Sankalp The Taste of India — Restaurant in Melbourne

This is in direct reference to review posted by my wife, Anuja Pawar. Personally, I am not a 'review' person, but you (Sankalp owner) have almost invited me to write one.

That visit to Sankalp was probably our 4th and definitely our last visit. On previous occasions, we've had similar experience, where we've gone in, there is no one to greet you and the moment you sit at one of the many empty tables, they come charging at you to tell you the table is booked. It came across as rude that no one appears to want to speak to you to advise which table to sit at and then the moment you sit, someone suddenly appears from nowhere to get you off the table. This is bearing in mind that children will have a hard time sitting at the front entrance where it is super cold. So in a nutshell, I wasn't impressed but did not complain about this, thinking that the staff may be new or it may have been a busy time for them. Mind you, there were plenty of empty tables then as well.

Anyway, coming back to our last visit, again there were plenty of empty tables. There was a staff member who greeted us and whom we both advised that we did not have a table booking but need a table for 3 including our little one.

The staff member said, "Yes sure" and without any hint of trying to help, went to the payment counter area. Due to this sort of communication, or lack thereof, we decided to sit at a table to avoid being at the cold entrance area. Again, as we sat, same staff member came back and asked us to move from this table to the table that she chose. Mind you, there is no notice at any part of the restaurant to say a simple, 'please wait to be seated', etc.

Obviously for me, it was not the first time that it had happened. I wasn't happy to move to the other table as you've pointed out in the reply review. However, for my son, I offered to do it as a first reaction. I also suggested to my wife that it was more of a restaurant policy issue and bad communication from them and hence there was no point in addressing the issue. Your (Sankalp owner) reply aptly proves my theory that you don't like to be given feedback/review. Another thing wrong in your reply was that my wife decided to leave- incorrect! I decided to leave and I was the first to go with my son. Just because I did not show my unhappiness, doesnt mean your service and communication weren't below par, they absolutely were and are! You can stick to your policy to give tables as per your preference but make it known somewhere in your restaurant 'strict table policy' or similar to give ample notice to people with children.

So please stop advising people 'stop putting false information' when you are the one who puts out wrong information (assuming I was happy to move table and that my wife left the restaurant). There is nothing false in the information provided. You can reflect on all your 1 star reviews to make an assessment of your strict table policy. Probably if you make that known on a notice board, you would avoid future negative reviews.

There is nothing wrong being humble and accepting where you've gone wrong. If your reply was a bit more accepting, I wouldn't have bothered to write. Since you are in denial of any lack of service and lack of communication, it's a given that we won't be...

Extremely rude staff. They come off as very inexperienced and least bothered. Coconut chutney quantity was very less in takeaway order. On asking for extra chutney, the person on the counter says “It is enough for 1 person”. All indian restaurants in Melbourne give extra chutney.Nobody charges extra money for extra chutney. Would have given 0 stars but unfortunately there isn’t an option to do that.

Reply to your comment:

Firstly, I ordered on your website and not on uber eats. Secondly, I noticed you have not taken a single unsatisfactory review positively. Your response shows how inexperienced owner you are. I did not ask for free Uttapam, I asked for extra chutney with uthapam. It is not called asking for FREE. Do you charge for extra chutney for people who come to dine in as well? You are charging $17 for a uthapam and crying to give extra chutney. Learn from restaurants like Saravana bhavan. Also, learn to take customer feedback positively if you are running a business and I was not expecting you to use words like “Ashamed”. No sense of hospitality. Wonder if you even know what that means.

Reply to your reply 2:

If you ask your staff on the counter he might tell you that I gave him the feedback on the counter as well that the chutney quantity is very less and he was still adamant that no it is enough. Other restaurants give 3 chutneys with uthapam however if you are giving only 1 chutney then give proper quantity and don’t be a miser. 1 star is for your arrogant behaviour and inadequate quantity, not for free chutney.

A customer has all rights to voice their opinion if the food quantity is not appropriate. So instead of fighting with customers on social platforms, use your brains in providing adequate quantity and learn to take feedback positively. Don’t be cranky in providing adequate quantity. Do you charge extra for chutney on dine-in too? Be reasonable with customers and learn to be humble. Arrogance won’t take...

Unfortunately didn't have the experiences described in most reviews.

There was hair in food. Subsequently, noticed that cooks not wearing head cover. Ordered dosa - which we found very ordinary

Flies found near kitchen and in the toilet - indicating hygiene issue

Other reviews below indicates that hygiene issue is not new to this place. And response from the owner below shows what sort of place this is.

Edit: Dear owner, Original review and rating didn't change. Just removed the name of other restaurant who makes better dosa than you - as that got nothing to do with the issues your place has. Plus you tried to claim that I'm promoting other restaurant than providing a subjective feedback.

A sorry would go a long way than your attempt to blame customers. You said people like me review restaurants in google for points - as if you don't care about reviews, yet you're going crazy for low rating. simplifying my review definitely shows what kind of simple person I am! :)

Wasn't my fault that there was hair in my food and I got food poisoning. You're lucky that I didn't report to the council to inspect / audit you. But I might reconsider that decision given your continuous attempt to abuse me and other customer.

Looks like Dhara Patel below also had similar experience recently. You still wanna claim you got no hygiene issue and attack every customer who finds hair in the food? Changing food doesn't fix the problem. It's still cooked in an unhygienic environment.

I would have called you / gone back if you apologised in the first place and requested a call back to discuss the issue and improvement opportunity. But you claimed that there was no hair because I finished the food and didn't tell anything to your staff.

Grow up, learn to accept feedback and make improvement based on customer feedback. Better put effort to improve hygiene and quality of food than attacking...