Paradise Biryani Pointe
The Irvine Spectrum Center's latest Indian restaurant is a franchise offering Hyderabadi specialties
Irvine is known throughout Orange County as a pretty good city for dining out, with more diverse culinary representation than many neighboring cities – especially those in south OC. That said, while the popular Irvine Spectrum Center shopping mall offers a wide range of cuisines, its restaurants typically aren’t great, and its Indian spot Curry Up Now went downhill before closing in early 2025. Months later, it was replaced by the second OC location of Paradise Biryani Pointe, a New Jersey-based chain that operated for roughly two years in Tustin before re-emerging across from the Spectrum’s Little Sister, next to Dizzy Bird, J&G Fried Chicken, and 85 Degrees C. Based on its menus, the Irvine restaurant appears to be commonly franchised with locations in LA County, all serving Indian dishes from the Hindu/Islamic city of Hyderabad.
Some of Paradise Biryani Pointe’s signage, menu, and decor will look familiar to Curry Up Now patrons. The old Indian Street Food window sign remains, with six affordable chaat dishes and three bread-and-veggie “street food specials” to choose from in that category, plus Hyderabadi biryanis, kabobs, fried vepudu chicken or lamb, and spicy chicken dishes such as Chicken 65. While there are still options for kids and those with Indian aversions – a few tacos, tenders, and fries – the menu has more Indian options than one might expect given Paradise’s small size, spanning authentic dosas, curries, naans, and even some Indo-Chinese dishes before drinks (lassis, chai, coffee, sodas) and desserts (sweet paan, double ka meetha, and common kulfi, rasmalai, and gulab jamun). Following current Indian restaurant pricing trends, most of Paradise’s dishes run from $15 to $19, with naans ($3.50 to $4), chaats ($9 to $10), and desserts ($4 to $7) as exceptions.
Virtually everything we tried at Paradise was at least good, if not better. We were genuinely thrilled with the tangy flavors and crispy textures of the bhel poori ($10) – a bowl of sweet/sour-sauced dry noodles, crackers, and veggies – and impressed by the lightly spicy (ordered “mild”) goat sukka. Though priced ($18) and portioned like an entree, this appetizer of dry-fried, bone-in meat was soaked in a lightly bitter chili gravy, with enough pieces to be shared by a small group.
A quite good malai murgh kabob ($19) included a bowl of large, lean chicken chunks, cooked just tender enough with green chili and yogurt flavors, and served with a mild herbal dipping sauce. Despite Paradise’s name, the boneless chicken biryani ($19) was the least impressive of the savory items: Forgettably flavored and presented basmati rice was garnished with a half-egg, and hiding small pieces of meat that had seemingly been shaved off of tandoori chicken legs.
Drinks were generally good – two mango lassis ($7 each) were okay in size for their price but strong in fruit flavor, while a South Indian coffee ($4) was hot, milky, and otherwise not particularly strong or distinctive. We also sampled two locally rare desserts, the better of which was a double ka meetha ($7) made with roti, ghee, almonds, sugar, and milk, creating an Indian bread pudding that sounded more special than it tasted. Intrigued by their sweet paan ($5), we received a fragrant pre-packaged cone made from a betel leaf filled with fennel and rose petal syrup, which didn’t look like Paradise’s official imagery and tasted so much like soap that we couldn’t finish it. As long-time fans of Vietnamese savory betel leaf dishes, the sweet paan was described on Paradise’s menu as a “mouth freshener,” and a surprising miss for us.
Mixing plastic take-out containers with ceramic bowls and metal silverware, Paradise Biryani Pointe operates in the space between fast food and traditional table service restaurants – a good compromise for the Spectrum Center, offering above-average food quality across a somewhat distinctive though largely familiar collection of Indian choices. Small issues aside, we enjoyed our meal enough to return in the future, and will update this article if and when we do.
Stats
Price: $$
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2007 (US), 2023 (OC)
Addresses
922 Spectrum Center Dr.
Irvine, CA 92618
949.880.6586
Instagram: @paradisebiryaniirvine