No one was more excited than me to finally have an Indian restaurant in Curry County. I absolutely love Indian food and was prepared to make this my new go-to food spot; it's very easy to please me with Indian cuisine. Unfortunately, I've been twice now, and each time has been a pretty big disappointment.
The first week they were open I ordered a couple apps and saag paneer. The app portions were generous, but the chickpeas were undercooked, and the saag was incredibly bland--lacking in spices/salt. I didn't try it but the biryani in the buffet looked like pulao or some kind of white rice with vegetables.
The second time I decided to give the generous buffet a try. None of the dishes were hot, only lukewarm (a major health risk; at least they reduced the hours of the buffet from ~12 hours/day when they originally opened to more like 3 or 4). All of the curries were soupy and bland, and as a result barely distinguishable from each other. Not only did they lack spice/heat, there's also very little flavor. I understand keeping the heat spice at bay for this area's demographic, but there's no reason to hold back on spices, seasonings, and salt. The samosas and (deep fried?) naan were good, though by the time it came out we were almost done with our plates; also we'd asked for no butter/ghee and they still came out slathered in it. Chutney had to be asked for at the counter; I believe tamarind was the only option. Overall, some of the worst Indian food I've ever had, at some of the highest prices I've ever seen.
Going beyond the food, the ambience was stymied by YouTube bollywood dance videos with great music but that often featured brutal violence, and were presented with numerous, loud ads(!) between the songs. I do not go out and pay premium prices at sit-down restaurants to be advertised to between bloody gun fights. I cannot understand why the owner would not pay a small fee to have access to an ad-free streaming platform. The bathroom door is incredibly heavy and needs adjustment. The bathroom was out of TP and was unclean. The front door is awkward to get to from the parking lot, which gives priority to State Farm customers for some strange reason (I think SF may own the property, but wouldn't they want their tenant's business to thrive? Why not just share the lot as you share the building? But that's out of CK's hands.)
The menu is insanely ambitious. Dozens of typical Indian dishes. A massive buffet. A larger-than-usual apps/chaat section. Easily the largest veg section within a hundred mile radius. Wraps. Indian pizza. Fried chicken. American breakfast. The list goes on. One very easily gets the sense that in trying to do everything, they failed to do anything well. The operation seems hastily put together, understaffed, and lacking in quality assurance.
Another turn-off is that in the weeks leading up to their grand opening, they advertised a discount for mentioning their social media campaign. But when people tried to avail themselves of the discount, they were told it was not applicable for the buffet. This despite the fact that the many social media posts never mentioned this restriction, and at first the buffet was the only option. And of course people are going want to sample the buffet on their first time. When this was pointed out to the social media manager, rather than apologizing and directing his staff to honor the discount on any order, he doubled down and said "too bad." Absolutely horrible customer service. Way to shoot yourself in the foot when you're trying to start a new business in a small town with an unfamiliar cuisine. It paints a picture of an ownership that is not interested in customer feedback and satisfaction, while the experience on the ground looks like an ownership ok with cutting corners to maximize profits.
The servers are friendly. I'd like to support them and see this establishment survive and thrive for years to come, but I don't see much chance of that without some drastic improvements. It's all the sadder that for many of the people in this area, this will be their first encounter with Indian cuisine. I hope their experiences are better than mine, and they don't reject subcontinental cuisine as bland, tepid, and unsanitary. Brookings deserves better. read more
