Really vile ordered-in Indian meal..

Gracie_05 · 14-02-2005 6:54pm #1

On Friday night, myself and bf decided to order in an Indian meal. We have 3 places which we kinda rotate between, and depending on what we fancy from a particular menu.
I've always found the standard of Indian food in Dublin to be excellent as well as being reasonably priced. So, even though very OCCASIONALLY, there'd be a minor glitch, the overall quality of the meal is usually top notch.

Anyway, on Fri night, we ordered in from this - well-known - place, which we'd ordered from before.
The food arrived on time - approx 45 mins later. BUT it was all cold!!! Luckily we'd had the oven preheated, just in case!!
Anyway, when the food was warm enough:
My prawn sag was all minced up and had a sickly sweet cocunut type of taste - to be honest it looked like vomit. Was starving and ate some of it, but soon realised that I was not enjoying it! It was sooo sickly sweet/coconutty!!! And never before have I had a prawn dish anything like this, where the prawns were all minced up in the spinach!!! YUCK!!.
Bf had rubbery chicken in a very bland sauce. The rice was starchy. The samosas were hard and uncooked. And worst of all... the cheese nan was inedible. First of all it was NOT naan, and the "cheese" in the middle was like what I could only describe as cheddar-coloured marzipan. :eek:

I'm actually really annoyed about this!!! After all, we paid nearly E40!
I tried ringing the place the next day, but could get no answer.
Now, I'm strongly thinking to write a letter, demanding a refund....
What would you do in the same situation...?
I mean, we all get a bad/less than satisfactory meal now and again, and put it down to experience... but this "meal" was just taking the piss. Especially since it's a well-known place, with a good reputation and we spent so much money and had just throw the lot out.

tba · 14-02-2005 7:00pm

Name and shame!

I hate Indian meals generally, the flavor is all wrong.

Gracie_05 · 15-02-2005 11:28am

Well, basically I'd just like to get my money back!!

Intend to post a letter to them this evening, saying roughly what I said above!
What do people think? Will I get my money back...?
I mean, if you buy a DVD player or something and it doesn't work, you are entitled to bring it back and get a replacement or a refund!!!

Surely there must be the possibility of some sort of comeback when you spend money on food that has to be thrown out...?!

newgrange · 15-02-2005 11:33am

Any reputable business will refund your money without question. I would not 'name and shame' though until you have given them a chance to make amends. If they more or less tell to what to do with yourself, then by all means name away.

If they are a reputable business, even if they do not believe you (and I am not at all implying you are lying) they will refund immediately. It is worth far more to them to have you go round telling people how decent they were when there was a problem than have you telling people to avoid being poisoned there. It's basic good business.

I'm surprised you could not get an answer by phone the next day. Have you tried them since?

magpie · 15-02-2005 11:37am

I've always found the standard of Indian food in Dublin to be excellent as well as being reasonably priced

I've always found the opposite. It's treated as some kind of luxury, exotic item over here. €10 for a main course, plus paying for pilau rice, nan etc. Between myself and the Missus getting an indian delivered seems to cost us about €35, which is not reasonable in anyone's book.

Plus, when it arrives as a rule it is swimming in saffron-coloured oil. Also, most indians seem to make a 'red sauce' which they use for pretty much everything. They just add chilli for a Chilli Massala, spinach for a Sag etc.

If you think Indian food here is good, then go over to the UK where you will get far superior food at about £4 for a main course including rice, £10 for a slap-up meal. And the quality of the cooking is far better.

TBH the Indian Restaurants are taking the piss royally over here, because they think we're a bunch of idiots who will pay through the nose for substandard oily muck. And clearly they're correct.

DapperGent · 15-02-2005 12:49pm

I've only found two to be of reasonable quality (though I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to Indian food):

The Green Chilli in Stoney Batter is very good but quite expensive as it's a restaurant doing an delivery sideline. You could be paying €40 for two with side orders and such.

Bombay To Go in Glasnevin is great. A pure takeaway/delivery joint but the quality of their food doesn't suffer for it. Really nice and the prices are quite reasonable. Still a touch more expensive than a Chinese or something, but far better qulaity.

Name and shame: Surma (Near Bleeding Horse) as a restaurant is simply fantastic. The food is wonderful and both staff and service are great. Reasonable prices as far as restaurant of that quality go too. In my experience though their takeaway stuff is simply shocking in comparison and not cheap. Avoid at all costs.

The Sweeper · 15-02-2005 2:54pm

tba wrote:

I hate Indian meals generally, the flavor is all wrong.

Sorry, but with the range of styles, spices, ingredients, cooking methods and actually varieties of foodstuff that come under the umbrella "indian food", I find this mind boggling.

All wrong? Why, coz it doesn't taste like bacon and boiled potatoes??

Oeneus · 15-02-2005 11:45pm

magpie wrote:

Also, most indians seem to make a 'red sauce' which they use for pretty much everything. They just add chilli for a Chilli Massala, spinach for a Sag etc.

You'll probably find that all restaurants generally use a standard sauce recipe as a base for all their sauces. Whether they're traditional, chinese, English, Indian, Arabian, Zorg etc. And then teh flavour/name is determined by the ingrediants added to it.

For example. Most Chinese restaurants make a sauce based from water, oyster sauce, wine, soy, salt, and flour. And then more ingredients are added depending on whats been ordered. For Black Bean Sauce, they add black beans and Garlic. For Satay sauce they add Satay paste, peanut butter, and chilli, and so on!

magpie · 16-02-2005 10:41am

Yes, but they should make each dish from scratch.

Oeneus · 16-02-2005 1:35pm

Why should they? The system isn't unhygenic. Its completely safe, and efficient! And it would mean I'd have to wait an extra 10 minutes for my meal if it was made from scratch!

magpie · 16-02-2005 1:59pm

I'll be sure and order the 'red sauce with some extra stuff thrown in' the next time I'm in Guilbauds then.

Oeneus · 16-02-2005 2:09pm

You have to understand that all restaurants do this, though. Whether it's a filthy skanky take-away or a rip-off posh snob restaurant. It's common practice to use a sauce base!

If you've worked in a restaurant, which most people have done at some stage in their life, you should know this!

magpie · 16-02-2005 2:11pm

I was washing the pans if you must know, Mr La-de-da sauce maker.

anyway, this is totally irrelevant. Indian food in Ireland is a shocking rip-off and of utterly susbtandard quality. END.

The Sweeper · 16-02-2005 2:14pm

Well you wouldn't have gotten far as the manager if you thought everything should be made from scratch...

Here - why don't you open a restaurant and have runners at the back door who go to Tesco and buy stuff in as soon as a punter places their order?

Oeneus · 16-02-2005 2:15pm

Well there you go. You were right in the center of all the kitchen action. Didn't you ever observe how the chef's work?
I did, when I was the dishwasher monkey. In fact I used to ask a lot of questions. The meals they made there were just beautiful pieces of work. And I used to try and get them to teach me so I could pull chicks with my creative cooking skills.

They then later promoted me to doing starters a couple of months after!

magpie · 16-02-2005 2:21pm

Yes, I observed the chefs removing frozen Chicken Kievs and lashing them into a microwave.

With regard to sauce, YES I understand the concept of a sauce base, NO I don't think all dishes should be indistinguishable from each other bar a couple of ingredients thrown in. Go to the Nagina Tandoori on George's Street and see what I mean.

The problem with Indian Food in Ireland is it is presented as a luxury food, it should be cheap, wholesome and delicious. Next time you're in London go for a curry near Brick Lane to see how it should be done.

Oeneus · 16-02-2005 2:28pm

Man, Your restaurant sucks! Microwave Kievs. Mouth watering.

But yeah, Ireland's take aways generally suck, because a large percentage of the irish are racists (mainly the teenage drug addict skanger scum), so the indian/chinese/turkish get their own back by sh!tting in your beef taco!

The Sweeper · 16-02-2005 2:31pm

Perhaps the ingredients aren't as readily available in Ireland? Maybe they're more expensive to import?

I live in the UK, I have a favourite Indian restaurant - and there are still Indian food 'sins' over here - like places that use food colouring excessively on certain dishes. I don't think you'll ever get decent ethnic food in a country until you have a generally accepted ethnic population - and Ireland still appears to be a ways off that...

A while ago while in Dublin I went to a "Thai" restaurant somewhere around the Suffolk Street area (can't remember the street name). I ordered a beef with oyster sauce, expecting beef, broccoli, oyster sauce-based sauce, steamed basmati rice. I did get all of the above. With carrot rounds.

F*cking carrot rounds.

I felt like pointing out that it wasn't beef f*cking stew I'd asked for. And the price? Ah stop...

magpie · 16-02-2005 2:38pm

Man, Your restaurant sucks! Microwave Kievs. Mouth watering.

It was a crappy hotel, about 15 years ago in its defence!

indian/chinese/turkish get their own back by sh!tting in your beef taco!

And I thought those were black beans

I felt like pointing out that it wasn't beef f*cking stew I'd asked for. And the price? Ah stop...

This puts me in mind of the old classic 'European' section on ethnic menus. I remember being in a Chinese restaurant in Longford; there was a guy there having steak, boiled potatos, a pint of milk and extra white bread. Why go to a chinese?

Anyone over the age of 16 who drinks a pint of milk with a meal should be on stage with Pat Shortt.

Oeneus · 17-02-2005 11:52am

hehe. Maybe he was the owner of the restaurant, easting his own coked meal.

If you asked him he probably would have been like "No way! I cook my own! Have you seen the crap they put in this chinese sh!t?..EEWWW!!"

lomb · 17-02-2005 11:58am

magpie wrote:

Yes, I observed the chefs removing frozen Chicken Kievs and lashing them into a microwave.

With regard to sauce, YES I understand the concept of a sauce base, NO I don't think all dishes should be indistinguishable from each other bar a couple of ingredients thrown in. Go to the Nagina Tandoori on George's Street and see what I mean.

The problem with Indian Food in Ireland is it is presented as a luxury food, it should be cheap, wholesome and delicious. Next time you're in London go for a curry near Brick Lane to see how it should be done.

why do u buy it here then? learn to cook it yourself, u sound like a guy screaming that its no use and then buying it shaking ur fist.

magpie · 17-02-2005 1:59pm

shakes fist

dudara · 17-02-2005 4:57pm

Christ almighty guys, please stay on topic, rather than having the rest of us read that petty fight.

To the original poster, getting a terrible meal delivered must have sucked. Did you throw it out, because I would have taken in right back to them that night or the next day. Good luck with the complaint

There are good places to eat Indian here in Ireland, but they're few and far between. I have 3/4 favourites ones down here in Cork, but they do all have different styles. None of them are cheap though, even in take-away form. Though I did get a leaflet for a new one on SHandon Street that I'm meaning to try.

simu · 17-02-2005 11:06pm

magpie wrote:

This puts me in mind of the old classic 'European' section on ethnic menus. I remember being in a Chinese restaurant in Longford; there was a guy there having steak, boiled potatos, a pint of milk and extra white bread. Why go to a chinese?

Anyone over the age of 16 who drinks a pint of milk with a meal should be on stage with Pat Shortt.

Rofl!

But many families/groups of people have one member who refuses to go for something unusual in a restaurant. Having one "Euro" option on the menu is the small price to be paid for allowing the others to try more adventurous stuff.

CodeMonkey · 18-02-2005 3:18pm

Oeneus wrote:

For example. Most Chinese restaurants make a sauce based from water, oyster sauce, wine, soy, salt, and flour. And then more ingredients are added depending on whats been ordered. For Black Bean Sauce, they add black beans and Garlic. For Satay sauce they add Satay paste, peanut butter, and chilli, and so on!

Errrm, no they don't. You're thinking of restaurants using the same stock (chicken or veg etc) to give sauce heavy dishes some basic flavours. The ingrdients you listed for the sauce used in most chinese restaurants are probably only used in the chinese you were working in, that is if you saw this when you were working for one.

pork99 · 19-02-2005 5:20pm

simu wrote:

But many families/groups of people have one member who refuses to go for something unusual in a restaurant. Having one "Euro" option on the menu is the small price to be paid for allowing the others to try more adventurous stuff.

My father sincerely believes that all ethnic restaurants have a photo of him in their kitchen with "POISON THIS MAN" printed underneath it. He's strictly steak and chips, mixed grill if you're being adventurous

Really vile ordered-in Indian meal..

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