Karaikudi

Visited twice this place. The food was really good and authentic. The lamb biryani and curry are so good. Each dish had it’s flavor mostly from the Tamil style.

Boo. We went here about a year ago and had a great experience. This time it didn’t work out under their new management. They seemed to have a lot of people working in the back, but things armed so disorganized. We ordered everything mild, but it all was pretty spicy. They missed one whole entrée, but we decided it wasn’t worth bothering to get it straight since after tasting everything we weren’t that impressed. But they tried to charge us and so that took time to resolve. Their hours are horrible especially on weekends. Open at 6? And they weren’t cleaning up from the lunch hours which ended at 3. Pretty distracting. We won’t be coming back.

I have been to this restaurant once for dinner and will never go again. The staff is rude, the food taste horrible. They took over 40 mins to bring out the food to our table, and what they brought was cold. My cousin didn’t even get his order in 40 mins. when we complaint about the food they taken so much tome and food being cold, the staff talked back very rudely.
Never ever again going to this place, not worth spending time and money.

Oh Unilocal,how you have failed me here! :(
I had a craving for Chicken Tikka Masala today and checked out some places in the area close to work. This is the only place I could find CTM on the menu within a short radius. It seems to be new (still has Grand Opening sign up) and has great Unilocal reviews, so off I went to place a take-​out order.
It was around 2pm so the place was quiet with only a few diners taking advantage of their lunch buffet. My order was taken quickly and I was told it would take about 15 minutes to prepare. When I returned in that time period, I still had to wait a few minutes, but that’s ok. However, I did notice the man preparing my meal take a portion of sauce from the buffet into the kitchen. I found that sauce in my bag later. Which weirded me out, so I didn’t try more than a taste.
As for my food… much was left to be desired. My chicken tikka masala had a whopping 5 chunks of meat in the container which was otherwise filled to the brim with sauce. Not what I would expect to pay $ 11 for. Also, I was not a fan of the taste. Very disappointing.
I also ordered Masala Vada, a vegetarian appetizer — «deep fried crisp lentil dumplings prepared with channa dal (bengal gram lentil), onions, chillies and Indian spices». I’ve never had this before but it sounded good. I got about 4 round «patties» and was a good portion for the price. However, it seemed to be fried too much… Just too crunchy/​hard of an outer shell for my liking. Also heavily spiced.
In the end, I ate rice for lunch. A $ 17 lunch wasted for me. I don’t think I’ll be returning here.
Note: you’re charged for plain naan here. Upcharges also for buttered or garlic naan. Never been to an Indian restaurant that charged for plain naan. I found that interesting.

I found the food to be OK.
The ambiance is also OK.
All the food was spicy (Chettinad spicy). I liked the chicken wings which was prepared with Indian spices and tasted awesome. The chicken was also nice. I had high expectation on goat curry but was dissapointed with it. The lamb curry had more bones than meat.
Recommend if looking for a reaaly spicy food !

A little torn on this place. I went here for the first time after reading all the good reviews.
Definitely has a lot of potential. The food «Tasted» about the best I’ve had at an Indian buffet. HOWEVER, everything was either cold or stale. ie. all the curries were room temperature, not even the slightest bit warm. The Naan was stale and the pakora was actually cold, like it had been refrigerated and only partially reheated.
It’s too bad, because it really ruined the meal. That being said, the flavor and spiciness and selection was about the best I’ve had at an Indian establishment.
I came right smack dab at noon too… so you would think that would be the time of day when they would have the food nice and hot.
3 stars with a 5 star potential if they would just heat up their food and make the naan fresh.

I see Indian people :0
Well even M. Night Shyamalan would be impressed with this food. And I do see Indian people eating here, so I mean it has to be authentic.
First Indian food I’ve eaten, it has spoiled me because I have not found a better one.

This Indian restaurant serves Chennai cuisine-​a splendid alternative to the other Indian restaurants in Northern Virginia. The dining here is casual and the service is friendly. I recommend both the lunch buffet and dinner a la carte. The lunch buffet is constantly changing with different dishes everyday. I noticed Tuesdays offerings seemed hotter on the spice than other days. Not sure if this is a coincidence though. The buffet has a bit of everything and the flavors are robust. I appreciate the fresh ingredient and the use of whole spices which I learned is characteristic of Chennai style. The staff here are friendlier than all other Indian restaurants I have ever been too. The variety of dishes in the buffet is great.

Definitely unique – as other reviewers point out most of the Indian food in the area (and in the US) tends to be North Indian, and this is clearly southern. I can’t vouch for the authenticity but it is a different experience and very good. I will come here again and again to learn more about this cuisine.
Obvi, lunch buffet – great price for the quality. Also no muss and/​or fuss with the staff or the physical location, which is just how I like it.
Some things are indeed spicy but don’t be intimidated, nothing I had was actually hard to handle. From the reviews I gather that most of their best dishes have meat, and I did stick to (the ample) vegetarian options so maybe I was missing out. But the paneer was great, the biryani was also very good, and the sweet carrot dish was a new and awesome find.
New favorite Indian place in Fairfax? Yeah, I think so!

Working for a client near Fair Oaks Mall. Read about Karaikudi from the GMU professor Tyler Cowan, 4 miles away, I’ll try it. At lunchtime they have an all you can eat buffet, which I try. I arrive 11:45 AM, I’m the only guy there. Not all the dishes are labeled. I don’t eat meat, they tell me which is which. The vegetarian dishes are good: pilaf, chickpea dish, and gravy-​like dish that goes on the rice. Really good bread, outstanding onion pakoras. All for $ 10. I would return. Not amazing, but good.
Located in nondescript Lotte Plaza shopping center.

For someone who grew up in Chennai, this place is really a game changer ;) There are so many Indian cuisine options in this area but most are North Indian or Hyderabadi/​Andhra version. For most Americans, its all the same curry but there are so many different variations like the use of 18 or is it 21 spices only in the Chettinad cuisine that Karikudi caters.
The best part is that they dont play to the subtler palate of American taste and keep it native, love the stuff!

Karaikudi outshines every Indian restaurant I have been to in the last few years. If you like spice (and you should, you know, because it is the life in food) this place will satisfy. I second the positive comments others have made. It was a pleasure talking to the manager and our waiter who were more than willing to answer our questions about the food and the ingredients.
Wife had Erel Masala (prawns and onions in Chettinad masala) and I had Kadai Goat. Oh man, both dishes were superb and the plain parathas were the perfect accompaniment.

4 stars– Aside from the fact that I nearly killed one of my besties by not realizing that one of the dishes she was about to eat not only contained nuts, but was a cashew based sauce… as in the main ingredient lol.
I wanted to check this place out and I think one of the best ways to try an Indian restaurant is to try the buffet. There is bound to be something for everyone! I pretty much loved everything I tried. I was pleased and cannot wait to go back and really get the chance to explore their menu.
I also told the owner/​manager that we would definitely order often if they started to consider delivery and he said they are working on it!

I’ve tried two other Indian restaurants in the Fairfax/​Chantilly area — Bollywood Bistro and Punjabi by Nature. Tonight, I got carry out from Karaikudi. It is my least favorite of the three.
First of all, they did not have Tandoori Chicken or Naan available. What Indian place is out of Tandoori Chicken and Naan? It’s like an Asian restaurant being out of rice.
I got:
Masala Vada: The inside of the dumpling was tasty and spicy, but the outside seemed dry and hard to bite into. It was like biting into an overcooked falafel.
Karaikudi Chicken: just ok. Chicken could’ve been cooked a bit better.
Chicken Tikka Masala: I’m used to this dish encompassing just chicken and sauce. This version had a whole bunch of other ingredients, like big chunks of peppers and onions that I wasn’t a fan of.
Maybe I’ll try the buffet at some point to give this place another chance, but I’m not in a rush.

I wanted to upgrade my rating since I’ve had the buffet a few times. The quality of the buffet experience is just as if you were ordering off of the main menu. Spiced to perfection. In fact, the spices are ordered directly from the owner’s homeland and prepared for cooking in the back of the kitchen.
Today, I especially enjoyed the karaikudi chicken. Among other things, the buffet offered plenty of paratha and variety of soups. Also, three different rices were presented: white rice, yellow rice and chicken biryani. The fried okra was pure pleasure to the palate.
The wait staff is extremely polite and accommodating even during the busy buffet hours. The owner makes it a point to stop by each table and ensure that each patron’s experience is satisfactory. Do yourself a favor and stop by for good eats at this place.

You need to take two things into account before going to Karaikudi
1. This is not your typical Americanized Indian food. It is from a southern region and though you may see some familiar looking items, these are not tailored to watered down creamy American tastes and are quite authentic.
2. This food is hot!!! Like atomic tears streaming down your eyes hot.
I have had Indian quite a few times before, but this was my first experience with Chettinad style and though I live 500 miles away, I’m considering driving back down this weekend for some more.
I would definitely recommend the lunch buffet for anyone else not that familiar with the cuisine as a great way to sample a good many of their dishes. When we were there they had something like 15 dishes, 2 soups, and 3 types of dessert.
The crab soup had an intense peppery spiciness. The dishes that seemed familiar like chicken tika, chicken makhani, and briyani rice all tasted like the best version of each I’ve ever had, combined with incredible spicyness that really brought out the flavor of each.
Luckily for me, the dessert was very cool and soothing, and quickly got rid of the burn.
The staff was also very attentive, constantly refilling our water, and making sure we were okay, probably due to the profuse sweat and red faces we all had. Our waiter was also very helpful with getting the wifi setup on the ipad we had brought.
Overall, I would recommend Karaikudi to anyone looking for a truly unique and delicious type of Indian food, that doesn’t mind spice in the name of making the food something special

Beware — this food is SPICY!!!
I am an Indian who cannot handle spicy food, so its definitely a challenge to find something here. I have been here 3 – 4 times, and each time loved the experience (in spite of drinking 5 – 6 glasses of water).
The only non-​spicy things I tried are:
— Idli
— Masala Dosa (but the Sambhar is spicy and so is the tomato chutney they serve)
I am sure if you were to order the North Indian entrees like Daal Makhani, Mutter Paneer etc, the spice level would be less.
The other items I have tried:
— Masala Vada: delicious but spicy.
— Vegetable Kothu Parotta: Shredded Parotta tossed over griddle with vegetables, onion spices and herbs, served with raitha and gravy. Even though this is delicious, I wasn’t able to finish it as its really spicy.
In addition, contrary to most South Indian restaurants, the service here is very friendly and attentive. The waiters make sure you are doing ok, checkup on you and also recommend some of their favorite dishes.
If you love spicy food, definitely give this place a try. If you are someone like me with a low tolerance for spicy food, just get ready to drink lots of water!!!

I’ve been to Karaikudi three times, and each time gets better than the last. The food is definitely «Indian-​spicy» (it’s clear they have plenty of business, and don’t see a need to water their food down for the typical American palate) and unique (this is not the creamy, north Indian food we typically get at Indian restaurants in the States).
I love the egg biryani. My husband loves any of the meat biryanis. The flavor is richer, and wetter, than biryanis we typically get at other restaurants.
Now, to the buffet, which is a bargain at $ 13… there’s a great selection, ranging from fancier dishes to ones I am told by Indian friends are more of the home-​cooking, comfort-​food variety. Standouts during our last rip were the ennai kathrikai (baby eggplants with tamarind and chili), the fish fry (little pieces of fish fried coated with spices), a delicious cabbage and peanut salad and the dessert of paruppu payasam (a sweetened yellow dal with cardamom, coconut and cashews). My friends loved the mutton masala.
It’s notable that this place avoids one of my pet peeves of buffets, which is when people skimp on ingredients. For example, the dessert had a LOT of whole cashews in it.
The guys who work here/​own the place are very nice, too. If you are at all interested in Indian cuisine, you should definitely check this place out — places like this are one of the reasons I love the NoVa ‘burbs — people think its all about Applebees and fast food out here, but there are actually a lot of gems like Karaikudi waiting for those with the guts to drive out to Chantilly :)

I am Indian and have been to several Indian restaurants in the DC area over the last 3+ years. Karaikudi is hands down one of the best in the area. I went on a Sunday afternoon and had the buffet. The spread was amazing and included several meat items and veggie options as well. I really enjoyed the shrimp, chicken, and lamb. You can tell the ingredients are a cut above the rest of the Indian buffets in the area and the quality of the food is just delicious.
The service was also second to none. The waitstaff took great care of myself and my lunch partner. I would highly recommend Karaikudi and make sure you come hungry!

This place definitely has some stuff that I haven’t tasted before, so if I want an Indian buffet with something a little different, I’ll come back… but for $ 11 for a lunch buffet, I might wait a while until this new joint gets a little under their belt so they can start lowering prices. ($ 5 and $ 8 buffet lunches in the area from long-​time Indian favorites are hard to compete with!)
+Rasam!!! (tomato soup) I had 2 helpings.
+Parotta (probably a ghee-​fried flat bread. SO good it’s best to eat it plain)
+Desserts I haven’t tried before (i.e. rose milk and mango kesari)
+Chicken dishes, i.e. the dry one with cilantro was tasty. The other one in a gravy was a little too «authentic“ally spicy
+Crab dish; haven’t had crab at an Indian buffet before
+Salad/​coleslaw – a particularly good, fresh offering of cooling ruffiage
— Chicken soup… way too greasy, not flavorful enough
— Not a lot of chutneys
— Would have liked more variety for the price… but from the reviews, it seems they rotate in a lot of different dishes, which is exciting. But the price deters me from coming back to try them!
Oh, and service was great. They seemed really receptive to our needs and they kept my temperate American palette watered: my glass CONSTANTLY filled!