Amber Indian Cuisine

Reviews 4

SR

Srinivas Mavuri

Extremely poor service and quality of the food. Felt very ashamed that they are bringing bad reputation to Indian food and would have given 0 stars if it allowed. To start with, they gave us a table with 2 glasses for 4 people, waiter gave the menu and left. Even after 15 mins, no one attended us and filled the glasses with water, neither asked whether we are ready for order inspite of only 3 tables are occupied in the entire restaurant at that time. We had to wave our hands to get the attention of the waiter to order the food and to request for additional glasses and silverware. We ordered 4 Dosas, and everything tasted pretty stale. They have not given adequate Chutney to begin with and when asked for more they gave some ice cold Chutney, it was so cold that my teeth were feeling. Upon request, they warmed and gave it. The Alu (Potato) Masala in the masala dosa is so terrible tasting and the sambar & chutney were a disgrace to Tamilnadu cooking. When I asked, why the food is so stale and awful, the waiter presumed that we are from North India and said that this is South Indian food to point out that we have no clue. Told the waiter respectfully that we are from South as well and we make these Dosas way better and tastier than this. Even my kids who love Dosas, could not finish their dosa which is a good indicator of how terrible they tasted. We were done eating and were waiting for the receipt and no one cared to ask how the food was and need any desserts or give the receipt to us. After a bit of waiting, we walked to the counter to pay there directly. The waiter mumbles and gives me the receipt when we asked why the service is so slow. Not checking all the charges, I gave the credit card. Before I pointed out that they charged $9.95 for childs dosa which is $7.95, they ran my credit card and later they give me $2 dollars (cash) back as if it is my fault giving the credit card with out validating the charges. It was totally a bad experience attributed from all possible levels, bad customer service with awful tasting food. Anything that can go wrong went wrong during this visit. I vowed myself that I will not visit this restaurant in future with my family nor recommended to any of my friends. With this review I am trying to make a good faith effort to help other customers as well. Good Luck if you still want to try out!!

RE

Renu Shivaram

A total disappointment! 1) When we arrived and stood for 5 minutes to be seated, there was confusion among the staff on where we should be seated. The manager just kept smiling instead of expediting the process. There were many tables open not that they were busy! 2) After we were seated, it took 15 minutes to get us a glass of water! 3) Even to take our food order it was another 15 minutes. We kept looking around to see if we can request someone to come and attend to us, but it seemed like no one really cared! 4) We did receive our food quick than anticipated, which was at least the only good sign that happened dining here and hence the one star! However, the food taste was plain and lacked any taste. After the horrendous service, we could not even finish our food! 5) The pappad and the chutney that was served was also brought over quickly. Although it was disappointing to see the chutney/flavors served looked like they were dipped by someone else/brought over from another table to us. 6) The one glass of water we had been served after 15 minutes was the last one too. Throughout our dine, no one really cared to come and refill our water. Again, we kept looking around to see if we can request, but, no one really cared! 7) Lastly, we kept waiting for our check for a good 15-20 minutes even after telling a staff member that we were ready to checkout. We actually got up and went straight to the manager. His response was I was about to bring your check!! I cannot understand with just 4-5 tables filled and with such a horrendous service, why everything has to take 15-20 minutes at this place! When we told him how disappointed we were, his response made us even more irritable. He apologized but acknowledged that he saw everything that happened (but did not do anything)!! A true manager would not just see everything but if no staff is attending to your customer, you would either help out yourself or ask someone to attend to! There are lot of better Indian restaurants in Madison. I would not come back here and would not recommend this place!

LA

Lauren Swolley

The only reason we ate at this restaurant was because our favorite Indian place was closed today. We wont be back. We walked in at 11:30am on a Saturday. Upon arrival, we werent greeted or sat. We werent asked if wed like water or drinks. As first time guests, these are minimal expectations. It took us finishing our first plate of food and numerous other tables getting their water glasses filled, whod come after us, before we were even acknowledged. The food is mediocre. Vegetable samosa is the only thing going for it. The mango ice cream was melted. There was no rice. The lids for the soup were far too hot to even touch let alone lift to serve yourself. No smiles. No eye contact. No service or respect. I tip well. I sympathize with the hard-working wait staffs in our community - its hard work! But this restaurant was either understaffed and struggling to keep up with the overflow from our favorite spot being closed or they truly are that awful. We were there 20 minutes - 2 and a half plates - before we were offered naan. The price was higher than our Indian spot as well. Do yourself a favor and drive the extra 7 minutes to Swagat, youll be glad you did. Better yet, call me and Ill drive you to Swagat myself. Theres no sense in spending money on bland food and severely disappointing service when a gem - voted Madisons best for several consecutive years - is just up the road. Never again will we eat here and our friends will surely hear of it.

CE

Cee Willy

Five of us went to lunch at Amber on 2/13/17. While the food from the buffet was fine, the wait staff are terrible at their jobs. Ive never seen people move so slow except when they were under the influence. We arrived at 11:30 and were told that we could take a seat - but that the buffet wasnt ready. We waited w/empty water glasses. Various wait staff milled around doing nothing. After 10 minutes, we went to the buffet and came back w/our food - still no water. I went up to the bar area and asked and was told that the waiter would bring it, but 5 min later - still no water. I went up to the bar and got a pitcher and poured it myself. About 20 min later, one of my 4 eating companions asked for water, and after waiting for 5 minutes, she went up and got the pitcher herself, then the waiter came by and took it from her by grabbing the spout. He continued to fill water glasses after having handled the spout. In addition, One of my eating companions ordered soup and naan from the menu and it took 20 minutes to arrive. Finally, when I was paying for the meal, the cashier took 5 min. to make change. The cash register had all the coins mixed together, so he couldnt find the right coins. He had to go into the tip jar to find the coins. Ive never seen a wait staff that was so inept. Luckily it is a buffet, so they arent needed as much. I would hate to see what they are like if they have to actually serve meals.