Khana Peena

Khana Peena hosted our wedding reception dinner and made our wedding so special and unforgettable! The owner truly went above and beyond for us. We had the best time and everyone at the wedding was raving about how good the food was! This is now one of my parents' favorite restaurants, they are local to the area and come here regularly now. Thanks for everything Khana Peena and Deepak! We can't wait to have another event at your beautiful restaurant.

Super tasty food! The coconut chicken curry was very flavorful and so soft. The ambience is also really cool! They have cute booths with curtains in the back for some privacy if you’re looking for that. Need to come again for dessert! I didn’t have room last time I went.

I go here for lunch because they have lunch specials and are always completely empty inside. The food is solid. Don't expect much of the service: sometimes there's table service, other times you have to order from the bar, and at all times they act like my presence at the restaurant is a massive personal inconvenience to them even if I'm just sitting there quietly minding my business. I have no idea how they stay open with this few customers, maybe there's more of a dinner crowd?

Came in for a late lunch. Service was prompt, friendly, and the atmosphere of the place is phenomenal. Food was delicious, packed with flavor. Will say, you so have to ask for sides because rice doesn't come with your food nor does it say anything on the menu but still- worth eating here!

Absolutely fantastic Indian food. Why doesn't this place have more reviews?! The Naan was great, the lamb and spinach was great and we have coconut chicken curry that was awesome. Honestly, shocked this place doesn't have more reviews. Adding this gem to our regular line-up.

It cost me $55 . If I had known their service , I would not have paid one dollar .I ordered online .The salad seemed was cut one night before and when I called the restaurant to take their opinion , HE said it was cut one hour ago!!!! I deeply feel that I just waste my money no more !!! this comment was from another person. It actually describes my dinner situation two hours ago!!!! The vegetables tasted like left overs from a lunch buffet, so overcooked ). (they had no taste left.

We bought a Groupon and redeemed it last night at Khana Peena. I have recently developed insane cravings for Indian food and have tried many places, so I feel like I have some credibility when writing this review. First of all, the place is gorgeous and hospitable. The staff was well-dressed and very friendly. We were immediately sat down and offered service and confirmed that our Groupon was useable. Holy wow it was an amazing deal. We were shocked by how much food and drink was offered! They have a full bar and we were assuming that their signature cocktails would be extra. Not the case! They served very high-end, tasty and exotic cocktails. The food came and they did not skimp on the portions. A huge plate of tasty food arrive. The food was very fresh, flavorful and abundant. I will definitely return! If it was in my neighborhood I would be there way more often.

One of the worst dining out experiences in years. Six of us has dinner on a Sunday night. The vegetables tasted like left overs from a lunch buffet, so overcooked they had no taste left. The brown rice was similar but it may have been a poorly prepared instant rice product. We wanted to order a cocktail, nut their bar person never should. And lastly we needed to move to another table because the table cloth had food stains on it. My word this was terrible. one star out of five. Can you give a zero?

This place continues to be so consistent with food and service. We are happy every time we come here! Always easy to get in without a reservation. Honestly the best Indian food! We have never been to their other location because we are so happy with the Solano one.

Quality, presentation & service is great and the food is good. However, a great meal (especially the Indian cuisine) isn't just about sustenance. The Ingredients and Spices are the magical tools, adding depth, warmth, and complexity to every dish transforming ordinary meal into extraordinary experiences. So with that in mind, I recommend the sizzling dishes, we had fish and prawns which were good & tasty. I was not impressed by the Chicken Tikka Masala which is my favorite dish, it was too ordinary and just dull. The Fish curry was ok. The rice is too ordinary and not what I expect for an Indian Basmati rice. Nan/Garlic-Nun are good as well as the Samosas. 3.1/2 Starts for Food. (3= Good, 4= Great, 5= Exceptional.) (Kaz - March 2024)

We were returning from out of town and were thankful to find a place which was open late. The menu is typical, the usual naan bread, biryani, tandoori items and some curries. We got a couple of naans, tandoori chicken, chicken karahi and chicken biryani. I would say the flavors across the board were relatively decent though not authentic. But, the chicken tandoori which came on a sizzler plate with some veggies was charred very badly. Half the veggies were charred as well. The karahi chicken on the other hand was just a sorry watery mess without any flavor to speak of. The chicken biryani was decent but it felt more like curry plus rice mixed together rather than an actual biryani. The ambiance was lovely though, it's eclectic with brick walls, lots of wood, Indian motifs, with a mini fountain in the middle of the dining room and several tiny Indian umbrellas decorating the roof.

This is not about the food. It was about wasting our time. Drove out of our way to give this restaurant our business, but upon arriving at 6:50, they were closed. Lights out, not a soul, no message on Yelp, no message anywhere. Don't waste your time. Try somewhere else.

Amazing food and great service!!! This place is never super busy and I find that hard to believe since this is some of the best chicken tikka masala I've had especially in this area. Food is pretty inexpensive; about $14 per meat entree. Plain naan is $4 and so is plain basmati rice. I cannot recommend this place enough! I have to stop here every time I'm in the area!!

I'm confused by the name Venus and Khana Peena for some unknown reason this restaurant had two names. I gave Venus a 5-star rating for breakfast and Indian food for dinner before the pandemic. Sadly, the food did not make it through the name change. The 4 dishes we ordered came out lukewarm and watery,and the naan resembled a Chinese scallion pancake, but the frozen kind you buy at Ranch 99. I'm sorry to say I won't be coming back, but I do hope that things will improve because I really used to like this place. BB

** The following review reflects my delivery experience DURING the shelter-in-place order currently in effect. ** I think it was gone and became a pizza spot, then it turned into a second location for Venus, and then the original Indian concept came back recently by popular demand. Man, I'm confused but probably not the constant owner Deepak Aggarwal who owned the space as he kept reinventing the menu. All of that became a moot point during COVID-19 because I became aware of the restaurant solely through the Caviar app, and four months into this pandemic, Jamie W. and I were finally in the mood for some Indian food. The two of us made a pretty robust order starting with the $16.95 Tandoori Chicken, an all-dark meat option (my personal preference) that featured three plump thighs and a drumstick over grilled vegetables (photo: https://bit.ly/3kgKxtM). What should have been poultry nirvana was slightly overcooked and a tad dried out. The $13.95 Karahi Lamb was definitely a lot wetter as it cane stew-like in a plastic container with lamb chunks swimming in a thick broth filled with ginger, garlic, green peppers, and onion (photo: https://bit.ly/33G5J6q). We defrosted a bag of cauliflower rice so we had something to sop it all up. The most pleasant surprise was the $16 Veggie Option of the Warm Kale Salad, a box packed with golden beets, delicata squash, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, pumpkin seeds, and balsamic dressing complemented by avocado, manchego cheese, and shredded radish replacing the salmon that would normally be there (photo: https://bit.ly/31szkhe). That was easily the most delicious part of our meal. Yeah, it was good to get our Indian fix and go with the healthier option so we felt less guilty. FOOD - 4 stars...solid Indian flavors, hearty portions AMBIANCE - n/a...I know it shares a space with Venus, but mine was a delivery experience only SERVICE - 4 stars...pretty fast, well packaged TOTAL - 4 stars...viable Indian option during this pandemic RELATED - Strolling on Solano? Here's a collection of places I've tried and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2HvcTQH

Khana Peena has the best Tandoori Chicken we have had in Berkeley - and we've tried many. Certainly better than the other Indian restaurants on Solano, and we have tried all those. Khana Peena marinates the chicken perfectly and doesn't overcook it. Other things good, but the Tqndoori Chicken was special. This restaurant is underappreciated and worth a try.

THE most perfect basmati rice I have ever had at a restaurant! If they just did everything else like they did basmati rice, I would give them five stars. Just cooked absolutely perfectly, every grain separated and fully formed and moist. Rest of the food is greasy and pedestrian and heavy on the night I tried this restaurant. I tried the pakoras, which tasted like they had been fried, left out for a day, and then fried again - they were a bit soggy. flavor profile was decent on the other food, if you need something quick and there's no other place to go, it's there but it's nothing great. But the basmati rice? Perfection! And my chicken dish was spiced well! I'll give them another try and post an update, I might've caught them on a bad night.

Good experience. All staff were so nice and welcoming. Food was great and value was good. Very good outside ambiance and sitting arrangements. Will go there often. Since we eat most dinners out.

This is one my family's favorite local Indian places to order takeout. You can always be sure to have a really good meal here. After a year+ into COVID-19 lockdown we're tired of the same old home cooked meals. There are only so many ways to make chicken exciting. So we said let's live a little and order some Indian takeout! The variety of traditional North Indian food at Khana Peena is extensive. I'm pretty sure all of it is very delicious but we stick with mainly the saag paneer, chicken tikka masala, lamb vindaloo, garlic naan bread and veggie samosas. The potato samosas are sooo bomb! I could make a meal out of the samosas alone. The only thing I didn't like is that on a scale of 1-10 spiciness level our food was 0. I didn't think we had to specify that we wanted a baseline of spiciness because it's Indian food. Usually Indian restaurants will ask you if you want your food low/medium/or high on the spicy-meter. I assumed that since they didn't ask that they would give us the default 'medium' spicy but I was wrong. In the future, I will specify that I want my food medium spicy. The staff is very nice & professional. The lovely owner was there on the night we stopped by and we got to say hello and chat it up a bit. **Added Bonus** Next day when reheating leftovers, the food is still fresh tasting & delicious!

Solid Indian dining experience. The servings a good size for family style dining. The service was quick. The Samosas were the best I've had in the Bay Area.

Great Indian! That warm kale salad is one of the best salads ever! Ordered it sans salmon as I'm not a big fan, it was popping! fresh and filling along with the cilantro garlic nan which looks like a pizza... including the pizza box! So good Bae got that salad again! The tiki masala shrimp lacked shrimp but there was enough sauce to add grilled chicken the second day along with an abundance of brown rice to make a nice second lunch! This is not part of Venus. It's confusing I know. Hella good! Original order was till masala shrimp with rice , saag paneer, garlic cilantro nan, and the warm kale salad. We ate 4.5 meals out of that one Expensive but worth it as portions are abundant!

This was one of my favorite restaurants years ago but seems to have fallen victim to COVID decay; ornery to hostile service, one person working, cold food and undercooked naan. Hope to see it recover this place used to be incredible.

Tastes like home made food from India. It's so delicious and made with love. I ordered the coconut chicken curry dish, the aloo gobi and the veggie Samosa. Everything was cooked to perfection. The dinner option comes with rice and pita (highly recommended). I'll be honest and say Indian food is not my favorite type of food, however this place won me over 100%. You can also get 20 percent off ordering online.. I was confused by this because I tried to order through yelp on grub hub and was not given any discount, the way to get the actual discount is by going to: khanapeenasolano.com to order.

My friends and I went here the other day for our regular weekly try something new on Solano dinner tour. The athmosphere was great, and the menu choices looked quite appetizing. At first, the service was friendly and quick. I'm not sure if they were having an off night, but it ended up being a disappointing dining experience. The appetizers were very good, as was the naan and rice. But the tandoori chicken with mint was so salty we actually left most of it on the platter. Then they forgot to bring one of our main dishes. Then they didn't show up to bring our check even though we were one of the only ones in the restaurant. I wouldn't recommend it, and I wouldn't return unless something drastically changes.

Great to have Khana Peena back on Solano! The decor is beautiful and the food is delicious as always!

This is the best Indian restaurant in Berkeley IMO. I havent tried all of them but have tried many & always feel disappointed in comparison to Khana Peena. Admittedly we only ever order the same thing over & over: coconut chicken, aloo mattar & cashew raisin naan, but thats because its very good.

Don't go at 4pm on a Sunday. No interest in providing service at thar time, even though they are open.

First time ordered from uber. But never gonna order again. Worst food ever curry is like water

This is the best Indian Food. The Chicken Tikka Masala and the sauce, delicious. Also ordered the garbanzo beans, delicious as well. If I was a condemned women's right protester and I was asked about my last meal, it would have to come from Khana Peena- it's just that good.

My favorite Indian place ever is back and just as delicious as ever. The buffet is a steal. I'm a big fan of the lamb a saag and chicken tikka. Lotss of vegetarian options as well. My favorite lunch spot

Leisure Friday, we walked on Solano Avenue from Berkeley to Albany rediscovering local stores and nurseries. Had great Indian food at Khana Peena, the best Lamb Curry and Tikka Marsala ever with Sesame Naan, so delicious!Look Carol emptied the bowls

Indian food in general is simply amazing and this place does not disappoint. It is always difficult for us to eat out with our two year old, but the gentlemen here are always so welcoming and accommodating. Great food, great service, and great prices deserves five stars without a doubt.

We had a delicious dinner here this week. Our group included vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians, and carnivores. There were ample choices for all, and the restaurant staff helped us decide what to order. Every single dish was simply wonderful and we cannot wait to return!

I'm torn about writing this because I do feel for businesses especially restaurants but I've been burned by so many of these 4 star reviews on Yelp and wish people would be honest! I got the chicken tikka masala lunch (comes with rice) and the sauce was super creamy/thick and not in a good way. The chunks of chicken were kind of massive which I suppose some folks would like, but I did not. I wanted to love it but I threw it out after a few bites. Could've been because it was during Solano Strolls so it was a bad day for the chef?

The Cuisine was absolutely superb. We had the chicken tandoori which was exquisite, plentiful (4 pieces) and came on a bed of sizzling vegetables. The lamb biryani was also mouth watering with nicely flavored rice. The naan was fresh and just came out of the oven. The food was superb. The service needs to be improved! It was slow service as not enough workers. I am thinking due to Covid! The place is very elegantly decorated with a water fountain in the middle. Beautiful lighting and ambience. I would certainly come again.

Went to the restaurant to get take out. The cashier charged me more than the price listed on the electronic self service device. Frustrated- wouldn't have ordered from the cashier if I had known this and the worst part is the cashier knew about this and lied about it and later told me he can't cancel the order. Really cheap tactics employed by the restaurant.

There is lots of great Indian food on Solano Avenue, hard to go wrong. My top choice is Khana Peena. Great service and ambiance mixed with fantastic flavors all for a very reasonable price. Get the Brussels sprouts, I was surprised.

They now offer 3 lunch specials. Naan wrap, rice bowl or pizza. $10.00 which includes taxes. I have gotten every dish and they are all delicious. My favorite is the pizza with shrimp. It has a curry taste to it. So good. The rice bowl is very filling and a good choice too. If you got hungry teenagers this is the place. Fresh food, good prices and fast.

Just ordered Chicken Biriyani with Uber. Looks tasty, lots of chicken too, but the problem is rice is uncooked. Should have done better job!

So glad they are back. Their food is even better than it used to be. Good for vegetarians as well.

Best lamb saag I've ever been served. Plentiful helping of very tender and flavorful lamb in savory spinach sauce. I'll return as often as possible.

Food is simply amazing, fast and friendly ; 20% off of order online is a pretty good deal.

This is my favorite restaurant in Oakland. I always go there when I am in town. The service is fast and friendly. Our server was the man who is part owner. I think that says a lot for the quality of a restaurant when the owner is an integral part of the day to day running of an establishment. In my former life I raised sheep, so this time I decided to order a lamb dish to test out just how good Khana Peena can be! It did not disappoint! The lamb was flavorful and tender. Portions are generous not overwhelmingly so. The side order if dal was a tad dry but mot overly so. It's a tad noisy inside. My brother in law had a hard time hearing our conversation. But in warmer weather the outdoor option provides a lovely space.

I'm not sure what's going on with this place, under construction and apparently sharing a space with Venus restaurant, but walking by today I asked if they were open and they said yes. I ordered off their Khana Peena lunch menu and DID NOT get anything even resembling what I ordered. I ordered a naan wrap and got a strange chinese fried rice tasting thing wrapped in naan and accompanied with a side of mexican salsa. Not an Indian Spice in sight. No Tofu (which is what I ordered), none of the things the menu said would be in the wrap. It's not bad, just not right. Buyer beware.