Jewel Of India

Reviews 5

RE

RealToughDeals Inc

I want to preface this review by saying I will be contacting Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson to report the fraudulent business practices of Jewel of India. But we can get to that in a minute. Lets talk about the rest of the experience, shall we? My dining partner and I stopped in here tonight around 6:30, after discovering our first choice (Malabari) was closed for Presidents Day. Hungry, we skip checking out the previous Yelp reviews and walk in to an empty dining room replete with dingy carpet, dirty walls, and tables covered with hospital bed-type tissue paper. Having dined in places with a similar appearance, but with five-star service and food, I let it slide. We sit down and the server (owners daughter?) asks what we want to drink after a quick look at the menu. Dining partner: "Ill have an iced tea." Server: "We dont have iced tea." Dining partner: "Ill have a Coke." " Server: "We are out of Coke. How about a Diet Coke?" Me: "Ill have a mango lassi." She acknowledges my order, but never shows up with my lassi. Again, all three of these beverages are on the menu. We then order our dishes: Dining partner: "Well have the tandoori dinner for two." Server: "We dont serve that tonight." This is red flag number one. We finally settle on chicken tikka masala and the boti kebab. A minute later, we hear the distinctive ding of a microwave. This is red flag number two. We discuss leaving right then and there, but as we have already placed our order, believe it would only be right to follow through with the dinner. The server delivers our dishes, with cold basmati rice, a soupy cereal-sized bowl of tikki marsala with perhaps five small chunks of chicken, and tough, dry lamb balls served upon a two-tablespoon bed of seared onions and four or five green pepper slices. She doesnt bother checking up on us during our dinner. We finish up what we can, my dining partner excuses herself to use the restroom, and the server informs me that our total is $32.50. No bill, no chicken scratches, nothing. Being new to Indian culture and food, Im not sure if this is standard operating procedure, and just figure to look at the menu afterward to ensure we arent getting hosed. I hand over my credit card: "Our machine isnt working tonight. Do you have cash?" "No, I dont. I just have a card." ...To which she emphatically asks, pointing at the empty spot of my dining partners: "Does he, or she, have cash?" At this point, Im upset: "No. SHE does not have cash. I HAVE A CARD." "Let me see if I can run it." A minute and a half later - poof! - what do you know? The machine is miraculously working. The inflated $32.50 was actually an even-more inflated $34.21, and at this point - frustrated, disgusted, and just wanting to get out - I sign, leave zero tip, and we leave. This entire exchange is strike three. Tonight, my dining partner and I were scammed, served garbage, and insulted. Guess what? Tonight, Jewel of India scammed the wrong customer, and I will be certain to not only spread the word about your awful establishment (dont try and bribe me with buffet coupons), but also as stated above, I am informing the AG and other relevant entities and agencies about your unlawful credit card/billing scam. Karmas a you-know-what!

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SH

shishir udupa

Me and my wife had gone to this place on August 28th for dinner and ordered Veg Thali (caters for 2 people). 1)First thing they said was they had issues with payment system and would not accept card (acceptable and I went and got cash) 2)They served appetizers which was alright, found it to be oily. 3) Soup was servers along with starters and it was horrible and tasted stale and my wife felt it was spoilt. We mentioned to the person serving, who happened to be owners daughter i guess. She plainly said Indian soups taste like that 4)Main course was horrible. Naans were stale, dal was ok and channa masala was spoilt. They provided rice which was kept for few days I guess. 5) When i asked for the bill, they mentioned they had issues with printing the bill and charged by $36 plus. In the menu the rate was mentioned as $29.95 and i am not sure why the extra 6 dollars. Overall it was a horrible experience for me and my wife and we had never tasted such horrible Indian food since our stay in Minneapolis. If you are in downtown and want to get some Indian food, i would suggest to avoid this place. There are other places like Dancing Ganesha, Copper Pot, Bombay Bistro which serve much better food and have better ambiance. I also felt the owner didnt care much as we were Indians and not localities. The person who served was very sarcastic in her comments and sounded like we were not welcome. This will be the last place i will ever go to eat.

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DA

David Rust

Jewel of India is one of those places students and faculty go for an authentic-tasting Indian meal when the surplus of nearby bars just seems ... overwhelming. You step into an air conditioned, under-stated, beautiful little space in Seven Corners and are immediately surrounded by the smells of India. The food is not too pricey (although with appetizers, drinks, and naan, a bit more expensive than the menu would otherwise suggest) and the quality is more than worth it. Ive eaten here on a few occasions, now, and never had a bad experience. The servers are genial and informative (should you wish to ask questions about the cuisine) but not invasive. They are quick on filling drinks and pleasant to speak with. The food is lovely ranging from mild spice to incendiary. I strongly recommend starting with medium (which I find to be nicely burning) to gauge your own interest-level in the heat. Overall, while parking is very difficult in the area, if you are in the region for Theater In The Round or on campus for classes or the annual Minnesota Fringe Festival, this is a great place to spend a relaxing meal with really good food.

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KE

Kevin Bickford

I dont think I can rate lowly enough for our experience here. Both my fiance and her roommate have had good experiences here in the past, so we arent sure what happened. None of us received the dish that we ordered. My fiance ordered chicken shahi comma with extra raisins, when the plate came it had no raisins. I ordered chicken Tika masala as spicy as they could make it, it was far and away the most bland masala I have ever had. We inquired about both the lack of raisins and spice. Our waitress informed us that they were out of raisins. (that in itself is reasonable enough, however she certainly should have informed my fiance of that and asked if she wanted to change her order.) She also agreed to bring out extra spice for my masala, once it arrived nearly 20 minutes later and I added it nothing about the taste of my dish changed. I can only guess that the seasoning is old and has lost much of its potency. (likely because of a lack of business, which now seems much deserved.) In an area that has plenty of Indian restaurants to choose from; many of which are great, The Jewel of India really needs to step up its game.

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JO

Joel M

The food was decent, but our waitress was extremely rude. As a former waiter, I truly understand how difficult their job can be, but from the moment we were seated, drinks were being pushed on us. It wasnt a polite suggestion, but rather a "Which beer would you like?" When we politely declined, our waitress brought out two beers anyway, and all she said was "Youll like this." She brought one check for our party of three and when we asked if we could pay separately, she made it seem like it was such an inconvenience to her. Then she didnt bother to split the check by what we each ordered, but just divided it into three equal parts. We decided not to make a big deal about it, but when she ran our cards, I was charged the full amount of $60 (rather than $20), and my two friends were still charged $20 each. When I asked her to refund the card for the correct amount, she acted like I was being a difficult customer. In conclusion, if you can a pushy waitress, overall tolerate terrible service, dont need to split your tab, and make sure to check your bill before you leave, the food isnt bad.

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