Passage To India

Reviews 4

HA

Hailey Girl

For the life of me, I dont know how this establishment got so many good reviews; but here is mine: I just left this restaurant about an hour ago, 1:39 Eastern Time. A few of my good friends and I are visiting the Harrisburg area for the next two days before we make our way to Pittsburg. We all decided to go our separate ways as no one could decide on one thing to have for lunch. I decided to try this place based on the good reviews its received thus far! Big, BIG MISTAKE! When I first walked in, this Older Indian lady was at the hostess podium and she did not even greet me!!! All she said was: "only one?" I told her just one and I requested a table by the window and she looked at me and abruptly said: "That table is already taken!" I told her "just seat me where there is one by the window". She walked away as if she didnt even care. But I ignored her poor manners as a hostess (but I believe she is the owner of the establishment). At any rate, I started my first trip to the buffet and I was so disappointed at the bland taste of the food and although I am a vegetarian, not even the vegetarian selection could satisfy my hungry appetite, but I was hungry and I ate the first plate of food. I tried to get myself to like the food when I went for my second and third round but I just could not get myself to eat it. Ask the waiter there, hell tell you that he came back the second and third time to pick-up my plate which were hardly touched. The waiter, who is this nice young black man really was very warm and pleasant, it made me stay a little longer at my table after he gave me my check. After a few minutes. I got up and walked toward the front area thinking the restrooms were that way; as I made my way around the hostess podium, that same rude Indian lady looked at me and gestured with her hands in the air saying out LOUD, "the rest rooms is at the very back maam"! her rude tone of voice annoyed me to the point where I said out loud: "OK"! And I walked away toward where the restrooms were. This was my experience! And being from San Diego where you can find truly authentic ethnic cuisine all over the place, this Indian restaurant was definitely FAR FAR from truly authentic Indian cuisine! It was a terrible TERRIBLE buffet! I will never EVER go back to this place again! Id rather eat at a bad Chinese buffet before I go back to this place. And even if the food is bad at this place, if that Indian woman was truly nice to me, it would have made up for the bad buffet and I would perhaps consider coming back to that restaurant simply because that woman was nice which she wasnt! So, for the hungry tourists who want good Indian food while visiting Harrisburg, avoid this place at all cost. Im told there is a really good Indian Pakistani buffet right behind the Crown Plaza Hotel which is located on S. Second St. Try that instead. We leave in the morning and I absolutely WILL NOT be going back to that awful Passage to India Buffet! Hey Girl signing-off!

SE

Sean Jackson

The WORST Indian restaurant. The food was just terrible. No real way to describe how low quality food we got served by some of the worst servers. Just blunt staring and rudeness! Management or owner/founder(I think Mr. Vijay or vinod) need to really get out for once, and go visit other indian restaurants and see how the food is served, quality of food and all the other perks that goes with the indian food such as offering of onions, papad with the menu. Rather than spening too much time in just hoarding the clutter in the place to make it look like india, spend some time to see what other indian restaurant offers with the entrees, sides, and aside all - most important the QUALITY! Time has changed, century has changed and even in india theres not that much clutter!!! You are an indian cuisine, not an indian art museum ....focus the only thing thats important - FOOD QUALITY and Service.........I have visited many indian restaurant as I travel a lot and I am for sure not ever going to visit your restaurant, but as a fellow Indian business owner, I felt to give you the honest opinion and I do hope you do take a drive down to other same class indian restaurant like IP (indian pavilion) in state college, Amber in Scranton, rasoi in jersy, etc and see how are they offering the A class quality and service for the same price or less.

JO

John Schafer

The family enjoys good Indian food, so we keep our eyes open for places to try. Came across this one advertised in an entertainment book, so we made the trip to Harrisburg to see how their food is. This is a restaurant connected with the Comfort Inn on Front street, and the signage is not very prominent, but we found the place. The decor is well done, with a great Indian vibe. They have a wonderful view of the river, and one the bridges that spans the river. For dinner, we tried a saag dish, one curry chicken & chickpeas dish, a bryani rice dish, and a mixed lentls dish. The food was very good, full of flavors and well prepared. It had some spice to it, but not overpowering. We enjoyed the food very much, and the service was very good, as well. They had a team of 4-5 servers the night we were there, and they all took turns filling water glasses, removing empty dishes, etc.... and they worked well together. Everything important was very good - food, service & ambiance. Only knock I have is that it seemed a bit pricey for what you get. All of their meals start around $14 and go up, most of the dishes were in the $16-18 range. Compared to some other Indian places we have been, this is a lot more expensive. So well probably keep going to other places where the food is also good, but its more affordable.

VI

Vishal Sinha

I was in Harrisburg last night and my friend recommended that we give Passage to India a try. We got there late after work - 9:40 PM! The place looks good even though it is next to a Comfort Inn. The staff was very cordial and seated us even though their last order is at 9:45 PM. We went straight for the main course - no time for appetizers and we were super hungry too. We were in a vegetarian mood and ordered the following: - Dal Makhani (Whole black lentils, yellow lentils and kidney beans simmered with tomatoes, onions, and freshly ground spices, garnished with a touch of cream) - Bhindi Masala (whole okras cooked in spicy sauce - and House recommended Vegetable Xaccutti (Pronounced "sha-ku-tee" A spicy vegetable curry from west coast of India (Goa), made with ground and roasted coconut, and a blend of aromatic spices) We wanted all the food to be mild/ medium spicy. What came out of the kitchen was SPICY food! So beware of that when ordering. Bhindi was definitely a pass 2 stars (out of 5). Okras were not well cooked and half raw. Dal was good - the usual like any other Indian restaurant Vegetable Xaccutti was spicy for sure! That blanketed the taste of the dish IMO. Service was good and attentive. Bottom Line - Reading other reviews I would return for buffet and give this place another try...