Bindia Indian Bistro — Restaurant in Toronto

Average Food + Restaurant Tried To Rip-Off!

After living in the GTA area for two decades, we have moved further away. Four of us were back to the city to spend a quiet weekend, and on the first evening we placed a fairly large order for delivery via SkipTheDishes. Our order consisted of 3 appetizers, 3 vegetarian dishes, 1 non-veg dish, 1 rice dish, and 2 bread dishes (naan and roti).

Service was quick – the order arrived within 30 minutes. However, after opening the two big brown bags, we found that the most pricey item in the order – lamb vindaloo – was missing. We called the restaurant, and after being put on hold for almost 12 minutes, someone bothered to discuss the issue with us. He outrightly denied that lamb vindaloo was missing; he insisted that he personally supervised the packing up of the order and he definitely packed the lamb vindaloo. When we asked how he is so sure, he retorted that it was a slow day and it was the only takeout order they have had that evening. When we insisted that we didn’t get the lamb vindaloo, he accused us of lying.

We decided to expose his lie and fib. We asked him for a number for text messaging and he obliged. We took a screenshot of the SkipTheDishes order which listed the 10 items we had ordered. Then we took a picture of the handwritten order inventory stapled to one of the brown bags that listed only 9 items that had been packed – the handwritten list didn’t itemize lamb vindaloo. We texted both the images. Then the games started:

1. After sending the text messages, we tried calling back but it took almost 25 minutes before the same guy picked up and grumpily said that it has been a very busy evening, outrightly contradicting himself.
2. Then he started insinuating that we ‘have photo-shopped and edited the screenshots to get a free lamb vindaloo’!
3. When we laughed him off, he magnanimously announced that he is ‘going to give us a free order of lamb vindaloo, but it is going to take 60-90 minutes and we have to come over to the restaurant to pick it up’.
4. When we ruled it out, he asked us for our address so that he ‘can mail us a gift voucher for $15’.
5. When we ruled it out, he just cut our call off in mid-sentence and won’t pick the phone again.

To top it all, food quality was not great either. To confess honestly, the dal makhni was quite good, and the naans were fresh and fluffy. On the other extreme, the rotis were cold and hard like papad, and the bhindi masala was outrightly stale. The remaining items were rather below average by Indian food standards.

After a few days, SkipTheDishes did issue us a refund when we sent the...

Horrible service!!! Do not bother going! We had booked through open-table. We had initially asked for outdoor seating but it was raining and so we were hoping we could get a table for 2 inside. There was a family of 8 siting inside..... We asked the extremely rude hostess if its possible to get a table inside for just 2 as it was pouring and we saw another family siting inside. There was no one else in the dining area aside from that one family... we could have been seated with social distancing in tact. He rudely said no and said that family had been given "special permission" as it was raining outside (the same situation we were now in but were not being given this "special permission") We asked politely again if there was any way we could be seated inside as it was raining we really were hoping to dine at the restaurant and the umbrellas on the patio didn't look like they would hold up. He sternly said no and not to worry he'll make the patio "work" for us. He walked off mumbling and complaining under his breath. He went to go set up the umbrella for us on the patio. He DID NOT wipe the table or chairs (during COVID and regulations in place) and just told us to take a seat. We sat on WET chair and tables. My dress and my partner's pants were soaked. No one came to check in on us we waited and contemplated on leaving. Finally after no service we decided to leave. I am not sure what kind of restaurant openly treats their customers like this.. inequality is not the way to go... all customers should be treated equally. One group should not be allowed inside over a pair of 2 people. Toronto's in stage 3 and so realistically no one should be siting inside if the restaurant was not ready to host people inside. This rule should be applied for all guest not a select few or people that may be friends with the employees or store owner. You should really treat all guest as equals. Never planning to return here and will definitely be notifying all...

I would NEVER recommend this restaurant to anyone based on our recent experience.

My husband and I walked in hoping to dine there, but were told by a young staff member that the restaurant was fully booked with no availability for the night. We understood and left, planning to make a reservation for a future date.

However, out of curiosity, we checked Opentable shortly afterward and found multiple reservations available for the same night. That confused us, so we booked a table for 2 at 7pm ET and returned to the restaurant to clarify. The same young woman reiterated that they were full, but an older staff member then intervened. When we explained what we saw and were able to book on Opentable, she responded dismissively in an extremely condescending tone, claiming that "AI" was responsible for the false availability and insisted that reservations are only valid if made by phone. As someone who works in tech, I found that explanation incredibly misleading. OpenTable availability is managed directly by the restaurant based on their real time availability, not by some autonomous AI - it’s the restaurant that has the direct control. Rather than taking responsibility or acknowledging the issue, she argued with us. She was not just unprofessional but was also borderline discriminatory.

If the restaurant chooses to manage reservations by phone only, that’s their prerogative.. they should not mislead customers by showing availability on Opentable. The dishonesty and poor treatment we received left a very bad impression and was extremely unsettling.

I strongly urge the management to train staff in proper customer service, possibly reevaluate who they are hiring, and ensure that their online reservation system reflects actual availability. Experiences like this are the reason people lose trust in establishments

Additionally, we will also be escalating this to Opentable. This restaurant is clearly in violation of Opentable’s...