Malabar Indian Cuisine
| Address: | 3456 Lauderdale Dr, Richmond, VA 23233, USA |
| Phone: | +1 804-364-7077 |
| Site: | malabarva.com |
| Rating: | 3.7 |
| Working: | Closed 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 12–3PM |
Location
Photos 37
Reviews 7
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Ams Prat
NOTE : The owner can put a million good reviews to get rated better and overshadow negative responses but I still put this review. Very bitter experience. I wish I had never gone. Owner is arrogant and seems unstable. I went with my team of 10 people. Food taste was ok . But the service was really bad . We asked for naan and he will take 10 minutes to bring 1 nan cut in four pieces and serve at two ends of the table. For billing also he took 10 plus minutes as we split the bill. He overcharged my manager for the total bill of all of us inspite of taking the tip from each one of us. But this apart , the bigger issue was that I told the owner about the issue and he declined it . He started asking my team if others liked it , and without their answer yes he assumed that I only had issue. He told me straight that I should not have come here to eat and asked me to step out immediately - The thing that pricked him was that I told him that three years back I came to Malabar and it was not good and today again I felt the same. He was so furious at hearing this and started moving his hand to shoo me from a distance. Had I stayed there a longer and state the issue or continued to argue as he takes it to be he could have got physical too. He started asking my team mates that why did you bring this guy to his place to eat .. Thats most arrogant thing that I have ever experienced . I am not sure if I could put a police complaint for this issue. I am so vexed by this event that back to office I am not able to concentrate on my work even and writing this review.
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Ramlal Krishnamachari
I went to their weekend buffet yesterday and had some bad experiences right from seating me to asking for drink. I understand I went there for a buffet but I did not like when the waiter pointed to a table and called me with his fingers when I was waiting by the door for someone to seat me. I brought this up with the manager/owner lady who said she will correct it. I hope she does it soon. I noticed that the waiter seated other customers with his fingers as well. The owner lady said he(waiter) has experienced this kind of treatment from other customers so he is doing this. Well! that is not an excuse for this behaviour. The same waiter did not give enough time for me to settle down. He did not greet me as well but thats not a problem, he should have atleast given some time for me to sit down. He asks for my drink/water preference when I was walking towards the table he pointed to, which put me off again. I am not sure this waiter has any sort of a good sit down restaurant industry experience. Dishes that were part of the buffet were good but for a buffet that costs 12.5, I would expect tandoori chicken which was not there. I will not come back until they improve their service towards their customers.
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Nitin Alabur
Went to this place on a Sunday while on a day trip to Richmond, around closing time, wondering if this place is open or not. The strip mall was quite empty, and there were just a few cars in teh parking lot, which made me wonder if this is some shady restaurant. We, a group of 9, went for a late lunch buffet, and were kinda disappointed to see that some buffet items were near empty. But thats when the good experience with this place started. The restaurant guy said that they refill those items and kept their word. Every single item that was there on the buffet was awesome, with the authentic Indian taste. The breads were not the usual naan or roti, instead we got some freshly made chapathis (thinner, lighter). The fresh dosas served were also really nice, not too crisp, not too soft (and not too greasy too!). The desserts were awesome too. I am giving this place 5 stars based on my experience with the Sunday Brunch. Hope you all enjoy the same good food! PS: I only wish they played better music (As a not so regular bollywood music listener, most of the songs played made me wonder what track it is!)
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A Private User
Regarding the three reviewers below from May 14th- all three of these people have rated every single Indian restaurant in the Richmond, VA are as 1 star except for a restaurant called INDIA K RAJA. More than likely these three accounts are actually the same person- probably the owner or someone involved with INDIA K RAJA attempting to divert business to their own restaurant by giving out negative reviews to everyone else. Malabar doesnt even serve naan even though Mandeep apparently ate some there! This is despicable and shameful behavior for any business owner. Malabar is an AMAZING restaurant- my favorite place to go for Indian food by far! Every time I go there the owner always passes by our table and makes sure were happy with everything and makes small talk with my friends and I, the waiters are all friendly and fast and beyond hospitable, and best of all the FOOD is to die for! Please do not let these false reviews dissuade you from trying them out- I promise you will not be disappointed!
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A Private User
Quite possibly some of the worst service I have experienced. My girlfriend ordered a vegetarian dish, and specified for there to be little spice (the waiter even confirmed the order). When we got our dishes back, hers had chicken in it. The waiter apologized and quickly sent the dish back to get it made again. When the dish came out, the dish was much spicier than mine (I ordered medium spice). For a place to screw up an order twice is unacceptable. What made matters worse, was that the dish was not even compensated. Normally, when an order is incorrect, let alone incorrect twice, the dish is compensated. I was not even allowed to cancel the dish and leave the restaurant. I had to sit there and wait for the dish to be made and had to pay for it, despite the order being wrong twice. Needless to say, I ordered the dish to-go and quickly left.
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A Private User
Went to this restaurant recently, around 1 week back. Went on a saturday afternoon to try their buffet as you cannot order ala-carte, when buffet is in progress. The food was disappointing. Cant remember a single item that stuck in my memory as a good one. I was assuming that their Sambar would be the highlight, but those were the biggest disappointments. You had to remind the person repeatedly to fill the vessels with the food. So I saw people standing in the line and patiently waiting for the food to be refilled. I always feel bad, when Indian restaurants let down their customers on the food or the service, because for a non-Indian, thats the easiest way to get to know Indian food and customs. So, you have to be ideally on your best behavior. But this one did disappoint us...maybe, a bad day for the restaurant folks...
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A Private User
Used to go there almost every week. Food was ok and service good. The owner and the middle aged gentleman who serves there are courteous. Stopped going there since last mid year. The new waitress who joined there feels she is a queen and the customers have come to eat for free. She will throw dishes in front of you and will not come to your table even if you need something. She threw the roti basket on our table with her hands atleast 2 feet away from our table. Please note that this happens only if you are of south asian background (She is herself a south asian). She will serve "others" who came much later and ignore you. We even heard her shouting in the kitchen at the top of the voice that she wants orders of the other table to be done first, though we placed our orders atleast 10 min earlier.
