Essence Of India

I guess everyone has their own interpretation of what spicy means, but I ordered “Medium” and it was inedible because of its extremely excessive spice. I don’t even want to imagine what the “Spicy” is like. When I tried to eat it, I was truly in pain. Like my chest was actually hurting at one point. I asked the waiter if this was the medium in case they made a mistake, and he said it was “medium,” laughed, offered me a little thing of yogurt, and walked away and didn’t come back until he brought the check. The yogurt was useless in subduing the spice, and I sat there with my meal in front of me, basically untouched, while my friend ate hers. Like I said, the waiter never even came over to see if the yogurt had helped or to refill my water, and actually seemed to be purposely avoiding our table the entire time because he didn’t want to deal with me. He did look over at our table multiple times though, clearly seeing that I was not eating my food. Maybe it’s presumptuous, but in my opinion, good service means trying to accommodate your customer when they are physically unable to eat the food at their table, even if it’s technically the customer’s “bad.” Even half off the dish would have been nice. I get restaurants are still having a rough time due to the pandemic, but man, it was pretty upsetting to not be able to eat my dinner unless I paid for them to remake it. The chicken was also rubbery, and the fact that rice isn’t included in the cost of the already pricey dish, having to be ordered and paid for separately, is also pretty off-putting to me. These dishes are meant to be eaten over basmati rice… anyway, I will not be returning. There are much better and much more accommodating Indian restaurants in the city.

Excellent food, speedy service, friendly vibe. Although you have to order rice separately from the entree, it is very much worth the $3. I ordered “spicy” and was put to the test. I loved it. If you’re not a fan of really spicy food I’d definitely recommend ordering mild. Don’t risk it with medium. Can’t wait to have my leftovers tomorrow 😋

This was my first time in this restaurant. Food was very good and flavorful. Quick service, but a little bit pricey. I am talking by example about the rice. A lot of restaurants serve rice with the meal. Here you need to pay for the rice or the regular bread and it is not cheap for a small portion of rice and the chicken can be cooked a little more, but other than that food was very good.

We went on a Friday. Disappointed with having to sit inside due to missing staff and no tandoori options. Still, the dishes we had were great. Spice levels are authentic - even for someone of Indian decent so spicy is spicy! The channa Masala lived up to its name, lentils were great and the bhindi tasted good. We had naans and puris which were good as was the paneer pakora. Interesting drink choices also and service was good. I might upgrade the rating if I can get the fuller experience once all the staff are there.