Not what it was. Review on Raj Mahal, Borivali West, Mumbai

I can understand the rave reviews here since I too loved this restaurant as a child. That has made me all the more disappointed since in my previous two visits, it's been a big let down.

First, the ambience. It's nothing fancy but it's certainly homely and I give credit for that. I hate going to restaurants that have a fake air and make being there very uncomfortable. The furniture and setting are very dated and I must comment that looking at the amount of profit this place must be earning, they can certainly show more respect to customers by updating the place a bit. I mean nothing extravagant, but at least they shouldn't be joining two tables or placing chairs where the sofas fall short.  And what is with having to ask for tissue papers out here?

Coming to the food, it's always inconsistent. There are always problems with the salt and most food is either undercooked or overcooked to the point of burning. It can be very disappointing. To be more specific, we ordered schezwan dosa which was good(sambhariya chutney included), the aloo paratha was raw and uneven with salt missing, the pizza as always was burnt to crisp and I'd rather not comment on the out of the world fried idli sandwich(fried idli between cold bread?)

Lastly,  the worst part,  the service. And it really hurts me to state this for I don't know where the very efficient waiters have disappeared. Our server got the wrong food on both our last visits which also ended up us being overcharged on one visit. On another table, the same server was being reprimanded for suggesting a dish which was exactly the opposite of what the customer had asked for.  Besides, there was just one server for all the tables in the A/C section which reduced the speed of service. Added to this the waiter was totally uninterested in writing down any order which caused him to confuse everything.

There's no denying the popularity and reasonable pricing  of this place. But looking  at the competition from well developed restaurants around, I think this place should really take a check on itself.