Bismillah Restaurant in Houston

one of the best desi restaurants on hilcroft. from the bun kebab to the tenders. i recommend everything on the menu. the smoothies and lassis are quite pricey though...

Biryani was good, lots of meat and spices. The mix chatni was just average/ actually more on the sweet side. Would go back for biryani only.

As good as its neighboring sister joint Bismillah Cafe is, Bismillah Restaurant must settle for no more than a distant second fiddle even in the strip mall of its existence, let alone in the massive Houston food market. Almost all factors point to a need for improvement here: menu lacks versatility, food is decent home-cooked style at best but lacks a memorable punch, and the service-ambience pairing is far from impressive. When ordering their much hyped Anda-paratha-Keema (eggs, minced meat, and flat bread) brunch combo, I was under the impression looking at the menu that the eggs will be served sunny side up. Instead, I was served an omelette filled with onions that I don't eat and did not see coming. The meat and paratha were solid but not anything spectacular. That about sums up almost every item here. The Achaar gosht (spicy pickled meat) and the Gurda Masala are solid delicacies but neither strikes a chord as a spectacular fan favorite. Their roti is made of whole wheat and exudes a nice home-cooked vibe so that definitely stands out but to reiterate, not many other items do. Prices are okay but overall you don't feel that you get nearly the same value for your dollar as you do in the adjacent Bismillah Cafe. While service is not particularly bad by any means, it's just not very friendly either as the process of ordering to dining is designed to be very simplified and direct with little customer-server interaction. Last, and certainly the least, the ambience is perhaps the most noteworthy blemish here...