Haandi - Bethesda, MD

For my cousin's birthday our girl friends and I went to Haandi for dinner. It is an Indian restaurant located in Bethesda with the closest Metro stop being Bethesda on the Red Line. There is meter parking available on the street as well.

Haandi has been mentioned in Washingtonian Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Asia Today and Zagat Survey, just to name a few.

Sorry for the blurry pic!

The inside is quite classy with a really cool looking ceiling, white table clothes and napkins, and plenty of large round tables. This photo shows about 1/2 the restaurant.

Here is a blurry picture (geeez...) of the bar they have in the back.

The drink I always order at an Indian restaurant is the mango lassi. It's a yogurt-based drink with mango. It costs $4 and is thick, sweet and tastes like a fresh mango.

For our appetizer we ordered the 'Assorted Appetizer Platter - a combination of samosas, sabzi bhajiyas, murgh tikka and seekh kabab' for $12. My favorite one was the 'Samosa - deep fried pastry triangles stuff ed with spiced potatoes and green peas' because I love fried things and potatoes. They are the large items on the right.

Here are two dipping sauces provided. The one to the right is a Green Coriander Chutney and the brown one is a Tamarind Chutney. I like to eat everything with the Green Coriander sauce.

This is what some of the items look like on the inside.

Our table got 2 big plates of Basmati rice to go with our dishes. It was really light, fluffy and we finished all the rice by the end of dinner.

I enjoyed this dish so much at India Grill that I wanted to try it here. I ordered the 'Palak Paneer - homemade farmer cheese cubes, spinach cooked in green herbs and spices' for $11. Compared to India Grill's version, the spinach had a whipped texture and there wasn't much cheese in it. It still tasted good, I was just surprised by the texture.

I took pictures of all of my friends' dishes to show some of the choices available.

This is 'Sheesh Kabab Murgh - strips of boneless chicken breast marinated in yogurt, herbs and spices, skewered with tomatoes, onions and bell peppers' for $14.

'Baigan Bharta - eggplant roasted in tandoor clay oven sauteed with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, panchporan (a very special fire spice mixture)' for $10.

'Murg Makhihi - barbecued chunks of boneless chicken breast cooked in fresh cream, based tomato curry sauce' for $16.

'Murg Do Pyaza - boneless chicken sauteed in fresh onions, tomatoes in a creamy curry sauce' for $14.

Overall the dinner was fine. The servers were attentive, and there was a lot of room to just be loud and chat without bothering others. The entrees range between $10-$20. The menu is fairly extensive with dishes including from vegetarian, seafood, wok entrees, chicken, lamb, charcoal barbecues, and special tandoori breads. They also offer a daily lunch buffet.

4904 Fairmont Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-718-0121

Lunch: 11:30AM - 2:30PM (Monday-Sunday)
Dinner: 5PM - 10PM (Sunday-Thursday)
5PM - 10:30PM (Friday-Saturday)

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