Dakshin Express

One of the best places in NJ for South Indian food. Quantity and Quality is consistent and good. I have dined here and tried Takeout multiple times at this place and have not been disappointed so far. Unfortunately no photos to post at this time since we are usually pretty hungry when we order here and end up attacking the food right away 😁 11/20/24 - Finally had enough patience to take some pics

We recently visited this restaurant. Was in doubt as we went late and no one was there in the hotel. Ordered Dosai (Paper, Cheese, Chocolate, Rava Onion) ..we never expected..the taste was dammm good..Kids also enjoyed and had..Highly Recommended.

Love chicken biryani here . If u like it spicy , do let them know. Amazing spice and nicely done . You Don’t really feel heavy after eating.. ask for dakshin special biryani. Veggie dishes are ok . Non veg is better here . Molaga bajji was also good. Jalapeno poppers ... overall we liked it ... good parking facility and they follow covid standards for to-go orders..

The special biryani was great. It comes with raita and egg. The taste was delicious and definitely recommend ordering from here. The price was higher compared to other indian restaurants.

Some of the Food was good, though one dish we bought (Pakoras) were dried and refried. Horrible! I loved their Dahi Vada and Idli. Overall it was an average experience.

I took hyderabadi chicken fum briyani yesterday and it was the worst biryani i have tried in and around edison area till now. It tasted bitter.too lemony. Rice quality was poor and it appeared they served biryani which was probably few days old.

I usually visit this place for mutton biryani. It serves really delicious mutton biryani and the meat is well cooked. Definitely worth the price. Saalan and raita meet the standards. A must try biryani You can also try cut mirchi I don’t recommend apollo fish as it was doughy

Nice food, biryani is very good. Ginger shrimp was bit sweet though, overall very good food

One of the best places in NJ for South Indian food. Quantity and Quality is consistent and good. I have dined here and tried Takeout multiple times at this place and have not been disappointed so far. Unfortunately no photos to post at this time since we are usually pretty hungry when we order here and end up attacking the food right away 11/20/24 - Finally had enough patience to take some pics

One of my favorite places for biryani in Oaktree road. The ambiance is pretty regular. They sell some namkeen and pickles too. Get the dakshin special chicken biryani when you're there. It's like a chicken 65 made into a biryani. So delicious.

Visiting this place for dinner and tried few varieties here. Tried their Spicy chicken pakora,Apollo fish,Schezwan Chicken fried rice, chicken noodles, Dakshin special Biryani and punugulu. Loved the Fried rice and Apollo fish, perfect blend of spices and punugulu was so good. Biryani was ok and the Dine inn was well maintained with quick service, definitely gonna visit this place again.......

Picked up a to go order on a Tuesday afternoon since I was in a the area, and I was craving Dakshin kind of Biryani. We got one chicken and one goat biryani. Also a chicken 65 for appetizer. Very disappointed with everything. The goat biryani was somewhat better than the other two items. Chicken 65 was awful, in one word absolutely BLAND! Just tiny cubes of deep fried chicken with a load of red food coloring. The biryanis were not good either, especially the chicken biryani was oily and flavorless. The meat in goat biryani was tender and juicy which was the only saving grace of the meal. I don't think I will dare to try them another time, despite being a fan of their food since many years!

I was having very high hopes for South Indian food and went to check out this place. Overall, I was very disappointed. For appetizers we ordered fish tikka and chicken tandoori. Both of them were marinated well and rich in spices and tasted good. However the fish tikka was a bit over cooked and all the pieces were broken when it was served. Still, I'd rate the appetizers a 3.5/5. For main course, we ordered an ulavacharu goat biryani and a boneless chicken biryani. The goat pieces were cooked decently but the biryani as a whole was not up to the mark. The daka gin special chicken biryani was the biggest disappointment. The curry that it comes in was absolutely bland and tasteless. The rice was all over cooked and had a miserable experience. Never going back again.

Love chicken biryani here . If u like it spicy , do let them know. Amazing spice and nicely done . You Don't really feel heavy after eating.. ask for dakshin special biryani. Veggie dishes are ok . Non veg is better here . Molaga bajji was also good. Jalapeno poppers ... overall we liked it ... good parking facility and they follow covid standards for to-go orders..

Came here on a Sunday evening for a take out order. Ordered their Special biryani and chicken keema biryani. The order came out fast within 10mins. Neatly packed in paper packet and they gave yogurt and gravy in the side. Special biryani was nice, well seasoned with beautiful aroma of all biryani spices. The rice was well cooked and had chicken pieces. There was res scehzwan chicken I'm the bottom and one full boiled egg. Loved it. The keema biryani was full of flavor. Pour gravy on top it and it was ready. It was well blended with minced chicken (keema). Although some chicken pieces mixed would have been nice. Add a boiled egg on top it and its perfect. Overall, nice biryani place. We were seated while waiting for our order. The place is casual with gender neutral restrooms. Also, the restrooms are clean. Recommend it!!!!

So far best idli vada and sambhat. Move over mogul express over priced and under value

Waited 45 minutes to get food. Dont recommend at all, unless you enjoy waiting long hours to eat. We got the chicken tikka dosa, it was spicy, but the filling made the dosa all soggy and unappetizing. It was not proper to get this. We got the keema dosa, and it was 77% giant pebbles of black pepper and spices like cumin. It was not good at all. It was also super soggy in the dosa. The masala dosa was just plain gross and tasted horrible. The chicken tikka masala was pretty good but it was not spicy and there was not much chicken in it. Also to top it off, the water was not cold. We waited almost an hour for this nasty food which made me so upset. 0/10 would not recommend to anyone in my life. I do not write reviews anymore, but I had to one last time. I hope they change their services. FYI I came during LUNCH on a saturday so it was not an unusual time to eat.

Ambience- 4/10 Service- 4.5/10 Food- 5.5/10 Visited on a weekend, they were out of options at 6.30pm. Had to order from their limited menu. Not recommended

My first experience with Dakshin Express was their satellite dhaba location in Desi Galaxy, where they churn out very solid dosas. Since then, I've been reading a lot about their biryani, and after trying several other biryani joints, I finally found myself here to order their "Hyderabad Dum Chicken Biryani". Overall it's very good. The raita and gravy are both very flavorful, the chicken was tender and well-spiced. My only criticisms of it: -I prefer more of a variety of long grain rice, like some aromatic basmati, as this dish was primarily short-grain. - Better distribution of the spices, as there were clumps of biryani masala powder on top.

Wanted to try out so took a chicken curry from this place . It was a pick up order. It was $13 and the quantity was too less . Maybe their other food must be good .

This place is back up to the top on my list of best biryani joints. Taste and quality are back to the levels they were back in 2006 when I first found and fell in love with this place. Let's see how long this lasts.

Serving strategy is very bad. First they served Biryani then wait for 10-15 mins to serve chapathi and curry. :( :(... Ordered veg biryani but it tastes and looks like pulav... Even the taste is not good... I can't go there again..

Ordered two meals and appetizer. Requested salmon, got tilapia instead which I hate. Ordered shrimp tikka, meals were very salty, portion very small, drowned in raw onions and under cooked peppers. Meals were priced without rice. So basically we got a small plate of shrimp and tilapia that was drowning in salt with no rice. Any other restaurant serves these dishes with white basmati rice. We were charged $14.00 for each meal and it was just covered in half raw onions and peppers and drowning in hot pepper and salt. The one rice dish we did order biryani vegetable, was drowned in pepper and very salty. So we threw the food out could not finish it. We had the vegetable samosa only. Went to bed hungry. Oh, and no napkins or spoon or fork, or knife to eat with. And gave a generous tip and waited over 1 hour to get food. Just a huge disappointment.

We always go here since 10 years but lately the quality is going bad since 1 year. Yesterday we went again and we ordered for chicken biryani. Its not fresh and its a very old cooked. Their quality has come down drastically. Hopefully they improve their quality

Tried Dakshin after almost a decade , my folks used to live their chilli chicken ... I always ate veggie so can't comemmeng there! My Mysore Masala dosa was awesome , Hubby tried their Chicken biryani which he gave 6 out of 10! Kids had chicken 65 & Tandoori sizzler ... which was not to the mark ! May be their speciality is limited to Dosa's!

Food okay but hubby got food poisoned with undercooked chickenkeema dosa. Called restaurant to inform them, not one apology. Need some customer service

This place baffles me... - weekend visit, not crowded - thali on the menu/ requested veg thali - told thali not avail - asked why? - bewilderment/ confusion from wait staff - just looks at me.... - ??? - ??? - just ordered a masala dosa in defeat - masala dosa really good/ like really good - have to leave a decent review despite...... - false menu advertising/ bad service - but man, that dosa...........

Paneer tikka brings me here again and again. Must try! Vegetable Biryani is very good. Various chutney that they serve is fresh and flavorful.

We are from the NJ area and decided to take a quick bite on Oak Tree Road and sadly landed in this place. Decor and first impressions were not great. Wait staff did not have uniforms. The food we ordered was Egg biryani, chicken biryani and goat biryani. The food arrived hot and fast. The quantity was good. The mutton biryani did not have an egg, the rice was not basmati, the flavors of Hyderabadi or any other southern biryani were sorely missing. The chicken biryani did not taste good at all. The egg biryani was the most disappointing of the lot. 2 boiled eggs with their shells removed was on top of a pile of rice. Even a lay person will flavor the eggs. In an street of 100s of Indian restaurants, I am sad I had to pick this one.

Got a takeout order from here. The rava dosa I got was soggy and it wasn't cooked all the way - kinda raw. Chutneys were good. Nothing crazy about this place. I'm sure it would've tasted better at the restaurant rather than as take out. Think if they packaged the dosa in something besides foil the dosa may have been crispier.

Not so good food. The special biryani also is not good. Need better and prompt service. Asked.for.mild noodles for kids, it came out spicy with lots of pepper

Never came across such horrible customer service in my life, first they mess up my order, and when asked to take it back, they took it back, NEVER EVEN apologized and on the contrary they were yelling at me. They had NO regrets, that a customer is disappointed but were yelling that their food is wasted. EXCUSE ME!! get your orders right. The worst part is yet to come, they charged me in full, and refused to give me refund. These guys seemed like clowns to me (hilariously), I am never going to go back and obviously cancelling all my future party orders with them. And honestly, coming to quality of food, there are several other places, who do a good job than these people, and have something trained "CUSTOMER SERVICE".

Been going to this place for last 18 years. One of the best biryanis i have had. I still go there whenever i can. Try their "cut mirchis".... Try all the Andhra items on the menu.....worth it. They have expanded their seating space and spruced up the decor. Staff is very friendly and helpful...

Horrible service. screwed up order and did not replace. manager was super rude. stay away. lots of other better option on Oaktree road.

Very good food and service! The Sambhar Idli, vada, gobhi manchurian was spot on. The chicken dum biryani was very good and well seasoned without being over oily. The goat biryani was delicious as well and the mutton was tender and very well cooked. The service was amazing. Full points to Dakshin!

Too sad that this place has been around for a while and not many folks know about it. It was one of my close friend who took me to Dakshin express 10 years ago but as the options for Indian food, especially South India, increased in Oak Tree road this was not a regular for me. But in this year, it is my go to place these days for a dinner. I love their Dosa's and Biryani's. If you need a big serving of Biryani then this is your place to go. My regular is a Dahi Vada - I don't know what they do with Dahi part of this vada but they just melt and flow in the mouth. My wife loves their Dahi Vada and it is definitely in my take out all times. Their Biryani's are different.but good enough. The other night I took four of my peers who have not been to the restaurant to try the Dosa's and Biryani and they were impressed. Don't expect the Saravana Bhavan Sambar and Chutney in Dakshin Express but they are savory enough....their teas is another good one to have after a good Biryani or Dosai. Prices are reasonable and they do not accept Credit Cards. So it is all Cash transaction! I see a lot of people come here for the takeouts but now Dakshin Express has become my go to place whenever I am on business in NJ or NYC area. Don't get the look of the restaurant or the parking lot deceive. Get in and try the food! The services is okay.

Food is good here, just not the service. They often forget something you order, also not served in proper order. Curries, chicken/mutton biryani are good, 3 stars are for the food. If they can improve their service, this is a good place to try.

We have been to DE today for brunch and ordered for a veg biryani, dahi Wada and masala dosa all three were terrific we're the items are reached by expectations. Lovely and tasty items maintained by Andhra locality guys and restaurant is nearly maintained and we find lot of jndian snacks stacked on the racks which is good to taste . Guys see you soon . I heard bisbelli bath also good here.

Just went to a catering event done by them, and I was very disappointed. The food was not kept warm, and the food looked like mush. Although I disliked most items available, I half enjoyed the chicken biryani and the samosa. I do not recommend.

We had heard so many good things about the biryani at Dakshin Express from some of our friends and also read about how good it was from the "Angry Guy" blog (which by the way is like an acid test since it is very hard to please the sarcastically funny South East Asian angry guy who writes restaurant reviews for Indian restaurants in Edison/Iselin) http://www.oaktreeroad.us/indian-restaurants.html So one day we decided to take the scenic route via Oak Tree Rd on our way back home and grab an egg biryani to go. Well the Biryani tasted a bit like pulao. We liked the light and cinnamonny flavor but the rice turned out a bit soggy. Maybe they had an off-day or maybe we just ordered the wrong kind. Might consider giving it another shot to give them the benefit of doubt and try their Andhra special.

The food is not tasty. The food is not properly made. The service is decent. The got was not properly cooked.

Beware, the photos posted for this location is extremely deceiving!!!!!!! This place is a total hole in the wall, I would give zero stars for the appearance of this spot. We came and even tough it was extremely unappetizing looking, we still got a table and ordered some tiki masala with chicken. After sitting in the stink that is this restaurant we decided to take our food to go and eat at the office. Well, what can I say the food is actually pretty good. Just I can't get over the smell and look of this place. Your best bet is probably take out, it does take a while for them to bring out your food anyways.

Best special chicken biryani ever! We are not from NJ, but just visit for the food! Avid food lovers!! Always take home packs of th special chicken biryani! A must try!

Found few glass pieces in Dakshin Special Biriyani today. Luckily survived with these. Absolutely ridiculous. No quality check nothing. Guys please maintain the quality at least.

I went to this place with my friend, and in the first notice I discounted the looks of this small hole in the wall assuming food would be good . We ordered food , and sat patiently waiting for roughly 15-20 mins .. We had ordered rava masala dosa .. Finally food arrived and I couldn't wait to dig in and check their food out . As soon as I peeled the dosa skin to check out the masala in my dosa , I saw a big dead insect !!!!!!!!! I called the person in charged and had them take away my food . My friend finished her food .. But what really surprised me is , the owner had balls to charge me for the dosa that had an insect in ... And he charged me extra $0.60 because our bill was $16 less than $20 for which they take cards . Very disappointed in their dirty food and horrible service . Very poor sense of food hygiene in their kitchens

We ordered biryani first time we came and we visited again for same...so biryani is really good...!!! Portion size is good...the only thing is they have min 20$ limit for cards, so keep cash with you just in case. Overall a good place to eat South Indian dishes.

First review of an Indian restaurant in the Oak Tree Indian Mecca. The fact that they sell meat already gives them 4 stars. No offense to my Hindu or Vegan friends. Being Malaysian gives you many advantages especially when it comes to food. You know when shit is good and my friends this place sells good shit. Their dosa or (thosai to my Malaysian fellows) are fantastic and I'm pretty sure there are better ones around. Also they have freak-tastically good Biryani rice. A word of warning: the portion are usually enough to feed two. So if you plan to take half of the portion for next days lunch or dinner, that would be highly suggested. I do not recommend finishing everything, you'd feel like crap. Also, I'm a huge eater. They also have vegetarian food, fyi. Recommendations : Get their chicken appetizer. I think its called chicken 56 or something like that, it's 8 bucks and totally worth every penny.

Finally fine food and family friendly ... Kids enjoyed food and ambience .. Delicious food and good services .. Biryani is awesome .. Please don't forget to buy avakai while leaving :-)

We ordered goat biryani and it was the worst biryani I had ever eaten in my life. It was more like fried rice with pices of meat embedded in it.

Atleast they should know how to cook biryani. Its not the biryani. I ate cooked rice with chicken pieces. I suggest not to visit for restaurant. And the service is really horrible. As if he feel he's putting is own money for us.

They showcase their restaurant as House of Dosa, and it turned out during our visit they only serves plain dosa over the weekend. We visited on Saturday and ordered Rava dosa & MLA dosa and they said both are not available, also they told only plain dosa and masala dosa are available.

I went there on Thursday evening. Ordered chicken 65 and boneless biryani. I had few spoons. Felt like puking. I believe the chicken they served was prepared few days back. I told myself never to eat here again. However veg biryani my wife ordered was good. I called the guy and complained. He replied eat it. We cannot serve fresh food for every one. I think they started lunch buffet and the food they serve for dinner was the remainings of lunch.

Oil, oil and more oil is how I would describe all of the food here. Everything we ordered was swimming in inches of orange oil. I can not recommend anything from here. After ladeling out 5 tablespoons of oil I still could not get rid of all of it in one dish. Nothing was fit for consumption, I donated $34 to them is the way I think of the waste of paying for the meal.

Food is great and my favorite is Special Chicken Biryani which in plenty for one. Most of the time I prefer taking their Special Chicken Biryani to go.

Their biryani is the best one I've ever had and that too counting the times I had it in India. This was not the kind of place you can eat in. The ambience and cleanliness is not up to the mark for a restaurant. Thus dropping one star for it. If I were to just rate it for take out then this would definitely get 5 stars. Although when I recently visited this place they were undergoing renovation and things are starting to look good.

If you have to say one word about their Biriyani I would simply say "WOW". This is a true representation of the Hyderabadhi Biriyani, there are people out there who may try to tell you otherwise like "Paradise", "Abhiruchi" etc, etc ( don't get fooled). These guys are legendary, the biriyani is always moist contains the right and rich spice ( no cheap ingredients) and they simply make them right. I have taken out from then well over 100 times. I have tried every other place that people have claimed as authentic but nothing comes close to this, I always come back to them. My wife always has the Chicken and says there is second to none ( I usually opt for the Egg biriyani). The curry sauce that they give with the biriyani is simply awsome. few times by Wife tried the spicier Hydrabadhi and said she could not handle it ( I am vegetarian so coudn't comment). The problem with the Veg biriyani is that they cannot make it more spicy, just add green chilli when you ask for more spice, my mouth waters just talking about the food ( i will definitly visit again tonight). The basic biriyani itself simply phenomenal no special instruction/customization required. The ambiance is not much and I have never ever eaten there always taken out, their lassi is also not bad to cool things down once you have downed the fire into your belly. AWSOME. Note: The picture is wrong, that is another establishment not this one so don't confuse.

Went back after 6 years to try their biryani's some chicken appetizers: Biryani: Same old great taste Appetizers: not done well. Requested it be made spicy. It tasked pale with no spices at all. The chicken 65 tasted like deep fried colored chicken. This place has been renovated and looks nicer now. Will go back for their biryanis. The 4 stars are the biryani's