Shanti

I had come here twice before for dinner, and have ordered take out from here since, but no more. I am done after this latest insult. Partner and I came for dinner the other night, we had to walk past the host/servers outside smoking on our way in. They definitely saw us. We get inside and there is no one to greet us. We realize they are outside smoking. We wait for 5 minutes. Still no one. We decided to leave and go to another Indian restaurant. There is no point giving this place a chance when there is so much competition for quality Indian food. Especially when the employees see you and know you are waiting to be seated, yet continue smoking outside without even so much as an acknowledgment. As we left, we saw them all still outside smoking and didn’t say a word. Genuinely shocked by the level of disregard for willing customers. So long Shanti!

The mango lassi tasted freshly made. The garlic naan was to die for. The mixed vegetable pakora was perfectly fried. The lamb in the lamb saag was so good I had to ask where they bought the meat from. Really the only dish that was lack luster was the mulagawtani (lentil) soup which just lacked some flavor. The service was prompt and friendly. I had never been here before but will definitely be back many times. Oh also they give a reusable bag for leftovers and it’s a woman-owned business!

Ordered a meat/veggie pakora platter. A few of the veggie ones were totally burned and tough as you can see in the pic. Not sure why but their quality has gone down the last few years. Shanti needs to do better than this if they want to retain customers.

The butter chicken here is great - it's rich and has the right flavor and taste. The garlic naan has a certain doughy and chewy texture that I don't find in a lot of other Indian restaurants. It is very buttery and crispy, but heavier than garlic naans from a lot of other Indian restaurants. I personally like both types of garlic naan (light and crispy vs. heavy and cripsy), and this place does the heavy and crispy type very well. The appetizer they serve is not the regular kind of papadum that I see in other Indian restaurants, but a unique one with something like chili powder (?) on top. I do not know what these crackers are called, but they come in various colors. They are pretty tasty and give for a unique dining experience. I drank their mango juice at least two times and it was okay. Not exceptional, but not bad. Managing mango juice can be hard because the right balance of coldness (often provided by ice) is needed - but the melting of ice can often ruin the thick texture of a mango juice. This place did not excel in doing this, but I wouldn't blame them.

The food is excellent! We eat there multiple times a month. Everything we’ve had is great. And they serve it as spicy as we like. And the service has gotten really good over the years.

I've always loved their food (the panerr tikka masala is amazing!) and tonight they showed how good their customer service is. There was a mixup with our online order (not places through their website, a mistake I will not make again) and the manager was professional and gracious and quickly made it right for us. We always get takeout but sitting there waiting foe our food tonight I realized how lovely and calming the music and decor are and will go eat there in person more often! Highly recommend!

2.5 stars. For all the hype around this place in terms of Indian food in Boston, was rather underwhelmed. Ordered Rogan Josh with medium spice but it tasted like it had no spice. Lamb was dry and somewhat tough. Came with a pint of rice, no issues with that. Cheese naan was decently sized, but more burnt than is ideal.

It’s so nice to have an Indian place within walkable distance from our place that has amazing quality of food. Food is always consistently tasty, reasonable priced; staffs are very helpful and kind people. Spice level is legit! Ranging from just a bit of spicy taste to Indian level spicy - sometimes you want to go there sometimes you don’t! Highly recommend the tomato coconut soup - our all time craving 🙌

Great food every time! I prefer everything extra spicy and when I call and to ask they are always very accommodating

I've been to the original Shanti in Dorchester years before, and liked it. But this was my first visit to their outpost in Roslindale. Their location made driving there a bit of a workaround. But one nice thing is, when you place an order online ahead of time, it gives you the option of curbside pick up. I was a bit late picking up my order. And then I still had to get it home before tucking in, so the bread was cool by then, the apps warm, while the entree remained hot. I gave their onion naan a go, and it was soft and good, but I'll probably go back to my garlic naan norm. The Veg Shanti Platter came with an assortment of their vegetable appetizers and 2 portions of each of 3 sauces. I only gave the sweet and tangy brown sauce a go since the other two tend to be spicy when I've tasted them elsewhere. There were 2 vegetable samosas (with a touch of heat in the potato filling), 1 aloo tikki patty (same, if I remember correctly), and a handful of vegetable fritters - some mixed, some likely quartered slices of potato, and I think I spotted a cauliflower one or two. Those weren't spicy, but were rather good. In place of my often ordered saag paneer, we got the malai kofta which came with either 2 or 3 (couldn't tell) rather sizeable vegetable balls hidden in a tasty vegetable cream sauce, which was accompanied with an order of basmati rice. This was ordered mild. It arrived spicy, north of what I'd consider to be light spicy, but manageable by me. Not so much by another diner though, unfortunately. I wonder if this was truly their mild, or if they read my order wrong, and defaulted to their normal spice level.

We ordered delivery from here last night, ordering a variety of appetizers and entrees. Of everything we ordered, there were very few highlights worth noting: Corn Bhel and Channa Masala. The quality and taste for the majority of other items, detailed below, missed the mark and were just bad, especially given the premium price point. Here is what we ordered: Corn Bel: Similar to bhel puri but not the same texture. It was a bit soggy but we good enjoyed the savoriness of this app. Papri Chaat: Very, very soggy. also very sweet, which was unexpected. The dish lacked the savory flavors of tamarind and mint chutnies that you'd usually expect with chaat. Malai Kofta: This dish had so much potential but ultimately did not work. The gravy was nutty and spicy (as ordered). However, the koftas were not cooked all the way and felt like they were added to the dish after being frozen, which didn't allow for the sauce to be absorbed. It is the one dish I order from every Indian restaurant because how time consuming and challenging it can be to make at home. Paneer Tikka Masala: This dish was bad. It was very, very sweet, which was not at all expected. Additionally, there was far too few paneers, and the paneer was rather hard, not soft and squishy as you'd expect. Would not order again. Channa Masala: This is a dish we got for free for ordering so much and turned out to be the best entree. Chickpeas were cooked well. The tomato based sauce was spiced well and delicious. Naans (Garlic, Onion, and Cheese): Ehh. Not the best, not the worst. Garlic naan was solid. Onion naan was fine. The cheese naan barely had any cheese, which was disappointing. It is hard to assess certain dishes being ordered through delivery and would result in loss of integrity of the dish, i.e. chaats. However, with the exception of the corn bhel and channa masala, there were not enough dishes that would make me want to try it again. Save your money, take a trip outside of Boston to find better Indian food.

Food was great, but service was a bit off, but certainly not bad. Would definitely try it again, when the urge to eat Indian strikes

Last day of the year deserves a 5-star Yelp review! We went to Shanti on a rainy weeknight and it was just us for dinner. The ambiance was so nice and peaceful, that we enjoyed the quiet dinner to ourselves. Roasted papad with chutneys was served on the house. We polished them off! We started with the samosas which were piping hot and crunchy. While the filling does not taste quite authentic, it was still good. The side chutneys went well with them. For dinner, we ordered the chicken tikka masala which came with rice and a side of garlic naan. The garlic naan was a delight for the eyes and mouth haha. It was the right amount of soft yet crisp, topped with lots of garlic. The chicken tikka masala was creamy with tomatoes and garam masala and paired well with both the naan and the rice. Customer service was quick and friendly. We had a lovely time and we'll be sure to visit Shanti again, especially on rainy weeknights!

First time trying shanti and very impressed! All the flavors were on point, quality of ingredients was good and fresh, good selections too

We have gotten taken out a few times from here. We have had such mixed experiences. The last time was good and today was really bad.. I don't know if they rotate chefs or something. Papri chat - pretty good. Kadhai paneer - no it wasn't. The gravy tasted like marinara sauce with red chili powder. Tandoor paneer tikka app - was gravy? It's supposed to be dry...And the gravy tasted similar to the above dish. Bhindi - it was ATROCIOUS. We had to throw it away because the pieces of okra were so chewy. I had so many pieces I spat out. This is likely because the okra is frozen or stale. Take this off the menu, please. I didn't think I could eat bhindi that was worse than something from Singh's Cafe. The Naan - pretty good. (Always has been)... Gulabjamun was fine.

Ordered takeout 1 week ago; food has always been excellent whether takeout or dining in. However when I reviewed Shanti the next day I noted both to them at the restaurant and in the review that we were charged two order fees and a tip that wasn't authorize unfortunatel. I was contacted by the manager today and informed that our next takeout will be discounted the amount overcharged last week. Very nice people.

Just ordered for the first time. I have enjoyed Indian cuisine in many places..having lived in NYC, San Francisco and Boston. Shanti in Roslindale far superior to many of my dining experiences.

This is the first time I've ever eaten here and I'm already annoyed. I ordered $20 worth of food including an entree and naan, and then I requested in the notes to include chutney. I even drove over to pick it up just to save some cash. And because I was going to pick it up I could make sure it was right. When I picked it up it was not in there and I mentioned it to the employee that I saw. Even though it was explicitly written on the modifiers to include chutney, he said I didn't order it. I said yeah I know but I put it right here it's in red. He said you have to order it and it costs extra. I told the guy to forget it. This is the only Indian restaurant where I ordered a complete meal and they refuse to include a little container of chutney. To me chutney is like ketchup you don't charge extra for ketchup when you serve french fries. I'll eat this food because I paid for it but I'm out. Stop nickel and diming your customers. I do a lot of takeout food and people like me will be loyal but this is lame. Lame AF. Food wasn't good either, but I'll eat mediocre Indian food no problem, but not when I'm being ripped off.

Excellent food, excellent service I highly recommend. This is definitely become one of my favorite Indian restaurants.

A+ for service the gentleman that work there were very nice and it was very clean. The food was to me just mediocre. First I was craving goat curry and they had no goat so I got the lamb and aloo paratha. Both were just missing flavor and boring.

Shanti was recommended by an Indian friend who thinks this is the best Indian restaurant in the area. We´ve tried and keep going back to their carry out. Tasty, fresh, reliable Indian food. Very nice.

The chicken masala is crack and there garlic Naan lol really really good I get it from there at least once a week. I only order out but the staff is super friendly and helpful. 10/10 on food.

Was the very best Indian food in the area. Pre-covered. We used to dine in the Dorchester spot regularly and post Covid. We've been getting takeout from either the Dorchester or the Roslindale restaurant.

Just delicious. Have come here before and it's always good but just had the patia with shrimp and it was fantastic and prompted me to write this. Always good food here.

Service is very shady here. Went there and stood at the desk 5 minutes. No seated customers, just one paying for takeout. Three staff members were present. One person was helping someone with takeout. The other two glanced and ignored us. No type of acknowledgement, they didn't even say hello. I have never been made to feel welcome there. This is their second time that I have been treated poorly at this location. Oddly enough, I never had problems with the service at the Dorchester location. Highly suspect! It made me feel some kind of way. We went down the street to Himalayan Bistro and as soon as we opened the door we were greeted and seated with a smile! Himalayan Bistro's service is far more superior and the food was great. Do better Shanti.

Without question, Shanti is our #1 go-to Indian in the area. They were closed recently so we ordered from another spot instead, which made us realize *just* how excellent Shanti is and how much we appreciate them. Every item is made fresh (often is still piping hot by the time it gets to us), with quality ingredients (no cutting corners here, only the good stuff), made perfectly, with tons of flavor and chock-full of goodness (their korma contains far more cashews and golden raisins than I've seen otherwise, their rice is the fluffiest I've seen, their garlic naan is absolutely covered in garlic...). They also do their own ordering/delivery, which in Covid times is key, and it arrives incredibly quickly. And when we ordered something recently that ended up not being in stock, they called us immediately to suggest a replacement, and even sent our order with a gift to make up for the 'inconvenience'. Their quality, flavors, and customer service, combined with their (pre-pandemic) fun special dinners and events and buffets, makes them top notch in our book. Our favorite, hands down.

First of all, I Love Love Love a place that labels their dishes for dietary restrictions! Menu items are labeled with icons for vegan, vegetarian and gf which makes scrolling through so much easier! My husband and I tried a ton of dishes so we would have leftovers for the week, including: Chana masala (very good & gingery; went well with coconut stuffed Naan -Peshawari) Onion naan (even better than my usual garlic go to and they are huge!) Saag paneer (very good, a little salty) Baingan Bharta (too smokey for my taste) Butter chicken (my husband liked this) Reshmi pakora (wasn't crispy) Samosas (3 large per order and very flavorful) Takeout was very quick (ready in 20 min) and arrived back home 10 minutes away still piping hot!

The food is always good! The staff are very nice! You have to get the butter chicken, naan or chicken tikki marsala

Food was delicious and was delivered quickly! The portions were huge and very flavorful! We will definitely be going back!

Fantastic place! Their food is always piping hot, full of spice, and cooked with love!

Great Indian food! Service is always great. It's an intimate setting, casual and comfortable.

This is the Indian restaurant that we most consistently order take out from in the Boston area. They have great northern Indian style food (still searching for a great southern Indian restaurant that delivers to my area). The saag paneer is excellent (and toddler approved because my kiddo likes strong flavors). I also enjoy some of their other paneer dishes, the tomato coconut milk soup, the samosas, and veggie biryani. The husband likes their chicken vindaloo and chicken curry. All in all, we've probably gotten take out from here 10+ times.

Consistently good food via delivery, but there's a special extra if you eat in person. The place is tiny and perfectly decorated. Plus the food is that much more fresh. Everything I've tried is really good, but i keep coming back to the basics: tarka dal, tandoori chicken, samosa chaat. You just can't go wrong here

Sometimes Shanti is amazing and other times just not at all. I'm surprised at the inconsistency. The other night our food was very overcooked and literally tough to chew on. Take out requests for edits to our order are often missed. The service inside is pretty bad. I've had to go find the waitress to ask for things and get my check etc. Wine is also very small portions I have hope these things will improve but it seems things have gotten a bit lazy

Hands-down the best Indian food I've had in Boston! The portions are generous, prices are great and the food is fantastic!

This restaurant has a large Menu, and all the food is fresh and delicious. We have had great luck with prompt delivery and reasonably sized portions. I recommend the tandoori chicken and the sag paneer.

Not the best Indian food around. Flavors are lacking and honestly it is so overpriced in my opinion. Just OK. Overall.

I finally found an Indian restaurant in Boston that has amazing food! Just moved to Roslindale and we decided to check out a restaurant in town on Friday. We choose shanti and we're not disappointed!

I've had their food twice from the Roslindale location. Once as a dine in a few years ago and more recently takeout. Both times the food was sub par, especially during the dine in. But I decided to give them another chance and got some takeout. Both times, there was little or no flavor or spices and everything tasted just a little "off". During the recent takeout I ordered the Papri Chaat and it had decent flavor and, granted, it's not something that can really be appreciated in a takeout format but the way it was delivered was messy and all the ingredients were mixed and mashed together. Very strange. The Chicken Biryani was decent but not as good as others I've had elsewhere. The Chicken Bhuna was also mediocre. Another issue I had was that for the entrees the prices were a little steep for the amount we got. So unfortunately, no more visits to Shanti. For me the jewel in the crown for Indian restaurants has to be India Quality in Kenmore Sq. followed by Punjab in Arlington. Try those instead.

Shanti never disappoints. We do take-out more than dine-in (especially during the pandemic) and the food is always hot and fragrant when we open it on our table. The range of vegan and vegetarian items is fantastic. We ordered the vegetarian starter platter and received a variety of beautifully crisp and tasty appetizers. And the bread! We could live on just the delicious aloo naan and aloo paratha. The service is consistently friendly and efficient. Shanti is a lovely neighborhood spot.

The place had good reviews on yelp and we were looking to try out a new place for dinner, so went for Shanti. We ordered the chicken tikka as appetizers, chicken tikka masala and some plain naans. The chicken they used did not taste pleasing.The chicken tikka was nothing great, the meat was lot dry. The chicken tikka masala was the worst, the meat tasted stale. We mostly used the gravy and tossed out the meat. We had a take out order, so no other options. The naans were ok.

Stopped by there for dinner, the staff is friendly and attentive. Food was delicious will be returning in the near future.

Shanti is a gem. Eat in or take out -- everything is well prepared and tasty. Highly recommended.

We were ripped off by Shanti. We ordered dinner on July 4th. Their website indicated they were open. We picked our food, paid our money, and drove to Shanti to pick up the order 15 minutes later only to find it closed for the holiday. We called the restaurant and left messages from the phone number with which we placed the order. They didn't bother to call back. When we called from a different number, we received a text message that said, "Hi this is Shanti Restaurant - I saw that we just missed your call. How can I help?" We texted this back to that number: "We ordered food online and there was no one at the restaurant when we came to pick it up. Please tell me you will reverse the charge on my credit card since you did not provide us with the food we ordered." The charge showed as "pending" for a day and has since posted to our account. Shanti still hasn't bothered to call us back or answer our text message.

We ordered a full meal and placed clearly in ORDER NOTES: Order Special Instructions: No nuts The vegetable briyani came with cashew slivers which caused an immediate allergic reaction. We are now waiting to see if I need to take my partner to the ER. The epi pen is poised What is the point if special instructions? If I could write less than "not good" I would. .

I am extremely disappointed in the delivery we just got. Our next door neighbor recommended your food but I can't imagine why. The only thing remotely edible is the rice. The naan is totally undercooked and almost raw dough tasting; the shrimp in the mixed grill is rubbery and tasteless and if I could give a less than star rating, I would. I'm really regretting our decision this evening.

I love love love this restaurant! Recently moved to Roslindale and feel so lucky to live so nearby a great Indian restaurant. I could eat their butter chicken and garlic naan everyday! They have great customer service too! There was a computer glitch that led to my order not being received by the restaurant and they really went above and beyond to make it right.

Shanti is a Roslindale fixture, and for good reason. The food is on point, the option for delivery is there if you want it, the place is comfy, and the staff are nice. I hear some of the criticisms in the reviews below, but here are some tips to get the best Shanti experience, IMHO. Pro tip #1: Download Seated, an app that helps restaurants fill their "shoulder" times - hours with less traffic - and use it for your reservations. You'll get a $10 credit to Uber, Amazon, or Starbucks every time you eat at Shanti. Pro tip #2: Go for the garlic naan over the regular naan. It packs a lot more flavor than regular, and it still has that lush, doughy, fresh-baked flavor. I genuinely consider ordering a garlic naan over pizza when I'm in the mood for a pie here in Rozzie, because the quality of the dough is legit unmatchable. Pro tip #3: Vindaloo packs in the heat and the spice without compromising flavor. If you like spice, vindaloo is your game. It's my go-to Shanti entrée. Pro tip #4: Hold on to the chutneys you get with your papadums at the beginning of your meal. Sometimes the shish kebabs and mixed vegetable pakoras can be a little dry. But you have chutneys! Dinner is saved!

The food here is really good. We had the vegetable samosas, special biryani, and garlic naan, all good. This was enough for two of us and very affordable. The service is not good. Drinks came after starters, and I had to ask twice for sparkling water - the server didn't know if they had any the first time. Everything was slower than it needed to be, and the restaurant was not full.

Yum! So happy with the food here. We went with the classics--samosas, Chicken Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer. Great spice! We will be back.

Ok. So, I've eaten in before and it was great. Maybe twice, a while ago. Recently, I ordered takeout 3 times. The first time was good except they forgot an item in my order, agreed to refund it, and then totally didn't. It's like 4 bucks - not a huge deal. Second takeout order was perfect. And now, the third takeout order: we find what appears to be a small, smooshed COCKROACH at the bottom of one of our rice containers. Aaaaaaaaand done.

Shanti is one of my favorite Indian restaurants in Boston, second to Mela in the south end. Pre pandemic we would go for their weekend brunch but lately we've done pickup and delivery and never disappointed.

Shanti is terrific! The food is delicious and high-quality. The portions are generous, and the menu includes a wide variety of dishes. Plus, the folks here are friendly, they offer curbside pickup, and orders are ready quickly and on time. We are delighted to live nearby, and look forward to continuing to order from here on a regular basis!

Delicious, authentic, huge portions, and fair price. The workers are incredibly nice and the restaurant is very clean. A huge menu that will have something for anyone you're eating with. I recommend the typical tikka massala, paneers, and naan.

Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic!!! That's all I got! Their food can make you hate your favorite dishes. So just order something you already hate and you'll end up hating it even more.

Finally went back to Shanti, this time for takeout. Had medium chicken curry, mild lamb curry, and mild lamb tikka masala. The medium curry was pretty hot. Next time I'd just get chicken since with this type of preparation you can really taste the difference of the lamb and it's $2 more. Overall the food seemed pricey but it was quite good.

Fresh and delicious. Such a great local option. Take out only at the moment. We had chicken tiki masala, sag paneer, veggie curry, onion naan and an amazing coconut/raisin/almond naan. Heavenly.