"Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by the staff who seated us promptly. We looked over the menu, ordered some drinks, and were pleased to see our mango lassi arrive quickly; it was very enjoyable. Next, we ordered some starters: the prawn chaat on puri and the special mixed starter. They came out fairly quickly, which was great, but I was disappointed to find that the mixed starter was very dry and seemed like it had been reheated. While the portion of the prawn puri was decent, it lacked basic Asian seasoning, and the prawns were inconsistently cooked due to being submerged in too much sauce.
I wasn't thrilled with the starters, but I thought the mains might redeem the experience. We ordered a fish dish—one I believe was called Tepali—and a chicken tikka dish that included potatoes, onions, and peppers (I'm not the best at remembering names). We also had a cheese naan and plain boiled rice. Again, the food arrived promptly, served on sizzling dishes, which got me excited. The presentation was simple and neat, but after tasting the dishes, we were once again disappointed.
The ingredients seemed of good quality; however, the food seriously lacked distinct flavors and adequate seasoning, which is essential in Asian cuisine. The fish dish was a boneless fillet lightly coated in masala and fried separately from the sauce to prevent it from breaking apart, but this resulted in the fish not absorbing any of the sauce's flavor and being very oily. The chicken dish was acceptable, but lacked that mouthwatering quality—it actually reminded me of the prawn starter in flavor.
The rice was fine, but the cheese naan was something completely different from what I expected. Usually, when you have cheese naan, the cheese is stuffed inside the dough before cooking, but this one was more like a massive slice of cheese on toast. While the naan itself was well-cooked, it was overwhelmed by an excessive amount of cheese that had simply melted on top, making it greasy. The sheen of oil on top of the naan was quite unappealing.
About five minutes after we began eating, a friendly waiter checked in to see if the food was okay. Since I was already disappointed, I simply said yes, as my appetite had waned after the initial bites. After eating very little, we requested the bill. The head waiter, assuming that role, asked if we enjoyed our meal. When we expressed our dissatisfaction and pointed out the issues with the food, he became quite defensive. He insisted that their dishes had been prepared the same way for the past 12 years at their other restaurant, and that they had never received complaints.
He was adamant in defending the food until he asked if we wanted to speak with the manager. At that point, I felt so let down by the entire experience that I declined and opted to leave. I can't say I plan to return in the future; perhaps the chef was just having an off day, but overall, this experience has left me hesitant to come back."
