Balaji Cafe

Reviews about Balaji Cafe

• 2 / 5

  By Harry Amin
  Not sure why anyone would rave about this place. Starters, the prices are not that lower from other Indian restaurants. Besides they get you on other things to make the final price for the dish higher. Asked for a small amount of yogurt as it did not come with any of my dishes and they charged $2.00 for about 2.oz of yogurt. Now, that's heavy profit margin...Damn.
  
  For few dollars lowers you get tasteless Dosa's and the sambar (dal) that is not fully cooked. You mostly get the watered down version as the main sambar has settled at the bottom of your bowl. There should not be any heavy settlement at the bottom, at least not in wholesome pieces if cooked appropriately.
  
  Could not differentiate between plain and Mysore spicy dosa, other than the food coloring to the Mysore. Potatoes in the Mysore were bland...
  
  Ordered the spicy green pepper uttapum and there were literally only two pieces of supposedly hot green peppers (yes, I counted) and the they tasted like bell peppers, tasteless. The whole uttapum was packed with onions and not spicy at all. Now, I say this because I am not much of a hot food eater and simply did not want to shove bartered rice down my throat, so wanted to spice it up to get some kick. Complete tasteless failure. Others dishes may be good, I don't know. But really, chat..Bhel..pani puri..And all that can be found in alot of Indian restaurants nowadays. Plus, no charge for small amount of extra yogurt as they usually provide you some with your dish anyway.
  
  The place looks like a large whole in the wall Indian shack and frankly a disgrace compared to other Indian restaurants. The tables are wobbly, the entire place looks it can use steam cleaning..Sorry, I meant shrubbing. They have two water gallons containers with tap to them sitting on top of some counter, but the water containers are gosh few years old as the plastic containers have become fuzzy from their clear look...i can imagine how much chemicals are sipping in the water it's holding. Plastics are good for a year or two before the bonding starts to slowly loosen up ....as they are made from oil pumped from ground..Yes..Look it up..Get educated..Besides they are platic jugs..You can get two gallon jugs for three or four dollars.... can go on and on....Last thing I will say, hard not to discredit this place...Once the ordered was ready, the staff members comes out from the kitchen located behind the counter with my tray shouting my order number from near the counter. Again this is a fairly large shack and my table was around the bend. I faintly heard her so I got up...How about coming down half way to the floor so people can hear you in the noise of other customers. Or better yet put table number tags so you can ask people where you can bring orders to...But why? Shouting is so..Civil... Pathetic..
  
  The place is operated as if this is some small town in India. Even back home you get better service and maintained place. Anyone rating this place anything above two stars out of five have not been to any other Indian restaurant ( I don't mean north Indian, there are well serviced and pleasant South Indian/vegetarian places)..Or have not been in the states for long..or they have a simple low standards for themselves.
  
  Not would not... Will not recommend anyone to this place. Seriously, take your time to find a better place. Until you do, just eat at home. You are saving your money.
  
  If you are non-desi, I don't understand why you would find this place palatable..Unless you're a college kid with tight budget and willing to swallow anything Indian on the cheap, which it really isn't, I cannot understand why.
  
  Why two stars you ask...One star for taking a seat and another for able to hold down the food.
  April 25, 2017
• 5 / 5

  By Avisesh Sahgal
  Great eats. Quick service. Fresh food freshly made.
  August 30, 2016