Chakra Cafe

Chicken was extremely dry, will not eat there again. People were nice though

Was not impressed with the food the one time I visited. It was a spinach dish that I didn’t find particularly flavorful. I can’t speak for their breakfast or other items.

I am a little bit confused about this place. It says a café. But it does not act like a fast food restaurant. I have to wait for a while for the foods to come out. They try to make fusion Indian food but the food was okay. I would rather go to regular Indian restaurants or Sandwich shops.

In the mood for Indian today, so I finally decided to visit the Chakra Café for the first time and ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala. The entrée was decent and flavorful, but only a small portion for over $ 12, over priced by about $ 2-​$ 3 for what you get. Perhaps the prices are hiked up since it’s next to a high end grocery store?
I do agree with other Unilocaler’s that Chakra should get better tables in there for a more comfortabe atmosphere and maybe some plants too, oh and some music would be nice.
That being said, I live within walking distance to Chakra, so I will be going back to get my Indian food fix every so often because of the convenience.

Think of it as a CAFE (as the name suggests)…that also serves passable Bengali and Indian fusion cuisine, not an «Indian Restaurant». It acts like a café. They have organic loose leaf teas from all over the world. Espresso, smoothies, bubble tea. You go up to the counter and order your food and they do the courtesy of bringing it out to you when it is ready, but there are no waiters. You clear your own table and throw away your own garbage.
Ok…I am totally overrating this place. It deserves a solid 2.5 stars as a restaurant. But it gets 4, because I NEED it. The rating is rationalized by comparing it to other cafes i.e. Starbucks. They have a much better variety of food than Starbucks. You might like it as long as you don’t expect excellence. When I get sick of Chipotle and in a vegan mood, I have to either go to DC or cook… so I need Chakra Café to stay open. Almost everything is also halal… except for the Tandoori Chicken Quesadilla which is normally made with bacon — but you can halal-​ify it by ordering it without the bacon.
Had the lamb burger, payangee, and Indo-​Mex samosa. Indo Mex samosa had black beans, beef, veggies, and apparently, cheese, and was incredibly greasy and seemingly completely without salt. It was dripping grease like it had been temporarily stored in a deep fryer (see the pic). The sauce which they served with it, a dairy or mayo-​based sauce, did not pair well. A chutney would have been better. I liked the payangee (sliced fried onions) with tamarind chutney. Asked for spicy… it was slightly spicy. The lamb burger was decent, but not great. On previous trips, had Keema and Bengali samosas — not particularly good. Lamb kabob wrap was too dry (the lamb reminded me of jerky). Did not like the overcooked short grain white «lemon rice»…not Basmati rice… very «rice-​in-​a-​bag». And I like how they put Indian spices on the french fries.
Positives:
1) The people who work here are nice and helpful.
2) Great selection of beverages, especially teas, which you can have hot or iced.
3) You can try and learn to pronounce traditional Bengali dishes.
4) Food does not suck as much as Chicken Out.
5) It was a Groupon… so it was all very inexpensive.
6) Vegan and Halal food in Southern Old Town!!!
Negatives:
1) Not impressed with the food.
Overall, worth checking out, esp with an online deal. Looking forward to trying a flatbread pizza. Restaurants in this space have not traditionally been successful, so I will be trying to support more often as I recognize the novelty, hoping to find something on their menu that I would really enjoy. There is a dearth of options for vegan, halal, and Indian cuisine in the neighborhood. Love that Chakra fills so many voids — at the same damn time!

Stay away! We have been looking for a decent, casual dining Indian restaurant in the Old Town area. After receiving their menu in the mail, we decided to try Chakra Café for a late lunch. What a mistake. While the café itself and the staff seem pleasant enough, the Indian dishes we ordered (e.g., buttered chicken, saag paneer, and naan) were virtually inedible. The chicken had the chewing characteristics of Goodyear tires; the spinach sauce was simultaneously stringy and watery; and the naan was greasy and flat. To add insult to injury, the whole mess (which cost over $ 40 for two people) was completely sanitized of any real flavor. The kitchen staff should be ashamed for serving this sort of muck.
The lousy meal was especially painful given the contrast with Delhi Dhaba in Arlington, which is our favorite inexpensive Indian restaurant in the DC area. Delhi Dhaba is half the price and has, over the last 15 years plus of going there, consistently served delicious Indian staples. Our advice to the Chakra crew is to go to Dehli Dhaba to taste what real Indian food tastes like. Barring a complete revamp of their kitchen, Chakra Café needs to get shutdown… quickly.

Service is good. Note that this is a café and you have to go upfront to place your order.
Menu placement is not optimal to reviewing and placing your order.
Bathroom is locked. It was really dirty.
Food was tasteless and watered down.
Small portions, big prices.
I am not surprised that pretty much all the reviewers from India gave this place a thumbs down — the indian part of the food was not authentic.
I like good fusion food but the Indian part should be real and authentic!

The chicken curry is the best I’ve ever had. Very traditional (bones included) but spicy and tender. The «chips and salsa» elevate lentil flour and chutney to a new place.
Chakra café has become our exclusive Indian restaurant.

If I had to guess what they are doing here, it’d be indian fusion. But fusion with what? Mexican? Italian? What? in this case, fusion is really just CON-​fusion. I will not bore you with the actual food, but it was mostly just quite bland. Perhaps it’s snack food with curry spices lightly sprinkled on. And I’ll just chime in here that I always order it as hot as they make it. This place is not one of those places. So, if you’re intimidated by Indian food, this place makes it a tame as you can be. In fact, if you’re wondering why some places call it ‘Pocket bread’ instead of Pita bread, this place might be able to tell you.

I’m Indian and my wife is White as White can get. I’ve been here a couple of times and the service here is super friendly. You should also walk in this place expecting a non-​traditional Indian food. They will NOT serve you dishes w/​lot of curry. Their menu is pretty innovative and the owner has done a good job with it. It is primarily Indian fusion with a Bengali spin to it.
However, they need to work on some things. I am writing my review based on what i had from their menu. Kheema samosas did not have enough salt in them and were a bit bland. They could also offer some green chutneys (either coconut or cilantro/​chili) to go with their samosas and wraps. The tandoori chicken wrap was a bit bland too as the chicken was dry and the wrap was made out of pita than a naan.
On the other hand, their pizzas and pakoras (Onion rings) were delicious. Pizzas were flavorful and had the right amount of spice to it. Pakoras were crispy and delicious with tamarind chutney.
I’ll try this place again for their appetizers rather than their main menu.

I had a small bite to eat here one day about a week ago. I also got a coffee and read for a while. The food took over twenty minutes. It was a bean vegi wrap.
There was only one other customer. It isn’t that I can’t be patient but seriously over twenty minutes. The parking was a challenge because the store is crowded adjoining this place. I agree with other Unilocalers that they need some sort of good music. Even yoga music or something that makes me feel like I am Marrakesh.

Not too shabby.
Chakra Café is the newest occupant of the rotating cast restaurants that fill out the space next to the Old Town Balducci’s. I live nearby and received a menu in the mail. The menu features items like wraps, salads, and flatbread pizzas with an Indian twist. It sounded intruiging-​like if an Indian restaurant were to collide with something like a Cosi-​so I decided to give it a try.
I walked in on a Saturday evening and made an order for carryout. The atmosphere was café-​casual. They had a little seating area with couches and magazines where I sat and waited for my order. It appeared that they had a pretty extensive tea selection as well, so this might be a good place to chill out and have a cup of tea some afternoon. I had the lamb burger and my friend had the tandoori chicken quesadilla. Both dishes were quite tasty. The burger was flavorful and came with a side of spiced fries that I really enjoyed. Much better than the Five Guys cajun fries. The quesadilla was good as well and came with a side of what I think was some kind of chutney dipping sauce.
Overall, I thought it was pretty good. It’s a nice change of pace when you want carry out or something casual in Old Town that isn’t Chipotle, Cosi, or the Whole Foods salad bar.

Enjoyed the meat and vegetable samosas, filled me up so will have to return to try the fusion entrees which looked interesting.
Chatted with the owner, a lawyer following her dream to be in the food business. Very friendly, hospitable and gracious. I wish you great success.

Chakra Café gave me the best snack when I headed down this way on a long, long walk from home, at my half-​way mark mid-​afternoon on one of our warm winter days here, before returning home again. Granted, this was only one visit, but this is what I tasted and found, enough to keep me entranced to come back for more:
Bhel Puri: Best one I have had in a long, long time. Rivaled only by the bhel puri I’ve had made by the hands of my friends’ parents. I know it’s not that complicated of a snack, but you have no idea how many placed I’ve been, where I get this big goopy mess that makes me wonder exactly how much of what stuff they’re trying to hide under all that makeup. It’s not a triple-​heart-​attack sundae, you know. I’d like to see the little morsels of crispy crunchy Indian puffs, taste them separately from the sauces to savor what freshness may be there, and then lop on my own sauces in my own quantities. I may be a control freak, but hey now, I’d like to control what’s going in my mouth. And goopy sloppy mess ain’t one of those things.
That said… Chakra Café’s bhel puri was a salad mixture, with the crunchy crispy Indian snack puffs mixed in. Their mint chutney was more a coriander chutney, but it had a great tart and spicy kick nonetheless. Sweet sauce, just about the standard flavor as what I’ve had in other Indian establishments. And then they had this awesome spicy yogurt sauce as well. All three sauces were kept in their own drizzling cups, separate from (oh allelujah! I can see what I’m eating!) the salad. Me? I like the spicy, so the coriander and yogurt sauces went on with nary a drop left. Total triple yum.
Beverages: So I’ve been on a non-​HCFS kick for a while. Not that I have the world to throw against corn farmers, but I just lean the way towards less processed corn in my diet as much as I can control. Well, what would you find in their beverage chiller, but Coke and Fanta from outside the US! Oh yay, bubbly sugary day!
(well, not really — I got 1 glass bottle to share equally with the family at home. It was savoringly good that way. 1 bottle would have shot my system to the mass of Pluto and back.)
So, after this first visit, and having had a chance to sit in their sun-​drenched seating area, I am looking forward to going back again. However, I do agree with A.B. — when you decide to offer a place with counter service, have the menu above the counter. It makes the ordering process go a lot easier — having to refer to their individual menus is awkward. It really can be as easy as having the menu displayed on the counter for people to view, or it can be as fancy as a quick app for people to download and see the menu (and make selections to send to the staff!) on their phones (this is quite presumptious, I know. I’m just envisioning the next level of in-​your-​face marketing that will take place in any store we set foot into.)

My husband and I live in the neighborhood and couldn’t wait for Chakra to open. I have been waiting for a great neighborhood coffee shop to open, and to my surprise we got one that serves Indian cuisine. The good — the food is great. We had the keema flatbread and I thought it was a great version of fusion cuisine — the mango chutney was sweet, the lamb and yogurt and chiles made it savory. The flatbread was crispy — I loved it! We had tea, and that was great as well. I had the Indian chai and they make it with fresh, frothed milk which was great.
Now for ways I think this place would become a regular for me. The place is too quiet, I would highly encourage them to have music in the background that makes it café style. Even some great Indian classical music intermixed with other café music would be great. Second, with their hours, I would recommend changing the lighting in the evening and adding candles to the tables. Also, their seating options are good, but I would add rugs to make it feel more like a coffee shop, and to add some warmth. I also hope they offer some special events soon, like live music on weekends, book readings, or a movie night. The space is large and a lot can be done with it. Oh, and having a collection of books, newspapers, and magazines would be great. I am all about ambience and having this be a great community gathering spot — our own little Perk from Friends=).

I have been here 4 times now and will keep going back. The lamb burger is very tasty, as are the french fries that come with it (though not your typical fries!) The tandoori wrap is also great. And the desserts are awesome.
The only reason I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 is that it is beyond quiet in there. I’m not sure if music would help, or maybe when more people start discovering this place it will liven up. Seems that the owner is trying hard to make a more comfortable setting with the seating arrangements — hope it works because the food is really great.

I have twice visited Chakra Café in Old Town and been pleasantly surprised on each occasion.
My first visit entailed an order of their French fries which are anything but standard and every bit of delicious. I also tried the mustard shrimp salad, which was one of the best salads I have ever eaten. The seasonings on shrimp, mixed with their cilantro lime vinaigrette was exceptional and they contrasted those mildly tangy flavors with a few bits of mango that really rounded out the flavor. Not to mention that for $ 7.50 there was way more shrimp in the salad than I expected. If you like shrimp you will invariably love their mustard shrimp salad.
On my second jaunt to the Café I decided to go with something a little more traditional and I chose the Alu Gobi. Now I am a frequent patron of Indian-​style restaurants and I would have to say, Rasika included, this was definitely in the upper echelon of Alu Gobi dishes that I have tried. I also decided to be a little adventurous and get a mango bubble tea (you know, the smoothie drink with tapioca pearls in it) and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor.
The pricing is great for Old Town (and most other areas as well), the ambiance is vibrant and refreshingly different from the doldrums of earth-​toned restaurants, and the staff was very courteous and friendly.
My only criticism would be that the first time I came to the café my order took about 20 minutes to come out, which I feel is a bit too long for the style of restaurant. But, on the flip side, during my second visit the Alu Gobi came out in 10 minutes. It’s a new business so I can only expect that things will get better!

I live in the area, so I was super excited to hear that a new Indian restaurant was coming to town! So far I’ve tried the place twice and have yet to be impressed.
The first visit I had a samosa and the chicken curry. The samosa was delicious, but the chicken curry was pretty dry, with little sauce… quite boring as far as tastes. The rice was floating in a pool of water, which reminded me of minute rice. I’d suggest serving the rice separately and adding more sauce to the chicken curry.
The second visit I ordered the Payangee and Tandoori Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps for take-​out. Once I got home, I discovered that they forgot to place the dipping sauce for the Payangee in my order, which made the appetizer pretty unappealing. It just wasn’t the same without the sauce. The Tandoori Chicken Salad was quite bland and dry, needed more sauce… or something. A dipping sauce perhaps?
There’s loads of potential for this place to be a hopping spot given the lack of Indian restaurants in the area, but they need to put forth more effort in the food to gain a reliable customer base.
Pros: The staff is very friendly; nice décor.

Ate lunch here today. Cheery colorful décor, quiet ambiance (I ADORE not having my brain assaulted w loud music). Many vegetarian and vegan choices which made me quite happy (I really enjoyed the vegan ghugni and the bhel puri) and the chicken salad lettuce wraps were pronounced delicious by another patron. All menu items clearly described so no mystery items, thus avoiding a problem I have had at many other Indian restaurants.
Prices very reasonable for such fresh good food.
I will definitely go back.

I’m very favorably impressed by this new Indian eatery in Old Town. It is in the old Farah Olivia space next to Balducci’s. The space is casual and tastefully decorated. No annoyingly loud music (at least not yet). More upscale than a fast food concept, but short of white table cloths.
I ordered at the register and the food was brought out in short order, all at once, but that’s fine. The blackened chicken wings were excellent, a charred dry rub on juicy wing pieces. The bhel puri was fresh and came with three little bowls of the appropriate sauces. The chakra fries, potato coins seasoned with turmeric and brought out with a side of curry ketchup, were delicious in its simplicity and quite generous in its portion size. The lamb curry was very tender and tasty. In my opinion, the food quality is on the par with the more expensive Indian restaurants, at a somewhat lower price. And there is quite a bit of variety and originality here to choose from, including Indian themed «roti wraps», «flatbread pizzas», and «quesadillas.» I’ve been to Merzi in DC, a somewhat similar concept (casual, relatively inexpensive), and can attest that this place is far better in every way. The food quality is higher, as is the overall eating experience.
I’m smitten enough by the food quality and originality of the place to give it five stars – it does what it sets out to do very well. I will certainly be back soon, there is much on the menu that intrigues. Highly recommended.
EDIT 11÷1÷12: After many meals at Chakra I’m still pleased with the quality and the fact that they have a unique offering. But I’m knocking them down one notch due to value. You can spend alot here and leave with not too much food. The wraps sometimes have too much rice and not enough protein. The serving sizes are commonly on the small side. I appreciate their concern for my waistline, but the prices justify a satisfying quantity of food. The wings are still great and another find is the keema samosas, overstuffed with meat.