India Cafe Restaurant Review

The first impression of the India Cafe isn't very auspicious. It's located in a tiny strip-mall, eastbound, right at the Route 9 light before you cross over the river into Worcester. It's in with a Burger King and Taco Bell. It looks tiny from the outside, and inside it's not much better. The decor is very bare, with just a few Indian style artworks on the walls to add a bit of culture.

The staff was not exactly friendly as we got ourselves settled. There were only a few other tables occupied, but even so it was a while before he came to take our order. We got veggie samosas, veggie pakoras, lamb saag, palak paneer - and I wanted a takeout of aloo gobi without the aloo. I.e. I wanted the standard cauliflower-potato dish without the potato. We've done this at many other Indian restaurants without any problem. But here he said it was impossible - they don't actually make the food to order. They just heat it up. The idea boggled my mind, but I finally gave in and got another lamb saag as the take-out dish.

First came the samosas and pakoras. The pakoras were fine, pastry puffs with a generic veggie mash inside. The pakoras were another story. They were very crunchy and dry, almost toasted. I found them almost inedible, where usually I'll gobble these things up even if they are only reasonably well cooked. I actually couldn't finish the last one.

On to the main dish. We got the traditional rice with our meal, and it was reasonably tasty. It wasn't great, though, and the meat was in small portions.

In general, given the other great options in this neighborhood, there really isn't much of a reason to stop by this one - unless the others are closed!

Menu: small number of items, not great cooking
Wine List: none
Dress: Casual is quite fine
Staff: Far from attentive

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