Indian restaurants at Boston, Sigh!

Boston, easily one of the biggest cities in US with considerable Indian population and of course, lot of Indian restaurants by the wayside. The suburbs have a good number of restaurants well balanced with North Indian and South Indian food. The weekends give us good time to explore these restaurants and rate them based on the delicacies served. Being a dosa freak, my eyes involuntarily go to that section of the menu which serve different types of dosas. In Bangalore, whenever I used to venture out to eat outside, even if I made up my mind for dosas, I would not feel complete without eating the Masala Dosa. Here too, it is no different. Though the menu lashes out ten different kinds of dosas, I would simply settle for the Masala Dosa. Habits die hard, and towards masala dosas, it is impossible.

We have easily visited about ten different joints over the last couple of months. One bite of the dosa, and I know that it is nowhere, not even remotely close to what I get in Bangalore. Forget the comparison with the home of masala dosas, CTR, it does not come close to what is served even in a moderate darshini in Bangalore. Maybe after having dosas in CTR, the expectations are too much and I end up cursing over the duration of the meal. Now, I am just resigned to my fate of not having good dosas.

Well, I had an interesting experience yesterday in Cambridge with a group of friends. We were really hungry, and we decided to try out the lunch buffet at Tamarind Bay, located on Winthrop Street. The appetizer (Bhel Puri which we can make out of the ingredients kept on the buffet table) was not bad, and thankfully, the vegetable pakoras were good. As we shifted on to the main course, we realized that vegetarians did not have a great option, just a couple of dishes to complement the Naan. The less I say about the main dishes, the better. It was totally unpalatable. Dal seemed to be a good option, as it is one of the dishes which is really difficult to mess up. My friend was quick to prevent me from taking that option, as he told me that it was not in good taste. So, all of us decided to go back to one more round of self made appetizer. After the meal, I decided to give the hotel a feedback about the kind of food served. I told the waiter The food was not at all good. It really has to improve. He comes back with a reply which is one of the worst I have heard But you finished everything that was on the plate. I just could not understand how they could treat customers in such a derogatory fashion. As a customer, we are providing a feedback which has to be taken in good spirits, instead of coming up with such retorts. Are we having a debate or what? As a customer, having paid for my food dutifully, I have every right to tell him what I feel about the food. But, if he has not got the ear to listen to the feedback, he can as well shut shop immediately.

All of us went back with a sick feeling, and vowed never to return to the place again. The bottomline is simple, when you are hungry, go to a tried and trusted place; Don't ever experiment! It is just not worth the risk!!!

Oh!!! I want to eat in CTR!!!!!