Ambica Foods — Local services in Overland Park

I’ve been visiting Ambica for years because their Masala tea is absolutely heavenly! It’s worth a trip to Ambica for the tea alone. The black pepper and mint pack a perfect punch. This ain’t just another chai tea. I LOVE it! Try it! At some point this year, it occurred to me I might be missing something by showing up three days a week just for the tea and maybe some samosas on the weekend. (Their samosas are great too, by the way!) I was a little intimidated and assumed it would all be too spicy for me. I’m vegetarian and I love “restaurant” Indian food. But I had never tried Indian “chaat” or “street food”. And here I was staring up at that menu board every week with ALL vegetarian items and I hadn’t tried any of them. So I decided to make it my mission to try everything on the menu. It’s been a few months now, but I’ve pretty much done it. And what a flavorful adventure it has been! I've enjoyed every dish. I started with the Kachori Chaat. Instant classic!! It’s a great place to start for anyone new to Indian chaat. It’s where I started my journey and it has become one of my go-to favorites. Piled atop a kachori pastry are spicy chick peas, green garlicky chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, diced red onions, a bunch of crunchy bits and bobs and then creamy cool yogurt on top (reminds me of sour cream). For me, the sweetness of the red tamarind chutney perfectly compliments the spicy kick of the chickpea backbone of this dish. I won’t go into all the details on every other dish. Not knowing what I was ordering has been part of the excitement of this journey. Every plate of food was a surprise. Just a heads up… A couple of items aren’t available…the dosas are one and maybe the uttapapam. I’ve had dosas and I imagine they’re a complete headache to make. The Undhiyu is only available on January 14th and for a few days following until they run out. I like marking "UNDHIYU!!!" on my schedule and anticipating it like a kid waiting for Christmas. Some more of my favorites include the veggie burger, pav bhaji, and chole bhatura. Enjoy the photos from...

We have been Ambica's customers for over 13 years now. I have read the comments posted by other shoppers and three main things stand out. 1) They are rude. 2) Expired products on shelves. 3) Billing inconsistencies.

My comments:

1. Them being rude: They are not rude (maybe with the exception of that one Hispanic lady at the chats section). They just don't go out of their way to talk to you. If you talk to them, they will definitely respond in kind and help you out. This treatment of customers is consistent with other Indian grocery stores in the area as well. That's just how they are.

2. Expired products on shelves: Definitely true. It has gotten better, over time, however. I have seen more than once the owner haul away cart-full of expired items. Still, they need to do a better job at it. Once I bought mango pickles, which had expired a year ago. When I brought it to the owner's attention, he said (in Hindi) "what is there to expire in a pickle? It is salt, mangoes and chili powder"! What a profound thought! I told him there is oil in the pickle and would be stale by now and his response was, "Go ahead and buy something else"! Similar experience on other packaged food items as well (such a parathas, samosas, sweets, etc)

3. Billing discrepancies: Definitely true. It has happened to me before at the very beginning (before the bar codes on Indian grocery items) and then they got their act straight for several years and then it happened again twice last month. The owner scanned an item twice. My mistake that I waited (on purpose) until he finalized the sale just to point this out, but he would not refund me back. He insisted that I buy something else for the same price!!. Please check your receipts and watch them closely while they scan your items.

Well, that said, I still give them three-stars, mainly for the selection they have, particularly their selection of sweets around major Desi festivals.

Maybe, time to switch to...

Have been shopping here since August 2015 till today. We have 50-50 positive and negative feedback about this store. Positive: Vegetables are fresh and good on Tuesdays and Fridays Tiffin and Chaat counter is delicious Festival specials are available like crackers for diwali and sweets etc

Negative: Branded Products like Horlicks, Parle-G or any biscuits, Noodles, Oats masala, almost 80% packaged products are all EXPIRED for more than 10 months When asked, the shop keeper's reply was "We got only those products, what to do?". But we are paying the same price for EXPIRED products. The store person nor the owner sounded like they care because they have kept the expired products knowingly thinking people would buy and not notice dates. Not sure how many of us look at expiry dates on branded products and frozen foods. But this is the one store we have seen with majorly EXPIRED products. Have been in New Jersey for 2 years and never had this experience. Billing was wrong couple of times. Had to sit and check the prices before we left the store. Many products especially frozen foods like grated coconut does not have expire dates. Vegetables wont be fresh on weekends so better go shop it on the days they come fresh.

In states like NJ, we have many stores on Indian street. But in Missouri, we have only 2 or 3 stores and if they have mostly expired prodcts then customers are at risk consuming them especially kids and pregnant ladies. Since the store people are aware of the issues and yet do not seem to be cared or fix it, I decided to post my review to help customers and take precautions shopping anywhere.

As a customer, I expect value for my money and not buy EXPIRED products just because of my ignorance or...