Orright, so here's the thing. I married into a large, Anglo-Indian family. With this in mind I'm going to make an important claim: I know Indian food. I eat homemade, created-from-scratch cuisine of the Indian variety at least twice a week. Christmas, Easter, Birthdays and other family functions consist of enormous, sumptuous buffets of the stuff carefully crafted from recipes passed down through generations.
Now, my husband's family is from Southern India and for those who lack the necessary exposure, there's a world of difference between Northern and Southern Indian food.
The Indian Palette claims to do both.
I use the word "claim" because I'm not so sure they do either very well. We've eaten here twice (being an easy walk from home we wanted it to be good) and what I can tell you from these experiences is this:
- Service is extremely casual. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just very laid back. Expect to have to ask for things more than once.
- "Mild" means "the mildest form of spicy that we do" - it's not an absolute term. I love spicy food, but some Indian dishes just aren't supposed to be. For example, mint yoghurt should be quite thick, cool and infused with fresh mint, not watery and spicy.
- The buffet offers great value when it's available, however the great price point ($9.90 a head) is justified by plastic plates, plastic cutlery, extremely limited menu (4 dishes incl. rice) and even more passive service.
We won't be back in a rush, but I wouldn't go out of my way to prevent someone else from trying it either. read more