Ashoka

So this hidden gem could definitely be 5 stars but… Dining in is kind of awkward. It’s very quiet not a lot of people dine in at all at least while I was there. It’s kind of run down looking inside and the bathroom was kind of gross. The food was absolutely amazing though! My boyfriend and I ordered the chicken and egg curry, chicken masala, vegetable samosas, and the mixed pakoras. The samosas were probably the best I’ve had so far. Himalayan always had good food but their samosas just weren’t very good. The curry and masala tasted very similar but the heat level was different. I will definitely be ordering from them again. It will just have to be takeout. This place is really authentic and family owned.

Our food took over 40 minutes. We ordered our food mild (our kids are sensitive to spice) and it was way too hot! Inedible! There were pieces of metal in our naan. We will not be going back. Ended up throwing the whole meal out. What a waste!

Great food at reasonable prices. Serving sizes were a bit smaller than expected, but the price reflects that compared to other Indian restaurants in the area. Service was prompt. Their naan is fluffy and delicious, though I wish they gave us the option to substitute the Garlic naan for their normal offering with the entrees. The Garlic naan is $ 3.99 for 4 half pieces, so I am not sure if that was worth it.

Okay, okay, I feel guilty for writing this, but do not dine in the restaurant. Just do take out. I had read some of the other reviews and thought that maybe my fellow Unilocalers were being too harsh on the interior of the restaurant, but they were not. The place is kind of dingy and our waiter was sitting in the middle of the restaurant eating with people and having a conversation about S&M. Yes, he was attentive to us but I think it is kind of inappropriate to be eating dinner in the middle of the restaurant while you are serving food. However, that is not the main concern. As we were drinking our water, I noticed a bunch of black things at the bottom of my glass. I then looked at my boyfriend’s and he had the same black debris at the bottom of his glass. I asked the server for new glasses because there was black debris floating. So, he brought us new glasses, but I noticed there was no ice. While we were eating dinner, I asked for more water and he brought us an Aquafina bottle (gross) for water because he said the ice had black stuff in it so we should just drink from the bottle. I was pretty grossed out about it. However, the food was great! Besides, a little too much garlic on the garlic naan, my eggplant and potatoes was one of the best Indian dishes I have ever had. So, please, do try this place out, it is definitely worth it but maybe dining in and drinking the water is not your best bet.

Love this place! The dining room is plain and frequently the owner is your waiter, and cook. The food is fantastic and you can bring in your own wine! Try the beal puri for a starter!

Staff is friendly and excellent, and the food is delicious and doesn’t take a million years to receive.

Lovely service. Very helpful. Food was off the charts. Best indian I’ve had and I eat it once a week usually. Definitely not my last time here. Very authentic and reminiscent of home made. Incredible. There was nothing to take home when we were done.

We found this place thanks to Unilocal and gave it a try.
We had chicken tikka masala and lamb butter mushroom. Entrees come with naan, but we added rice as well. Great food; be careful with the level of spicy heat that you ask for. This is authentic Indian food.
We’ll certainly be coming back.

This place rocks, been coming here with my girlfriend for over a year. It is family owned and the food is always spot on! Ashoka, the owner is always very personable and friendly.

This place was fabulous. I always love finding great little holes-​in-​the-​wall and Ashoka did not disappoint. The Rogan Josh and the chhole were particularly good, as were the samosas. The garlic naan deserves special mention: they were made with sliced bits of real garlic, not tinned minced garlic or worse, garlic powder. Truly amazing.
Even better — we were in town for a conference and we descended on them with 12 people in tow. They handled the crush with considerable aplomb, quietly calling in reinforcements. We hit them with 10 entrees, assorted breads, and rice — and they didn’t blink.
Several in the group were Indian food noobs and I’m really glad that this was their first experience. I couldn’t have asked for more.
I’ll echo a previous commenter: if you want pretentious, expensive, and modest quality Indian food, go somewhere else. This place is quiet and unassuming, but the food is amazing.

My girlfriend and I love this place! We usually get carry out and go with Chicken Tiki Masala with an order of samosas. BOOM that’s all you need. They have a great balance of flavor and spice while the samosas are packed with potatoes and you get some Naan on the side as well. I wish the orders came with rice but you have to order some seperate, no big deal. We’ve gone to other places in the area for indian/​pakistani but nothing quite compares. This place is a little hole in the wall off army trail in a mini mall. Looks can be deceiving but the food is on point.

Ahmedabad is a city in India which is very famous for its authentic, tasty and different types of cuisines. I am from Ahmedabad and Ashoka brought back that exact same flavor, taste and essence in my mouth for which I was craving since last year !!
Trust me this is one of the best Indian restaurant in town !!
Don’t go for ambience but go for that real raw taste !!
Highly recommended !..

I read the good reviews you all left and was looking forward to trying it. Unfortunately couldn’t make it into the dining room. Didn’t feel sanitary for me. Sorry for the negative review.

I hesitate to write this review, but it must be done. Ashoka is delightful, but in that way where you feel like putting a review on the Interweb might spoil the secret.
My wife and I live right around the corner and had no idea this place existed. Our first Indian love was the dear departed Himalaya that used to be nearby, but since it closed down, we’ve been searching for a place to call our own.
Ashoka is the one we’ve hoped for. If you’re too bougie to deal with a little bit of stickiness on the menus and not a lot of decorations or «ambiance,» good. Keep your sanitized little attitude out of here!
If, on the other hand, you like killer food and an owner who is also the Chef, Waiter, Busboy, and Maître d; who adds all the personality and verve that a Sitar and a beaded curtain never could, then this is the right place.
Ashoka is brilliant, and we will look forward to going back soon!

I stumbled on this place after moving to Glendale Heights in the summer of 2011. The first thing to note is that they allow you to BYOB with no corkage fee, which is definitely a plus. The restaurant is plainly decorated but I wouldn’t say it is «dirty» as others have complained. They more than make up for it with the quality of their food though! We have been back countless times and have gotten to know the owner who is very nice.
Every dish we have had has been awesome. We try new things every once in a while, but tend to come back to some of the same dishes because we like them so much. (I personally like the Chicken Tikka Masala.) After several dine-​in and carry-​out experiences we have noticed that you get a bit more food if you carry-​out so keep that in mind. All of the dishes come with a side on Naan but we like to order rice which is extra.
All in all this is the best Indian food I have had. They are open from noon til 9pm most days, but it’s carryout only from noon til 3pm.
Enjoy!

During my time in Hawaii, I found a lot of great food in the dingiest of holes-​in-​the-​wall, so I wasn’t so much surprised as delighted to discover that Ashoka puts out some quality vittles.
You’ll want your order to go — trust me and every other reviewer before me. And ask for the kitchen to use less oil/​ghee, since they tend to be a bit heavy-​handed.
The aloo gobi, palak paneer, dal makhni, lamb kebab curry and fish curry are all delicious, and main dishes come with naan for sopping up every last savory bit of sauce.
The garlic naan, however, is WAY too garlicky even for my Korean palate — I don’t enjoy biting into whole cloves, but you can give it a go if you feel brave enough.

Let me just start by saying… the people who say this place has «plain» decoration are being EXTREMELY kind. Don’t get confused, the décor in this place is «DIVEY» at best. Light fixtures coming out of the ceiling… dusty trinkets all over the place… etc
Thankfully I’m not a huge neat freak because when i went in the place was kinda dirty. Thankfully our table and silverware was all clean and ready to go.
Where this place really wins is THE FOOD. Everything that both me and my girlfriend ate was great. Home cooked indian food at it’s finest.
I’m sure we will order from this place again… just might have to get take out next time ;-)

I have to say that this is my 2^nd visit to the place and yes it does seem like they’ve improved the appearance somewhat. And it didn’t smell musty like the last time.
So I did a carryout order of veggie samosas, naan, Shrimp Masala, and basmati rice. I get there 30 minutes later and the host has my order and when I pay for it, he asks me if I wanted sauce or not to go with my Masala. I told him if that’s what comes with it, then yes. But apparently it’s optional and they didn’t give me the sauce so he says it’ll be a few more minutes.
I tell him it’s okay I don’t need it but he proceeds to pull out the contents of my order to show me what my Masala looks like. In the process of doing this, I noticed that the veggie samosas were basically just tossed in the bag w/​o any packaging or foil. He touches my samosas with his hands and puts it on the table. I’m besides myself because 1) I don’t know where his hands have been… and obviously he’s handling money and who knows what else… and 2) the table itself was not clean.
I immediately tell him I don’t want the samosas and to take it off my bill. Granted I’m not naïve to think they don’t touch the food while preparing it but to not only pull it out in front of me but also put it on the table, I was appalled. Not to mention there was no wrapping at all. They just put it in the bag with the rice and Masala (sans the special sauce). At least the naan was wrapped in foil. We go back and forth a bit on taking out the samosas from my bill and order but eventually he does so.
Honestly I should’ve not paid for any of the meal and just walked out but I wanted to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt. He later mentioned that he tried to call back after I placed order to ask about the sauce but I didn’t answer. I didn’t realize he called back but upon seeing my call history, I do acknowledge that he did.
As for the meal I will say the Marsala was okay but nothing really special. The naan was burnt but was warm at least.
I will not return. I would’ve gone to Himalayan Restaurant but they weren’t answering their phone when I called and I was craving Indian and thought I’d give Ashoka a 2^nd chance… especially after reading all the recent reviews. For me though I won’t be back a 3^rd time.

I will start by saying I was afraid to enter this restaurant after the daunting descriptions other reviewers provided about the appearance and cleanliness of the place. My husband and I love Indian food, and Ashoka is literally less than a mile from our house. After reading the amazing reviews about the food, we couldn’t resist ordering some take out.
I walked in expecting to be horrified but instead was pleasantly surprised to find that either they cleaned the place up a bit or my aesthetic standards are much lower than previous reviewers. It looked to me like they may have replaced the carpeting and window treatments, threw up some art, added some soft background music, and perhaps took heed of recommendations to vacuum and wipe things down more often. Maybe some previous reviewers can go back and let me know what you think. I didn’t check out the bathrooms since I entered through the «Take Out» door, which leads to an area that is separated from the rest of the restaurant by a partial wall. The place is by no means gorgeous… still plain as described but as tidy as any dive one would eat in to get great food. We may dine in next time.
The food was delectable. We ordered the combo platter for two, which was more than enough food for two people. The meats were cooked to perfection. Tender lamb chunks, steaky shrimp, and juicy chicken pieces, each in their own yummy sauce. The naan and rice were warm and fresh. They throw in dessert too.
Thumbs up on what I expect is the best Indian place in town.

The food is SOOO good. I’m a plain naan girl, but my friends ordered the garlic naan — not only was it beautifully presented, but mouthwateringly delicious.
we all ordered curries. all 5 of us ordered something different. LOVED the heat. it was just perfect.
The place is… dismal. absolutely uninviting and scary, even. We ended up here after trying Himilayan and Taj Mahal on a Tuesday night to find out there were closed.
Perhaps I’ll just do take out next time.
Amex not accepted.
BYOB