Charminar Indian Restaurant & Catering
Laguna Woods hosts OC's strongest Hyderabadi Indian restaurant, but San Diego's location is better
Opened just as the pandemic kicked off in March 2020, San Diego’s halal Indian restaurant Charminar has since won substantial local acclaim as a nearly upscale sit-down space with impressive Hyderabadi food. At the mini-chain’s Orange County location, which opened in early 2024 at a plaza next to the Laguna Woods Ayers Hotel, the vibe is somewhat different: A digital ordering kiosk greets guests immediately inside the front door, and tables have QR codes for smartphone ordering – name and phone number entry required. Although there are substantial similarities between locations, the Laguna Woods Charminar looks like it was designed to pivot from a takeout experience to a proper restaurant, and doesn’t feel quite as luxurious as its predecessor.
Their menus are largely the same, including nine different types of biryani: A Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani ($18) is the top rice choice at the OC restaurant, impressively spiced from top to bottom while burying half of a tender (bone-in) curried chicken under a very substantial mound of basmati, caramelized onions, one whole egg, and a lime slice. Spicy and creamy side sauces can be used as dips or mixed into the bowl. By comparison with Irvine-based Hyderabadi restaurant Paradise Biryani Pointe, Charminar’s biryani is night-and-day better in flavors, while lacking only in one regard: The San Diego location adds a tenth option with goat from Friday to Sunday.
As compelling as the biryani may be for some people, our favorite Charminar dishes were protein-heavy. For appetizers, we loved a fiery, brilliantly red version of the increasingly popular Indo-Chinese hybrid Chicken 65 ($14) with strong ginger, garlic, and curry flavors; an also excellent Apollo Fish ($14) soaked battered fish fillets in a spicy yellow curry that tasted like turmeric and mustard seed. By contrast, a Chili Garlic Naan ($4) cooked in a tandoor oven like an inflatable football was barely memorable; its promised spices couldn’t keep up with the other dishes.
One of the great things about Charminar is that its entrees go past locally well-known choices (tikka masala, butter chicken, korma) to include less familar items such as a deep red-spiced, bone-in Goat Sukka ($19) – again, with a lime slice to add citric punch – and a brown gravy-soaked, cumin-noted Bezawada Chicken ($17), both of which we enjoyed. Similarly uncommon black pepper, spiced ghee, and Chettinadi-style dishes are also available across chicken, goat, and fish; the OC location also lists three Middle Eastern mandi-style rice dishes with these proteins, but none were available on our visit.
Drinks and desserts at Charminar may or may not appeal to you. The Charminar Ki Chai ($3) is basically just a hot, milked black tea – nothing special – and the mango lassi ($4) is entirely competent but not huge. Sodas include imported Thums Up! ($4), a very slightly more caramelized Coca-Coca, and solid sweets range from common Ras Malai sweet cheese ($7) and Gulab Jamun dough balls ($6) to uncommon Shahi Tukda and Jamun Ka Ghosla ($8 each). Both soaked in an almost pudding-like thickened milk with cardamom and nuts, the former has a base of ghee-soaked French toast slices, the latter a mix of ultra-fine vermicelli and gulab jamun. Again, we preferred both to the desserts at Paradise, which ranged from forgettable to unforgettably bad.
Service at each Charminar was quick, though the overall experience was more traditionally restaurant-like and impressive in San Diego. We’ll be interested to see whether additional locations open up in Orange County, and would certainly visit again if that happens.
Stats
Price: $$
Service: Table/Smartphone
Open Since: 2020 (SD), 2024 (OC)
Addresses
24371 El Toro Rd. #D
Laguna Woods, CA 92637
949.446.6854
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd. Suite 111
San Diego, CA 92121
858.263.7878
Instagram: @charminarorangecounty, @charminarsandiego