Nirvana Kitchen — Restaurant in Leuven

Personally very disappointed with the food. The menu was better last year.They used to be the best in Leuven, but not anymore. My detailed review for you,

I visited Nirvana after a long time with my wife on 15th June, a lot has changed. The food and menu used to be a lot better till the last time I visited, Dec 2021 I think. 1We had to wait additional 15 mins after I reservation time, even though we were there early. There were other tables empty where we could have been seated but we had to wait. Their management could do better. 2Just by reading the menu I could see that the Thali size (portion)is too big for us. and yes it was. I didn't know ale-carte was no longer an option here. 3 The food turned out to be very oily, similar to what I had seen in my previous visits. The difference being, earlier the food tasted better. a)Gobhi manchurian: too much vinegar, couldn't eat. b)Starters were: samosa chat, papri chat and I don't remember the third variety. All seemed to be double fried or the oil wasn't hot enough, you see I cook myself so I know a thing or two about cooking. c)The bread served was neither naan nor chapatti, it was not soft but flaky. Felt like Maida (AP flour) chapati or something. Did not like, could not eat! d)I requested for the food to be made spicy but wasn't to my satisfaction. This is subjective, I know, hence I'm writing this in my review. e)For the rest of the vegetables just plain too much oil, I couldn't taste any flavors at all. Your cooks were better along with your ale-carte menu from earlier, that is what I feel and this is my opinion. f) The combinations of vegetable do not pair well together Dal makhni and Malai kofta are both sweet, gobhi manchurian is Indo-Chinese and generally eaten as a snack/starter. The 4th vegetable (do not remember the name again) did not pair well with any of these. 4Now coming to the expensive part, we found it expensive, period! If I'm paying 30 Euros for a vegetarian thali( meal), at-lest you can add deserts. Atleast you'll be charging for a 3 course meal. .

General remark, Yes I agree was review was very harsh and generic with my original review. I have a responsibility as a reviewer as well. You as a business owner need to do better. Stop comparing yourself to 'French Restaurant', you are one of a kind, fine dine Indian restaurant, be proud. There is nothing racist in, me not finding your food authentic. Just because you have the item in the menu, it doesn't mean that it taste authentic. The think i used to like the most were the Bengali dishes, as I’m from bengal as well. In my opinion you are now focused on making food look prettier than actually taste good. You quality and taste has worsen. It was better in HAL5. I'm very surprised to read that you use very less oil in your food, then what went wrong with my order? It literally looked like you spilled oil all over our plates. Even on the rice!!! There is no bad intention here to harm your business just what I...

I recently visited this place for the second time, as my first experience in Dec 2021 was really nice. But this time, the staff informed me that the restaurant now only serves the thali for dine-in since the beginning of 2022 and ala-carte is only possible for takeaway. First of all, limiting the dine-in experience to only thali turned my mood off. Keeping thali in the menu is fine, but removing ala-carte when you are already doing it for takeaways is something I did not understand. I would really like to understand the reason for removing ala-carte options. Not everyone prefers thali. Thali is probably good for Belgians to give them a taste of different Indian delicacies but Indians would rather choose what they want to eat from the ala-carte menu. I have not seen any Indians eating dhokla or samosa chat as starters or appetizers before the main course. These are breakfast / snacks items. Secondly, in breads they served the parathas which dint look fresh (felt like rubber while chewing) and looked as if they were frozen parathas that were prepared and served. When I asked while ordering if the parathas could be replaced with tandoori roti / naan, the staff refused saying that it is not in the option. So, if the restaurant thinks to stick to the thali option, i would think thrice to visit the restaurant again. Also, the taste of the food was not that great as compared to the the one it was when I visited the restaurant first time. So, I suggest restaurant owners to think about the above mentioned points. I did not give this feedback at the restaurant because it’s difficult to make or realise this feedback to the staff because they are local and would not completely relate to our feedback. Please do not take this as a negative feedback. It probably could be my personal view. But if your major footfall is local Belgians then I would say you might have thought accordingly, but from an Indian audience point of view, I don’t think the menu is...

The food is good, but overall, the flavors are quite heavy. There are two areas where I believe improvements could be made: Balance of Flavors:
When most dishes are rich and strongly flavored, it would be helpful to include lighter options to create balance. A small portion of yogurt alone is insufficient to offset the intensity. Having traveled to India and experienced a variety of Indian cuisines, I know there are many excellent light-flavored meat and vegetable dishes that could complement the menu and enhance the dining experience. Handling Minor Issues:
The staff was attentive and frequently asked for feedback, which is commendable. However, we encountered a minor issue with the electricity, resulting in a 10-minute wait. As a restaurant, offering a small dessert or drink as a gesture of apology would go a long way in ensuring customer satisfaction.

I have been to this restaurant more than 7–8 times because I always want to showcase what Leuven has to offer to my friends. However, I've noticed that the food sometimes lacks the wow factor it had during my first couple of visits. It can be a little embarrassing when my guests politely say, "The food is good" or "All good," without further comments or enthusiasm. When they don’t mention wanting to return, it’s a subtle but telling sign. I’m sharing this because I genuinely want the restaurant to thrive and improve. I’d love to keep coming back, happily bringing both new and old guests, and I hope to see the consistency and quality of the food improve to make each visit as memorable...