It's a niche begging to be filled, that's for sure. A (vegetarian) Indian restaurant that isn't sketchy and cheap but seems to be shooting for more of a mid-range, fast casual kind of vibe. That being said, I was expecting less, as I had in my head that this could be the kind of place that thinks being vegetarian is a substitute for being a decent restaurant.
Not so, in my experience. You might look at the online menu and think that they wouldn't offer its full scope at each outlet, but they seemed to have a huge variety of dishes, from South Indian to various Indo-Chinese and Indo-Mexican fusion dishes to some random pasta for people who don't like Indian I guess. Being adventurous, I tried some idli (lentil-rice cakes) in a Chinese sauce, which was pretty tasty. Mildly spicy, albeit nothing scary. The vada dipped in sambar to start was solid enough as well.
And they seemed to be running a decent restaurant. Between the out-front service and the slightly visible kitchen area in the back, there were quite a few people here actually preparing food, and it was correspondingly good. It was cleaner than a lot of places. It was also evident that they could tell I was in a hurry, and they got out my dishes just in time for me to catch a bus. Probably four star food, but given the low level of service I've become accustomed to at Indian places here (and anywhere really), the overall dining experience was quite good. What else would I ask of them? Offer some tofu, maybe, add in online ordering. I wish it wasn't out in Morningside, but nonetheless, I imagine I'll give them another shot at some point. read more