Southern Spices — Restaurant in Winnipeg

My recent visit to this restaurant was incredibly disappointing, marking my worst dining experience to date. I ordered the Egg set dosa, and my friend opted for the fish fry along with two masala chai.

The food, was ok in taste not the best or the worst but dishes were served cold, and the utensils were not properly cleaned. The overall atmosphere of the restaurant was far from pleasant - it had a gloomy ambiance, inadequate lighting, and a disgustingly dirty floor.

To make matters worse, despite our repeated requests to nearly 6 or 7 servers, the chai we ordered never arrived. Surprisingly, a family that came in after us, with seven members, all received their beverages promptly. After waiting patiently for 38 minutes, we finally decided to leave in frustration.

I must admit that I've never been this disappointed with a restaurant in Winnipeg before. Even a fellow Malayali I met later questioned my choice, stating that it's the worst place in Winnipeg for Malayalee cuisine.

I urge you, for the sake of your taste buds and dining experience, to explore other dining options in Winnipeg if you're craving Malayalee food or dosas. If you happen to be at this location, there's a neighboring restaurant in the same building called 'Kashmir Kitchen.' I recommend giving it a try; they offer exceptional service and far superior food.

I apologize if my words seem harsh, but I felt it necessary to share my honest experience and warn potential diners in advance. I hope the restaurant takes this feedback constructively and...

Very authentic Kerala style food.

I would like to explain in detail. This is my first time in Winnipeg and I am in the 14 day quarantine after arriving in Canada. I wanted to try some Indian food for comfort and I was trying skip the dishes app to see different options. I came across this restaurant with unique authentic menu items. Let's be honest, most Indian restaurants have almost the same menu irrespective of the region they try to represent, but these guys were different. Of course they had the usual ones as well, but they had a separate list which is very specific to the region. I have tried those dishes 12 years back when I was in college with my friends. It was a really good experience to try the same dishes after these many years and also getting them with the same authentic taste. I got three items - Pothi choru, kizhiparotta and kothu parotta just to try. Pothi choru and kizhiparotta were amazing. The dish needs to be prepared and packed in banana leaf finally. I had no hope they would do that. To my surprise they had the food wrapped in banana leaf and the food was very satisfying. Kothuparotta was good as well. The food portions were good and very authentic taste. For all those who assume Indian food is all about butter chicken and samosa, try this. It will be very different experience. Expect some amount of spiciness as these dishes...

ATTENTION: SOUTHERN SPICES OWNER / MANAGEMENT

We’ve always considered Southern Spices one of our favorite places for Indian food—delicious food, good portions, and reasonable prices. However, I am leaving 1-star review today, not because of the food, but because of the unacceptable working conditions we witnessed for your staff.

During several recent visits, the restaurant was packed, and yet shockingly, only ONE server and ONE chef were running the entire operation. The young girl managing the front was EXHAUSTED —taking orders, bringing water, serving food, processing payments, facing all the questions from multiple tables, and running in and out of the kitchen a million times. She has to face heated conversations from aggressive Uber Eats drivers for the delays. She still continued to do all the running even with teary eyes. At one point we poured water ourselves from the water containers near the kitchen door simply because we didn't want the girl to be troubled.

It was unacceptable to have someone being pushed to this limit at work. This is not just poor management—it’s deeply unfair. I am sure you are not compensating her enough for what she deserves for handling the workload of an entire team.

Your restaurant is terribly understaffed and the those people are overworked. It's simply inhumane while...