mild was very hot for me and I am used to some heat. Please add this place to your must try list you will not regret it.

Excellent dishes always!…read more Favorites are mango lassie, Gobi Manchurian, Chicken Makhani along with garlic naan

This is a new restaurant which I believe used to be the Taj Mahal…read more I purchased food from the buffet. I selected every vegetarian item available and the food was rich, but delish! Everything was amazing. I selected Dal, Paneer Korma, a green sauteed vegetable dish, carrot rice, steamed rice, and naan. I also had a mashed dessert that was orange in color. I will definitely be back. I do wish they served chili peppers on the buffet with the raw onions because I enjoy spicy peppers with my food. I was able to purchase a lunch buffet to go. They don't weigh by the pound, but instead just charge $9.99 for the meal. He offered me two boxes, but I only wanted one. I'm not sure if they give you 2 boxes per person to go. I'll have to ask next time. Great news! The gentleman let let me know I can order online, and they deliver to Johnston, Grimes, Waukee . . . Not just close to their restaurant. A great quick lunch spot, and would even be nice for dinner.

Awesome food! I go here with the same friend so we keep a running list of what we like. LOL!…read moreYesterday we had our staple of Samosa, always good. It comes with a green dipping sauce that is enhances the flavor. For our entrees we had our usual, Chicken Tikka - also always good! Then, at the recommendation of our waiter, we tried the Chicken Korma. Oh my goodness! Our new favorite. Both dishes are served with white rice and we have to Naan (garlic is best) to sop it all up. It's a little pricy for lunch, but definitely worth the splurge. Oh, we ordered both dishes at medium heat which was perfect. Enjoy!!

India Star has the best Indian food in Des Moines, and they have for years. They are friendly,…read morekind, and very pleasant to talk with. Sometimes it takes awhile for the food to arrive, but it takes time to make anything as delicious as this! Love them.

It was a bad weather day, but India Star was still open. We were seated immediately. We ordered…read morethe garlic naan bread. I liked it but my husband thought it was a little dry and not as fluffy. I didn't mind it. :) We split the spicy chicken curry. And it was spicy. Even my husband struggled with the spice. But here's the thing, even though it's spicy, it had flavor. It's my biggest complaint when he orders food spicy because to me, when it's too spicy, there's no flavor with what is left to eat. This is the opposite. We couldn't stop eating it because the flavor was so good. Now, with that said I probably won't get it as hot next time because it took a while to eat. My mouth was still on fire. But it was delicious and there's many things I want to try as well so I can't wait to go back. There's plenty of seating from sitting at the bar to booths and tables for the warm atmosphere. Give it a try.

We shared Vegan Chana Masala - one the best I've had anywhere…read more and Vegan Cucumber Salad - very basic, but good The menu has Vegan items clearly matked. Service was slow (possibly understaffed), but the food was worth the wait. It seems like they cook orders invidually. The place was busy and they had a brisk takeout business on this Sunday late lunch time afternoon. There was a peculiarity when leaving a tip. The server said "if you leave a tip on the credit card charge we don't get it." Whatever the reason is for this, it's not a good look for this restaurant. The manager or owner needs to resolve this so tips paid by credit card gets to employees. I can forgive slow service. I can't forgive depriving wait staff of their tips if paid by credit card.

In town for work, and since we have some folks on the team who are vegetarian, we opted to come…read morehere. I ordered the chicken tikka masala and my dish was very tasty. I asked for medium heat, which was perfect, not overly spicy. I tried a bit of my coworkers dishes and they were delicious as well, though I can't recall the names of those dishes. We left saying that we might need to come here again before the week was over!

Was craving for some Briyani and this place popped up on the search. Tried the Goat Briyani! It was…read moreso delicious! So much of flavor. Choose your spice level wisely.. we got the spicy and it was very spicy. The chicken 65 was also nicely done. Garlic naan was good. The customer service could be improved a little, the staff doesn't come to check on us only when checking out. Other than that the food was really good and the Briyani was their signature. Plenty of parking as it's in a shopping lot.

Came here only once, so this is based on a single experience. The samosa was pretty average -- it…read moredidn't seem freshly fried, although the flavor itself wasn't bad. I believe we also ordered the butter chicken and kadai paneer. Both dishes were much more watery than they should have been. The butter chicken was a bit unusual in color (more yellow than the traditional orange) and lacked the rich, creamy texture I was expecting. The kadai paneer wasn't bad in terms of flavor, but it also had too much liquid and didn't have the consistency I prefer. The portions are definitely generous, though, so you do get a good amount of food for what you order.

Excellent customer service!! Tea and Pakora were great too…read more It was fresh with perfect spices.

Only been here once, but the food was just okay overall. The samosa was flavorful and pretty good,…read morethough it didn't taste the freshest. The chicken biryani was the biggest disappointment--the spices tasted a bit muddled, and the chicken was dry. The palak gosht actually had nice flavor, but the lamb was quite chewy. I've had much better Pakistani food in other states, and honestly I can make better desi food at home. That said, I'm giving this place a slightly higher rating than I otherwise would because it's one of the only Pakistani restaurants in the state, and I appreciate having the option.