Review of Indian restaurants in Honolulu

[smariner]

We eat regularly at Indian restaurants & have enjoyed many Indian restaurants around the US and India. When were in Honolulu earlier this month (pre and post cruise stays), we tried three Indian restaurants -- "India Cafe", "Down to Earth" and "India House".

 

"India Cafe": Small, well-kept restaurant in a hard-to find location (it's pretty close to Leonard's bakery, but the sign-board is not easily visible from the road). The place was crowded, and we didn't have reservations -- so, we had to wait for 15-20 mins before we could get a table. Their menu is influenced by the south-Indian cuisine. Their dosas (south-Indian crepes) were among the best we've had in North America. Their curries were very good & different from other Indian restaraunts. Service was great. We were able to use a coupon from the Entertainment book. Highly recommended.

 

"Down to Earth" : "Down to Earth" is not a restaurant, but more of organic grocery store like "Whole Foods" (we really liked the name of the store). This was a recommendation from a person of Indian origin who stays in Honolulu. They have a food section very similar to the one in Whole Foods, but only carry a vegetarian & whole-grain selection. They had a couple of Indian (and non-Indian) dishes sold by weight. They can also make veggies burgers, wraps, smoothies, etc. Very reasonably priced wholesome vegetarian dishes. Highly recommended if you don't mind eating at a grocery store.

 

"India House": Only Indian restaraunt open on Christmas day (we checked with all other Indian restaraunts before going here). The restaraunt looked pretty shabby inside. It took over 15 mins for someone to take our order. We ordered Naan bread, rice & a couple of curries. When the food arrived, we were pretty surprised to see that the Naan bread was warmed-up frozen-naan available in many Indian & Ethnic grocery stores. Quickly we realized that the curries & even rice were frozen/packed entrees that were just were warmed in a microwave. An Indian restaurant not even cooking their own rice or curries is just unacceptable. The taste of the dishes was no where near-to even some of the worst restaurants that we have tried elsewhere. We asked our waiter if he has any home-made Indian-bread. He lied saying that the naan-bread was home-made & recommended that their chapatis are better. So we ordered chapatis & later found out that they were frozen tortillas <grrrr>. The biggest surpise was when we got our check -- $5 for a plate of (frozen) white-rice; $13 for a (frozen) curry; $2.5 for a (frozen) naan. A similar frozen entree costs $3 at any Indian grocery store; likewise, you can get a pack for 5 frozen naan for $2. Summary: Poor interiors, bad food & questionable service. Avoid this restaurant.