The Great Indian Food Letdown…read more
Listen -- I'm fully on board with a hole-in-the-wall serving up incredible food. That's my favorite kind of find. And maybe we caught this place on an off day, but for me, this was just... okay. And I genuinely do not understand what the rave reviews are talking about.
Coming from Houston, a city with roughly a thousand Indian restaurants where almost every single one delivers, this felt like a real step down.
Yes, it's attached to a gas station -- fine, no judgment there. They clearly put effort into making the inside feel a little charming. But our table was sticky and gross, and the bathroom matched. Not exactly the first impression you want. And it left me wondering: if the front of house can't notice -- or doesn't care -- that things are dirty, what on earth is happening back in the kitchen?
As for the food, we ordered my personal benchmark trio for judging any Indian restaurant: Samosa Chaat, Palak Paneer, and Dosa (when available). They had all three, so I walked in optimistic -- maybe this sticky-table situation was about to redeem itself. Spoiler: it did not.
The Samosa Chaat was fine, no real complaints there. But then my Palak Paneer arrived, and I genuinely did not recognize it. It was a strange brownish color -- think baby poop -- and the flavor bore zero resemblance to any Palak Paneer I've had in my life. I didn't finish it, and if you know me with Indian food, that tells you everything you need to know. My husband's dosa fared a little better, but the chutney tasted off, and there was only one variety with no clear indication of what was even in it -- whatever it was, it wasn't good. Traditionally, we're used to getting both coconut and mint chutney on the side, so this felt noticeably incomplete.
Honestly, it was such a letdown that I'm not sure I have it in me to give this place a second shot. I'm just sitting here mourning the fear that I may never find great Indian food again after moving here.