Arjuna Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

We came here for dinner the other day in hopes of finding another lovely Indian restaurant to try in the Mountains. My friends and I have been sampling restaurants in the Mountains and surrounds for years, taking it upon ourselves to find the nicest eats around.

No such luck at this so called restaurant.

I had to notify them that our large booking was sadly cut in half, as members of our party got sick - and I admit it was short notice, but they were notified as soon as I could tell them, since they opened half an hour before our booking was due.

They seemed to be understanding enough on the phone, but our new table ended up being one that's placed next to a busy doorway, which kind of felt like punishment for telling them not all of us were coming (there were plenty of better table options available). If it was actually punishment, I pity the person making that call.

The servers were polite and smiley, but it probably should have been a clue when they mentioned they don't really eat at the restaurant themselves, upon being asked for a personal recommendation.

When sampling a restaurant I usually pick a popular item that can't really go wrong - well, folks, it did.

I ordered chicken makhani (butter chicken) for my main, as I have grown quite fond of it at other places. Something simple, I thought, to get a grasp of this restaurant and how they do things.

Our entree was nice, spicier than expected, we had the lamb shammi kebab. It is important to note that drinks and the meals came out quite quickly (which usually is a perk), but I can't really say anything else that's nice beyond that point. The mango lassi tasted OK I guess.

Because then the mains arrived. I have tried vindaloo elsewhere before, and when my other half suggested it wasn't hot, I gave it a go. Indeed, it wasn't. It also didn't really taste like anything but tomato. I also tasted the lamb korma, which tasted like it was made for a child who can not handle anything spicy (or having any flavour).

My butter chicken actually tasted sour. It was like an imbalanced tomato soup with chicken, the sauce was watery and not at all like any butter chicken I have had before (and not in a good way, in case anyone is wondering). I have had a bad Indian takeaway before, but this wasn't at all appealing.

The only thing resembling butter chicken was the dish's colour and the way the chicken was cooked (it was tender enough).

The paneer naan was boring as hell, too. All meals were oily and stuffy as opposed to light and balanced and were mostly bland and flavourless. I couldn't finish my meal, which almost never happens, as I have a real hate for wasting food, even when it isn't the best.

The Fine Indian Restaurant sign at the front is definitely fantasy.

I'm not sure what people have tasted who have given 5 star reviews, everything tasted like I was eating it while having COVID and loss of taste: off, and not at all how it was supposed to.

Note that I don't use the word "food" anywhere, but in this paragraph of my review...

And the cost of everything was exorbitant. They even charge for pappadam! We could have had the same amount for half the price elsewhere that we actually like.

Do not recommend, will not return.

Even leaving was difficult. They don't split bills and made us wait at least 5 minutes before we were allowed to pay.

I hope loads of people read my review and have the good sense to avoid this place...

Also looking forward to being told off by the owner for leaving a negative review; I have seen it happen to countless of past customers. Also not a sign of excellence in...

I had heard that Arjuna was an excellent restaurant, and was keen to try it for a nice night out. I later learned that the proprietor responds with venom and denial to criticisms, so I'm wary of posting my opinion but do so for the greater good.

Service was wonderful, and our party were very attentively shown to our table and provided with the typical accoutrements.

Our party ordered the butter chicken, lamb korma, and beef vindaloo; all of which should have been excellent if Arjuna's reputation were true.

The young lady who served us warned us about the heat in the vindaloo - as a group accustomed to North Indian cuisine particularly, this did not worry us - after all, any good vindaloo should feel like it cleanses your body and soul. The young lady who served us also volunteered that she'd only really tried the butter chicken, despite working there for a few years.

The butter chicken was tender, moist, and not overly flavourful. Certainly it did not have the depth of flavour that other establishments tend to prefer.

The lamb korma was tender, watery, and didn't have any sort of distinctive flavour. My partner, normally highly repulsed by the concept of putting food to waste, gave up from despair about a third of the way in.

The beef vindaloo - it tasted faintly of tomato and heavily of vinegar. The heat appeared to have been from something in which the beef was marinated or dry-rubbed; and there was precious little of it. It was less watery than the butter chicken and the korma, but sadly equally unimpressive in terms of the experience of eating.

With such staples so deviant from the norm, our party was unwilling to risk dessert.

The mango lassi was amazing, tasting exactly as it would anywhere else, with a perfect balance of tartness and sweetness.

The garlic naan was truly excellent, with no compromises made in fully accentuating the garlicky goodness.

The rice... While I have every confidence that Arjuna could come up with a spin on steamed rice that would confuse and disappoint me, the rice was instead merely pedestrian. At 4$/serve, it's a little on the pricey side, but so was everything else.

While there's not that many people of colour in Katoomba to begin with, I suppose it should have been a warning that they were conspicuously absent among the diners.

If you want a fine dining experience, consider Arjuna. If you want good Indian food at a reasonable price point, you will probably wish to...

Big Disappointment 👎🏻

Expensive and Low Quality food! We are NEVER going here again!

NOT WORTH THE PRICE 👎🏻

What a waste of a superb location!

The website says they serve “authentic Indian food made from fresh, local ingredients…” but our experience was totally opposite as we were served stale Salad, bland Daal and subzi made of frozen Veggies!

This is what we ordered:

Fried Idli ($14) The serving had only 3 pcs of Small sized Idlis served with stale frozen veggies salad and Mint chutney and there was no Ginger seasoning / taste as mentioned in the Menu!!! There was no Till or Curry-Leaves or Podi masala like the authentic Fried Idli that is served in a South Indian breakfast. Also, we expected Coconut chutney instead of Mint chutney as it wasn’t mentioned in the Menu.

Tadke wali Daal ($20) We were served stale Daal with no taste of any Tadka! It felt like the Daal was kept frozen for a few days and served as a boiled Daal with lots of green chillies. There was no taste of Ghee / Butter or Jeera or Onions. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Mix Vegetable Tava Masala ($20) We were served a dish made of frozen vegetables instead of fresh vegetables and it was full of Tomato Purée, which over powdered any other taste. The quantity also felt less.

Steamed Basmati Rice ($4) It didn’t feel like Basmati at all as there was no aroma and were so dense. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Parantha (Tandoori) ($6.50) This was the only thing I enjoyed but it was the most expensive parantha I have had so far!

Papadum ($2) 2 pcs of papadum for $2 😱

Overall, it was a disappointing experience and this restaurant doesn’t even remotely represent “authentic Indian food”.

NOT WORTH...