Stay away from this one....... Review on Moti Mahal Delux, Nariman Point, Mumbai

Moti Mahal Delux - CR2 - Nariman Point, Mumbai

I was at NCPA to watch a play with my sons and after that we were supposed to go and pick up my wife from the airport. However. as off late it has become a practice with most airlines. the flight got inordinately delayed and the play ended early. leaving us with about 3 hrs at hand. Younger son was already feeling hungry and we decided to drive down to Santacruze and have dinner somewhere there. But just then we noticed this Moti Mahal and decided to give it a try.

We entered the res which was more than half empty at that time and were not noticed by anyone on the staff. We waited for some time and then helped ourselves to a table which we liked.

Well. oldish ambience.some interesting Kadai mounted lights.quite dull overall. no table cloth.and not so comfortable chairs.

After sometime a waiter happened to notice us and dumped a drinks menu and two food menu cards on the table and ran off. The so called leather bound menus were heavy. old and dirty and not at all convenient. Well we settled on soft drink for younger one. elder one wanted a mocktail(Spice Girl). he is 18 you know. and beer for me with some Papads and a platter of Mixed Tandoori Grill.

We waited for ever before the guy came to take our order. and again for quite some time before the drinks were served. The waiter dumped the drinks on our table and went off without even bothering to open(let alone pour) the beer. I was actually amused to get this kind of treatment. Since they had a buy one get one scheme on Foster beer. my son jokingly suggested that probably this bottle is the "Get One and take home" and they will give you another bottle for drinking. Finally I called a pathetic looking guy who was prabably the captain and asked him if I need to give a specific order for opening the bottle. He apologised and helped me.

The tandoori Mix Grill platter had very small quantities compared to other joints and not much variety. However. most of the kebabs tasted quite good. Spice level was moderate. I asked for "Get one" beer and the same story of not opening the bottle was repeated. Well. I am not going there again but in case any of you plan to go there.better carry your own bottle opener.

I asked for mutton seekh kebabs which I consider as acid test for anyone claiming to serve north Indian non veg and they turned out to be quite good. We asked for some Rabri Malai in dessert and it was just ok. Nothing to write home about.

The prices are atrocious. Have a look:

Tandoori Mix Grill(Not large portion) - Rs 669/-

Seekh Kebab(Four pieces) - Rs 349/-

Rabri Malai - Rs 159/-

Do I need say any more about their pricing? On top of that they added 10% service charges(apart from 12.5% VAT) for the kind of service that they provided.

The waiters and the captain were literally avoiding eye contact as they didnt want to be bothered with any demands of the guests. It seems they are severely short of staff and only 3-4 waiters were trying to cover all the guests.

Never I've been so disappointed with a Moti Mahal. and will never go back again. Though as I said before. the quality of their food is really good.