Elle Z.
Yelp
It was a delivery order. Took about 40 to 45 minutes from the time of order to actual delivery. The delivery drive was from Lakeview to River North. Not too close. The total bill was around $70, and enough food was ordered to accommodate 2.
The Good:
On time and pleasant driver
Package very well
Food very warm when received
Lots of rice
Generous portions, which is good if you eat it, sad if you toss all of it like me.
2 giant samosas
The delivery fee was only $2
The Bad: taste, smell, texture, spiciness
Aloof Tiki: It looked very odd and topped with chopped onions and something else.
I only took a couple of bites. It was placed in the fridge for later. Generous portion. No real initial thoughts, as the main entrees were calling my name.
UPDATE on Aloof Tiki from the next day: I took a bite of this item... Flavor was awful. The texture was just so wrong. My Palate was grossed out. Tossed.
Veg Samosas: 2 large, crunchy. A bit of heat. (See my review for Moti on YELP! I think theirs were SO much better.) Ate one. They were fried well with crunchy exterior potato filling, and the texture was not pleasing to my palate. Taste was not hideous but definitely not good either. However, this was the most palatable of all items ordered. Put 2nd one into the fridge.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Second Samosa tried again. Should have not kept it, but wanted to give it a fair chance. Took a bite and TOSSED.
Butter Chicken: took 2 bites and literally threw it out. Wasn't edible due to the extreme spiciness! I tried mixing in sour cream to calm the insane heat. No help. It was ordered "medium heat". That stuff was blazing. My stomach aches as this is being typed. Smelled okay, but can't speak much for flavor because it was just too hot. I think I lost some tastebuds in the process and pretty sure my stomach lining will need to repair. My Southern Indian friends make me hot food, this item was much worse in heat than theirs.
Lamb vindaloo: ordered medium heat. Received hot! 100% unenjoyable. Tried to mix in sour cream to save this too. Forget it! So the lamb was picked out and rinsed off. It was soft and chunks were large. Did not like the smell or flavor of the sauce it was in. Tossed.
Roti: Received 2 warm wrapped in foil but as it cooled it hardened into unedible! And, of course, makes me think this was not made fresh and merely reheated. I have had homemade rotis from my southern Indian friends, and I don't recall them ever turning hard as they cooled. I love rotis, however, these were inedible. Tossed.
My wrapped up thoughts
Next Day Update to complete review: Indian WAS by far my fav cuisine, but, after what seemed like an assault on my stomach and palate, I won't be eating or ordering Indian cuisine for a long LONG LOOOOOONG time. The proverbial bad apple ruined my love for the entire cuisine.
Indian is sadly now off my list TOP FAV 5 foods to eat. Personally, just the thought of what I tasted and smelled evokes bad memories. It feels like a bad breakup. Something I have been eating for around 25 years! I craved it, actually.
My Italian mom used to get mad when she would hear me say Indian was my all-time fav cuisine. Okay, mom. I'm sure you would have been happy to hear it is no longer. Hope you are smiling down now.
Ask me my fav food now? French has elevated to the #1 spot and Indian is off my list totally. ( Mom, Italian is a close 2nd, I swear.)
Time to find a French restaurant to call my new boyfriend.
If you try this place, leave a review. I'd like to read about your experience and hope it goes better than this one.