Shahnai

The best food in houston texas I’ve ever tried the flavours and they have buffet everyday i’d recommend to try their Nihari you will definitely love that

This kind of restaurant serves chicken biryani with bugs when ordered through Uber Eats. The taste is absolutely disgusting. Honestly, shutting down this place would be better for everyone’s health. Still um feeling bad…😡

Amazing food 🍱 Great service Crazy location its really great place and great looking

Excellent buffet!! 10/10. Highly recommended. My wife and I went for the first time, by coincidence. We had an amazing experience with the affordable and delicious buffet, especially the haleem, paye, barbecue and fresh food on the menu.

Had the Chicken Karachi & Nehari so damn good 100/10 . Thanks so much for being friendly to me an my family as well. It was our first time hence the small bowls to try

We've been catering and eating here for years and they are one of my favorite restaurants in Houston. When you cater for events and/or get a to-go order of trays, you get a good amount of food for the price besides it tasting really good. The buffet has always been one of my favorites with a good variety of options to eat and it never gets too crowded. Definitely check them out if you have not already. Across the street they have their own hall for events as well if interested.

It seem restaurants with the most authentic and satisfying dishes are commonly tucked away in peculiar locations. Shahnai is a perfect example of this. Speaking with the staff, I saw the pride they have in the service they provide. And they should have pride! Friendly, helpful and there when I needed them. Everything I tried was wonderful(the palak paneer was some of the best I've had) and satisfying. Can't wait to return!

Good things first - biryani at 16$ is substantial and so is chana dal at 9$. That's the good news. Chana dal had so much oil it was a layer on top. Had to use napkin to absorb oil. To top that, it was one of the saltiest things I've ever eaten. Oily and salty - seriously. Biryani was an odd story, I used the BOGO on UberEATS - one had good 5 meaty pieces and the other maybe 3. Rice was oily. Chicken pieces tasted fine. I plated the biryani into a mixing bowl to make sure no foreign "things" were present referred to by prior reviews. Oh, the biryani at 16$ didn't even have raita or salnah. Absolutely no reason to frequent this place.

beautiful people and great atmosphere and it has great food and I tried the buffet which is amazing and helpful employees

This is my late-night 'go-to' when I don't want to wait and just want good 'Indo-pak' food. Most buffets are just for lunchtime or close early. I stay up late and crave a good South Asian meal. I usually eat the vegetarian items, but they always have several chicken dishes that are irresistible.

Outstanding food. Going on 25 years eating there. Open holidays. Increased size of buffet and can order off menu. Ask for palak paneer.

Not a well known place but their chicken biryani is good, second only to Aga's but cheaper

Need to check their food weather its fresh or not?? Nobody wants rotten food. The money you spend its not going to be worth.

I love coming here. Food is good. For a buffet it's decent. Small selection but when your hungry and wanna try something new , it works.

Mediocre experience for a buffet. Pros: Food was decent. They had an acceptable variety of food such as haleem, chicken tikka masala, a couple different types of rice, etc. Soft drinks were also included with the buffet. I enjoyed the food. Cons: Over the phone, the manager was very friendly, and he told me that the buffet price was $15.99 ($17.31 with tax). But at the restaurant, he charged about $21 total. They added additional fees without telling me. When I questioned the total price, they just said it was the price after tax. But when I showed them that the price increase was way beyond the tax, they said that they added a tip already. And the credit card slip didn't indicate that the tip was already included. Very deceptive and unclear. The bathrooms smelled terrible, like maybe they had a sewage issue. It was not pleasant to eat at the restaurant with that smell. Hopefully they fix their service issues and their bathrooms. Their buffet is one of the more affordable ones in the area, so it would be good to have this as an option, as long as they resolve their issues.

I've been coming here for about 15 years. The food is always excellent and the butter chicken is the best of any restaurant I've tried. (Seriously, try the butter chicken. It's the best.) Also try the Crown Kulfi ice cream. Simply outstanding!

Tucked inside a large shopping center, Shania Restaurant is truly a hidden gem. First and foremost, we found out the hard way that Indian restaurants typically don't offer buffet style dinners on the weekends. After calling at least 10 various restaurants, Shahnai was 1 of 2 that offered a dinner time buffet. After researching on yelp, the picture for this place looked pretty good so we decided to give it a try. The dinner buffet (weekday and weekends) is only $10.99, which is very reasonable for their many offerings! The lunch buffet rings in at a whopping $1 cheaper. It was pretty empty when we walked in Saturday night around 6:30, but we weren't deterred by that as our stomachs growled. We went straight to the buffet and were pleasantly greeted by a plethora of Indian items: saag paneer, chicken tikki masala, chickpeas and cauliflower, lo mein (okay this doesn't really fit in), biriyani, goat curry, chicken kebabs, and more. Even though the place was relatively quiet (I heard a warning once that you don't go to a empty buffet cause the food will be old and cold, since there's no incentive for the cook to bring out new fresh foods!), I felt that the food was still fresh and hot. As we sat down, the skies opened up and a basket of naan descended upon us...hallelujah. Unfortunately, the naan didn't appear very fresh as it was cold and some pieces were even a bit tough to chew. No worries though, because as soon as I tasted the saag paneer, everything bad in the world disappeared. The taste of this saag paneer was on point. My favorite saag paneer to date (and I've been on many dates with different saag paneers...) I enjoyed it so much, I went back for seconds, and then thirds. The rest of the meats and curries were pretty darn good too (the lo mein was surprisingly appetizing, the chickpea curry was flavorful, and the chicken kebab was tasty and juicy.) All in all, I would definitely come back here for an Indian craving. Don't pass on this place just because it's tucked deep inside a shopping center in Hillcroft. Bonus round: the buffet offers mango lassi included on the buffet price!

It was a decent experience. We weren't sure what to expect but after going to a few different spots serving this type of cuisine, we finally decided to try this place. We were looking for an AYCE place. There's a few Indian type restaurants in this area because were in the Mahatma Ghandi section of town so you had Indian, Afghani, Pakistani, Himalayan, Persian, all within a square mile radius, perhaps even bigger. You just had to choose your spot. The food was interesting. Very subtly spicy. Maybe my taste buds can take heat but not my sweat glands. It kind of just creeps up on you. Lots of different city style dishes but no chicken tuna masala or lamb curries which is my favorite. They did have the tandoori chicken and some fish. There was also goat, at least I assumed it was goat due to it being very bony with not much meat. We were served the naan bread even though that was also a slightly non-traditional not being very fluffy. It all had a nice flavor but I'm still looking for a really good traditional Indian buffet and I know I'll find one eventually. Dinner on a weekend will set you back about $18 which I feel is a little too high but know that lunch is cheaper. I could come back if my arm is twisted but probably not a place high on my list for Indian type cuisines.

Five stars..3rd class service and food They have served us rotten Bryani and everyone got sick because meet was rotten...and sad is they don't even apologize or anything. Mr Nasser is very cheap business person No customers respect or regard.. This place needs to shut down because serving rotten and old food ..they are Five star tutee maker

TLDR: Very unprofessional and doesn't respect people time. I have a togo order. I come to the restaurant and it is slow time. The owner forgets to put the order in to let the cook know and he told me 5 mins. Thats fine. then he sit down to chit chat with his friends. After 10 minutes of waiting, I see an employee also talking with another customer. I ask her about my order. She returned to the kitchen and came back to tell me to wait for 10 more mins. GOD DAMN! These people are too busy talking to each other to care about customers. Actually there was a customer come after and leave before me which add more salt into my injury :)

I was invited for an event at Shahnai's party hall and Shahnai restaurant had catered the dinner service. It was a nice sized hall and it can hold at least 300 people. Normally inside the restaurant they have an all day buffet, but customers can order from a la carte menu also. Our dinner include the following items: Chicken Tandoori/Tikka Lahori Fish Biryani Chicken Korma Spicy eggplant (Baingun) Haleem and Naan The dinner was on point, and there was plenty of food to get second servings. There were no complaints regarding food service. You can find most of those items on the daily buffet. I've been going to Shahnai for years and it has been a gamble but for the most part, I've been able to enjoy my buffet or specialized dinner.

0 flavor what so eve. felt akward they didn't seem friendly. The food didn't look good either. save your money and go to biryani pot.

I order B1G1free chicken and they send me very small portion of food it's less then half container plus I order BBQ combo they send me half portion of chicken tikka too it's very small portion too. They charged me more then other restaurant and false add because less then half container of food. Plus they don't give any salad too. I'm so disappointed from them I order from Uber delivery. I lost my money. If I can't reach them God reach them, I leave this in God hand and God do better then me. But I don't recommend for my friends and other for this restaurant it's rip of money. I'm so sorry if I hurt any of you. I lost my money . One again so sorry for all of you. Thanks lot

Best place I have eaten for Butter Chicken. Not your standard flavor! Biryani, Tandoori Chicken, Palak Paneer, Naan Bread also very good! A casual setting makes this a nice place to eat. 5 stars!

I ordered delivery thru Uber Eats. The prices were very reasonable, and more affordable than many other Indian food delivery options. The Saag Paneer was pretty good in flavor, but very slim on paneer, only 4-5 chunks in the entire order. The chicken Korma was terrible; big chunks of chicken that were as much bone as meat, and the sauce had a layer of oil sitting on top that was SO GROSS. And it tasted nothing like korma. The Naan was greasy and tough.

Being indian how I Expect the food is so Delicious So I am giving 5 stars extra So total 10 stars

I think their chef didn't attend the chopping lessons Big pieces of vegetables Taste was really bad and they have very very limited options for chicken

Horrible experience. The food is disgusting. Please avoid at all cost. Yes it's buffet but it's not worth $15.99 at all. Majority of the curries taste like ketchup. Not to mention watered down mango lassi. Extremely disappointed!

If I can give shehanai less than one I will. HORRIBLE food . Half of the curries taste like ketchup.Watered down lassi. How can one mess up mango lassi? Please do yourself a favor and go to other restaurants that are available in Hillcroft. The food was so bad that we ended up going to Bombay sweets afterwards, which was packed and had better food. Extremely disappointed.

I can't tell you how many a night I've craved large amounts of Indian food only to realize that almost all Indian buffets are only available for lunch. What a bummer. Fortunately, now I have Shahnai to satisfy my late night Indo-Pak buffet cravings! The last time I was here was around 10PM at night, and the place was still bustling with people. They have a pretty extensive spread of food. Some of my favorites are the chicken makhani and the goat karahi, which were very good. I usually stay away from tandoori chicken at most restaurants because most of the time I find the meat too dry, but I was pleasantly surprised that the chicken was quite moist at Shahnai. The naan is delivered hot and fresh straight to your table. For dinner it's $9.99 (which includes a fountain drink!), and lunch is a bit cheaper - all in all an amazing bargain. Not sure why others had gripes with the service, but the last time I was there the waitress was super friendly and smile-y :) The food is overall decent...but what really sets Shahnai apart is that it's open late, and they have buffet all day. Now I have a go-to place for a late-night Indian buffet!

Awesome food great customer service experience! Tikka chicken is delicious. Not busy at lunch time.

Food quality has gone low. Not recommended for buffet maybe catering from them is still good They used to be good before

I was at Shahnai twice in one day. Here's why. This place was the venue for a bazaar celebrating the Islamic month of Ramadan. My wife sells jewelry and candles and was asked by a friend to participate as a stall owner. I had dropped her off around 11:00 am. I was to pick her up at the end of the day which turned out to be after 10:30 pm. It was one long Sunday. The banquet hall lacked enough lighting to show off jewelry. I went home and got some lamps and electrical cables. Then we were set. I did not appreciate the fact that the owners could not provide adequate lighting. Next time we will specify this before paying to participate. During the day, my wife got an entree of chhole and rice to tide her over till this bazaar was over. It was nothing extraordinary. Any Indo-Pak restaurant could have made this. This is not a place we will be dining at. Our experience with the overall facilities was close to satisfactory. Lighting aside the bathrooms were dirty. I do not wish to visualize the kitchen. It could be a Gordon Ramsay nightmare. In the competitive market of Houston, this place may have a particular community as its clients. I will not be one.

My parents have brought me here twice. I'm not going to complain about that. It's nice of them. But I don't care for buffets because I always feel they pressure you to overeat. Like I need help with that. The chicken tikka has rocked both times I've been here, it has exceeded my expectations. It's not dry. It's always really flavorful and tender. I'd give the chicken tikka 5 stars actually. That's the only thing I finish. It's laid back. They bring you fresh naan. You can grab fountain drink. The thing that bothers me about the other items are the flavors, consistency of the food. It's like it's watered down for the masses. I'm not suggesting it's actually watered down.

Review is for the food and the banquet hall. When the arrangements for my younger sister's marriage were underway, the debate as to where the reception would take place produced a unanimous result: Shahnai. Reason we agreed to the peoples' choice is because the people were prominent Pakistani Houstonians who knew better than us. And as smoothly as the event proceeded, i too agree. The hall isn't extravagant nor is it humungous. But the way they decorated it made it seem spacious and luxurious while being intimate and classy. It ended up seating our party of 120 or so fairly comfortably. The food was pretty good for a catered menu, and the service was sufficiently prompt. The parking situation is shoddy. Basically you just park wherever you can find a spot and if its a weekend. You're on your own.

I've been to this buffet a few times over the past few years and while I would not put it up there with the best indian buffets in Houston, it is still a decent option. It's more hole in the wall style, due to it's location and there is hardly anyone there every time I visit. They have more than just a large restaurant, they also offer catering and entire event planning of course. Most of the items on the buffet are Indian or Pakistani, but they had one Americanized Chinese dish on my last visit which was odd to see. They basically had like 6 or so chicken dishes, two unusual beef dishes, one was like a beef gravy and the other contained mostly beef bone, and 1 goat dish which was fairly spicy but probably my favorite item. If you didn't like chicken on this particular night and couldn't handle spicy, you were pretty much SOL. The dessert area was probably the weakest part of their buffet line. It had 2 desserts, a custard and a pudding, and both were not good at all to me.

My all-time favorite go-to place for Pakistani food. A little on the greasy side.. just how I want it!!

Been craving Indian food lately. This is probably the best Indian buffet restaurant I have been to. I been to another 2 others but this one tastes the best. Will be back.

Very inconsistent food taste. Buffet is usually good and grilled items taste good. Other a la carte dishes are pretty average

I like place lot of food buffed very tasty price is very good, management very nice ,

We had a big catering and also had an event of our Kid at their Hall next to their Resturant- I would have given Zero rating Start if I I had the option. Since we were serving alcohol to our guest we were required to have 2 security guard and we paid in advance for it and before the event, we reminded him for security and also for the Stage decoration. Hall was so dirty, we had to keep calling the employee and to clean the hall. The food was cold and one of the worst Indian food we have ever eaten. This place is very shitty and don't believe a single word of the owner.

Being Pakistani myself, and having an excellent cook for a mother, I hardly ever go out to eat Pakistani food (I have so much better at home). However, Shahnai restaurant did not disappoint at all. We went in late on a week night and had the buffet dinner. There was plenty of everything available and the owners were very helpful. We had the potatoes, some cholay, and some spaghetti for starters. Love the potatoes and cholay, no to the spaghetti (don't try it). Then we had the chicken boti and the chicken tikkay. Oh my God. SO GOOD. Absolute perfection. Flavorful without being overly spicy, barbequed just right, and fresh. Also, the roti (naan). Fresh, mouthwatering, plenty of it and, I must confess, I had a piece by itself because it was so good. They also had side dishes like yogurt and salad as well as extra spice, onion and lemons for those who enjoy the complementary tastes. There were also some desserts available. What got me extra hooked was the mango lassi drink. I am so going back for that lassi. And next time, I'm getting the kulfi too (excited!). Also, the prices were very reasonable and parking was easy to find. The restaurant itself was very neat and clean and everything seemed well maintained. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience and I can't wait to return!

To start with, Shanai is an extremely cluttered and dirty place. Cannot even begin to describe the filth over there. I have seen roaches roaming on the their buffet tables **while they have food in the trays**!!! The restrooms have a peculiar gutter stench, and are also used as storage rooms. Small, filthy, cluttered and unorganized place where people are cramped, and have to over pay for very average food.

DON'T TRY IT! I came here with my mom, and we tried the buffet. The food tasted decent but we quickly noted a lot.., and I mean A LOT, of hair in one if the saucy meaty entrees. It was enough to make both of us want to vomit. It literally looked like they shaved the animal and threw the hair in the pot. I can't look at Indo-pak food the same anymore.

great food at a great cost and will certainly be bringing some friends back for another round!

I guess it's really hit or miss with this place. We came for the buffet on a weekend and it was terrible. I think if you come here, sticking to the menu is probably a better idea. The food lacked flavor, consistency/texture wasn't good, things just weren't good. Next time I go, I'll update/edit this review to reflect the menu items vs buffet in recent times.

Great haleem and good naan. Paya is always on their weekend buffet! Karahi goat solid! Kheer is dead-on most of the time. Everything else is merely meh! Service usually good, restaurant clean.

I don't know why, but I love Shahnai. I always keep coming back here everytime I get an urge to eat Indian/Pakastani food, which used to be once a week! Lol. Unfortunately, my waist line can't handle that so now it's more of an once a month thing. All I can say is their selection is great, they have basically something for everyone. When I come I usually just stick to all their delicious chicken dishes (masala, tandoori, etc), some white rice, naan, and a side of mint sauce. I engorge about 4 plates and leave a happy camper! (Food coma soon to follow, lol!) Overall, the staff is friendly, they give you fresh naan, and you can eat as much awesome food as you want for an affordable price. What more can you ask for?

The food was wonderful and I'm not witting a review on their food services. I'm writing about their other service, which is renting out banquet halls for parties. Please think twice before booking a date and hall with them. In the beginning (as we booked for our wedding reception 5 months in advance), everything seemed to go smoothly - hourly rates, head count, etc were all sorted out. A month before the date, the person we had spoken to initially and confirmed with had left the country and therefore, we had to go through a different person. This other person had additional charges that were not initially told to us. For instance, if you book the bigger hall, then you are required to pay for 125 people whether or not you have 125 head count. When you serve alcohol, you are charged for 2 Houston police that guard outside of the hall. However, on the day of the reception, there was none. On top of this, we requested for a specific layout of table and chairs to the decorator. One hour before my reception, I come in to the hall and the hall is in a totally different layout with a lesser number tables and chairs! I don't understand if I'm force to pay for 125 head count, then isn't it logical to put 125 chairs in the hall with tables accordingly? Overall, I had fun at my reception and that was because of my family and friends attending it, but I would NEVER host a party at Shahnai again!

Unless there's a family get-together, I DO NOT do Chinese buffet (but in cases of the aforementioned, I will eat some mushrooms, fruit and ice cream...slooooowly). Nor will I do Mexican buffet. Pakistani and Indian buffet...that's another story. They do their buffet with a LOT more care and pride, seemingly. The thing I like with Pakistani dinner buffets, is that despite some similarities with Indian stuff, there are more types of meat dishes. Spicy stews like the kormi and nihari tend to be available at Shahnai. While serving yourself, hold off on the rice or biryani. Wait until the fresh naan bread arrives. By leaving out most of the rice, you can savor most of those tasty dishes, scooping or wrapping up with that tasty naan. I am also hooked on their version of kheer (a milky rice pudding) for dessert. I like Shahnai's urban vibe...hell, I love the overall edginess of Hillcroft (Houston's official "Mahatma Ghandi District",seriously). Just drive past the Bijan Persian restaurant (another great place!) and the Jordanian bakery...and voila...there's Shahnai.

This restaurant offers buffet for both lunch and dinner on weekdays and weekends. You walk in and right in front of you is the cashier and the buffet line. Weekend dinner buffet price was not bad at $8.99/person. It also appears that you can order off a menu. They have a little menu posted up front and on your table, but we opted for the buffet. The buffet selection was okay. The meat dishes were mainly chicken and beef, but they offer plenty of veggie dishes. I was pretty disappointed with the food. Although it was full of flavor, it lacked spiciness. I guess I always equate foods from this region to be spicy. I did like their saag paneer since it tasted more like spinach than cream. The chicken tandoori and chicken biryani was pretty good, too. I also liked the rice pudding. The texture is a little different than the ones I've had before, it's as if they ground the rice or used a rice powder. It's not the best rice pudding I've had but it was my favorite dish from the line. For all you curry lovers out there that don't like the heat, this restaurant is for YOU, but not for me.

Chicken karahi is decent here. My friend ordered some other dish they had recommended...it was chicken 65 or something along those lines. Blah! Do not order that. The color and taste looked like little chunks of buffalo wings... 2 dishes, 3 naan, 2 sodas for under $20...not too bad. Feels dirty though. RR really needs a fixer upper. Waitress was nice.

Been here a few times. Food is okay. Service is okay. But the presence of ROACHES (a whole colony!) put the nail in the coffin. We will NEVER come back here. Oh and the bathrooms at a shady truck stop is probably cleaner than Shahnai's. However, if you're into mediocre food that's kept at a below standard temperature (we all experienced food poisoning) and enjoy the company of creepy crawlies...by all means -- you must try this place!!!

This place is awesome! It has a wide variety of food at their delicious buffet for a great price. Service does tend to be slow occasionally but that is fine because all they do is give you naan and clear your plates.They do seem to be nice for the last few times I have been there. Everyone I have been there with and everyone that has been there has enjoyed it. I would suggest going there. I am actually going tonight lol LuV&PeaCe

It used to be my go to place for some Pakistani food. However in the past couple of years, the food has deteriorated. They are focused more on their catering and reception hall business it seems all the while sacrificing on the quality of food they serve in-house.

Went here with my family for dinner. Great food and affordable price for a buffet. My favorite dishes of which I had more than second helpings of included chicken makhani, palak paneer, goat korma, and their flan. You definitely won't leave hungry here!

Every time I have Indian cuisine, I enjoy it more and more each time. This time at Maharaja Bhog was no different. I thoroughly enjoyed some new to me dishes here, however, I will think twice about coming back here for those dishes. For $11.90 you get an all access pass to their once delicious buffet that's been refrigerated, heat lamped, frozen then reheated again. Drink included, by the way. Some food is very flavorful, but the majority of the dishes have no meat left, just bones swimming in a yummy sauce. Will I come back here? Yes, I very well might. Will I enjoy it? Yes, I very well might. But it's a big city, so I don't expect to visit any time soon. As for the cleanliness, my shoes were sticking to the floor, and the tables, chairs and curtains were splattered with a few months worth of leftovers. Hopefully they change their act soon, I really thought this place had potential. Two stars for friendly staff and amazing naan bread.