King of Tandoor & Biryani House

Best Indian Food in center city. For business meetings for nice little dates for a great spot to hang with your friends and catch up on good times. The staff are very attentive and the food is so fire!!! My favorite is the chickn tiki masala and garlic nan and mango lassi. Will be coming back

I came across this place through a Facebook ad last week and decided to visit today. Luckily, we were able to get in without a reservation. We tried their weekend buffet, which offered a wide variety of appetizers like pakoras and BBQ items, along with multiple rice dishes and curries. The meat was perfectly tender and flavorful. We sampled butter chicken, goat biryani, dal (lentils), chili chicken, and chicken 65 with fresh naan bread, each dish was delicious, but the chili chicken was my personal favorite this time. For dessert, they served rice pudding (kheer), mango cake pudding, and fresh fruits. The meal ended perfectly with a cup of Karak chai, which was the best closure to a wonderful dining experience.

If you're looking for a hidden gem in Philly, THIS IS IT! We had originally stumbled into this restaurant on accident but the food was so good, we came back the next day! The restaurant is clean and beautiful atmosphere! Our waitress was very friendly and available. The food was the best part! We left with our stomachs full! The drink menu is amazing and the prices are great! My favorite drink was the orange cocktail! 5/5 would come back!

The service was great and food was fantastic. Excited to come back for the buffet. We had the palak paneer, tandoori mix grill, cheese bread.

Had a wonderful **Iftar dinner buffet** here with my family. The food was delicious with a great variety of dishes, everything tasted fresh and well prepared. The service was also excellent—staff were very friendly, attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed. It was a very comfortable and welcoming place to break our fast together. Highly recommend this spot for anyone looking for a nice Iftar buffet with family and friends. 🌙✨

Lunch buffet was fantastic and very extensive. More than a dozen item, chai tea, and dessert. Will look forward to returning very soon!

Wonderful experience 10/10 recommend. 100% hand slaughtered halal chicken so delicious and even Better price! Me and my big group of friends all came and enjoyed it the people were nice and they were refilling the buffet quickly!

I came during buffet hours with little to no customers. The food was good considering the place was pretty empty and there was a blizzard going on. The staff were really friendly and were happy to replenish the food when I requested refills. Curry was a little thin, but the price made up for it. Really liked the mutton biryani and naan! The mutton was tender and flavorful; and the naan was fluffy and warm.

King of Tandoor had a change in management this past year, and to my understanding, the entire place was overhauled so you all can feel free to disregard reviews from anything earlier than mid-2025. I went for the first time today after seeing a social media ad for their buffet; a couple of my favorite Indian buffets closed down during COVID so I was excited to see a new one open up near Center City. They have their buffet Fri-Sun and I went on a Friday lunchtime and it was pretty quiet. The inside of the restaurant is very polished with white tablecloths and tasteful decor, and the servers are very welcoming and attentive considering that it's a buffet. The selection is a little smaller than other Indian buffets I've been to and doesn't have all the Western Indian restaurant classics (though there is a good butter chicken). But I found the two namesakes of the restaurant - the tandoori chicken kebab and the biryanis - were standouts and had a perfect amount of spice that was noticeable but not too intense. I didn't mind the smaller menu as a tradeoff for good quality, though one request would have been to have a dish with paneer to strengthen the vegetarian offerings and because I just love paneer! I'd also consider switching out some of the fried options like gobi manchurian and pakora for additional curries as the fried stuff just doesn't hold up as well in steam tables. The buffet was $18.99 a person as of the time of writing, which I thought was a very reasonable price for all-you-can-eat food that also tastes great. I'd be willing to come back for sure, especially if they switch up the buffet dishes from day to day and I can try new things!

A huge fan of their malai kofta. I also ordered the chili paneer appetizer which was really good.

Excellent lunch buffet, everything is delicious. As a vegetarian, I found plenty to enjoy and my boyfriend who eats meat also found a lot to enjoy. The people are really nice too. Recommend highly.

I've been coming to King of Tandoor for years, but I recently heard it had changed management and decided to check it out again. What a transformation! The space feels much more polished and upscale compared to how it used to be, but still warm and inviting. The food has taken a serious step up as well. I ordered the Chicken Vindaloo and it was the best I've ever had (It is normally a spicy dish and I asked them not to tame it down for me). My girlfriend had the lamb curry, which was just as impressive and mild in spice comparatively. We started with samosas that were crisp and full of flavor, and for dessert we tried a mango ice cream dish (I can't remember the name, but it was fantastic). The service was really friendly and great and prices were very fair given the quality. The website could use some work, but once you're inside, the experience is excellent. Highly recommend--this is easily one of the best Indian dining spots in the area now.

Bad food. The chicken tikka masala tasted like chicken on tomato soup. Won't recommend.

The food was delicious but portion size is on the small side. The chicken biryani rice was wonderful, so is the butter chicken. Food delivery by doordash was prompt and food was kept warm. Overall, it was a good experience.

King of Tandoor serves okay Indian food. I wouldn't go out of my way for it. I ordered the garlic naan and chicken vindaloo. The garlic naan came out very burned. The vindaloo wasn't my favorite either. It didn't have any flavor other than spice. It wasn't creamy either, the curry was chunky. The potatoes wasn't cut up into smaller bits. I pulled out half a potato chunk. Also there wasn't much chicken in the curry either. The mango lassi was really good! It wasn't thick and it was easy to drink. I wouldn't come here again.

Not a bad tandoori place. Tandoori chicken okay if a little dry. Biryani's the best thing on the menu to get. Will go back and update soon.

"I have been to your delightful restaurant in the past two weeks. The dishes were beautiful, and every bite was heavenly. I had the tandoori kebab and Briyani c chicken crepe on both occasions, and it is honestly the best tasting dish I have ever had. The complexity of the flavor profile was impeccable!

First time visit with friends this past Friday evening. Other restaurants on the street were hopping, but this place was completely empty. After about ten minutes I was about to go over and ask the waiter to acknowledge that we were there and get us some menus, when he came over. Zero personality. No "hello", no welcome, nothing. We tried to engage by asking his name, which he gave and then walked away with our orders. Food arrived several minutes later and it was great! Spicy, as we asked for, and delicious. Will definitely go back for the food. Hopefully by our next visit, the server will be gone, or simply replaced with iPads for ordering.

We were on our way to a different restaurant when we decided to change plans and come here to dinner. We saw several Indian families dining in at 4pm and thought that it was a pretty good sign. We got the garlic naan, keema naan, Lamb Kofta, goat biryani, chicken 65, and goat sukka. Everything was fantastic and had different subtle different flavors. Highly recommend!

Food is something between Indian and Pakistani. Make sure you mention that you don't want too spicy food. Service is good their grill items are a must for every table.

First off, the server was so funny and nice!!!! Never met someone so invested in if we are enjoying our food and if we needed anything else haha. This place had no music, no customers, the lights were off and it looked like it was closed. We decided to give it a chance and we were pleasantly surprised. Everything hit the spot!

Probably the worst Indian food I've ever had. Ordered two different curry and both were the exact same with a thick layer of oil over and no flavor whatsoever. The irony was the tandoor item, which was anything but tandoor.. I was given a breaded fish that was not even warm. I usually try to not waste food..but my takeout from here went into trash can. I was really hungry, but not worth ingesting oil. At an average of 16$ with tax per dish...this is probably the most expensive trashy food. The garlic Naan wasn't terrible.

Bad food. Aggressive staff. We went to have dinner. The place was dead quiet and the environment just weird. We ordered a couple of samosas that were lukewarm and not very good so we decided to leave after that. When we politely asked for the check, the server flipped out!! He started yelling that we couldn't leave because we had to spend $15 minimum. He never informed us of such policy when we sat so we refused. Then another person came from the kitchen and started yelling at me in a threatening way, so my husband had to confront him and asked him to stop it. In the end they charged us only for what we ate, but I can't believe their behavior!! Do NOT go to this place, especially alone. They are aggressive and clearly have no idea about customer service or decent human behavior.

Service (delivery) 5/5 Food arrived hot and nothing leaked but they don't include cutlery or napkins but they did send some condiments. Food 3-4/5 Chicken Tikka Masala 4/5 It's a lot of sauce to chicken ratio and frankly for the price I expected a bit less sauce and a bit more chicken. Cauliflower dish (I forget the name) 3/5 Honestly for the cost I felt very let down. It was a red sauce thickened with either cornstarch or some other thickener and it was nice enough but not mind blowing. I just don't think the whole meal was a good value after tax and tip (free delivery) a quart of each plus rice came to over $32

Got butter chicken and garlic naan through uber eats. The chicken was good but it was $17 for 5 small pieces of chicken. Burnt tf out out of the garlic naan. Wouldn't order delivery from here again.

Food is good but the portions have gotten incredibly small for the price. 8 cubes of chicken in the to-go curry. Its a shame because I've gone here numerous times over the years since it's in the neighborhood

First time at this restaurant and was pleasantly impressed. Great food!!! Reasonable prices

Delicious food! I always pick up Indian food from here. Philadelphia is not known for its India food by any stretch. This is the best place I order from in the Art Museum area. It's not fantastic but it truly gets the job done on a cold winter day or rainy night or when you're just craving some decent Indian food. Pro tip - order the entree for pick up and ask for raw onions on the side! The entree usually comes with rice, especially if it's like a curry such as the chicken tikka Masala that's my go to. You can easily use your own roti or naan or paratha that's made fresh from home or from Trader Joe's! Chicken tikka Masala: creamy, delicious, flavorful. They use chicken breast which many places have stopped doing. They truly care to stay true to the roots of chicken tikka Masala. And you can taste the clay oven smokiness and flavor in the chicken, which means they truly cook the meat as chicken tikka before putting it into the Masala curry. The naan is delicious, I recommend garlic or onion naan, the rice is classic basmati rice. They are accommodating and give you raw onions and chutneys on the side if you ask! Pro tip - 10% off for cash orders greater than $18!!!

Delecious food and quality sevice. Also nice and quite place to enjoy the meal! Employees are very nice.Thank you.

I ordered the Lamb Bhuna via Grubhub. Let me tell you... AMAZING! I haven't had this dish since Passage to India closed. The lamb was tender with no excess fat. The flavors taste very authentic Indian, fragrant and rich. I also ordered the crispy bread that can't remember the name but that was also good dipped in the sauces. I really need to take a trip to the restaurant to get the full experience.

This is an undiscovered local gem. The BEST chicken/lamb Tikka Masala in town. British tyle and fit for the Queen! The channai and naans are great. Didn't love the ras malai - too rosewatery IMHO. But everything else, shhh....... don't tell anyone or you'll spoil it!

Awful service, pretty much no service at all. It was completely empty when we got there despite restaurants being packed around it, which should have clued us in on what we were getting into. The whole place smelled like a bathroom. Portions were super small for the price and nothing special. I got the lamb tikka masala and it had like 5 small pieces of lamb for a $20 dish. Despite there being no patrons, no one came to give us the check so I paid at the register. My mom used the bathroom and said it was disgusting. Avoid this place.

The lamb biryani is my go to dish. I've ordered it so many times via delivery and it the best Indian meal I've ever had. I will continue ordering from King of Tandoor in the future. I give them 5 stars every time.

My 11 year old son: "Spectacular design and delicious food." It was a Yelp find in the neighborhood of the Philadelphia temple when we were visiting last month, and a priority for him in this month's trip.

Definitely a nice spot for takeout. The lamb vindaloo was electric. I'd give it a 4 out of 5

If this place is still operating under today's management (May 2023) in 6-months ... it will be because the food is so good. Every dish was well prepared and delectable and we tried a good 1/4 of the menu with a party of 7. Food = 5-stars. However, the service is so laughably bad that you will think you are getting pranked. No water refills, no check ins, no offer of dessert after dinner, a 30-minute wait for the check. One of our party got up and went to the back to let them know we wanted water, coffee (which they don't offer), and the check on separate occasions. Without that we might still be there despite them only having two tables. Service = 1-star.

Food is good. Decent Ambience and quick service. Ordered butter naan and lamb tikka masala and curry came with a bowl of plain rice. And taste was good.

Vegetable samosas were everything! The chicken korma was not the tastiest. Overall it was a very average experience.

More like King of Tan-BORE! Bland, bland, bland! Not great, not good, but also not bad, and certainly not terrible. I mean, it was definitely food. It was cooked in a timely manner and all that. I'd give 2.5 stars but I'll round up because I'm a nice guy. Add some spice, King!

The food is worst Restaurant guys please do atleast some youtube or something to find out how to cook biryani

Avoid at all cost. - Totally Empty when entered. (Sure no big deal better for us right? Nope should've seen that as a sign.) - Bathroom was disgusting. Water all over the floor. Plastic wrap by the door. - Be prepared to be stared at the WHOLE time by some guy at the desk - Ordered typical Indian food, curry naan etc. The taste was the WORST I've ever had at any Indian restaurant. - The guy forced me to pack up the leftovers because I couldn't finish any of the food. - Was asked to pay cash or there will be an extra cost if I used a card. (Minimum to use card is $15, mine was well over so why was there an extra charge?) turns out the guy added in his tip by himself because I was using the card. - The service is non-existent. Waste of money, time and a good meal that could've been had at another place.

Walked by this place one day at lunch and thought hey I gotta eat there sometime. Well I finally did last night and am sooo happy that I did! It was a bit awkward at first because we were the only people in there (why? I think they do most of their business via take out and delivery) We brought along our own bottle of wine...I wasn't sure if it was BYOB but we called ahead of time and they confirmed it was. Ok now to the good stuff...the food! We started with the vegetable samosas which came out with 3 house sauces, a spicy cilantro chutney, a sweet and sour sauce and a sauce that looked similar to pico de gallo with tomatos and onions. All 3 were awesome with the hot out of the fryer samosas. We ordered malai kofta (vegetable balls in a cream sauce), chicken tikka masala and chicken malai (chicken in coconut sauce). The bowls came out and I was like that's all!?! but once we started eating we realized it was a trick on our eyes as we were well beyond full before we were even near finishing the dishes! We ordered 3 types of naan to go with our meal--the onion, garlic and plain. Also fabulous and very hot when served. Out of the 3 of us no one could finish their entire meal--We were STUFFED! The waiter even brought out some rice pudding as a complimentary dessert, which of course we made some room in our full tummies for :) Everything was so extremely fresh and served hot. The waitstaff was awesome and right on top of everything. The owner came over and asked how everything was and asked if we would hopefully be returning...I Most definitely will be!

We enjoyed our visit here two times. The first time we visited was during the Eagles parade. E-A-G-L-E-S....Eagles!!!! We stopped in to eat lunch - but the restaurant wasn't serving food that day. The owner explained he didn't have staff that day to keep up with the massive crowds. BUT - he opened just to let people use the restrooms. Unbelievably kind!!!! The bathroom situation in Philly was chaos that day - so it was awesome to have a spot to use a restroom that didn't involve an hour wait and was clean. Thank you a million times over! So we returned recently, with a large group, for dinner. We didn't have reservations but they had no problem accommodating our party of ten. Service was great, food was excellent - everyone was happy! We'll definitely return!

The best samosa I've ever had was from a random cart on a side street in a dusty market in Dubai. I was told never to eat street food abroad, especially in the Middle East- or Brazil for that matter- but I followed the advice of a friend who had lived there multiple times and I've never regretted it. Since I'll never be back to Brazil unless someone drugs me and drags me there, and never tried street food there, I guess I can't say whether or not to try some- but you only live once right? Right?? Actually I hate "YOLO" so ignore that, but do try the street food in the UAE (but not Egypt). All that being said, I now use my organismic food experience in Dubai as a standard for which to identify Indian food. Unfair? Nope, because if I'm paying for it, it should be good. But I digress. Overall the food is okay. I have not sat in for lunch or dinner and that may affect my overall perception, but my multiple takeout lunch experiences have always left something to be desired. The people are friendly whenever I come to pick up my food and it's generally hot (depending on how long I take to pick it up), but the dishes just aren't that great. I've had the curry box and the tandoori box and both were very filling but underwhelming. They easily can feed two people but the amazing flavors just aren't there. Just okay. I've also had the samosas (lamb and veggies) and they're tasty, but I definitely prefer the lamb over the vegetables. And the keema naan is different but nothing that made me go- woah this is amazing. The naan is good and they give you three tasty sauces that complement every dish, but overall I find the food okay just not 4 or 5 stars worthy. That being said, as this is the only close by Indian spot near my job, when I'm pheening this is definitely a lunch option, so okay isn't too bad in my book.

This place is really hit or miss. I've had decent food from here (the Mulligatawny soup is very good!), but then I've had a tikka masala that tasted like Prego. No spices, just tomatoes and maybe some turmeric. It was shocking. That same time the onion chutney tasted like it was a week old. Service is fine to good.

I totally agree with yelper Aaron O. The food here is legit. I came here with my family on a recent trip to Philly and we had a great meal. The highlights: Saag Paneer had a perfect balance of spinach and cream. I hate it when some restaurants make this too creamy. I see that in NY all the time and it pisses me off. I like to taste my Saag in my Saag Paneer. The chunky cottage cheese that was in this dish was awesome. The lamb chops were done proper. They must have marinated them in yogurt for hours because the tartness of the yogurt really came through. The meat was succulent. This is how I had my lamb chops growing up so kudos to these guys for getting this right. The chicken tandoor came sizzling off the oven and again I was thankful that they didn't overcook this, a common mistake. It was moist and the flavors were on point. Was it the best chicken tandoor I've had? No.. but it was pretty damn good. My family is Bengali and they act like friggin Nazis when it comes to desi food, so I was happy I found this place. The food put them in a good mood. We didn't have any problems with the service either. They were busy as it was a Saturday night but our food didn't take too long and the waiter was attentive. Btw, nice touch with the sari wearing mannequin up front. A bit Lars And The Real Girl but it brought out a few laughs in our group. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

Worst Chicken Tikka I've ever had. It tasted like canned tomato soup. The 3$ Chutney came in a tiny sauce container and the naan tasted bland

PS. The Vegetable Biryani was even better than the Lamb Biryani! PPS. For those favoring spiciness, the Lamb Vindaloo out-spiced the Chicken Biryani, even with both diners asking for the spiciest the chef could produce.

Met a friend here for dinner last Tuesday and had mixed impressions. On one hand, the dining space is quite nice, and BYO is always a huge plus. On the other hand, the food wasn't the best I've ever had. I had a vegetable korma that was neither as spicy nor as creamy as I might have hoped. The garlic naan was doughy, which I liked, but it was not nearly as flavorful as others I have had. I would come back due to location, dining space, and a very nice staff. That said, I was not blown away by the food -- and that's generally what drives my restaurant choice most on any given occasion.

DO NOT EAT HERE. SERIOUSLY. Just don't. We should have listened to the negative reviews but it was close and we thought it wouldn't be that bad. It was! We got Vegetable Korma and the lentil soup. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture but you can just google broccoli soup (veg korma) and tomato juice (lentil soup). Legitimately, it was broccoli soup. The actual soup had no solids in it, it was very thin, just like tomato juice. It wasn't disgusting or anything it simply wasn't Indian food. Just do yourself a favor and DON'T EAT HERE if you want Indian.

I don't know of a better Indian restaurant anywhere around philly, personally. The portions are big, and they have lunch specials. The naan bread is amazing. Friendly service who were seen being patient with difficult customers.

Yelp I really need some half stars once and for all, this would be a 2.5 star place for me. I've dined in as well as order take out and delivery through the yelp app. The restaurant itself is very clean, intimate, date night like spot feel. It's BYOB and the staff is nice not friendly but nice and attentive. On our first time there we ordered a chicken and a lamb dish this comes with rice. My bf and I agreed that even though the food was good it was not the best Indian food we've had. The reason for the two stars is our delivery order from last night even though it arrived within the time promised and the delivery guy was polite the food was not very good. My boyfriend had chicken tikka masala and again he said it was good but not great. I ordered lamb tikka masala and this is were the problem lies. The "lamb" (I put in quotations because I've never had lamb like this before) was of the most weird texture unlike any other piece of lamb I've eaten before. It was very tough and when you bit into it the texture was almost that resembling of liver (if any of you have ever had that you'll know what I'm talking about). After a few bites of this my stomach felt like I'd eaten a block of concrete so I just stopped. I don't think we'll eat here again. Very disappointing because it seeks like they could have potential.

Ordered three entrees- $70 bill. Too cheap to include a single plastic fork or even a napkin.

The best Indian delivery in the city! The garlic shrimp is absolutely delicious. We order extra garlic naan and rice because the sauce is so good. The chicken tika masala sauce is a must too, but the garlic shrimp is truly unlike anything I've had! It always comes super hot. Can't say enough about this place!

Ordered chicken tikka masala, malai kofta, butter naan, garlic naan, onion kulcha and poori. The portion size of the entrees was quite typical of most India restaurants. The chicken tikka Masala and malai kofta were rich and quite flavorful. The breads left a lot to be desired. The naans were too thick and doughy and seemed to be a bit raw. The butter naan was without the butter. The onion kulcha was the same, doughy and little bit underdone. The pooris were crispy and good but tasted a little bit like bahturas. Overall the food was okay and if they improve the quality of the breads it would be borderline good. The service was slow but attentive. There were only two more tables apart from ours and it took a while for the food to come out.

It's my first time here, unfortunately for me, I just realized the presence of this restaurant. I walk by it a lot but never noticed it. It's very quiet and relaxing inside. I like that the menu has a description of the dish. The food I ordered was delicious, I wish I had more room in my belly to eat it all. I would definitely recommend! Also reasonable prices!

Very bad food, i order via DoorDash I order naans,chapati,makhani paneer, and makhani daal, The name says king of Tandoor They don't know how to make a naan or roti Their name should be beggars of Tandoor. Raita supposed to be a vegetable raita , there was no veggies inside and taste was awful and such a small quantity. Chutneys green and tamarind was trash. All my 50$ was wasted. Very bad food Not at all recommend