Review Swadesh Indian Restaurant - Glen Huntly

My friend Sujesh and I have been coming to Swadesh in Glen Huntly for 2 years now. It is easily our favourite place to go for Indian cuisine. The food is always of a high quality, with a huge range to choose from at reasonable prices, as well as excellent and friendly service from the staff. Highly recommended!

Best restaurant in Melbourne. There starters are authentic and very tasty. I Never disappointed with the food . Must try dishes are chicken85, crispy fish, mutton ghee roast and any other indoChinese dishes. Good for family and friends to enjoy variety dishes and hangout for dinners..👍🏻

It’s the best place to eat the worst Malai kofta. I took that last night and call them back to tell that the salt was too much. The lady on the counter said, okay I will tell the chef. What I will I do, till then? Wait for the chef to come back to my home to cook back again for me. Poor capability to run a restaurant. She didn’t even ask if I want a refund or the dish to be changed? Worst place to go.

Ordered a family chicken biriyani (costs 42$). Worst biriyani I tasted in my life. It taste like a leftover from previous day. Biriyani rice was soggy, no salt. Doesn't worth a penny. Ordered after coming from a long trip, had a worst dinner . Will never recommend and never order again

Worst biryani’s i ever had. Tried chicken biryani first and it was a disappointment and after 2 days thought of giving a chance so, i tried goat biryani it was a disaster. The meat wasn’t cooked properly. Both times i left half plate.

They have got a decent taste, and not too expensive. The only thing which I don't like is curry leaves in almost everything.

I was in the neighbourhood and went to the Swadesh Indian restaurant on Saturday arvo around 3.30pm. The service was not great, the papdi chaat I had was okay, the Paneer Butter Masala and Garlic Naan Bread was good. 👌 However, the veg dum biryani was pathetic, it was more like a pulao and not a biryani. The restaurant doesn't serve complimentary papadum and salad as well. Had to wait for 20mins for starters in an empty restaurant! Overall, wouldn't go out of my way to eat at Swadesh Indian restaurant.

Excellent food. As a vegetarian I will be more choosy in picking the Indian dishes. Absolutely loved the new chilli mushroom and my husband loved mutton ghee roast. It was a delight as after a very long time, coming out with at most satisfaction and great service. New look/ambiance rocks.

They are stealing from customer <br/>Advertise as $12 for biryani and charges $1<br/>Check the bills when you order

Ordered for a Schezwan Chicken Fried Rice & Schezwan Chicken Noodles. Immediately after the first bite it reminded me just like how you would get at the hawkers cart on the streets of India. You can feel the spice in your tummy afterwards but in a good way. <br/><br/>Definately recommend these two dishes if your up for the spice.

We asked the server for chillis in our butter chicken but there was none, which was no problem, so we asked the server to give us some chillis and onions, where she brought chillis and lemons so we asked for onions agains, and she brought a full plate of onions with chillis (again) and lemon (again). We were then charged $3 for an "onion salad plate", which we didn't really ask for. Petty but impolite of the server.

2.5 actually, the food is okay and it gets expensive at times.

Service is very slow and food is not as per expectations. Waste of time and money. In name of daal tadka this restaurant is serving boiled moong daal.

I guess ,This is the first restaurant which asked for the extra money for sambhar and that too 3$!!!!!. It was really unexpected. And the way, chef refused for it was very rude.The quantity of sambhar they served for first time was also too less.I would not recommend to the one to go there who need more sambhar.😀

5 starts to biryani. Other than that its just ok. Not authentic at all but good western touch

Worse experience... I ordered a one simple curry to take away and they couldnt even deliver edible taste let alone taste.. horrific customer service...terrible food... ruined my dinner..

Not a good place to eat vegetarian food we ordered veg biryani and panner dosa <br/>Dosa lacks flavour just grated panner over dosa with some salt and pepper <br/>Biryani is worst <br/>Very poor customer service

Place is not very good to eat. Not group friendly restaurant. Restaurant is too messy. Not a good service. Biryani has unmixed masala, oily taste.

Worst customer service! not once but twice about getting the order wrong and then they keep shouting on us as if we made the wrong order!<br/>I agree sometimes the wait staff gets the order in the rush! But at least stop shouting on the customers that we have placed the wrong order!<br/>When it comes to food I can clearly listen to the wait staff and kitchen staff discussing that the order was mixed up and I was given the spicy biryani even though I didn't place the order for spicy biryani! But the wait staff is like no worries it's a take away order we don't have to worry. That girl was too rude to be in the customer service and kitchen staff please check with the customers before making orders spicy!

The food was okay. But the service was completely unprofessional, bad and rude. The waitress there was rude. When we entered and asked if they are open, her response was, “That’s why people are here”<br/>After that 5 of us was cramped in a small table in a corner. Then when we started to place our order and was midway, suddenly some other customer entered and the waitress left us without even excusing herself and went to address them while we were kept waiting. Even after we ordered our food, we were served last and the customer who came after us, was served before. I wish I could give a 0 or a negative rating but zomato doesn’t have that feature.

Chicken biriyani is probably the best I’ve had in Melbourne. Presentation and the atmosphere is messy but the food is good. Waiting time could be reduced

This place is an absolute waste of money and time. Worst Indian food had so far. The staff is just unprofessional and messy in presentation.<br/><br/>The food takes ages to arrive. The plates were not clean and the waitress slowly sneaked out to get "clean" plates thinking we didn't see the dirty plates and cutlery!<br/><br/>They seem to be doing a lot of uber eats, etc. and the poor patrons are just waiting to get their food to eat in! Extremely spicy food! There's no indicator on menu that the food will be spicy as hell!<br/>There are way better places than this restaurant.

The Lamb Biryani is perfect. Authentic Hyderabadi taste. The family pack is value for money. Service has always been good and friendly. Decor is standard.

Swadesh is just besides Glen Huntly station a great location. We Happened to come hear after hearing alot of about thirty food. Celebrated a friend's birthday here.<br/><br/>We ordered a Jumbo Biryani and it was surely sufficient for 6 of us. Quantity was great. Service and Ambience wasn't what I expected, abit disappointed. Even food was decent.<br/><br/>I would love to come again to try some other dishes on their menu for sure.

Visited this place multiple times for the taste of Biryani. Absolutely love the biryani taste 9 out of 10times😋. However ambience is not good and needs to improved. <br/>In addition, in my recent visit I found that one of the items price was quoted less on the menu card but we were charged high( original price). When we asked the staff there,they simply replied it’s a printing error😐

The food is very spicy and don’t have level of spiciness indicate don the menu. We dined in and waited for sooooooooooooo long and people that comes in after us got their food before us.we waited for almost an hour. <br/>They do a lot of ubereats and they serve all uber eats first so they might as well just shut the restaurant and do only ubereats.<br/>If you want to dine in, make sure you order it over ubereats and tell them to deliver to their own restaurant.<br/>Horrible place with staff that doesn’t understand English and being argumentative anyway

Worst food ever ate. we ordered food and it was delivered late than their committed time but when food came we were like, why the hell we waited for this food. All items were tasteless like butter chicken, biryani,  naan and ultimately after having 2-3 spoons we throw all the food. <br/>wastage of money and time, eating/ordering food from here.

Visit this place to taste authentic Indian food. Simple and non pretentious joint. Although I keep going back for their Biryani...more so for their Hyderabadi style. Be happy to settle for a take away if all the tables are occupied.

One of the worst resturant ever... the food is alright but the staff and especially the owner was rude and unprofessional... dont waste time and money going here, there are a lot of good place around Glen Huntly.

EDIT (13 FEB 2017): I cannot in good conscience leave a 5 star rating up, when a disappointing phenomenon has occurred. Last time we went, I was sorely disappointed when my order of palak paneer turned up a dull green, lacking the fresh green colour it previously always had, and feeling extra spicy but watered down. Perhaps the precious cook resigned or got reposted to another outlet. Whatever the reason, I am very sad to have lost confidence in what used to be my favourite Indian restaurant amongst the whole street of Indian restaurants. <br/><br/><br/><br/>Our absolute favourite regular go-to. Food is consistently good, one of the best Indian I've had in Melbourne. Don't be fooled by their XXL menu, they somehow still deliver excellent quality every time. Our favourites are butter chicken, palak paneer, lamb biryani (omg so good and sooooo spicy), tandoori chicken, and of course garlic naan. No watered down or over-salted curries here. Just the real deal.

This place is known for their chicken biryanis ! You get the authentic Hyderabadi taste and moreover you get them in ridiculous sizes ! You have Family and Jumbo sizes ! Don't take me lightly ! You have to try them ! Apart from that you have usual menu ! It does bring back feels of India

I visited Swadesh restaurant to order biryanis which they are famous for. I was after takeaway and requested to lay aluminium foil on top of plastic takeaway container, given I personally don't like piping hot biryani on a plastic container. The waiter who took my request gave me a weird look went inside and came back saying they were busy and can't do this extra bit and I am welcome to walk away. I felt little amused by this unwelcoming move and requested to see if I can speak to their manager. The manager looked at me from inside and agreed to put foil on container so I waited along. Given only 1 table of customers I been made to wait 25 mins and when I asked how much long just to serve biryani given its cooked in pot already and just matter of filling in take away box. The waiter replied with attitude and sarcasm that I made a special request of aluminium foil and mine is not the only order they are working on. I waited another 5 mins totalling to 30 mins wait and felt ashamed by whole customer service simply walked away.<br/>Would I go back again ? Not a chance in my lifetime.

Mmmmmmm....take away Indian...<br/><br/>Vegetable samosas, a Goan fish curry, a palak paneer and a garlic naan. I arrived to pickup and this small restaurant was completely full with the phone ringing non-stop. The flavours were all there. Fantastic curries. Definitely coming back.

One of the best biryani I had here. It's not too spicy, tastes awesome. Specially the aroma of this is nice which makes me hungry. <br/>I too had gobi (cauliflower) manchurian, schezwan paneer (cottage cheese) and chilly Idly (a kind of steam cake made up of semolina). Everything I liked very much. This gives a good taste and made my day. I had a nice food after a long time. It's definitely a place to go multiple times to have all foods. Specially biryani. I recommend everyone who loves to have Indian food.

Swadesh famous for hyderabadi biryani . <br/>If we want take away , eat some good biriyani near Caulfield .. It is the place .. Very spicy , good flavours . Good place

swadesh makes really good lamb briyani. their family pack n jumbo serving of briyani s a great option if ur hosting a lunch or dinner at ur place. their schezuan chkn fried rice is one my recent fav here. eat a plateful of spicy idly and u wd ve taken off to the moon by the time u r finished -- very very spicy-caution!

This one is one of our favourite restaurant of all times.some of their platters are really mouthwatering,they maintain a great amount with quality.the best thing I love is proper indian spice level as spicy food is preferred by us.the service is quick & take away is most preferable.the only drawback which disappointed me is that they don't provide any restroom or washroom,which is really horrible.otherwise,if someone wants to enjoy typical indian spicy dishes then swadesh is one of the best Indian chophouse in Melbourne as per my taste.

Ordered take away from this joint ,went for pick up saw tje kitchen, chef is double dipping the sauces with finger , garlic naan average, ordered butter naan ,I got plain naan ,I should refer it has charcoal (boggu)naan , disappointed !!!! Sometimes the veg dishes are good , just Dnt expect much ,fully commercial cafe may be not cafe.

Great biryani & Indi Chinese. Not a place I would find in but great for take away. The meals are super spicy so when ordering make sure to let them know your spice level.

We ordered take away. Very reasonable and quick service. Food was very tasty. We were very happy and would Oder again. Only thing that was a let down was a slight later of oil over the curries. A little bit off putting but if you can get pass that it all very tasty

UPDATE @20161022 not as good anymore.. was 5/5 for me last time.. but think it's more like a 3 now! Why? The chicken korma was not creamy. more like a watered down normal curry. the lamb biryani was bland. missing a lot of spices. Now gave to look for another curry house to get my hyderabadi biryani fix!!! 😪😖😪😖😪😖😢 <br/><br/>***<br/>It seems that the food gods have blessed me this weekend... found my new favourite burger and now my new fav hyderabadi biryani!!!! <br/><br/>Ventured here on recommendation from one of my guys who frequents the area for Indian groceries... apparently they all go there for the same thing.... groceries and BIRYANI!!! <br/><br/>The place had 7 tables only and it was packed. Luckily a couple was leaving as we entered.. first observation ... we were the only foreigners in the joint.. good sign 👏 was getting my hopes up even higher... <br/><br/>Second observation looked around and behold 5 of 7 tables were eating biryani! Hopes got even higher!! 👍 <br/><br/>Looked through the extensive menu found what I needed and ordered the hyderabadi lamb biryani, chicken korma and a garlic naan. Noticed also a lot of orders going through requesting 65 this 65 that... not the quantity :) it's a type of deep fried entree. A lot of places have it but not all do it well. <br/><br/>Anyhooooo on comes the biryani .. first glance I was praying please let the rice be dry and fluffy ... and ✅ the biryani gods were listening... smelt the rice and it had the spices I soooo missed from my previous fav curry joint... ✅.. then came the first taste.... BAM!!! I was almost in tears... It was it that taste that was it! The lamb was soft and cooked through without a stench. The spice was HOT but not extreme! They supplied a side of gravy ... which I added a bit to it and another BAM!! I was like a fat kid who had just discovered something goood!! (btw despite all my eating I'm not fat) 😂<br/><br/>The dal curry gravy gave it a diff taste which I'd not had before... but it was goooood! <br/><br/>oops reminiscing too much... until next time happy eating y'all!! <br/><br/>Oh the garlic naan was fantastic! Not greasy and cane served hot. crusty bits on outside with soft centre.. perfect! Had some herbs on top as well. Could've had that by itself. <br/><br/>The chicken korma... not as good as other places as it lacked cream... but still pretty good.

The restaurant needs definitely chefs when it comes to cooking manchurians .... also the take aways quantitie are even lesser than the menu price ....

Don't expect much from ambience....<br/>Specially known for its briyani ....<br/>Tried indian food.... was good.... breads were also good...<br/>Can try for takeaways..... since seating area is quite minimal....

The south Indian food here like dosas and Idlis are nice but the sambar isnt really great. Quite poor infact. I also tried some Indo-Chinese and found it very hot and peppery. Although the Paneer 65 was tasty rest all was average. They also stuffed up my order by giving me chicken instead of veg. A big thumbs down for not being able to follow the food order. One last thing. If ur going here on a weekend make sure u have enough time before ordering. They say 20mins but take 35-40mins. Even for all take away orders the wait is the same. I always give three chances n then am out. My rating is only above average because some food items are decent. However ur service is killing it.

Best indo-Chinese :-) <br/>Staff are lost but that's fine<br/>I couldn't care less when I come here <br/>I don't expect good service but I do expect great food and I always get it <br/>

Worst service ever!! Sambha.... Worst service ever!!<br/>Sambhar they serve in a plate is just a layer, 2-3 spoons and its over haha<br/>When i asked for more sambhar i never got it and the excuse i received at till was "I forgot" and we were the only table they had that time...<br/>Looks like they never wanted to serve extra sambhar<br/>Common guys charge me extra i'll pay for it!<br/>Very dissappointed <br/>Kitchen seems to be very dirty<br/><br/>Never coming back her for sure.

Poor south indian dish(food was off couple of times). Pro's:<br/>Still trying hard to find one! !!<br/>Con's:<br/>Sambar vada: Food was off, but chef pretended it was cooked today morning. <br/>Mirchi bhaji: Batter was so hard, i got bhaji which was hard enough to compare with a rock.<br/>Thandoori chicken : I got full tandoori chicken with four leg pieces, i felt wierd. It has been reheated at least for 4 times. <br/>I am writing this review after trying the restaurant for couple of times.

Good south indian food, awesome indo-chinese food, good biryani and average north indian food. Restaurant is quite small and seating is a bit cramped but great place for take away. Quality of food is really good and prices are fairly reasonable.

We are being almost daily at this Restaurent as every one can know why some goes daily yeah it's really fantastic <br/>Thanks swadesh for the quantity and quality and main thing to say is about price which is affordable honestly

For their prices they charge, one would expect a good portion of food not a"peanut" size portion...

Tasty food. I am an Indian residing in St Kilda. After reading the reviews I was reluctant to dine at Swadesh on a Saturday but because I was craving for idli and dosa and didn't wanted to drive too far, I decided to give this place a try. The food was authentic and yummy. The food is value for money. I agree that service is not at its best due to less waiting staff and place being busy with many take away orders. Our food was served within expected time and tasted fresh. I believe that I made a wise decision by not relying on previous reviews and actually trying it myself.

I got take away food on Saturday as i was busy with work and that was the worst food of my life <br/>no flavor just chilli all over <br/>even butter chicken was like having chilli <br/>advice stay away

Cheap food but service lacks!. Visited this restaurant today and I must say it took the guys working there over 15 mins to have me sit down. food is not bad, but service could have been better. sambhar that came out in the budget thali, I ordered was cold - so I asked for more which was prompt and hot. The vada not so great, idili - avg n dosa a 7/10. try it n its ok for price and comfortable seating once seated.!

Wow!! Beautiful tasty food at cheap prices. The staff are fantastic and have great recommendations if you are un sure. The flavours are just amazing!

Shashi. One of the worst service you can expect here. If asked about quick and good service, they simply have got so many excuses.<br/>Staffs are un-trained and would make you fool at some times. Not recommended at all whether Bachelor or with family.

Very good dosa. Loved it and will come back for more. But the sides and condiments such as chutney and sambhar were a little disappointing. Didn't like the sides too much but what an amazing dosa!

Delicious food. Scrumptious food and great customer service.One of the best small sized restaurants in and around Melbourne. highly recommended and 5stars.<br/>Preethi

Biryani. If you are looking for a hyderabadi style biryani, this is the place you want to visit. Great taste, mild or spicy you will get it.

Although the service and price were reasonable, it's yet another Indian Restaurant that skimps on meat in thier dishes to save money, and hopes customers won't notice or complain. I bought a Butter Chicken for $10.95, took it home, and discovered a giant swimming pool of sauce with no more than 5 small pieces of chicken in it. Although it tasted fine, I hate being ripped off in meat content by sneaky people like these. Hopefully they realise that negative publicity isn't really worth the saving they made on my missing chicken.

Worst experience. You order something and you get something else. I was so surprised once that I order main dish and received starters. I opened the takeaway when I got home and was so hungry.Was frustrated. All I felt like WT* Has been terrible experience, don't go with the photo's added on their website, reality is quite disappointing. food taste is below average, initially you get good customer service, once you are a regular customer, you are treated like nobody.Food is not made with fresh ingredients, looks like more left overs veggies and meat or old stock.

Food superior. We have visited Swadesh four times and each time the experience has been wonderful. The quality of the food is good & we would recommend it any time. Beautiful dosas. The service can be improved.

Man I had ur restaurant biryani it was really awesome after long time I had delicious food anyway thanks for the food

Very good food. We had ordered schwan fried rice, naan and paneer manchuri. Everything was really tasty. Definitely would recommend this restaurant for good Indian food, and would like to revisit.

Best Biriyani Ever!!!. Great food, friendly staff, cheaper prices, Authentic Indian menu & tastes, lots of varieties... Hmm what else could some one ask for? The Hyderabad biriyani is just one of its kind.... Perfect taste!!! felt as if I was in Hyderabad Paradise / Baawarchi!! and the chilli chicken and the mirchi bhajji "just a wOw" !!!! Will surely visit again, again and again!!! Maintain the same tastes and keep adding more dishes to the Menu mate....<br/><br/>Cheers!!!!!

Keka. We have thoroughly enjoyed the food especially<br/>Qurbani ka meeta.

Tandoori tasteless chicken. Worst tandoori chicken i have ever had. And the naans are burnt. Come here to eat black burnt naans and tandoori chicken. And putting everything aside the service is absolutely disgusting. The staff have no understanding of what they cook or serve. Dont go there you will be greatly dissappointed.

Just delicious. Some of the best Indian I have had in melboure, I recommend it very highly check it out!

Back for Biryani. The menu at Swadesh is lengthy indeed, incorporating cuisine from the North & South of India together with Indo-Chinese dishes. All the popular curries are represented, but they also offer dosas, idly and vada, plus the oddly named chicken-65.<br/><br/>I’ve picked up take away a few times and have been returning for the Hyderabadi style biryani with either chicken or lamb, served with the traditional accompaniment of mirchi ki salan (chili & peanut curry). It’s definitely one of the better versions of this dish I’ve come across.<br/><br/>The dining space is brightly lit and casual in style, but at the prices they’re charging it hard to find fault.

Finally an authentic indian restaurant in glenhuntly!! Tasty food and excellent service.

Great food especially biryani love it and other various dishes to try.. Won't be disappointed believe me!!!!

Yummy food.. Specially biryani and garlic naan is awesome, just love it ,,,,,,

Awesome Indian dishes....tasty food Nd authentic hyderabadi dum biryani

Great Andhra Food...... We had 13 varieties of starters ..Awesome dishes...People who like spicy food must visit this place... We enjoyed a lot......

I had a fish curry that was rubbish ...asked for not spicy..chef is deaf or something he made it spicy ...chilli chopped my head offf ...waste of money

Awesome biryani. Best biryani anywhere in the melbourne,great food,great abiance,my favorite biryani&mirchi bhajji delicious yummy .........................

We ordered a plate of chilli chicken and told to make it as andhra spicy. Chilli chicken was yummy. Friend will pay another visit.<br/>Keep up the taste & SERVICE.