Mahal Tanjore (Previously Thanjai Ottawa) Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

One is the lowest I could rate this place, if not I would have rated it much lower. We were here on 23rd May. The Medu vada and pakora was good. The chilly chicken was as hard as rocks, we had a few other items yet to come. So here's the catch we were from Montreal so weren't aware we couldn't bring our own drink, we had two cans of beer. Both my husband and dad were having their drink and all the while the server came took our order, brought in the appetizers and infact didn't say a word. A while later there's this woman walking to our table and asking my dad what he's drinking, he politely mentioned oh beer. So she "snatches" the drink first from his hand and then starts yelling at us, this is illegal we have a bar here and you can't bring your own drink. We were so shocked, so we did mention that we're from quebec and we were not aware, but she continues yelling saying this is Ottawa and didn't stop until my husband spoke back. We would have disposed the beer immediately if we had known or if she had the manners to politely ask us if they could take it away because of the regulations. We left the place after paying for what we ate and cancelled the remaining order after explaining how disrespectful this whole scene was. If this is how you humiliate your customers, then good luck going forward!

Wow.So I couldn't reply to the reply below, so here's the reply. We were a family with a toddler who ordered decent food and paid for it. If you check your camera you'll know what happened. We are people with atmost integrity, no1 walks in with a toddler to create a scene but to eat peacefully which you guys ruined for us, so we would have disposed if she requested, but thats not what your staff did. So instead of building lies and accusing customers. You better check on your staff behaviour bc I don't want anyone else to be treated the way we were.No1 drank infront of your staff, no1 spoke politely except for us. We offered to pay for the food we ate and even though your server insisted for us to take the food we ordered we refused. We walked in with two cans of beer, integrity and manners and left humiliated. No1 politely spoke or warned us. I for sure know how to treat others with respect whether server/customer, that's why we left without creating a scene.You're reply makes no sense as it's atrocious to accuse your customers of something they didn't do, instead of apologizing, but I expect nothing more from you guys. Plus I like the way you guys have gotten creative with a completely different story, when your own staff said that this woman has had complaints for this kind of behavior in the past. As far as dignity is concerned you need to teach your staff that and as for customers they will find out when they visit. Not to forget I have been a part of Thanjai before and this is not how I or any of my colleagues treated the customers. So I'm shocked with the behavior and in your own words we take such verbal assault and harassment incident very seriously as well,good luck,...

Being of South Asian descent, with the ability to make a very good sambhar, we, a group of 6, were pleasantly surprised at the quality of food served @ Thanjai, to the point that we returned back for lunch the next day (yesterday). We're from Mississauga / Toronto and frankly, unless you visit any south Indian restaurant in the morning hours, what you get later are watered down sambhar / chutneys (Saravana Bhavan to name one prime culprit) and some where the foods are in the "I'm starting to rot" stage (prime example - Udupi Madras Cafe, food ordered for a party once were rotten in their 3rd hour after pick up). The only respectable restaurant I've found in my 10+ years in Canada serving south Indian was / is Nilgiri's in Brampton and the many Sri Lankan restaurants if you go in the morning hours. So to go to Ottawa, which does not have the immigrant mix volumes like a Toronto / Mississauga and to find an authentic restaurant serving fresh south Indian food in the afternoon and surprisingly also in the night - we were elated! All the dosas we ordered @ Thanjai were excellent. The idli's were soft, not sour and not hard like the ones served elsewhere. Both the coconut chutney and onion chutney's were fresh and garnished well. On the meat items, the chicken 65 was awesome - one of the best I've ever had. But, there's always scope for improvement. The sambhar definitely needs some "oomph" - lessen the vegetables and make it more flavorful. The uttappam also need a revamp - too much batter in the middle and very less onion toppings. The sitting area in the 2nd floor should never be used - all the exhaust comes right out there and to make someone sit there is not just making them eat south indian food, but also to make them smell south indian by the time they leave. A coat stand is mandatory, considering Ottawa does have a good winter season. The owner (one partner from UP) was very courteous with us. Now to their staff - the girl who served us Saturday night was excellent (she studies nutrition / dietitian), but got poorly treated by her male counterpart, who berated her in front of us saying "Did you ask them how everything was", without actually confirming if the girl did - which she did already with us. The same guy, when we asked for couple of plates to be removed replied saying "leave it there, we'll pick up" when there was no room on our tables. The girl that served us Sunday afternoon lunch was awesome too - extremely thorough with the menu and giving valuable suggestions as we also had some take out (she's studying @ UofOttawa, Engg program). I hope the owner / partners takes good care of these girls - they're serving us and importantly, you guys well. Overall, a very high recommendation to anyone that wants good South Indian food in Ottawa - go to Thanjai, you'll enjoy it as much as my...

This has been the worst experience in Canada so far for me, went here today with my family. The food was terrible in the first place, the onion pakora oily and stale chilly chicken but what was worse is the hospitality.The server was a gentle girl with atmost manners, however the manager had no manners. Heres the list of events that happended today: -We step in with just two cans of beer( since we were from Quebec thought they had BYOB).

• No one says a word, the staff allocate a table and ask us to sit.
• We order, and started having our beer. The server takes our order, brings in appetizers and we all eat. She clears my beer can politely and goea back to work while my father in law is still having his beer.
• A lady( guessing thats the manager) walks to our table, asks what is in my FIL's hand sarcastically and without a word snatches the can and starts yelling.
• Yelling at us she says its illegal and offense in Ottawa, while we politely apologized and told her we werent aware. She didnt stop yelling even after seeing there was a toddler at the table.
• Continues yelling for which I replied politely that this isnt how you treat customers, and if she asked politely we would dispose the beer ourself.
• She rudely walks away.
• Us feeling humiliated decided to leave the place after paying for what we ate and cancelled the rest of the order( main course).
• The polite server who served us first, asked us to wait and take the main course for free, for which we refused to take the food since we were already insulted enough. Hence, paid for what we ate and left.

On the whole, Im writing this here so that no one else goes through this kind of humiliation in return for expecting a good paid meal! After this ridiculous incident and a review, the least we could expect was an apology but instead they come up with their own story, accuse us and want to take down the review.

Edit: Looking at the other negative reviews and the response from the business owner, it seems very clear that they cannot take any form of critisism but also failed to understand what "review" means! Since my family including my toddler and elders have been referred to as "gang" and accused for being intoxicated, we are going to report this event to the right authority along with all the evidences from our phone recording.

Thanjai, you not only lost a loyal customer but also a loyal community of people who were a regular customer at your MTL branch. You are just not selling food but also the culture associated with it and It makes me sad to see what kind of shame and arrogance it brings out...