SIMPLY SAUCY? (India Garden)

Member Name: Cheuk

Product:	India Garden
Date:	03/08/01 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great portion of biryani, certain delicious dishes

Disadvantages: Poor service, Paying service charge for it, Relatively expensive

There are several curry houses in the centre of Oxford. This one is at the top of High Street further down from another one. I had trouble deciding which one to go to, but settled for the Garden as it offers a 10% NUS discount, and the menu looked reasonable but more expensive than the curry houses outside the centre. It is situated on the first floor above some shops, with the entrance just by the shops. As it is on the first floor it means going up some stairs which wasn?t particularly well lit and rather uncomforting to be honest, not knowing what to expect. Disabled access doesn?t exist. There is a door at the top of the stairs and again looking to see what it is like inside is difficult. Against one of my better judgements I decided to go in, my stomach was now calling the shots. The interior is lit ambiently and is small but cosy. The table layout is strange with a long table down the middle and smaller tables on the outside, which are inside little compartments which ensures privacy. The walls are very nicely decorated along the style of an Indian café. As I entered the waiter was just behind the door and took me to a table inside one of these little compartments.

However that is where the good first impression ended. The table had not been cleared properly, with tissues still left on the table. The plastic table cloth though colourful was still sticky but fortunately not greasy.

The waiter then brought the menu over and I was left to choose the dishes. I had already decided what I wanted before I went in, but there was no harm in having a second look. This was a bad idea as I had second thoughts on what I wanted. There wasn?t a wine list, but you can bring your own. The starters have the usual range of cuisines from onion bhajis, kebabs, chicken tikkas and tandoori chicken. They cost in the range of two to four pounds. I checked to ensure the chicken tikka and tandoori chicken as some restaurants switch these two
dishes around. Chicken tikka here is without the bone aka a kebab style and served with salad, whereas tandoori chicken is a marinated leg. I chose the latter. The main dishes have the usual baltis, biryanis, vindaloos, and their house dishes which are no more than a special balti etc. etc and no special dishes or any unusual dishes. These start from 5 pounds onwards, to about ten pounds for some seafood dishes. There is a good selection of vegetarian dishes also. One small gripe is that the menu doesn?t describe what each dish is, but just tells you what is in there, so for those who don?t know their korais from the dhansaks will have to ask. I chose a lamb tikka biriyani which is a rice dish cooked with spices and the meat in the oven and served with a vegetable curry accompaniment. I was not brave enough to go for naan bread this time after my past disappointments with them in curry houses in Oxford

The lemonade I asked for, came in a medium size glass tumbler but was rather flat, and watery, and to be honest, wasn?t that pleasant, but it was cold. I also asked for a jug of water as well. The Tandoori chicken came on a sizzling plate and looked appetising with the onions and the nice smell, coming off. The chicken was put on my plate of salad, and the size of it wasn?t that great, must be a small chicken. The waiter then asked me whether I wanted the onions that have now sizzled. I said yes, and surprisingly only got a few sprinkle of the onions on the plate and he returned to the kitchen with most of it still on it. He could have at least asked if I wanted more, I truly hope that the onions wasn?t going to be reused again. Anyway another waiter came back with a pot of yoghurt sauce which had mint and lemon in it. This was absolutuely delicious and brought out the flavours in the rather bland chicken. The salad was just fresh and consisted of slightly limp lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and lemons. The delicious sauce saved the day though
.

After a slight wait the empty plates was collected and after another wait the main course arrived. During which there seemed to be a gathering of the staff/friends of the restaurant who gathered round the bar/till bit. The staff then seemed to be more interested in talking than the customers from that point. The portion of biriyani was very good with plenty of rice and the chunks of lamb underneath mixed in with the rice, though the sauce was full of vegetables, and actually very little of the sauce itself, which is sort of good, but did make the biriyani rather dry. Thankfully this was rich in flavours, full of spice and the lamb tikka was great tasting adding to a good dish. Going back to the sauce, the veg was slightly overcooked, being very soggy and the sauce slightly bland and very thick, possibly due to the amount of veg. I?m not a fan of thick sauces or runny ones for that matter, the consistency has to be just right. The amount of veg was about right to be honest, but it would be better to use a larger plate and add more sauce to it, it wouldn?t cost that much more. After polishing off the dishes and finished my drink, I was ready for the bill.

Remember the gathering I told of earlier. It was difficult to attract their attention. I ended up walking to them to ask for the bill. Service charge is added on to the bill, which I didn?t think the service really warranted. The old man who possibly owns the place was smiley and quite friendly I supposed, but the overall service was disappointing. I supposed after a run of good customer service I am now expecting similar high standards. Maybe I?m happier now as well, as I like to moan about customer service. To sum up this place, the dishes are delicious, but more attention needs to be paid to some areas, like cleaning the table properly, asking the customer if they like more, it hurts me to see good food wasted when there are people around starving. More attentive and speedy
service would also be nice. For me, well I?ll try another place, but there is another nice curry house I?ve been to already and that sets the standard so far in Oxford.

Summary: