East India Company Disappoints on Every Level
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 8/15/05
My partner and I are travelling across Canada by car, and upon stopping in Winnipeg, we decided to dine at an ethnic restaurant. We chose the East India Food Company because we both love Indian food, and because it was apparently given 4 stars by a local newspaper. Unfortunately, our experience there was disappointing on every level: food, ambience, value, service and overall experience.
The restaurant has a large buffet running through the middle of it, priced at $18 per person. This means that all dinner guests have to speak above the constant noise created by this parade of dinner-scoopers walking next to their tables. It's also rather unappetizing to view dozens of people heaping food onto their plates from troughs - especially when the guests are swatting at flies buzzing the room. The trays of food were also not replaced at all during the 1.5 hours we were at East India Foood Company, and the covers on the trays were often left open by guests. Cold, congealed, and picked over - not very good restaurant value for $18/person.
Given that East India Food Company charges $13 - $15 per entre, we asked our waiter whether food ordered from the menu would be scooped from the buffet or would be created fresh in the kitchen. He confirmed that it would be made fresh. We were later disappointed when our rice was scooped from the buffet, and was served to us cold and filled with hard bits.
The appetizers took aproximately 20 minutes to arrive - a bit of a long wait - and when they did arrive, they were not as the menu described and were also inauthentic. The pakoras were not cauliflower and potato fritters as listed on the menu (and presented in every Indian restaurant I've ever dined at); rather, they were deep fried pieces of cheese. Not only was the menu misleading, but the fritters tasted like a greasy western-cuisine-style cheese patty. And what if I had been lactose-intolerant or vegan and had bitten into one of these?
The entres were also disappointing. The menu described their Murg Bahar (Butter Chicken) as "boneless", but I chomped down on a 3 inch bone during my second bite. Also, they had 'run out of lamb' so we had to substitute chicken in the Lamb Korma - an inconvenience that could be more easily overlooked were the price not $15/entree. We were not asked whether we wanted our meals mild, medium, or hot, as is customary in Indian restaurants I've dined at, and we were disappointed at how bland the spicing was. Our 'salads,' which came with both entrees, included a strange hodgepodge of western and Indian fare, including a mayonaise and corn mix.
Regarding service, we had 3 different waiters approach us, each of which, I'd estimate, was under 20 years of age. The buffet and the young waiters usually indicate a cheaper restuarant, not a higher priced one. None of these waiters refilled our water glasses, which went empty for the majority of the meal.
With the noisy buffet, the western-style and bland entrees, the misleading menu, and the overpriced food, we were both very disappointed with the experience of East Indian Company on every level.
We have both enjoyed Indian food in the cities we've lived - primarily Vancouver, and Montreal - and we know what a $15/entree meal should entail. The East Indian Company in Winnipeg delivers something more akin to a $7.95/entree meal experience, and would be aptly renamed "East Indian/Western Buffet Restaurant."
1 star out of 5.