On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Harvard Avenue (Green)
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
We are corporate and social caterers and event planners. We're a team of dedicated professionals with over 150 years of combined... more »
Loading...
We went to Grain & Salt tonight and thought it was very good. My main concern with Indian food is usually that it is very heavy, but I thought the food here was very well executed and not heavy at all.
We ordered the lamb korma and chicken tandoori and shared the two, along with an order of rice, naan and cucumber salad. The lamb was great. My fiance is very picky about his lamb (averse to how fatty it often is) but he liked this lamb. Very tasty and the sauce was well spiced and complex without being too heavy or spicy. If anything we wished there was more of it as we each got maybe 6 morsels of lamb each.
The chicken tandoori was also delicious. Very tender, moist and flavorful. Again I wished there was a little more but you know, at the end of the meal, with all the rice and naan and salad factored in, I was pleasantly full but not too "stuffed". I like that.
We also ordered the masala tea to complete the meal and it was rich and spicy and wonderful. Great service, very decent prices (think the chicken tandoori was $11.95 by way of comparison to other Indian restaurants). It was pretty empty (a little worrisome for a Friday night) but we got a seat right next the window and a nice little Indian family.
I REALLY wanted to like this place. Okay... I guess I didn't want to add another option to my endless list of "where to binge," but still this restaurant looked like it was going to be a winner and the owner was super nice to my roommate and I. Instead, minus a few items, this place fell flat.
We ordered the usual baseline items. After a quick, pleasant chat with the owner, our Chicken Tikka Masala, Saag Paneer, Aloo Gobhi, and Naan arrived. With a huge smile on his face, the owner urged us to "dig in" (which I found endearing in a creepy kinda way).
The naan was cripy, airy, and doused in just enough butter - arguably the best version of naan I've had in Boston. The aloo gobhi was unusual but in a really pleasant way; I believe all the components were roasted before being tossed in the tomato-ey goodness, giving the dish a really nice texture and earthiness. As we moved on to the rest of our meal, my roommate's face slowly morphed from all-smiles to a cross between Eeyore and the girl from The Exorcist. The tikka tasted like Tomato Paste (not the "Whole Foods Organic" kind) and rubber - simply awful. The saag looked and tasted like a mixture of sewer water and oil.
I would have given this place one star, but the aloo and naan were really delicious. Also, I felt bad for the owner 'cause he was so nice and gave us some free masala chai. I won't shut the book on this place, but it'll be a while before I pay them another visit.
I was here late this winter (Jan or Feb)
I'm not sure if this places sanitary standards are up to par.
I ordered chicken tikkka masala and got grilled chicken with raw onions on it. I didn't even know what to say about this one.
This place has been pretty solid every time we've gone. The pricing is a bit on the expensive side though. Every time we've gone it has been rather dead but the server is always nice. We've had the lamb kebab, chicken tikka masala and samosas and were satisfied with all of it.
Shill reviews = I change my review to a 1-star.
Update 6/7/08 ---
Have decreased a star! Went there with a bunch of family members on a saturday night.. The place was empty.. Notice, this is what happened to us the previous time as well.. We ordered the food, and this time the quantity had decreased and there is no "Free Rice".. WHAT!!!! We weren't completely shocked, just disappointed.. Will have to think twice before going there again..
Went there after on a recommendation from a friend. When we got in, we were the only customers… Read more »
Since BYOB is technically not kosher for non-booze-serving restaurants, I will just say that you probably can BYOB here. Maybe. I don't know. But if you do BYOB they will probably ask you to leave it in it's bag and pour it for you from the kitchen.
On to the review -
Right away the warm and vibrant colors will lure you in, and the sometimes old school, sometimes ambient/trance Indian sounds will sooth your brain. The only thing I wasn't too keen on was the lipstick stain on my husband's water glass, and the silverware was a bit gritty--ie, dirty.
But the food! The food was gorgeous. We had Shrimp Vindaloo and Lamb Korma. At first I was put off because it wasn't very saucy, but in the end the flavors and textures won me over. I also liked that they didn't ask us "how spicy?" The Vindaloo was just spicy--still maybe reigned in a little from what you'd find in the homeland (my nose didn't run, which is how spicy I like my food) but not totally sans kick like many places you'll find.
I'm not sure what's up with the Chinese food menu, but the Indian was great. I enjoyed the ambience and the food. Go here! It was nearly empty on a Saturday night which seems like a shame. Allston needs a great little place like this.
Sight - The decor was very cool and trendy with good use of bold colouring. It is pretty small place, which I liked though it was pretty quite at prime time on a Saturday night. It is BYO beer which I like a lot because you get to drink what you want and don't have to pay a mark up. What is not to like about BYO. They also take beer away to behind the bar and then serve you with it in a glass - nice. I was a little unsure if they was due to religion and not want alcohol on display or something else.
Taste - excellent food, it tasted freshly made and the flavour was spicy with heat and not gloopy in any way. I had fish curry (haddock in a spicy tomato sauce) and also shared the lamb bhuna which was very good. The garlic nan wasn't as good as the last curry place we went to but was passable.
Sound - the music started off as a classic mix, not what was expected but nice enough, it them moved to a funky base sound.
Touch - Table cloths, nice setting - about all I have to say here.
Smell - neutral smelling, not knocked over with a curry smell.
Sixth - I liked here and best curry I have had to date in Boston.
I came in here one day at about 4:30 in the afternoon, so I was the only one there pretty much, so I can't speak of the service when it's busier. The service was great though.
The ambience is very cozy, and they had some cool kind of Indian chill out drum-n-bass playing from the speakers, which was pretty awesome.
I ordered chicken madras, which was excellent. It was simple but just right. The only problem was that it was not spicy enough. I talked to the owner about it and he said that he sets the level of spice according to the tastes of the locals (which basically means white people). The owner was very accommodating though and made sure I had everything I needed. Very friendly dude.
The mango lassi was delicious (although i've had better). The naan was AWESOME. I had garlic naan and it was some of the best I've ever had.
I had mango kulfi for dessert, again, delicious. No complaints. The masala chai I had afterwards was perfectly spiced.
Overall it was awesome, and I will definitely be returning.
My favorite Pakistani place in the city. Hook up the Nihari and Haleem.
(I appreciate that they don't play with any "let's tone down the spice for the whiteboy" bowshiz.)
A brief review...
Great friendly service, greeted by the owner and a handshake on the way out. Just can't get more personable than that.
As much as I wanted to love this place (decor and location) there were two things I was disappointed by.
They charge extra for rice with an entree $3.50 per serving. About 1/4 of the rice we had was undercooked. They must have mixed several batches of rice together. There is nothing wrong with this but it should be evenly cooked.
The naan and curries we did have were very good.
In summary:
A very quaint and quiet place.
Very personable wait staff.
Price / value proposition just wasn't there. When you factor in the rice you get more food of equal quality at Punjab Palace.
Went here recently for dinner with my husband. It was quite slow, but still nice. The decor is very nice and the music in the background was nice too. Both of our dishes were quite tasty (we both got something chicken related) and fairly spicy, which I like. Most places don't make things spicy anymore so this was a nice change. The naan was very good, as was my mango lassi. My only complaint was that our water glasses didn't remain filled.
Will definitely give Grain & Salt another go.
I'm a big fan of Indian food, but I have to warn that my palate for it isn't terribly discerning yet. That being said, Grain and Salt is my favorite Indian so far in Boston. I try something new each time, and I have always loved everything I try. Great for vegetarians, of course, as most Indian is.
I usually get delivery from here, but the one or two times I ate there, the place was great. Really nice decor, pretty romantic, if a little small.
Holy Muzak, Batman! I think we heard about 4 different versions of "Blame it on the Rain" during our hour long dinner. Plus, as already noted, service is incredibly slow. You want to go here for a relaxing meal, not for a quick lunch.
We started with the Assorted Samosas (1 lamb, 1 veg) and they were both really good. I thought the lamb was a bit dry, but was still well flavored. I had the Paneer Mircha and my husband tried the Lamb Korma, both with medium spice. The flavors and the heat were just right for us and coupled with the spiced rice and regular naan, it made for a comfortable meal on a rainy evening. The bill, with tip came to about $35.
We asked for our food to be wrapped and the owner gave us extra rice on the house. Overall, it was a pleasant and reasonably priced experience and I would definitely go back .
Here's the deal after my first lunch visit - it's very good. The jury is out on whether they maintain consistent quality.
For lunch, we ordered vegetable pakora, chicken biryani, and chicken tikka curry with a plain naan and an onion kulcha. It was a TON of food. My husband initially thought that the vpakora were refried by looking at them but the taste didn't betray such a crime.
The biryani - according to my husband who is Indian - was consistent with a variety served in the North. It's not the raisin and cashew kind. What it was a nicely spiced rice with a few (3-4) well marinated skinless bone-in chicken pieces. While I don't prefer the bone-in chicken, my husband does but I will agree that it adds value overall. The chicken tikka was tender and delicious also. The rice was fresh and the breads were fresh as well, especially the onion kulcha.
After lunch, the owner came out and chatted with us. He said he had extensive experience managing Bombay Club in Cambridge as well as in high end hotel restaurants in India. Apparently, he serves some specialty beef dishes on the weekend. Also, Grain and Salt lists Indo-Chinese specialties on the menu but we didn't try any of them. We'll be back again to try them out.
The delivery guy is SO rude. My order took 1.5 hours and the $5 gulab jamun was hard.
One star for the Murgh Achari which was delicious. Boo for everything else.
I thought it was OK but a bit bland. Ironically given the name, I thought both dishes I ordered needed salt and some "kick" to make them interesting. For upscale Indian food, I prefer Tamarind Bay. But perhaps I need to give this another chance.
6/14/07: Better than I remembered. This food looks beautiful, and the spicing is refined. It's just not spicy/flavorful enough for my particular tastes, so I can't give it five stars. In this upscale Indian category I prefer Bombay Club. However, Grain & Salt is a unique place well worth trying.
My first visit, a month after they opened, the food was great and the service was glacially slow, but I gave it a pass as new places need time to get rolling. My second visit, the food was boring and the service was worse than glacial. Third time, the food was almost bad, the service was glacial, and we were informed after our order came that it did not come with rice. We ordered rice then, but 20min later when we were done eating it still hadn't shown up. God only knows why, but I went back a fourth time. Guess what? The service was worse than glacial and the food was boring and greasy. I'm not going back.
Oh, and every damn time, the owner was hanging around and chatting people up. Doesn't he have shit to do? He should get his ass in the back and hurry his chefs/waiters the hell up, and make them refill a damn water glass occasionally, rather than harassing diners who want to talk to their companions, not him.
My boyfriend's family friends own this place and I had actually never even heard of it til last December, when I visited. It is fairly new, open for about 4 months now, so there were still some kinks to sort out.
The decor is really nice. Bright, with a lot of light green. The dining room is split into two areas: a small waiting for take-out room and then a more private dining area. Menu is pretty Indian, but the take-out menu is a mix of Indian and pizza place type foods (subs and sandwiches, wings, pizza, etc). I got the saag paneer (which I love), while my boyfriend got chicken biryani. I felt my food was too spicy so I didn't enjoy it much. But I loved the rice. So good. And the naan.
The place is very quiet, so it's good for a date or meeting the parents. Food came out really fast, and I guess the chef used to work at Bombay Club? Service is friendly and they can whip up anything you want. You can also order takeout and get food delivered within a reasonable area.
Location is what might not work though. It's next to a Thai restaurant, on the way to 90. So it's a blink and you'll miss it place. But the 66 goes right past, so it's not difficult to get to from Coolidge Corner or Harvard Square.
Prices are fair and you get a lot of food for your dollar. Good alternative to the other Indian restaurants in a part of town that needs more Indian food.
Service was glacially slow... and there was only one other table occupied on the weekend afternoon that I ate here. I shouldn't have had to wait 10 minutes for mango chutney, after asking for it TWICE. Servers are nice, but still need to learn some stuff.
I've had better Indian food at the mall. Fist off, the samosas came out COLD. My Chicken Tandoori was on the one. That would have been fine,. had I not specifically asked the server if it was cubed chicken or on the bone (different places do it different ways) and had he not told me it was cubed. It tasted fine, once I pulled it out from under the heaping pile of onions smothering it (that were not listed on the menu as being part of the dish). The rice was cold. The naan was dripping in butter, and i don't mean this in a good way- it was so greasy. If the butter had not been so overdone, I would have better been able to enjoy the light and tasty dough. Mango lassi was yummy.
The look of the place is nice. The soothing greens and and modern paintings lacked the heaviness that you usually see in Indian restaurants.
I think this place needs some time to work the (serious) kinks out.
My meat was so fatty that I couldn't swallow it. We left shortly.
Walking in , we were impressed, the decor was fabulous and layout of space was much nicer than any indian restaurants. Great for group or romantic dinner ..pretty cozy !!!
Food is so delicious . everything seems home-made ..One must try indo-chinese . and yeah !!! everything is halal...Finally i found an indian restaurant which tops my A-list ..Gr8 goin !!!
I would very confidently recommend this place .....
After some serious drinking, the night is not complete without good Indian food. This is exceptionally hard to find around here. The Indian food in restaurants around town are either too greasy (Punjabi Dhaba), too Americanized (Bombay Club) or too expensive (Masala Art and Tantric). That's not to say that they don't serve good food. They do. It's just not the kind that I crave.
We decided to try Grain and Salt because we had heard that they had just opened a few months ago. We arrived there at around 9.45pm (which by many restaurants standards is very late). The owner (Syed) greeted us warmly and welcomed us into the restaurant. He gave us suggestions of his specialities and we ordered about 6/7 dishes. They were ALL exceptional. I can't begin to tell you how good the food was without drooling all over my keyboard and wanting to rush out to Grain and Salt in my PJ's for more.
We ordered Chicken Manchurian, Chicken Makhani, Shami Kebabs, Chicken Malai Kebabs, Tawa Chicken Biryani, Prawn Masala and a variety of naans. The food was so good that there was barely any left when we were done. Noone could stop eating even though we were all stuffed. We asked him to make the food spicy which was just perfect.
Syed, the owner, studied Hotel Management in Lausanne (switzerland) before coming to Boston and working with Bombay Club for 7 years and now opening his own place. I would recommend his restaurant without reservation to anyone who wants to experience truly authentic Indian food. The decor in the restaurant is minimalistic. It's a casual eatery with quality eats.
Go out and try it now. You never know - you may encounter a strange woman in her pink pyjamas stuffing her face :)
This is easily the best Indian food I've had anywhere close to downtown Boston (i.e., not in Lowell or Billerica). The menu is really varied and get extra points for including some things not typically found on most menus, like the nihari or Indian Chinese.
I went with a lot of friends and we ordered a ton of stuff. Everything was outstanding. I was skeptical of the veg biryani, since biryani without mutton or chicken seems kind of pointless--but this was excellent. The bhindi, nihari, szechwan shrimp, chicken vindaloo...everything. Even the naan. I usually avoid naan at Indian restaurants, but the owner insisted, and it was excellent. Far lighter and softer than the usual stuff. Also really nice to find a place that does Indian Chinese since that's hard to find.
It's fairly pricey, but relative to the Indian food that one finds almost anywhere else in Boston, I would say that the price is warranted.
I just came back from dinner here. The food was OK but the utensils and glasses were SO Dirty. Towards the end of our meal, we actually saw a waiter drop a knife on the floor, pick it up, wipe it with a towel, and return it to the table. Plus, the window in the door to the kitchen is covered up in paper, what are they hiding back there??
I don't think I'll be returning here; I can't get over the unsanitary conditions.
Update:
I've been thinking about it, and it seems the knife-dropping incident made me forget my initial response to the food. The Murg Makhani was scary to look at - a layer of oil had seperated from the curry when it arrived at our table. The raita was watery. The Chicken Biriyani was some unexciting rice with two chicken breasts (with bone) tossed onto it.
This little joint is a little higher priced then some other Indian places in the Allston neighborhood but the owner & servers are always friendly & when I'm craving Chicken Tikka Masala & naan they always keep me satisfied! They also serve really nice portion sizes as well. Unfortunately they don't have a beer or liquor license if you happen to like beer with your spicy Indian cuisine.
After meaning to come here for almost a year, we finally did. we were pleasantly surprised by the nicely decorated, cute interior. We had the seafood masala, okra, and minced lamb kebab. The kebab was slightly dry, but the other 2 dishes were great. We skipped ordering rice but did get garlic naan, and it was delicious. For dessert, we shared a very refreshing and not to sweet mango lassi. While we thought the food was a little pricey - our bill came to $48 for 2 - we thought it was worth it given the qualiy of the food, tnice decor and ambiance. We will come back again for sure. The quality of the food is far superior to Punjabi place.
Just tried this place for the first time last night, and was very impressed. The place seemed perfectly clean (didn't notice anything like the reviews below mention). The service is a little slow, but the food was spot-on. The best Indian/Pakistani I've had in the area (with plenty of places left to explore). I had the lamb korma, which had intensely good flavor, plus the lamb was cooked to perfection. My wife had a paneer dish with peppers and onions that was excellent: the peppers weren't all cooked to death, and the sauce had a really nice spicy, pungent flavor. They almost lost a star since they don't have a beer license, but then I realized: hey--next time I can BMOB, pay less, and not be stuck with a choice between Amstel Light, Kingfisher, and Sam Adams.
We visited on a Sunday evening and it was empty. We soon found out why. The samosas where soggy and oily. Our seafood masala was terrible and the cucumber salad was 75% red onion. I am all for good cheep Indian food, but this was neither good nor cheep.
i can't remember the movie (or maybe it's a comedian's schtick? the peabrain is failing me), but there's this bit about knowing a restaurant's food is good when you see people of that certain culture eating there. this happened to us, and i immediately knew it would be good. definitely some of the better indian food i've had in a while - we came here at the recommendation of my friend who works around the corner and eats here all the time. we were seated at the front curtained window - perfect for people watching - and started with the assorted samosas, which were great - both the veggie and the lamb. i had a tofu curry and my boyfriend the tandoori lamb. the sauces had a similar base, but enough of a different taste to make both dishes great for sharing. this italian would have loved the garlic naan to be a little more garlicky, but other than that a solid 4 stars, right down to the decor. we'll definitely be going back.
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
Category: Convenience Stores
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
Category: Burmese
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
I've been to a LOT of indian restaurants. Here are…
Places in Boston where I can get halal food that's…
