Chettinad Indian Cuisine

6/17/21 Authentic Indian food in small mom and pop setting. Owner was very hospitable; came out to talk with us on and off. Dining area was well-maintained and clean. We ordered garlic naan (didn't skimp on the garlic, cilantro), chicken biryani (love the toasted cashews), chicken tikka masala (perfect amount of tartness), and shrimp curry (pleasant surprise). All dishes were memorably delicious! Highly recommended!

Omigosh! I haven't had Indian food in years, since Bombay Brasserie in the Village closed and my favorite chef (formerly ran the kitchen at Ashoka) left Houston. Saw the reviews online and decided to give it a try. I am so happy that I did. Got a huge to-go order of Palak Paneer, Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, Okra Masala, Naan, and more. I ate a full plate, put together four future meals to freeze, and saved enough to feed my son and me tomorrow. Everything was absolutely fresh and delicious! The flavors were spot on and the portions were huge! This place is little hole in the wall and it's a hidden treasure. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed. :)

It's either a hit or a miss, visited multiple times... At least 2-3 items from the buffet will be good for sure especially fish but for the price they need to maintain consistency in taste with other items as well

Not the best first time experience. I am giving this 2 stars because 2 out of the 3 items I ordered were very good, the Garlic Naan and the Lamb Samosa. But the main course, the Mutton Kadai was a big disappointment. 45% of the dish was inedible(see pic). This is all bone, cartilage. And what meat I could eat was not cooked tender at all. Mutton tends to be chewy but this was extra chewy. For what I spent on this I expected better. I have Indian restaurants closer to where I live but decided to try this based on the reviews. I won't go out of my way to visit here again.

The food was great, true South Indian cuisine. The bathrooms not so great. The place is small so may want to take-out if your party is more than four people. We went on a Sunday for buffet.

Excellent food and responsive service at a very reasonable price. We will be back!

This place is excellent for lunch or catering. I have catered twice in two weeks with the half and full tray of BONELESS chicken biriyani. And yes boneless tastes great because I believe they use chicken thighs. If you’re looking for excellent, non greasy, South Indian food this this the place to go.

Absolutely amazing food! We also had a wonderful experience eating here. The dishes are handmade and fresh. I teared up with every flavorful bite. Everything my wife and I tried was full of delicious homemade flavor. I noticed that in the Gulab Jamun dessert the cardamom wasn’t just chopped, but ground by hand to get the perfect consistency. This is the sort of attention to detail that distinguishes Chettinad from other restaurants. We had the Calamari Cochin, Lemon Pickle, Lamb Korma, Okra Masala, Tamarind Rice, Masala Tea, and Gulab Jamun. We ordered a lot because we wanted to try a little bit of everything. My wife and I both ate until we were beyond full and have leftovers for another meal. I recommend everything and will be back to try more dishes!

Honestly, it was disappointing to see that there is no more buffet which was one of the pros of this place. The restaurant is also somehow smaller as well and it seems like they only offer take-out. The best thing about the buffet is that you get to try a variety of dishes and see how they taste so you know which one is good or not. One entree good at an Indian restaurant is generally not the same in every Indian restaurant. Having said that, the samosas were some of the best samosas I've had. They may be small but really good! I ordered the chicken vindaloo, and it was ok. I did like that the portion was good, the chicken is tender, and amount of chicken given was also good. It also tasted better the next day, but chicken vindaloo is not something that I like-like that I would want to get again. However, most of it was good to the point that I plan to try another entree and get those samosas again! One more thing, they don't have print out receipts. When I wanted a receipt, they wrote it down on the Guestcheck order paper as receipt.

Honestly Very disappointed with the order that we got. We had ordered Goat curry stew and appam ( A south Indian pancake) for Christmas, the curry was awful moreover couple of family members had stomach issues after eating that. Never had expected this. We know for Christmas they may have lots of orders so Looks like they paid attention to the quantity of food not the quality of food. This is a shame.

Honestly a hidden gem. The food is great and always consistent, way better than Aga's

ATTENTION!!!! This little hidden gem is located at the edge of Stafford, TX on Hwy 90. I found this restaurant by accident in the heat of a craving for butter chicken. They were close to home and open. It sits off the road next to a convenience store. The food is soooo good and well prepared. The people who work there are very nice and accommodating. One day I called my order in late close to closing time and they took my order anyway. I now feed all my Indian food cravings at Chettinand.

Delicious Indian food takeout at very convenient location on US-90 (South Main) near Gessner for both Ft Bend and SW Houston. They have SEVEN varieties of naan! Delicious clay oven marinated and smoked Tandoori style meat and fish are my faves. Really nice owner and cook. It was my birthday and I gave them a fresh-caught from the Gulf large drum fish and they baked it tandoori style for my birthday as a present. THANK YOU SO MUCH. We will be back often!

Update: I must say I've never experienced such fine and upstanding customer service! The owner had no problem with sending an immediate reimbursement of my food & delivery. I will have to try again because the customer care was stellar.

I ordered kerala fish curry, beef roast and chicken curry. It was soo good and reminded me of my moms cooking. It was costly ($45) but it's lasting me for the whole week if I just make myself a side of rice which I feel is worth it. When they gave me the food it was steaming hot (aka fresh as f) and I couldn't help myself from eating some beef roast in the car! I will be back from now on to get my kerala fix.

I took up the owner's offer of a replacement dish and quite frankly, was still not impressed. As a Brit I love my Indian food. I found the replacement dish just a little better but still lacking in any layers of flavor. It was still heavily reliant on the heat from chilis. The one thing that I may not understand is the regionality of dishes. Missouri City is known for its Kerala community. I have eaten Kerala-style dishes before. I had presumed the style might be infused more with coconut than chili. The 2 places I had tried were more heat than anything else. So maybe the dish they served me was correct as a Korma from the state of Kerala. Indian food has so many layers to it. How can it not when they use nuts such as almond and coconut and spices such as green and black cardamon, mustard seeds, coriander and cumin to name but a few. I have been spoiled by restaurants such as Nirvana and Indian Express (Hi 6 Sugarland) But I do thank the owner for reaching out and allowing me the opportunity to taste a replacement meal. So few care these days. i am open to being better enlightened about Indian food. I took so much for granted back home in the UK where there is an Indian restaurant on practically every corner, and I am happy to say I believe Indian food is our national dish.

Stopped in for lunch with a couple of colleagues based on the reviews on Yelp. When we pulled up in front the place didn't look like much and caused a bit of concern by my friends. But I talked them into giving it a shot. Once inside things improved only a bit. One we helped ourselves to the buffet and sat down to eat, things really began to improve! Several of the offerings were unfamiliar from other Indian buffets, but we dove in. The chicken paneer was outstanding; chicken was lean breast meat, moist smoothy with creamy paneer. Spicy roast chicken had a great crunch and perfect spice! There was a wonderful veggie dish with okra that was perfectly spiced... 2 helpings. Every thing was excellent, only thing that was good not great was the tandoori chicken, but it's worth trying. Very small place no more than 8 or 9 tables, one server who worn many hats. Very friendly and accommodating. My friends and I were the only "non Indians" in the restaurant..a very good sign. We'll surely be back for more. Did note that they are closed on Tuesday. Buffet was $10 with tax, a good bargain!

I love the food here. It's fresh and made to order. I haven't had a bad experience yet.

Got Togo twice here and it doesn't fail. Portions are big enough to fill you up. Food is very tasty. With everything it lasted two people for two days. Butter chicken 4/5 It was sweet and tender. Very creamy. Fairly enjoyed it. Vindaloo lamb 4/5 Sauce was really spicy and I loved it. Its vinegary and spicy. Big mistake getting lamb for this type of sauce. It was not that many meat in here sadly and with the sauce it was not the best combo but if I had gotten chicken it would have been really yummy. Saag Paneer 5/5 I love anything that reminds me of creamed spinach and this really does. It's like after all that meat and sauce you need some greens. Always my go to and they made it well! Shrimp biryani 5/5 I love shrimp and biryani. Very good combo and a good amount of shrimps too!

This is a decent place but not great. I ordered the gobi manchurian, saag paneer and paneer makhani. The gobi was dry and cut in large pieces and not enough flavor. The saag paneer was good but had little saag and too much paneer. The paneer makhani lacked flavor and was bland. For the price at $12.99 per dish, there are other places I would rather go.

wow what a hidden gem. Everything is very fresh. a very good menu with a variety of items. They were out of some items due to missing an ingrediant but great alternate similar suggestions from the waiter. They have buffet at lunch daily. We ordered at night off the menu. Don't let the outside fool you. Its nice and clean and fast. they only have a limited amount of seating but while eating dinner about an hour, there had to be 20 to go orders. This place was outstanding. Inexpensive and a great amount of food. I had a paneer dish that had the most paneer I have gotten in a dish anywhere ever.

Best Pakistani/Indian food in the Stafford/SL/Missouri City area. Easily beats Aga's. I would give them more stars if I could.

Based on proximity & pricing, this is going to be a contender for me in the future for Indian take-out. It's a good choice, but it's by no means perfect. My friend & I ordered the following: chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, samosas, and chicken biryani. Overall, the chicken tikka masala was decent. The curry was creamy and warm enough that it hit just the right spot on a cold night. However, the chicken was dry and bland for me & kind of killed the mood. The garlic naan was standard, the samosas were heavily spiced, but personally, I loved it. As for the chicken biryani, it was also spiced (yum!) but it was a little too greasy for my taste. This is definitely a hole-in-the-wall find. Along one side, it was set up for a buffet but the general dining area is just an open space with seating. In my opinion, it's more of an "I'm rained in" kind of dining or you would order for pick-up.

I ordered food from Chettinad for my mothers funeral reception in Pearland. It was perfect. My mother would have been proud. Such homemade taste, their apums are the best. Everyone enjoyed their food. I live in Cypress, and it is worth the drive, but now they are pick up only not restaurant. I wish they were in Cypress. Such tasty homefood. Ive never had such homecooking taste from a restaurant. They even have yellow moor.

This is one of those places I really wouldn't know about without Yelp, so I'm just writing to help my fellow Houstonians get their Indian fix! This place is located in Missouri City, and it's definitely a hole in the wall. Don't expect anything fancy, but the food is so bomb. We got here on a Sunday evening and were the first ones in the restaurant. There aren't too many tables, so I don't imagine hosting a big party here would be convenient. We were expecting a buffet, but dinner was a la carte. I ordered the chicken tikka masala and some garlic naan, and my boyfriend had the chicken tandoori. They were so good! I recommend the mango lassi as well; it has a unique ginger taste that I really enjoyed. The waiter was very nice and I really enjoyed the experience. Highly recommend for those low key days you feel like having Indian food!

I have had the non-vegetarian lunch buffet a few times. The recipes are a little different than other Indian cuisines. Today they had goat curry and a spicy fish. Both were delicious. The service is excellent and the price is the lowest in town for a non-vegetarian lunch buffet. The only reason I would subtract a star is because the don't always offer daal, which is a must for me.

Ordered food for a special event, Everyone was impressed with the All of the food. Authentic South Indian foods- fish curry and kappa- you can't find better than here. Their chicken biriani was so flavorful the chicken was tender. The raitha was perfect to compliment the biriani. The chicken chettinad had good flavor as well as the vindaloo spice level was perfect! There was plenty of curry to sop up with the porota. The nan was good but need to try the porota. Everyone raved about the beef fry. The kids ate everything but loved the gobi manchurian -a bit dry but very tasty, and sag paneer with so many chunks of paneer Finally the piasam, was just right. Amazing flavor, I had more than one helping! The meal was perfect, the families enjoyed and returned for seconds and thirds! They give plenty of food and make suggestions on how much you should order which was very helpful. I would order here again and again!

I've only had their biryani. But the goat isn't as good as the lamb and the chicken biryani. Also, mild is actually mild. And it's not too oily as biryani can be in pakistani restaurants and other places.

Ordered food for Easter lunch- appams and mutton curry was ok, chicken curry had a funny taste almost sweet and no salt, payasam was old and clumped did not use the proper noodles Would not order for any special occasions

Eight tables hole in the wall shack serving probably the cheapest and best Indian foods we ever had. The two of us ordered shrimp coconut fry, palak paneer, butter chicken, garlic naan, and butter naan. The spices and heat level of each dish were perfectly suited to our palates. Nothing was too spicy nor too mild, well balanced. The potions fitted the prices. The table service was friendly and attentive even though there was only one person working the front of the house. We noticed week day lunch buffet was offered. We like to return to try the buffet.

Small hole in the wall Indian buffet place that I drug my colleagues to, but they both were glad I did after the meal. The best items were the goat curry, spicy potatoes, Manchurian chicken and butter chicken. My coworkers also liked the Gajjar Halwa dessert. Price and service were good, most customers were Indian and we will probably be back. There were a few flies in the dining area, so that was the worst part. The weekend buffet reportedly has a larger selection with some fish.

Good mix of south and north indian dishes. The south Indian ones were especially very flavorful. Highly recommended

We came for dinner on a Saturday night. Not too busy, a few other people eating there and lot of people getting take-out. We ordered the butter chicken, Kundapur, the chicken korma, masala tea, and garlic naan. The Butter chicken was delicious and a good portion sized too. The only thing that would've made it better was if it had been dark meat, making it a little more tender. Kundapur was great and had lots of spice (a little too hot, but that's just us). The chicken Korma was very tender and the flavors were perfect. The Masala tea was hot, spicy, and the perfect thing for a cold night. It came unsweet, which was surprising, but sugar packets were brought as well. Honestly I would go back just for the tea. Naan was buttery and soft. Our server was pleasant and helpful. We've already made plans to come back soon.

The buffet was fine but there wasn't much meat left in the curries, just lots of paneer and potatoes. We were really disappointed they didn't have tikka masala, but the naan was nice and thick and chewy. It was only $20 for two with tip, so the price point is great, but we don't think we'll be back.

Go here for the best Chicken Biryani. Their lunch buffet are also pretty good. We have tried Biriyanis in multiple places however this one wins for multiple reasons- the right blend of excellent chicken pieces and perfectly cooked rice, the fragrance which reminds you of some the South Indian Biriyanis and the perfect amount of spice- not too bland and not too hot.

Hole in the wall for sure. Buffet was very good. I didn't see any reviews from Indians, so I was skeptical. Few items, but well done. Fish fry had an amazing flavor. Chicken had a strong Cardemom kick to it which was lovely , and very very tender. The dessert of carrot laddu was spot on. Overall a nice meal

What a wonderful "hole-in-the-wall". Sometimes gems are hidden. The atmosphere is defiantly nothing special. It is small with about 10 tables. Do not let the location, outside appearance or size influence your decision to eat here. The service was friendly and fast. The waiter/cashier was able to answer my questions about the menu and made an excellent recommendation. As for the food, every Indian restaurant had their own particular take on traditional dishes. Is the cook from Northern or Southern India? It makes s difference. My friend and I ordered two dishes we had not ordered before from an Indian restaurant. Both were excellent. The garlic nan was fantastic! There were a lot of take-out orders while we were eating. Overall this place was a great value and I will be back.

Pretty good place. Nice buffet, fresh naan, decent selection, nice staff, affordable

Stopped by here on Friday night to pick up some take out, got an order of Gobi Manchurian and Paneer Tikka Masala (comes with rice) it was sooooo good. I will definitely be back!

I was looking for a place near Missouri City for some Indian food, and stumbled upon this place. So at first glance, it's a random spot right next to a convenience store. When you walk in, the decor is actually pretty decent. They have a buffet during lunch time, but we came for dinner. The food was terrific! We started with lamb samosas which were nice and crispy on the outside, tender and packed with their lamb filling on the inside. We ordered some naan to go with their butter chicken and lamb curry. Everything was soooo good. The dishes were packed with flavor and were the perfect portion size. Super affordable which is always a plus. It seems like they do a lot of Togo orders compared to dine in since we were the only people there. We'll definitely be back if we're ever in the area again!

Wow, I never knew this place existed because it's tucked away in the corner of a small shopping center. I eat quite a bit of Indian food and I have to say this is really up there in taste and flavor. I had the buffet and had just about everything they had to offer and it was very delicious. I will be back again and highly recommend it.

Whoa! This place definitely deserves a 5 star review. This is possibly one of the best tasting Indian buffets that I've been to so far. Like other reviews, this place is a hole in the wall and its very easy to miss it while driving on Highway 90. So be on the look-out! Upon looking up "Indian buffet" on Yelp while in the Sugarland area, I saw "Chettinad Indian Cuisine". This place already had a rating of 4.5 stars and a quite a bit of reviews, so I said, "Why the heck not?" My other option was Naseeb, which was another Indian buffet that has a significantly larger amount of reviews. But, I frequent Naseeb way too often (it's delicious!) and Naseeb doesn't offer Indochinese cuisine either. Basically, I wanted to try something new, and I'm extremely glad that I did. Once you walk in Chettinad, you can already tell that the place has a nice and homey ambiance. It's quite small and seems that it can only seat about 30-40 people max. It was quite empty when me and my friend dined - there was only one other patron in the restaurant. It's probably because not too many people know that this place even exists. Our server quickly seated us and welcomed us to serve ourselves. All of the food was flavorful. I basically tried everything on the buffet, which had both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. My favorite buffet entrees were the butter chicken and the beef curry. The chicken was juicy and well seasoned, and the meat was soft and tender to the point where it almost literally melts in your mouth. One thing that caught me off guard was the mushroom saag simply because I never heard of such a dish, but it was tasty as well. There was also some indochinese fish dish and chicken tandoori, which were both tasty too! And while we were filling up our plate, the waiter provided us with fresh naan. After I stuffed myself, I served myself some dessert. There was kheer and some fruit in a mango-lassi sort of sauce. Those were delicious too! When me and my friend went to the counter to pay, we had to ask the waiter to repeat himself twice. He said $17. Hold on, $17?! For two people?! What. A. Steal. We literally stuffed ourselves with delicious Indian food for less than $10 each. SO WORTH. Well, that basically ends this review. I'm glad that I came here and I definitely will be back for some delicious, cheap Indian food!

My first time going to Chettinad and definitely won't be my last. This place is very low key as it is tucked away at the corner of a gas station on highway 90. It is one of the best Indian buffets I have had yet and to top it all off it is very affordable as it is 8$ lunch buffet. They may not have as many options as other indian buffets the restaurant is kind of small and tight knit but the quality of the food is excellent and for the price it cant get much better than this.

Even though this restaurant is at a shady location, the food is absolutely AMAZING! coming from a fellow indian it's often hard to impress me. When I asked them to make my chicken tikka extra spicy, they hit the nail right on! Great for a quick bite to eat!

Don't let the location, or size of restaurant, fool you. If you enjoy authentic Indian food, you have stumbled across a place worth putting on your radar. I will say, that I got the lunch buffet (only $7.95) which limited my experience to what was available. I did a quick sample of a few of the dishes, but the one that stood out among the rest was the chicken korma. I couldn't get enough. After 2 servings I actually sat and waited for them to restock, though I technically was full, to enjoy one more plate! The naan was simple, on point, and homemade. My basket of naan disappeared rather quickly. About the only thing I would say could've been better was the rice. 95% of the grains were cooked to perfection, but about 5% of them were hard. I am sure that's because they were part of the buffet line, and I stopped in 25 min before they closed, so it wasn't a make or break for me. Just more reason to let it soak up that korma goodness. Before I left I checked out the menu for future reference and I have to say, Vindaloo, Korma, and Butter Chicken, my trifecta!! All under $8 and naan at $1.50. This is now on my Houston Authentic Indian Restaurant Radar. Keeping it simple, at a good value, and great taste, Chettinad is worth a try, especially if you get intense Indian cravings like myself.

I think this place deserves a huge 5 star because I've been to other places with a similar style of food all over Texas and even other states and as far as what I've tasted in the USA, this place has THE best taste with the amount of food served. I'll always go to this place because everywhere else is a disappointment.

I searched thru Yelp and was happy to find a chettinad restaurant. But there was nothing 'chettinad' about this place. With great disappointment we ordered naan and gobi manchurian. But it was dry types with no gravy.would have appreciated a heads up there. Poor ambience and service. Horrible Place. Stay Away!!!

Food is awesome. Don't mind the outside of this establishment. The interior is surprisingly clean , even though it's one of those hole in the wall places. Highly recommended !

Good for takeout! Haven't tried the buffet yet. I got a tray of samosas for a party and they were delish and staff super friendly. Even brought it out to the car for me when they saw I had kids running around. Will def come back

Food was made from scratch. However most dishes spice than usual. So much do that it overshadowed the excellent cooking otherwise. Will be back but will order from menu vs buffet.

Small, clean place but food is authentic. I've been to India and this is the real deal. We ordered chicken vindaloo and the birhyna. Both were very tasty. Had a side of nana. One order is sufficient for 2 people.

A 45 minute wait. Food was average and there is 1 guy working in the kitchen, front desk and serving. It was the worst restaurant experience I've had. The 1 star that I am giving is for the pleasant nature of the guy!

Honestly one of my favorite Indian spots in Houston, but my favorite hole in the wall Indian Buffet by far. Tandoori chicken has a rick was that's super satisfying and do the basics very well. Naan service is hot and fresh not left out. This is one of those places you end up enjoying supporting.

I have ordered from here several times. Always great good. The butter chicken is our favorite! Definitely suggest trying!! For one that isn't a fan of Indian food, I love this place!!

Thanks Yelp, for letting me know about this gem. Ignore the exterior--its in a sort of beat up parking lot on South Main. Inside, the place is clean and freshly laid out. The service was great and the food excellent and very reasonable. We had two entrees, three orders of nan and tea, for $27, and enough leftovers for another meal. I had the Chicken Chettinad and it was delicious and my partner had a vegetable dish. Both delicious. I look forward to returning and sharing the restaurant with friends.

This is authentic Indian food. Finally a place that knows Chettinad and South Indian cuisine. Good menu with lots of options. They keep bringing food items on their thali order which is amusing. Way better than other South Indian restaurants. For the price they give a Lot of food!

Ok food and service, only complaint is the place was entirely too small, party of 6 had to sit at 2 tables, not much space to move around without bumping into another table. Better to order takeout.

If you want good authentic Indian food skip the vaccinations and long international flight to New Delhi, and eat here instead. The dishes are fresh and flavorful. We like the Tadka dal's they have just the right spice and heat. The Palak Paneer is great and is so spicy it will open your sinuses. We've eaten here several times and everything has been delicious. Can't wait to go back and try something else. Call ahead and it's packaged to go.