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Abhiruchi South & North Indian Cuisine
Categories: Restaurants Indian Restaurants Pakistani Restaurants Buffets Indian, Pakistani, Buffets [Edit]
3815 SW Murray BlvdBeaverton, OR 97005
(503) 671-0432
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
113 reviews for Abhiruchi South & North Indian Cuisine
Review Highlights
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"I always get the chicken tikka masala." In 7 reviews -
"The Saag Paneer was A-MAZING." In 7 reviews -
"Great hot fresh naan, and super attentive friendly service." In 29 reviews
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113 reviews in English
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Review from George M.
Beaverton, OR
3/2/2012
I seem to save Indian food for those "I feel like Indian food" moments and I have one about once every two months.
I was very pleased all around. Any place my four year old is happy, I'm happy. Food selection was great. I wanted spicy and my wife did not, she dealt with what curry that came with the meal and I was pleased as punch. Her exact words were "it's a little spicy for me, but I can't stop eating it.". The nan was fresh and mango lassi were creamy smooth. We had a sampling of desserts, all were good. Another great part was our pockets were only $40 lighter.
I would like to visit for the lunch sometime, but for family dinner night, I would highly recommend. -
Review from Melodie K.
Hillsboro, OR
5/12/2012
The food was really good but the service was not up to par. We walked in and the guy just pointed to the table. No greeting what so ever. He then brought a pitcher of water and attempted to pour it in our glasses missing majority of it but hydrating our table quite well and didn't even apologize. We weren't asked if we wanted anything else to drink and when he was ready to take our order he just stood at our table looking at his pad of paper not saying a word. Not even a smile!
We ordered the chicken masala dinner and the tandoori chicken. Both like I said before were VERY good. And yes, the naan was delicious!
It's too bad that the service was so bad because I would have loved to make this my new favorite place. -
Review from Kurt V.
Portland, OR
4/4/2012
Four stars average are you kidding me? They do have quite a large selection of food to pick which was impressive, however most of the food was served lukewarm. The naan which I usually love to eat was doughy and without any taste and was similar to store bought naan.
The staff was very pleasant. The atmosphere was nothing special.
What it is paramount to me when dinning out is the food a restaurant serves. In this case I was expecting something special given the high rating however I left unsatisfied.
I ate here once many years ago and now I am reminded why i never returned. -
Review from Tamsen G.
4/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
I really wanted to love this. I really did. I'm all for a lunchtime adventure to a restaurant with gawdy plastic flowers and eclectic ethnic music, if it's just campy enough and the food is really great.
This was not really great - it was OK but I've had a lot better - even in Beaverton. Sorry Yelpers, nothing special here. -
Review from Baburaj B.
Kansas City, MO
5/24/2012
Don't go here if you are looking for south Indian food. The idly served to me was microwaved frozen idly I could buy from Apna Bazar.
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Review from Kyle T.
Portland, OR
5/20/2012
I've tried several Indian places in the Portland area and Abhiruchi is one I always seem to find myself coming back to. At first I was a little skeptical about the location being in a strip mall that in my opinion has seen better days but I think it gives this place a little bit of hidden gem vibe that I like. The food is always good although the service can be a little slow for how busy the place usually is. That being said I highly recommend trying the weekend buffet.
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Review from Kjersti S.
OR
5/10/2012
I was pretty disappointed with the food here. It smelled amazing but fell short in the flavor department. Not to say it wasn't good, just not as good as India Oven or Bombay Chaat House. It also thought it was a little overpriced. I may go here again if I'm too lazy to drive to the east side.
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Review from Ima T.
Livingston, TX
Updated - 5/2/2012
From a 4 to a 2.....the Beaverton location is better than the sister store in Vancouver, WA...(maybe one star) but our trip to the lunch buffet was very disappointing, mostly N Indian fare, LOTS of grease, and a stomach ache (not the good kind)....it is a shame it has gone downhill...we will not be back.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/22/2011
Excellent lunch buffet, good veg selections (meat too for the carnivores), authentic "spice level",… Read more »
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Review from Jen K.
2/18/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Lunch is where it's at.
For most cuisines, I think lunch offers a taste of the experience, but the grand event is dinner. When eating Indian food, it is hard to beat a lunch buffet.
$9.95 will leave you absolutely stuffed. There are so many good options here. Approximately 25 items on the menu which include appetizers, soups, tandoori and biriyani entrees, vegetarian options, rice, naan and desserts.
On my most recent visit, I loved the instruction given to a first-time visitor by their friend, "Take a little taste of everything that interests you and then return for a victory lap of your favorites." During lunch, the staff is unobtrusive, seating you, filling water glasses and clearing plates in between rounds. You pay at the counter.
I've dined at a couple other Indian restaurants in town, but Abhiruchi is hard to beat. The location isn't great (an aging strip mall next to a K Mart in Beaverton), the decor is unfortunate and the music piped through the restaurant can be painful at times. But the food, oh the food. It makes the other parts of the experience inconsequential. I can eat naan, curry and kheer (rice pudding) all day long.
Also, check out their website for printable coupons - http://www.abhiruchire... -
Review from Pui S.
I told my babe, I wanted Indian food for lunch but I don't want to go in Portland. He said, "Abhiruchi in Beaverton".. I was like B E A V E R T O N!!!
Worth the drive, I tell you! :) Especially, the crew was so nice & friendly.
The food was a little too spicy for me but I sux it up and ate every bit of it! :) -
Review from Timothy L.
Beaverton, OR
2/4/2012
The lunch was passable (no spices)
Though the interior was a bit of a bore
Excuse me while I buy expired yogurt
At Grocery Outlet next door -
Review from Richard J.
Lake Oswego, OR
2/5/2012
The best indian lunch buffet I have had
I have been to 6 one was close but not as good the rest were ok or worse
This buffet is phenomenol-even if you dont like buffet you will like this place-been going here for over 10 years-they are on their game
tasty and great fruit desert
Enjoy and then come back-try not to stuff yourself there are too many choices -
Review from John W.
Fremont, CA
Updated - 1/13/2012 2 Check-ins Here
FOOD: 3 out of 5
I would have given 10 out of 5 if the prices were not crazy like 12.95 for a Vegetarian dish with rice
SERVICE: -2 out of 5
if there was a - 50 i would have rated that since even that is not enough. since the owner and waiter does not care about their customers. They threw the plate with food as if you fling a bowl of food before a very hungry furious lion.
AMBIANCE: 2 out of 5
Overall ambiance is good but they run the TV and the Music blasting together.
I would highly do not go to this place !!! if you really want to have good decent food I would recommend Chennai Masala any-day over this restaurant.1 Previous Review:
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10/26/2011
The worst Indian place around Beaverton with Ignorant and stubborn server.
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Review from rui t.
Beaverton, OR
1/17/2012
I've been coming here for years, and the food has been tasty and consistent the whole time. Pretty standard strip mall location, next to a bar and a Mexican grocery store, and the usual look inside.
Dinner is the only menu I have had here, and all in all, it's very good. The odd part is, that even though it's good, the only Indian people you ever see in here are the owners. C'est la vie, it's a still worth coming.
They gives you a choice of ala carte and a dinner, choose the dinner, it's worth the extra$ to get all of the extras. It's just the right amount to get full but not bring any home. Nothing is especially spicy, but at the same time, it is all spiced quite nicely.
Having had a rarity of dishes, I can't say which is best, but lamb curry and the Biriyanis are very good. The desserts are included, and both sweet and flavorful.
There are a few other popular places on the west side for Indian food, but here is a very good choice. -
Review from Janet M.
Updated - 11/1/2011
We had dinner at Abhiruchi over the weekend again.
Sag paneer, mutter paneer, chicken masala, and chicken makhani. Perfect perfect butter naan. seriously. Crispy and brown on one side, tender and buttery on the other. Yum.
We liked everything.
The service was very efficient and he brought us our own carafe of ice water at the start. Nice. He wasn't super chatty or friendly, just quiet and taking good care of us, which is what we really need rather than "hi I'm so and so and I'll be your server tonight and how about those Ducks or whatever" ( shudders).
It was a nice dinner. You ought to try it. What is with the plastic flowers though, really?? we frequent a couple restaurants that are festooned with them... yuk.Listed in: My favorite favorite places to…, I Love me some Saag ( or…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/27/2011
My family likes Abhiruchi.
We have been for the lunch buffet a few times, but mostly we have come… Read more »
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Review from S G.
Portland, OR
3/15/2012
The lunch buffet was very good and varied, and for someone who is gluten-free I enjoyed that they have lentil cracker-like bread that I can eat in place of naan.
The food was not spicy but nicely spiced.
I will return. -
Review from Kal C.
Beaverton, OR
9/3/2011 4 Check-ins Here
MUCH better than Lentil Garden's lunch buffet.
The service is also better.
I think I might go here today. I mean, why not?
I left full and happy.
My favorite Indian dish is chicken makhani (butter chicken). It might as well be my favorite chicken dish ever. They make the best. They have a large selection at lunch, and it's so incredibly affordable.
They also have fresh fruit, which is something most Indian buffets lack.Listed in: Indian on the West Side
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Review from Hope K.
Beaverton, OR
2/29/2012
Great curry. Specially chicken!!! Goat was hard for me....:)
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Review from Rick H.
9/18/2011
I want to really like this place, I do. But the food quality is so vastly differing from day to day that it makes it hard to be able to consistently say it's a great place. My first visit many years ago left me under whelmed by Indian food in general, a feeling that wasn't broken until I met some awesome curry in Seattle. Since then I go through cycles of visiting multiple times a month, to avoiding it for months on end.
But, every time I say "this is the last time," after a particularly bad meal, I end up there again after a bit of hiatus. I've repeated this cycle five or six times over the past ten years.
What Abhiruchi is good for though is introducing newbies to Indian food. The lunch buffet specifically is good for this as it's catered towards Westerners (my Indian coworkers avoid this place like the plaque though.) There aren't twenty different types of chicken, eight curries, two rices and four different types of sauces to cause confusion.
As such, the buffet manages to avoid most of the really "odd" Indian foods and sticks to the popular American ones so newbies won't immediately be turned off. Dinner is a lot different, but the wait staff is usually able to make good suggestions for newbies to Indian Food.
If you want a more encompassing and authentic Indian meal, Swagat or Lentil Garden are both better choices. If you're making your first forays into Indian food, Abhiruchi is the place to go.
But the biggest draw to Abhiruchi is that even during lunch hour the place isn't really that busy. Sometimes you just want a quiet meal before jumping back into meetings - Abhiruchi is the place to do it. -
Review from Frank L.
6/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
My wife picked me up from work for a lunch date yesterday. I felt like Indian but had no idea where to find a decent Indian restaurant in Beaverton. Abhiruchi was the first place to pop up in the Yelp app and Onstar got us right to the front door. Ain't modern technooloogy awesome? The restaurant is right next door to a Kmart and an Irish pub. The dining room had plenty of tables and looked reasonably tidy.
The $9.95 lunch buffet had a quite a large selection of dishes. My wife lived in Southern India for a while and was happy to see that they had upma in the steam table. They also had a number of different meaty and veggie choices. The naan was fresh and tasty. Dessert choices were the usual suspects: gulab jamin, kheer and carrot halava. All were delicious. Free drink refills at the buffet. That's always a plus. The food wasn't particularly fancy or exceptional, but it sure was plentiful and left me with a happy belly.
We picked up a take-out menu as we were leaving and we were quite excited to see that they have dosas. The very friendly waiter (owner?) let us know that we could call our order in ahead of time and they would have the dosas ready when we arrived. That sounds like the deal, right there. We'll definitely give the dosas a try and I'll update my review when we do.
I proclaim Abhiruchi a keeper, as it is absolutely going on my regular lunch stop list. -
Review from Lee C.
Beaverton, OR
Updated - 3/28/2012
The lunch buffet is plentiful (as distinguished from other, cheaper, Indian buffets) and tasty. Anything with orange colored sauce is delicious. The salad selection and the tiny bowls available for salad are probably the weak points but then salad is not really Indian so no matter. One thing to note is that Abhiruchi's food does not taste like medicine. One thing I'd like to see but haven't yet is somosas. Do not leave the lunch buffet without taking some of the desert.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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8/24/2011
Abhiruchi's lunch buffet beats any other Indian buffet place in the area for variety and taste.… Read more »
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Review from Jesse B.
5/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
I've lived in this area for, oh, a few years. I've driven by this place, oh, hundreds of times. And always thought to myself "that's skeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch".
Welp, turns out it's not actually that sketchy. Not even close. Sure it's not all pretty and such, but who really cares when the food is so damnable TASTY.
I only went for the lunch buffet, but I can only expect the dinner selection is just as good. The buffet is an amazing deal at $10 for all you can eat & soda (though it is RC and the like, what!). There's a lot of selection, which is good for someone unfamiliar with Indian cuisine (me).
I won't be able to name everything I tried, but one curry that sticks out was the chicken makhani. Full of flavor, tender chicken and tasty sauce poured over some rice was my favorite. I went back for seconds! The naan was good too, but caution - if it's been sitting there too long it gets a bit rubbery.
I also tried to Saag Paneer, which was interesting but good. There was vegetable pakora (basically, deep friend veggies I think), and a billion other things I didnt' get to try. Which is OK because I just have to go back again.
The inside is decorated with various Indian themed...things. I know, shocker. Service is quiet and unobstrusive.
Overall, A+, four stars and the likes! -
Review from Melissa L.
Portland, OR
3/16/2011 3 Check-ins Here
A sudden Indian food craving hit me, and because we haven't found much good Indian in Portland yet, I rolled the dice with yelp, and we won!
Abhiruchi is not a place you are going to find by accident, unless you are a big fan of K-Mart and live in Beaverton.
Nevertheless, this is the kind of awesome Indian food we have been missing since leaving the Bay Area...the kind of place my Indian coworkers would take me for lunch when I worked in the south bay.
We went for dinner, so I can't comment on the lunch buffet.
All of the dishes we ordered and especially my lamb kharai, were super flavorful and fresh. Nothing heavy or oily about the food.
Great hot fresh naan, and super attentive friendly service. The thali dinner is a great way to round out your meal, and the price is very reasonable for the quality and quantity you get. Any time we eat this well for under $40 for 2 people, I'm very happy. -
Review from Susan c.
Beaverton, OR
1/7/2012
I"ve been enjoying Abhiruchi for years, and it is almost always consistently delicious. One of my all -time favorites
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Review from Francis L.
Vancouver, WA
This is my first time coming here, but I have been to the one in Vancouver, Washington I am the duchess there that is how many times I've been there and how much I like it.
So when my husband and I stopped here for lunch I was excited I chose my favorites and a new favorite the Lamb balls in a creamy sauce.
The tandoori chicken was very spicy compared to the Vancouver Indian restaurant to the point it was hard to eat.
I also had chicken makhanti which normally is a mild dish bit this one was overly spicy too. Between the two spicy dishes it upset my stomach extremely bad, my mouth and throat was on fire I got raita to calm it down a bit but I have been left having a super spice high and not feeling very well, the food was still very good just really spicy. So I am giving 3 stars not just because of the spicy food but because it took a while to get refills on water and to have our plates cleared. -
Review from Maria C.
Portland, OR
1/10/2012 5 photos
Lunch or dinner, this place is great. Love their dal, which is a staple on the buffet and comes with the thali dinner. Spice level is just right.
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Review from jenin v.
Los Angeles, CA
10/19/2011
Holy crap that was a lot of food for $14.45!!! We had been in Portland for almost 3 weeks before we found this place and just as well or else I would've gained weight instead of losing it, hahaha.
The chicken tikka masala and lamb curry were fantastic. Everything else is a blur because there was just so much of it! The owners (I'm guessing) were really nice and appreciated our business, so I feel bad we only went once. -
Review from Brian Q.
3/27/2011
Abhiruchi is located in a strip mall next to a discount grocery store. While it's not an upscale atmosphere, the food is authentic and tasty. I stopped in for dinner with a co-worker on a weekday and the place was mostly empty which scared me initially, but I think this is par for the course for all restaurants in Beaverton.
We tried the lamb vindaloo and chicken tikka masala. The spicy vindaloo was good but I preferred the rich flavors of the masala sauce more. One order of the fresh, hot naan was more than enough for two people.
Definitely one of the better places in Beaverton to eat. They also have a lunch buffet which I haven't tried yet. -
Review from Kate T.
3/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
I never would have set foot in this place without the positive yelp reviews. It's in a dingy little strip-mall and it looks absolutely uninviting. Don't be fooled! This is, by far, the best Indian food i've had so far in Portland. And just about everything is spicy, instead of dumbed down.
Here's a handful of points that make it less than perfect:
1) The staff is a little... inattentive. When you walk in, odds are a guy from the back will just point you toward a table. Your water glass may stay empty for a long time.
2) Since it is buffet style, you have to compete with your fellow diners. Some may lack buffet etiquette. Others may fish all the paneer out of the palak paneer. You may have to wait a while to get a shot at the dish you want seconds of.
3) They're pretty good at swapping out dishes that are empty or have been out too long, but every once in a while you'll go for some rice and see just the bare metal tray with a few dessicated grains at the bottom.
But none of those things are nearly bad enough to detract from the awesome food. -
Review from Ursula M.
Portland, OR
3/16/2011
Hey, Vancouver Yelpers!
Abhiruchi, one of the best (if not THE best) Indian restaurants in the PDX-Vancouver area has opened in the "Couv!
It's at 233 Chkalov behind the Mill Plain Elmer's and Burger King, where a so-so Thai plalce used to be!
They just opened, so run, don't walk! You won't be sorry!
I've visited their Beaverton location a number of times, and can't believe our good fortune to have them come here!
They serve both northern and southern Indian food, and have a great lunch buffet, and a full menu at dinner time. -
Review from Thiruselvan S.
Beaverton, OR
10/17/2011
Good lunch buffet with a ton of variety! Great place to try out food from all parts of India
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Review from Cvetiliana B.
Portland, OR
11/7/2010
We went here today, right after a nasty car accident. Fortunately I was alone in the car when it happened. I swear, I need a new car, something about this car screams it wants to be rear ended, I mean, this is the 6th time in less than a year and a half! Either that or I just have bad Karma, maybe all the negative (but honest) reviews I write hahaha.
Anyway, I was pretty miserable, worse than the other 5 accidents for sure. But I was not going to back out of plans to eat here, we had planned it since yesterday after all!
Slightly a bit too spicy but still manageable. Loved many of the dishes. I wish I tried the chai, but maybe for the best since it's hard to please my Indian Chai taste. The only thing I would change is the Naan. It didn't taste fresh or something, not sure what it was, but it was kinda rubbery rather than soft, flavorful and pillowy. Unfortunately thanks to the accident we met up there at 2pm rather than 1:30 so there were 3 dishes they didn't replenish before 2:30 when buffet was over, I asked, they said okay, but didn't happen lol. I would go back, the pakoras were yummy and some of the curries I tried were pretty tasty, and there was still variety despite the 3 missing dishes.
On the way home the trunk opened all of a sudden hitting the sides of the back window and startling me. Nice. It's okay, I could still see using my side view mirrors while my back window was blocked. When I got home I tried to tape it with plumbers tape. We'll see how that works out tomorrow lol.
Gah, head wants to split open and can't turn my neck. No more reviews tonight.
UPDATE: Went back, the naan was better this time. Tried the chai and definitely one of the better ones for sure! -
Review from Danni D.
9/17/2010 2 Check-ins Here
This place has been a myth to me for years. A unicorn I thought about, but never chased. A friend told me years ago that the best Indian she has had in Portland wasn't actually in Portland. It was in a restaurant in a strip mall somewhere in Beaverton, and the only thing she could remember was it was next to a giant K Mart. I have thought often of trying to track that place down, but just never got around to it because, well, from SE Portland, Beaverton is "on the way to the coast." I wish I were joking.
The other day Jen K and I set out to find some Indian for lunch. I squealed a little with delight the moment I saw the K Mart. (A sentence I never thought I would write in my life time). We were here. I had found my mythical Indian unicorn.
Overall, I was impressed. Their lunch buffet is quite the spread. The naan is tasty, the sauces fragrant, and the dishes numerous. Generally speaking, Indian buffet is often the worst way to experience an Indian restaurant, but if the buffet is okay, that is usually an indication that individually prepared dishes at dinner will be better than okay. I can't way to test that theory here, you know, the next time I'm heading to the coast. -
Review from Olivia T.
7/15/2010
One of the best Indian Restaurant in Portland. They serve the $9.99 Lunch Buffet not only on weekdays, but also on Saturday and Sunday. My family and I made a visit here for Mother's Day and my mom loves this place.
The buffet has huge selections of dishes. I've been to few other Indian places for lunch buffet and Abhiruchi is the winner on the longest buffet tables. Everything was so delicious. The Naan was fresh, the curries were tasty, and the Basmati Rice was cooked just right.
My favorite dish is the Lamb Meatballs and the Eggplant curry. I think I had couple servings of those dishes. They also have this unique dessert, Vermicelli noodles in sweet Coconut Milk. I've never had it before and now I'm a huge fan of it.
Your $9.99 meal is including free self serve sodas. They serve RC cola! I don't know any other restaurants that still serve RC. Service was excellent. We've never out of clean plates and never lack of water refills.
At the end of our meal, they gave my mom a flower. I guess because it was Mother's Day, they gave each mom something pretty. I thought that was a very thoughtful and sweet gestures.
We will come back again even if that means I have to hitchike to Beavertown. Thumbs up! -
Review from Angie Q.
12/30/2010
I'm so glad I found this place! Having lived around Beaverton for the majority of my life I cannot believe I only recently wandered in, thank you Yelp! =)
I love BUTTER CHICKEN!! And it is darn tasty here. The cream/tomato sauce is well done and seasoned just right (per Indians, Butter Chicken should not be too red), and they give you a lot of chicken!
You can choose for your dinner to be ala cart, or a dinner combo meal with sides. It was nice to try, but not necessary. If you are dining with at least one other person, I would recommend only one dinner, and the others to be ala cart. It's plenty to share. Oh, and they did skip over my dessert..
Also note the naan is average. It isn't as fluffy as other places. But this restaurant has absolutely great service, and generous portions with meat/rice/sauce.
Tip: You can order dinner portions for take-out during lunch if you don't want to eat buffet style! -
Review from HeeBee G.
NY
2/25/2011
I have since moved to the "other" coast {{sigh}} but still have fond memories of Abhiruchi. Nestled in a sorry little strip mall down from Kmart, this place serves up some wonderful fare. We always headed for the buffet, which changes from week to week. There was this amazing dish that contained baby eggplant in a tomatoey sauce. Yummmm. They also have lamb dishes which are hard to find in salmon-fixated Portland. The people are so welcoming and nice.The decor goes along with the strip mall motif, but otherwise is a great place to eat.
Drive out to Beaverton and have an India-homey experience. -
Review from Amado L.
Some of the best tasting Indian food I've had in Portland. Hands down.
Normally, Indian food lunch buffets are a bit of a hit-or-miss. Abhiruchi is a definite hit in my book. The selection was plentiful and as authentic as they come. The buffet was kept very clean and organized. And the service was prompt, friendly, and attentive.
I am particularly impressed with their gulab jamun and kheer. Nothing like sweet treats to end an already tasty meal.
I'll definitely be back! -
Review from Rockette W.
Portland, OR
8/30/2011
This place is a hidden gem! Hands down the best Indian food I've eaten and I've been to India! I always enjoy the thali dinner because it comes with their savory and spicy dal, the always delicious curry of the day, the tangy sambar soup, and refreshing raita. You can't go wrong with anything really! I enjoy the aloo gobi with cauliflower, tomatoes, and potatoes or the navaratan korma, rich masala, or spicy vindaloo! The best part is the dessert and I always get the gulab jamun because the syrup is wonderful and the fried dough balls are the perfect finish to a spicy and aromatic dinner.
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Review from Kimberly V.
Portland, OR
11/29/2009 ROTD 9/20/2010
While we rake the forks through our respective piles of rice, my sister asks, "You remember the part when Natalie Portman was on the phone and she said something about Gujarati?"
We had watched a movie that starred Natalie Portman the night before, so it wasn't like we hung out with her and recalled the time when she spoke on the phone. Just in case you were wondering.
"She . . . what? What did she say?"
My sister explains that Gujarati is a language spoken in India. Her ears perked up at the word, she says, because a friend of hers speaks Gujarati. The friend's family is from the Mumbai region. I remember these facts better than the word itself.
"Gajuh. Goulda. How do you say that again?"
"Gujarati."
"Gadorati. Right." In order to tell this story later, I eventually come up with a mnemonic device involving Cujo the scary dog.
In the course of that exchange, I learn a few things:
1) That people in India speak more than Hindi. In fact, some of the people don't even speak Hindi. It seems obvious now.
2) That there is a sizable Indian-American population all over the East Bay.
3) That there are comparatively very few Indian-American people in Portland, save for the ones running the restaurant that my sister and I are eating in. There is also a large party of Indian people - four kids, all boys of various ages - eating at three tables against a wall. But that's a good sign about Abhiruchi.
4) That my younger sister really is the smarty-pants of the bunch.
The fourth fact is substantiated by the fact that she came into town with a craving for Indian food. That led us through the information highway and along the actual highway to the $8.95 lunch buffet in the 'Tron. The buffet comes with about twenty-five different things in hot trays and bottomless glasses of soda. For less than what I spent on gas, I got to taste things like tamarind soup, basmati rice laced with lentils, and deep-fried lentil pastries.
My sister pushed me to save room for dessert, and I tried my first gulab jamun with kheer. The English description - syrupy flour balls in a white rice pudding puddle - sounds less savory, but the taste was light and sweet. Told you my sister is smart. -
Review from Bob M.
So, let's get the Goober take on this joint.
SO doesn't eat Indian food because he doesn't like curry.
The clunk you just heard was my jaw hitting the floor. This is a man that lives for Thai curry and would eat attractive wallpaper if it has food in the pattern. I think out loud "You have not had Indian food at least in the seven years that you and I have been holding hands", and "What the hell do you know about Indian curries, anyway, you freak?" But we get into these sorts of little discussions and I will spare you, dear readers, from listening to our petty squabbles.
So, go figure, he is the one that suggested this place!
OK, so we don't know nothing about no stinking Indian food, north or south--which they claim to have; this should be interesting. We got in at 11:30ish for the lunch buffet-deal-y, which is the time to hit this as it is real popular and all the geeky business wonks hit it at noon. We got the first scoop of everything, literally.
Now I am assuming that I am writing this for fellow Goobers or closeted Goobers that dress better than the average Goober but deep down don't know anything about this cuisine: Just go for lunch, don't read the labels and eat a little of everything.
I did not try anything that was not wonderful and I ate a little or a lot of everything. OK, the goat was a little tough, but then what the hell do I know about what goat texture should be anyway?
The stuff that I do know something about was a little disappointing--go figure; the tandoori chicken was a little dry and not as flavorful as others that I have had. The naan lives on a steam table so it isn't as nanish as it should be. But this is minor quibbling in my book.
All the rest of it was absolutely a party in your mouth! It's like the Main Street Electrical Parade just going to town as you chew, let me tell you!
For the sophisticated Yelp reader that probably wouldn't be caught dead reading my reviews, just roll your eyes and ignore me, but for the rest of you:
Cheap!
Wonderful food!
Go!
Someone figure out what is in the little potpourri dish at the cash register that people scoop out and eat. I got too nervous to try that.
But we will be back...
