Chutneys

Reviews 5

JA

Jaya Shankar

As a previous reviewer wrote this used to be Pasand Indian food, it was sold and the new owners named it Chutneys. In fact when they re-named, they just chopped the Pasand from the sign on top leaving the Indian cusine, added Chutneys. Cheers!! for recyling the sign!! We went for the lunch buffet on sunday, it was $ 11.99. I am Indian and I have dined in quite a few places - Priya, India oven, Matka, Woodland, Delhi palace, Currys (closed) and Kabob palace. Chutneys has the largest number of items on the buffet. There are two people who own the place one from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Andhra Pradesh. I spoke with the owner, he claims that this place has the best food from both states. I have never had UP food, but sure had a lot of south Indian. I have never had Avvial in any place and it was the best. The garbanzo beans - Sundal was also prepared very well. The bhonda was excellent. It also had little bits of coconut in it, and it tasted the way it should. Most places serve bhonda vadai and pakoda and it is tastes very different, not this bhonda. Being a vegetarian I cant comment on non-veg, but my spouse said that the fish was good, rarely seen fish in a buffet. They had chicken biriyani and about 5 other non-veg dishes. They also had ladoo, mysore pagu the latter was good. The badusha turned out to be so so, a little on the soggy side. Didnt try the globe jamun or the custard. If you live in the Phoenix area it is worth while trying this place out. (I dont work for the place, dont have anything to do with them, other than write a review.) Update June 12, 2012 -- We have been there for 3 weekends in a row. The choices were still quite a lot. The crowd seems to get big. If you dont show up around 11.30 am it will be some time to get your food, as the line for the buffet is about 10 person long. One gripe I have is that with more people the management has to have food ready to fill the fast emptying food trays. They seem to be really slow. I had to go back and check several times to see if the chutney is there. Second gripe is cutting naan into little pieces and leaving them with the rest of the food is not ideal. Most places will bring hot naan to your table. They have to change. Hopefully someone reads these reviews. Finally the desert (sweet) that was served the third time we were there were a tad less delicious than the first time we were there. Also we didnt see the same bhonda again, it was vadai both times but not as good as the bhonda. A different chef?? I have to seriously reconsider going to this place as the crowd is big and the idea to sit down to have a good lunch turns into a race to fill the plate, when there arent many people in line. This is compounded by walking to the buffet to check if they refilled the food of your choice.

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AR

Aravind Swami

We went here for the lunch buffet today, on the occasion of the Deepavali festival. We didnt like it at all. Choices were very limited. What choices there were didnt taste good. And it was supposed to be a "special Diwali buffet" today. You get better selections, both in quantity and quality, in regular daily buffets at a much lower price in other Indian restaurants in the Phoenix area. Whatever hype you may have heard or read regarding this restaurants buffet, it doesnt live up to it. You are better off avoiding this place for buffet. They called it a "special Diwali Buffet", but they didnt even have a proper Indian dessert! Dessert choices were a fruit salad, which was some horrible concoction, and a very low quality ice cream. Both were gag-inducing. Think about it - they couldnt even be bothered to make a real Indian dessert on the occasion of the biggest Indian festival, for which they claimed to have a special buffet. Thats the first indication that they were not even trying to offer anything good. The restaurant was hardly full, and yet they couldnt manage to keep the naan tray filled. During the 1.5 hours we were there, the naan tray was perpetually empty. Each time it was filled with a meager quantity, the naan pieces would fly away in seconds. I couldnt manage to snag a single naan. Same thing with the pakoda tray. It which was the only appetizer offered, and the tray was empty all the time. It was refilled only once when I was there, and what they called pakoda were long pieces of potatoes dipped in batter and deep fried. Oily and tasteless! The dosas were low quality too, sometimes under-cooked. They managed to ruin even the simple curd rice dish. There were no pickles, no coconut chutney. How dare they call it a "special Diwali buffet" and charge extra ($13.95 before tax, $15.25 after tax) when they were not even trying to offer an acceptable meal! I am sure the owners couldnt get their own family members to call it a good meal. A disappointing Deepavali lunch for us. A bad experience that nobody in our party will repeat ever again.

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MI

Michaela Abbott

I have nothing but great things to say about the food here. I seriously never write reviews about any place and am not terribly experienced with Indian food. I have had the hottest of hot and some mediocre from other places but Chutneys has incredible dishes throughout their menu. You cant go wrong with the garlic cauliflower. I offered this to a family member who would never try Indian food if she knew that was what she was eating, but could not get enough of this dish. I have only been treated with the utmost respect and have dined alone several times (as it was very close to my old house) and with friends. All of my questions have been answered and I am about to drive all the way from Scottsdale to get my Chutneys fix. I was discouraged by the few negative reviews I saw and thought I would put my genuine opinion on here!

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JO

John Orcutt

I have only been in once and the staff were extremely courteous and the service was great. Indian places arent all that popular in the Southwest yet and theyre obviously trying to go the extra mile to make the difference. I mostly order in. So far this is my favorite Indian place in the valley. I ate a lot of curry in D.C. and in England and this place stands up to the standard of a country where the national dish is chicken tikka masala. Their food is excellent, and the prices are more reasonable than some other Indian places in the valley I have tried. I live in Chandler and theyll even deliver down here for a little extra delivery fee, which is quite nice. If theres a specific dish you like thats not on their menu, theyve even made off the menu for me a few times. Very highly recommended!

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RH

Rhonda

My boyfriend ate here very recently after a ballroom dancing class. I wasnt expecting much, but the place was amazing! My boyfriend thought their chicken tika masala was delicious (though he prefers the recipe at the Dhaba). I, however, had the best vegetable korma Ive had yet. At a "medium" spice level, the dish had the perfect blend of spiciness and flavor. (The version at the Dhaba is always too spicy, and it hurts the flavor.) The atmosphere was nice - well-maintained without being super fancy - and the staff were incredibly friendly and prompt. We wanted for nothing during our meal. Chutneys convenient to home and to our dancing classes, so we will definitely be returning. However, it would be worth the trip, even if the restaurant were further away. Thanks for such a great experience!

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