Let me make one thing clear, I have been a member of the Yelp community for several years and have never left a one-star review before for a restaurant. I can forgive bad food, bad or slow service, and many other things. But this restaurant provided the single worst experience my family has ever had eating out. The reason for this is twofold:
1. We were made to wait over an hour and a half for our main course to arrive while other customers who arrived after us were served. During this period we received little to no service and no one told us that our food would be delayed;
2. We were charged over 30% more than the prices presented in the menu provided to us.
We have documentation for both claims (see attached photos) and describe them in detail below:
2:52 PM: We arrived at Curry Zone. We were initially greeted with a smile and the server sat us at our table. From what we could see, there were two other tables with seated customers.
2:57 PM: Our server took our order for the following items on the menu (menu prices in parentheses). At no time are we told by the waitress that the menu prices are inaccurate.
- Mango lassi x 2 ($3.95)
- Chicken Tikka Masala ($12.95)
- Chicken Tandoori ($12.95)
- Garlic Naan x 2 ($2.50)
- Balti Gosht ($14.95)
3:28 PM: Chicken Tandoori arrives. This is the last time the waitress visits our table. Before this time, another set of customers arrived in the table behind us. They received regular service throughout the following period.
4:10 PM: We had long since finished the Chicken Tandoori and were growing impatient. The waitress had not visited our table since 3:28 and our child was getting antsy. The customers behind us were already served and eating their dinner.
4:25 PM: We decide to leave, because it is already getting late and we have to return home.
4:28 PM: A waiter arrives with our food, and we tell him that we wish to take out our dinner.
4:30 PM: We pay and leave. Shortly after, my wife notices that we paid the following prices for our dishes (See photos 1 and 3):
- Mango lassi $11.90 (2 drinks)
- Chicken Tikka Masala $15.95
- Chickent Tandori $18.95
- Garlic Naan $7 (2 items)
- Balti Gosht $16.95
So, while we expected to pay 53.75 for our meal, we actually paid 70.75 (before taxes and tip). That's nearly 32% more than we expected!
4:40 PM: We returned to the restaurant to ask why we were over-charged for our meal. At long last, we were shown the small notice on the blank front page of the menu (photo 2). The notice says that prices on the menu may be higher due to higher labor costs and food costs during the pandemic.
While we are sympathetic to restaurants in this time, we were deeply disturbed by the fact that not only was this notice not pointed out to us by the waitstaff, we were also charged a far greater price than what was presented on the menu and well beyond what we would consider to be reasonable. The inaccurate menu presented to us at the restaurant is as of now still the menu presented on Yelp with no indication that prices are not what they appear.
We believe that customers deserve to know ahead of time what they will pay for their food. If menu prices are inaccurate, then customers should be informed by a member of the waitstaff when they order their food, not after they've paid their bill. To do otherwise is a betrayal of the trust of consumers like us.
We demand that the owner of this restaurant update the prices of the in-person online menu according to the actual prices visitors can expect to pay so that no one else will suffer this same experience. read more