Annapurna Chai House

As for the food: What kind of vegetarian restaurant cannot even get broccoli right?? Congealed gravy? Overcooked rice, undercooked beans? Stale pita bread? Limp lettuce? Watery Chai?? The food failures alone were somewhat heartbreaking considering the shortage of vegetarian restaurants in ABQ. As for the Gimmick: They promote themselves as an authentic place to buy yourself some Ayurvedic wisdom. But that is all superficial marketing: ask a staff member a question- even a basic one- about Ayurvedic principles and you get bewildered looks. To compensate for the staff's lack of education they hand out ""quizzes"" on grimy plastic eraser boards for you to ""check"" what your ailments are and what your constitution is. (Did you have a bowel movement today? Are you feeling sluggish? Are you TALL or SHORT?). This is to make you FEEL like you are engaging in some kind of ancient alchemy when in fact they only use 2 criteria when they ""analyze"" your needs. That is probably because the staff have no idea what they are doing , and so they have been told to act complicated but keep it simple. Those two criteria: Are you hot or cold (=hot or cold dish), and do you describe yourself as sensitive or hearty (=mild or spicy dish). I have this on good authority; the staff do have SOME honest answers if your probe a little. Unfortunately that same staff was also slow moving, allowed dirty dishes to pile up on the tables and neglected customers who clearly needed some attention. My table was greasy when I sat down (even though they weren't busy). It was so bad that I requested something to wipe it with and around came the counter girl with a filthy cloth. I won't go on about how dusty it was or the rickety tables. All in all I think this establishment is run by frauds with a bad chef and poor hiring skills. more

I just moved to Albuquerque a few months ago, and found the amazing Annapurna Chai House and Indian Food restaurant. I love the atmosphere there.. its so welcoming and pleasing. Their iced teas & chai are the best ever!! The customer service could improve a little. Pros: Love the food and teas! Cons: well.. I don't know nothing too bad. more

My fiance and I travel all around the country looking for the best veg places to eat. We were so excited when we first arrived ? the atmosphere is fun and kitschy. However, DO NOT be deceived. We started with a mocha latte and hot chocolate. Both were very bland and mediocre at best. We got an order of Masala Fries because they sounded unique but really they are just a fancy word for potatoes soaked in grease mixed with a little Indian spice ? Yuk! As any vegan knows ? breakfast (especially pancakes) are a rare find and definitely a treat. We got 2 orders of them which were 2 too many. They were like a very dry mix of clay and dirt. The mango sauce tasted like orange flavored cough syrup. When we asked for some maple syrup they were very rude and said they would have to charge us an additional ridiculous amount, on top of the $40 we had already spent. We passed on the syrup knowing it would have never improved the awful pancakes anyway. Unfortunately we also made the mistake of ordering the Tofu Scramble. I didn?t even know it was possible to screw up tofu to this degree ? even the broccoli was bad. We also tried a couple of their vegan deserts which were dry and not even worth mentioning. All in all this was by far the worst food either of us has ever eaten. We left with all of our barely touched food on the table because it was so terrible we weren?t able to choke any of it down ? such a disappointment especially after all of our initial excitement. I have never written a bad review for any vegetarian restaurant but in this case there is absolutely nothing positive that can be said and anyone who is thinking of trying this place needs to be forewarned. Trust us when we say ? don?t waste your time or money. It?s mystifying this place is still in business. Pros: deceiving atmosphere Cons: the food is awful, the service is terrible and did I mention the food is horrendous??? more

I was passing through Albuquerque on my way to Oregon with my fiance (we are both vegetarian). We found the delightful Annapurna. I have eaten a lot of Indian food in my day all across the U.S. This was by far one of the best food experiences I've ever had. I complemented the chef at least three times before leaving. The chai (which is homemade) is absolutely amazing as well. I highly suggest eathing at this restaurant. It is only rivaled by Mayuri in Portland, OR and they are too different to compare so they equally stand as the best I've ever eaten. Pros: great food and interesting options, they also have special events (music) there on select nights Cons: I don't live in NM to eat more of it! more

I so wanted to love Annapurna, and it does have nice chai and other teas, but the food is just not that good, nor is it true Ayurvedic cooking. The kichadi, for example, -- a classic, slow-cooked rice and lentil dish that's a cornerstone of Ayurvedic cuisine--, seems to be just their regular lentils heated up with some rice, and all of their vegetables are so overcooked they could hardly retain any nutritive value. Given that they advertise their foods as not only healthy but ""healing"", this is inexcusable. Most dishes are shockingly bland, too, for an Indian restaurant, or unhappily wierd like the dosa (fermented rice crepe) stuffed with bananas, jam and coconut (sounds promising but it's simply awful). When the principal chef, Prakash, is in, the savory, potato-filled masala dosa is quite OK, but no one else there seems to know how to make them and one can often taste raw and sometimes way over-fermented dosa dough in the middle. A lot of people, particularly new-agers, seem to like this place, but I suspect it's more for the idea of it, than for anything the restaurant actually offers. Very sad because Annapurna is one of maybe four vegetarian restaurants in the whole state. Pros: Chai is good Cons: Food is bland or worse more

Adamant meat-lover that I am, I have to admit: for the average broke college student, Annapurna is like (vegan) manna from heaven. It has a limited menu of delicious vegan specialties (and that is not a contradiction in terms) like excellent spinach pastry and steaming saag paneer; the deserts, such as those yummy honey and raisin-ball things, are also great. Most of all, I love their vegan, gluten-free cookies-they're so excellent, one can hardly believe they contain no flour, milk, eggs, or any of the other things so commonly associated with good cookies. The chilled coconut milk is a novelty, but it's also refreshing and sweet, as is the mango lassi. Prices are low and ambience is pretentious but attractive. Pros: great value, light, good food, location more