| rev:text
| - I love Indian cuisine, and being still fairly new to the valley, I'm trying to find the best places in town for Indian food. I bought a Groupon for Madras Ananda Bhavan a few months ago and decided to go for dinner last night.
As we approached I saw a sign on their front door warning/ advising customers that if they use a Groupon gratuity will be automatically added to their bill. I found that to be an odd and ostracizing thing to do, but at least they were upfront about it.
We arrived before 6pm and it was pretty quiet, with only a few tables present. Nice. I enjoy quiet dining. The sign said to wait to be seated. We only had to wait a few seconds before we were seated and the menus were brought. I informed them right away that I'd be using a Groupon. I advised the waiter that I was vegan and inquired about the menu items in which I was interested. He was knowledgeable, helpful, and very friendly (awesome smiles!).
We ordered vegetable samosas ($3.50). They were huge and very good. Crunchy & golden on the outside; savory and spicy on the inside. Their tamarind sauce is stronger and more tart than to what I am accustomed, but it was ok. I prefer the sweeter based tamarind sauces though.
I ordered the Gobi Manchurian ($8.99). It was absolutely AMAZING! The cauliflower was so perfectly crisp and that red sauce (not spicy) is so flavorful. Outstanding vegan dish!
I ordered plain puri/poori ($2.99 for 2 pieces), which is a light vegan bread. Plain puri/poori is not on the menu (the menu offers stuffed puris), but just ask for it. It was very good.
My dinner mate ordered naan ($2), and the server advised me not to eat it because it contains dairy. (Good looking out!) She thought her naan was a little too burnt for her liking.
Here's where things go badly...
My non-vegan dinner mate wanted Aloo Saag, which is not on the menu. The waiter advised that she could order Saag Paneer ($10.99) and add aloo (potatoes), so that's what she did. (Note to vegan's who are not familiar with Indian cuisine: saag = spinach, & paneer = cheese, so this is not a vegan dish. If you'd like a spinach dish, inquire about them making a vegan version, like Aloo Saag with no dairy.) She really enjoyed her dish until.... she noticed a long piece of hair in her spoonful of saag. Process of elimination: she has very long, naturally curly/wavy hair, so it was definitely not her own hair. I was sitting across the table and never came near her food, but for s&g let's just add that I have extremely curly hair, so it most certainly was not my hair. I examined it closely to ensure that it wasn't an herb of some sort, but it was indeed a hair follicle. Despite my OCD-ness screaming on the inside, I was very calm and maintained a smile as I called over the owner and pointed out the snafu. He apologized profusely, promptly took away the tainted food, and brought her a new dish with new naan.
Our dishes were served with a small helping of rice. What is up with the instant white rice?? You get @ 2 spoonfuls of this plain and dry rice. Where is the moist, fluffy, herb-infused, flavor-bursting basmati rice? Very disappointing!
Pitchers of water were sitting on each table, even the unoccupied ones. Having a pitcher of water at your table is definitely a plus for me because I drink a lot of water. However, with that pesky nat (it drove me crazy!) and any other germs flying around, I did not like that the water had just been sitting there for who knows how long (long enough that the ice had melted). And it's a waste of water when you get an OCD customer like myself, who will ask you to bring a fresh pitcher of water with ice in it. Just bring out the pitcher once the customer arrives.
The bill came and there were 0 concessions for the hair situation. Yes, you brought out a new dish. That's expected. No, I did not appear to be angry, but I was livid and disgusted. There was HAIR in my baby's food! Department of Health &/or Public Safety, hello?! I just chose to behave in a civil and professional manner. Wrong is wrong, and one should not have to rant and rave or throw a hissy fit to be accommodated in such circumstances. I did not ask, but as a customer service gesture, that dish should've been removed from my bill. Despite the excellent Gobi Manchurian and puri/ poori, or the friendly smiles, that was a deal-breaker, so sadly, I have no plans to return.
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