The Spice Room Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Vaughan

I have ordered from this place once before through SkipTheDishes. Food was ok. I was in the mood for Indian and since it is close to my house. I walked in at 2:00pm. 1 person waiting for a take out order and the lady behind the counter. The place had not one clean table and I asked if I sit anywhere. The lady said yes and brushed crumbs of a table and said here. The Buffett was pretty sad. Cold tandoori chicken, butter chicken, rice, paneer with green peas that had nothing left and another dish. I said is this the whole Buffett, the reply I got from the customer waiting for an order was. “What kind of food you looking for. This is Indian food” I said yes I know I wasn’t looking for Chinese food. Since the Buffett was cold and non existent I asked if I could order from menu. Lady had to ask the rude chef who was on his cell talking loudly in Indian if I can order from menu. It was difficult to get an answear. I said fine I’ll have the Buffett. I had a choice of rice, tandoori chicken and butter chicken. I asked if they can refill the paneer. The lady then say the Buffett closes at 2:00pm and that what there was. I told her she didn’t tell me that 3 min ago when I walked in a 2:00pm. I asked for an ice tea and after looking in there drink fridge they where offering presidents choice ice tea. I declined and picked a Fanta orange. When I went for a second round due to limited food. I asked there are no clean plates and the lady said do you want a clean plate. I couldn’t believe it. First time in my life I had to or was implied to use my dirty plate. DISGUSTING. The good reviews here have to be fake as I agree with some of the lower rated reviews. No customer service at all. The point to a successful restaurant is to have the tables filled. Not empty and dirty. I will NEVER be back. I am also the gentleman that left no monetary tip. But I will leave a tip here. Learn how to serve food and treat customers or you won’t have a restaurant. No I am waiting for the rude chef owner to call me a liar and talk badly like I see he does to anyone else who writes...

We noticed a new Indian restaurant on Yonge St. in Newmarket where Rexall is located called The Spice Room. When we entered the Hostess Meenakshi, greeted us warmly and invited us to choose a table. Once seated our water glasses were filled and we were given menus. The menu has a large selection of items including vegetarian options. We took our time to review the entire menu before deciding to share a couple of dishes. Our Hostess asked what level of spice are we comfortable with? I said medium...am I glad I didn't choose my usual Hot level since medium was a perfect level of heat rhat allowed us to fully enjoy the flavours of each dish. We started with an assortment of Vegetable Pakoras that was served with 2 side sauces, tamarin and methi. The Pakoras consisted of potatoes, onions, peppers, broccoli and mushrooms. The vegetables were fresh with a light coating of what tasted like a coating reminiscent of chickpeas. Once our appetiser was finished the dishes were cleared and we were served our main course. We ordered a dish of Chili Chicken, and a dish of Mushroom Masala. We also had 2 orders of Nan (each order consists of 3 pieces). Multiple flavours of Nan are available including Rosemary, but we let our Hostess choose for us. She recommended the garlic Nan, good choice. The Chili Chicken had fresh ginger, coriander and a spicy sauce with some peppers. The Mushroom Masala was something we hadn't experienced before and were equally surprised by both the heat level, perfect cook on the mushrooms that were neither soggy nor crisp, but somewhere in the middle, with its robust juices still within. We asked for a takeout container as these portions were enough for 2 meals. We also asked for another order of Nan for takeout. I must say The Spice Room is a welcomed addition to Newmarket and we will return. I'm looking forward to trying their Mulligatawny Soup on...

(PLEASE READ MY FOLLOWUP MESSAGE AT THE END TO SEE HOW THE OWNER BEGAN TO HARASS ME. He claims I never ate there which is comical. They served frozen tandoori, veggie curry, rice, nan, dal, gulab jaman in the buffet. The people working there are of shorter stature. I know this because I ate there. Take criticism on the chin instead of calling customers liars and harassing them.)

After reading the positive reviews I gave the buffet a shot in the middle of the week. It was a terrible experience. The entire place was empty but all the tables were piled with leftover plates. Finally found one clean table and the waitress didn't even bother to take me there. The food was cold and some of the tandoori chicken was actually ice cold in the center. Clearly they were serving leftovers in the buffet (which is normal) but hadn't even bothered to properly defrost the tandoori chicken. To make matters worse the waitress disappeared after I came in and didn't offer water or the nan till 25 minutes after I had come in, by which time I was done with the meal. The least you want with a meal is water. The food was ok at best, a little bland, and underserved of the name of the eatery. Could have used some actual spice.

EDIT:

(Just to follow up. I thought I'd give the restaurant another go to see if I had had an isolated experience and could revise my review so I called to check their timings. I kid you not, the owner recognized my name from the caller ID and began to harass me: "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME A BAD REVIEW? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME AT THAT TIME? DID YOU EVEN EAT AT MY RESTAURANT?" he demanded. This felt like a strange harassment to someone giving the restaurant another chance. Needless to say, not coming here again. If you want someone who had a bad experience to change their review, let your service speak instead of getting angry...