Adam B.
Yelp
It has been over a decade since I last visited Vatica. At the time, if my memory can be relied on, the decor was very cozy, with tapestries and linens, and attentive service. I also think that the format was AYCE vegetarian thalis, which were plates with an assortment of vegetarian dishes, plus rice plus bread. Those vegetarian thalis still exist, even if the option is hard to find, but everything else has changed.
See my check-in photo for the stark interior, lit by fluorescent lighting, and no personality. On the night that we went, there was a single server. Even though there were only 3 other tables, we didn't see our entrees until an hour after we arrived.
The menu has expanded to a kind of standard Southern Indian one, with selections for vegetables, chicken, lamb, seafood, breads, rice dishes, Indo-Chinese, and street food. We dove in, and got the Assorted Platter (app), Gobi 65 (Indo-Chinese), Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Korma, Dal Makhani, Bindi Masala, and Aloo Paratha.
The Assorted Platter was supposed to include a vegetable samosa, vegetable pakora (fritters), sheek kabob (skewered, minced lamb) and chicken tikka (marinated chicken cooked in a clay over). The sheek kabob was simply missing. The chicken tikka may have originally been cooked in a tandoori oven, but what we got had been thrown into the fryer, and came out shiny with oil, and completely vulcanized. It was so tough and rubbery that it was inedible. The samosa was well below average, but the pakora were alright.
We're big fans of chicken 65, so thought that the gobi 65 (made with cauliflower instead of chicken) would be nice. It had been battered and fried, and then made soggy in an orange sauce, that tasted like a cross between chicken 65 and Buffalo wings. All in all, it was kind of hot (spicy), but kind of good.
The entrees came out looking good, but both the chicken tikka masala and lamb korma suffered from the same problem: They were spicy (hot), but not spicy (seasoned). That is, they both tasted very similar, which was simultaneously sweet, bland and hot. I wouldn't get either again.
The dal was also a little bland, but that might have been cured with a little salt, had salt been available. It was not sweet. As such, it was one of my favorites.
The bindi masala (chopped okra and aromatics) was actually very tasty. It was seasoned beautifully, was a little spicy, and not saucy. We'd get that again.
Finally, the aloo paratha (whole wheat flat bread stuffed with seasoned potatoes) was also just bland and heavy.
The waiter brought rice, and even packed up more rice with our leftovers.
I think that you are much more likely to have some good food if you simply stick to the vegetarian parts of the menu, though, even then, there's no guarantee that your choices will be done well. The transformation of the interior, radical change to the service, and changes to the menu make me wonder whether there's anything left of the old Vatica. It would not surprise me to learn that the current owners just paid for the name from the prior ones, in hopes of luring in business.
