Pakwan Indian Restaurant & Bar

great food. some of the best ive ever had actually. my gf and i eat here alot. they always seem to have groupons. one of our fav places for indian food. very affordable. Usually they have cool indian music on the weekends when we go, but happy hour on the weekdays, news and ESPN was on. I hate sports but love indian bhangra music. Sometimes they have lost gold IPA on tap for happy hour. that alone deserves 5 stars haha.

We needed an Indian place down South. Had the buffet.
Hmm… since I went, it appears they closed. Too bad.

Nice quiet atmosphere. Great Naan. Quick service, and excellent food. I will return soon.

Since I am an Indian and had lots of Indian dishes. This place is not great for Indian foods. My wife and I visited this place for a dinner. We ordered chicken lollipop, it is a dry dish but they bought some chicken curry instead of chicken lollipop. Lollipop should be sweet and sour taste but it was spicy. I hate this place to go again.
I liked the interior of the restaurant but not food!

We’ve been making this our usual Indian food haunt for the past year or so now and have really enjoyed ourselves here.
The quality and service have been up and down but this past time was ridiculous.
They cut their portions in half, if not more. (I mean I paid 15 dollars for my meal alone)
Instead of a dish of rice on the side they put it with our food.
The nan was cold because they wrapped it in plastic wrap!
And they missed an entire entrée to-​go but still charged us for it.
When we called the restaurant back to say that they had gotten the order wrong and that we were a little upset at the price we paid the food we received they just gave us a lot of talk with no solutions. And during all that talk they couldn’t muster an apology. Although we could because we told them we were never coming back.
Oh and to top it all off after my fiancée got off the phone he immediately became ill from the food and the rest of our company had to leave and the night was well… over.
So save your money and don’t go. I seriously just joined Unilocal so I could say this about this company. It just not worth even trying.

I’ve been here twice — and I’ve had the same experience both times. Wonderful food with the slowest service ever. And last time we went, they ran out of wine and said it was because another guest and I had ordered the same red wine. What!!!
Overall, I really, really, really want to go back because the food is outstanding. But I’ll have to go when I’m barely hungry and can wait the obligatory 25 – 30 minutes for naan bread and another 30 — 45 min for my food.
If they can speed up the kitchen/​service I would give it a 5 stars. Until then, will someone ping me when that happens so I can go back?

My boyfriend and I decided to check this place out on a complete whim and we were very satisfied. I ordered the mango lassi, which was refreshing and tasty. The naan and aloo paratha were cooked to perfection. My boyfriend ordered the kadai with gosht (lamb) and he enjoyed it immensely. I selected the bhindi masala, which was flavorful and not soggy. The only reason the review isn’t five stars is that we ordered both of our meals «hot» on their spice level and they weren’t spicy at all. Both dishes were flavorful enough that it didn’t take away from the food but we like a lot of heat and it was certainly lacking in that category. Other than that, our server was responsive and it didn’t take very long for our food to be brought to our table once we had ordered. We will most certainly be back!

I wanted to like this place, I really did.
I went here on a date for a later dinner. The place looks classy and smells ahmaaazing when you walk in, so I thought it was a good sign.
It kind of went downhill from there.
Listen to your Unilocalers, on here. The food is pretty decent, yes. But the length of time to get your food, combined with the weird service and the confusion with the drink menu kind of overwhelmed it. My date and I started with vegetable samosas as we were both hungry, and perused the drink list. The waiter had to come back no less than three times because they only had ONE type of wine that was on their list. In his defense, it was a great Chardonnay and he knocked the price down to 5 a glass, but come on now folks. The wine list is a full page long. You’re telling me you don’t have any red? And only one type of white available? What is that?
Samosas were good, but kind of doughy. The dinner itself was pretty delicious, although the naan is kind of dry.
My main comments are with what is going on with this restaurant, not the food.
Food takes forever.
Service is… weird. I kind of loved our waiter cause he was goofy and clearly was in DGAF mode. He knocked some of our prices down due to the inconvenience factor, and cracked jokes with us most of the night. However, you could hear him and another waitress bickering from our table. There appears to be no management running the place whatsoever. All in all, Pakwan is just kind of weird.
If you want fabulous Indian food with great service, I really recommend Bombay Bistro. If you want decent Indian food with weirdness all around, by all means, hit up Pakwan.

I hadn’t really noticed this place before, but a friend suggested we try it out. Wow, am I ever glad we did!
The samosas and vindaloo were fantastic! The food was fresh, seasoned wonderfully, and homemade. There was a short wait for the food, but that’s what happens when you go somewhere where your food is made for you instead of your order just being placed in a queue for someone to slop some food onto a plate when your ticket comes up.
Their full menu is available now; I can’t wait to go back and try something else!

So, my partner and I decided to try this place for dinner this week. We were feeling particularly lazy so we called to see if they delivered. After being asked to «hold on» and then being hung-​up on… I called back to be answered by a fax machine… Okay — this did not bode well… But, being particularly lazy and hungry, we gave it one more try… YAY! A person! and yes, there was someone to deliver that night… Hmmm, do they not always deliver? Did we get special treatment?
We kept it simple and ordered lamb korma ($ 13.99) and two orders of regular naan bread ($ 0.99 ea)… The total, with tax and a $ 5.00 delivery charge (well, they deliver enough to know they want to charge for it) was $ 23.29! Shwoo! We figured for that it must be a pretty healthy portion of food, easily sharable. (We pay less for Korma and more for Naan from Tarka and it is plenty to share)… The gentleman took my name, phone number and address and was about to hang up when I asked — «Aren’t you going to take my credit card payment information?» Apparently he didn’t know how, so a young lady got on the phone to inform me that she could do it, but the delivery charge could not be included. I told her I would just pay cash for all of it when it arrived… How strange…
So, after our mandatory 30 minute waiting period (Couldn’t understand if they said 25 minutes or 45 minutes… so I just waited to see) the food arrived… and BAM! We knew we failed! Our laziness was going to cause us to suffer! There was about 1 cup of basmati rice and about 3 cups (including the LARGE pieces of lamb) Korma and 8 quarter pieces of Naan… The Korma smelled pretty strongly of curry but had a nice heat (I ordered Hot, not «very hot»). The LARGE pieces of lamb were tender, but a bit dry. The Naan was very «bleh» and flat, which I guess for white regular naan can be expected… But obviously Tarka has spoiled us with their flavorful and fluffy white naan…
All in all, for the money, we agreed that we would not do this again. We may go into the restaurant and try their buffet sometime, as Indian buffet’s ARE generally worth the $, but we won’t order for pick-​up or delivery again, regardless of how particularly lazy we may feel at the time!

We decided to try Pakwan after they put up a big sign on William Cannon advertising the place. We were famished when we went in and immediately ordered a few appetizers from the girl who sat us (not our server). When our server came he’d heard about them and two of the three came out really quickly. We were glad the last came out later– it was hot after we’d chowed down on the first two.
When we ordered he apologetically explained that they were out of the malai kofta. I told him that was too bad because it was my absolute favorite and at that he went to check if they’d made more and they had! We enjoyed everything we had there– all delicious!
Some would say the service was slow– my boyfriend and I were deep in discussion so we really liked not being bothered constantly. Our water glasses stayed full, the food came out in good time and was AMAZING, and the check came quickly when we were ready for it.
We loved it and plan to go back soon. We want to try their lunch buffet– is there anything better than an Indian food buffet?

Went for the Groupon and will def go back!
Service was a little slow ONLY b/​c there was one waiter holding down the fort. He did very well and kept his cool even though there were about 7 tables w/​2 or more heads — 2 big thumbs up
We started w/​the Garam Garam Pakore which was crispy, tasty, and light on the stomach. Enough for 2 maybe 3 people.
Went on to the Chicken Tikka Hara Bhara which was really good. Large chunks of deliciously marinated chicken served on a skillet, brought out piping hot. Lots of grilled caramelized (sliced) onions. If you’re not an onion fan you might want to choose something else or specify: hold the onions. It also doesn’t come w/​anything on the side either so be prepared to order something else if you’re looking for something other than just chicken.
Additional yogurt+spices dipping sauce came on the side which was pretty good, although it didn’t need it.
I swabbed my plate throughout w/​Tandoori Roti, which is much like a large wheat tortilla, only Indian.
I also ordered a Sweet Lassi (A traditional Indian yogurt based drink) which I almost dribbled on myself only b/​c I think it’s more of an acquired taste type of drink. I’m comparing a Lassi to something like very sweet Suero De Sal shake. I passed on it, but you may like it.
We didn’t have room for dessert but were brought 2 complimentary Rasgulla which were very good. Not too sweet, just the right size and enough to satisfy my insatiable sweet tooth. Perfect compliment to the meal.
Overall a very good place to dine in. Just be prepared to spend over an hour there if there’s only ONE waiter for 6+ tables. We weren’t in a rush whatsoever so it was a nice way to end a dreadful Monday.

My husband and I went here for a date night and really enjoyed it! They had Bollywood music on in the background which was a very fun touch. Our server was extremely friendly and really made sure we were taken care of.
We order vegetable samosas, which were the best in Austin that we have had yet. I got a Biryani which was delicious and my husband got a Fish Curry which was even better. Highly recommended.

once bitten, never go back there again is what i say. Being indian, i do know a good indian restaurant from a bad one, and this one is pretty bad. 1^st off– extremely rude staff. We went there for dinner, it was not even a busy night. After waiting for a table in a near empty restaurant for 5 mins, being asked if we wanted something to drink after another 10, and the order being taken after another 20, my patience began to wane. The tomato soup was nothing but the same gravy they ended up serving with the paneer. And for that, 30 mins. And guess what? the waitress forgot our silverware and plates. And we ended up with a whopping fat bill. this place is a disgrace to indian food and common decency.

Twice as expensive & infinitely slower service than the incumbent Indian champion of south Austin (Tarka).
Kitchen & servers both seemed in the weeds with the place half full on a Tuesday night.

I was surprised the other day when visiting Scubaland that there was a new Indian restaurant open in the little strip mall behind the Walgreen’s on Wm Cannon/​Brodie. To date, we have had to either go all the way up to Anderson Ln to Star of India for decent Indian cuisine, or to Tarka, which really is just feaux Indian, and doesn’t completely satisfy the craving. I was mildly intrigued that this new place had opened — happy to try a new place, but perhaps not quite convinced at the fact that it is hidden away behind other buildings. You would really have to give specific directions to get to it.
So my wife, kids, and I decided to venture out for an evening meal, and give Pakwan a try. We are all very glad we did! We started with lamb samosas — they were perfect. Served with two chutneys, which were both delicious. Not only that, but since the restaurant is fairly new still, they gave us complementary vegetable samosas as well, and they were also wonderful. Just the right blend of spices, and the pastry was perfect.
The waitress brought each of us small glasses of lime-​water to cleanse the palate between dishes. This was a nice touch, and was tasty to boot.
For our meal we had the Murg Tikka Masala, the Kadai Lamb, and an order of Murg Biryani. Now, for my wife, chicken tikka masala is particularly difficult to satisfy — very few restaurants prepare it to the perfection that she seeks. Pakwan fulfilled this dish perfectly, in our opinion. The tomato and yogurt blend was just right, in fact we agreed it was the best we’ve had in Austin. The Kadai lamb was tender, spicy, and perfect. And the biryani was delicious! The naan was fresh and hot, and perfect as well.
But the final touch to this meal was the Kheer (rice pudding). None of us was really still hungry after all of the food, but our youngest loves kheer, so we ordered two small dishes to share among the four of us. It. Was. Incredible. My wife was the first to notice that it had COCONUT flakes in it! Full or not, we downed it like it was our last meal. Plus I should note, I am not typically a big fan of kheer, but this stuff was absolute perfection.
We are excited that Pakwan has opened in our neighborhood! We’ll visit often!

I have only been once so far but plan to go back and try more of the menu. The inside is very nice. It felt fancy but still casual. Friendly service.
The vegetable samosas were some of the best I’ve ever had, if not THE best! Spiced to perfection and perfectly fried. The paneer tikka masala was decent but not amazing. The paneer had a great texture and flavor which was a nice surprise but the sauce was a bit bland after the first couple bites and I was hoping for a bit more spice. The rice was cooked perfectly. The garlic naan was very good. Softer than I typically like it, but the freshness and flavor of the bread made up for that.
Note that they are a little cilantro happy with just about everything they serve so if you’re not a fan of cilantro, make sure to mention that.
Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised and happy with my first experience. My only real complaint is that it is a little pricey for what I’m used to paying for decent Indian food but I can accept that given that it’s not take-​out and attempts to be on the fancier sit-​down side.
I recommend checking it out.

It’s nice knowing there’s another Indian restaurant down South! I frequent the next door Indian grocery store at least twice a week, and it was there that I overheard a guy talking about the neighbor, Pakwan, after his workout. He mentioned it was okay, and suggested another place up North. So, being curious monkey me, I decided to pay Pakwan a visit and I grabbed some food to go. I doubt I’ll be going back anytime soon and after-​gym-​guy was right about going elsewhere for decent Indian food, but I don’t think you have to venture too far up north. Tarka’s still where it’s at for me.
Lamb Biryani: Lamb (mutton) meat looked and tasted like it was three days old. It was very sparse, and extremely dry with a brick red, maroon hue and an almost venison chew. The Basmati rice used for the biryani was also dry or of low quality. The spices were good, but given the meat and rice sucked, the dish overall was not worth ordering again for the price.
Raita: YUCK! Yogurt, herbs and spices shouldn’t be hard to put together! I realize this may be a cultural and/​or regional recipe but the Indian and Pakistani people I know make better Raita than this. You can probably take a bowl and go next door to Man Pasand groceries and whip something better in less than 10 minutes.
Samosas: The pastry dough was PERFECT. The dough was flaky and tasty but the filling sucked! It tasted like old potatoes with a few spices and not much else. Where are the peas? Where are the toasted cumin seeds? Where are the other spices? I’ve tasted better samosas in the frozen section of most Indian grocers. Again, Man Pasand included.
Naan: Decent considering (and hoping) it’s freshly made (EDIT: doubt it, it didn’t taste as good when reheated at home). Again, something you can grab from the Indian grocer’s freezer section next door. They have a big selection of Indian breads, and the Naan comes plain or with onion, garlic, coriander, and multiple other options and brands. I personally think they taste better than Pakwans’ Naan.
Considering the above cost me ~ $ 25; I highly doubt I’ll return to Pakwan. Only reason I’m giving two stars is the owners put attention to décor and the staff was cordial, professional and very helpful! (Thanks Sage!)
Also, I didn’t have anything to drink but their beer selection on tap is limited: Miller Light, Budweiser, etc… someone needs to remind them to put the INDIA back in IPAs, the piss poor beer selection they have can’t keep an Austin bar floating, let alone an Indian restaurant serving over-​priced and mediocre food.
Thumbs down for now, but I’m not one to give up so easily on a place that gives a glimmer of promise.

I had been craving some real, real /​good/​Indian food, and Pakwan delivered! If you’re looking for tasty Indian cuisine in South Austin, this is a fantastic choice. The portions were standard and the prices basically were, also.
I attended Pakwan’s «soft opening» the other night, for which they are offering a stream-​lined selection of menu items and a brief but fabulous drink list. The Dark and Stormy was an interesting and somewhat tart but delicious cocktail, made with ginger beer and liquor. The tamarind margarita was also interesting, although not my personal favorite.
The veggie samosas were spicy and fried to a perfectly crisp golden brown and served with the traditional fresh mint and tamarind dipping sauces as well as a delicious fruity chutney. We also had the vegetable pakore, which were also fried to a perfect golden brown. Both of these appetizers are a must!
I ordered the Saag Paneer, which was rich and full-​flavored and pretty damn spicy. It tasted like they had used fresh spinach, too. My boyfriend had the Murg (chicken) Tikka Masala, which was spicy and yet somewhat sweet with chunks of perfectly tender chicken. Both dishes were fantastic. The chana masala was also very good. The plain naan bread was delicious and soft, and they made us a special order of onion naan (that wasn’t on their soft opening menu, but they were very accommodating) which was awesome!
Our waitress was extremely sweet and very attentive, and one of the owners introduced herself to us and asked to make sure we had enjoyed our experience. I can’t wait to come back to Pakwan to check out the full menu!

The ONLY reason I am giving them 3 stars is because of the service and appearance. I was craving some Indian for lunch and thought I would try the new place in town. When I walked in I was greeted by the host and 2 smiling servers. A smile goes a long way with me especially when I’m walking in somewhere new. I wanted to grab take out but they inform me that they don’t do lunch plates. They proceeded to bend over backwards to get me all of the take out items I would need to raid the buffet including some great naan. THAT is the only reason I’m giving them 3 stars. Great service is great service and can outweigh a lot of bad.
Now for the bad. I am a HUGE fan of Saag. For the most part it’s my go to Indian dish. Boy was I lucky I was looking for a little variety today and decided to make two separate meals in the two containers I was given. The Saag was runny with half cooked spinach and no flavor. The taste of the spinach was so bad that I immediately spit it out. SO disappointing. The other dish was the chicken with peanutish sauce (see how much I don’t stray away from my saag). It’s one of those staple Indian dishes. I have had it a few times before and this was very bland.
All and all, great service, nice interior but 90% of my food is in the trash and I’m eating a PBJ. Arg, I was really hoping this one would work out. Back to Tarka for lunch.