SAMAVAR — Restaurant in Delhi

I went to this restaurant after years; this time, it was very disgusting and disappointing. Firstly, the dimly lit ambience has a dark, creepy, and unsophisticated aura. The service is so horrid. Secondly, the staff was very lax, non-responsive, and took a long time to even serve. The staff were lazy, weird, and had a lackadaisical attitude and approach. Most importantly, the food was just a waste of money and time. Not up to the standards. (Horrific). We had ordered Kashmiri non-veg thali; it was a disgrace as hell. Roganjosh was served cold, the gravy was tasteless and thick, and Mutton Yakhni was also cold. The gravy had too much taste of fennel powder without even a pinch of salt. Both of them were tasteless and saltless, and we couldn't even distinguish what we had. It was very evident and clear that both the gravies were not fresh; they were old (stale) and nauseating. The taste was not even close to authentic Kashmiri wazwaan. Just a mockery. And where in the world is Kashmiri wazwaan served in a plastic stack thali? It literally robbed the essence of true Kashmiri wazwaan, and it can be a nightmare one Kashmiri can ever have. (Having Kashmiri wazwaan in a plastic stack thali rather than in a trami or copperware plate itself.) We paid a huge bill and left the restaurant while seething with anger due to the bizarre situation we went through. We didn't expect naan with wazwaan!

Additionally, information for those for whom it may be relevant and useful: there is an active bar in the restaurant for alcohol, which might not be preferable for many. The atmosphere of the restaurant is not family or female friendly; it is essentially a bar catering to light-drinking folk. It would be better to call this restaurant a bar, as it is a bar rather than a restaurant, and it is good for the folk who prefer gossip over booze while munching nuts. The restaurant (bar) seems to remain empty, as we couldn't see a single table filled with customers until the time we left. Just three people were seen having alcohol on one table and giving misogynistic gestures.

For us, the experience was very traumatising, and it is really a bad example in the name of Kashmiri cuisine, and for the people who may try Kashmiri cuisine for the first time, it can be a horrific nightmare.

I would recommend other places than this for Kashmiri cuisine in Delhi, like Matamaal in Gurgaon, Gulfam Kashmiri Wazwan in Nizammuddin, Hideout Cafe n Grill Kashmiri Wazwan Restaurant in Zakir Nagar, Ahad Sons Food in Uday Park, and the Kashmiri restaurants around...

This restaurant is, without a doubt, quite horrible. It's so dark and creepy, and we went there at noon. The service is so horrid. No one gave us menu card, and when they did, the waiter was quite misogynistic towards us. Giving one minute to order, talking over us with impatience. Another server was continuously staring at my friend from afar for long periods of time, which is just weird.

We had trouble finding the restaurant, the man whose number is enlisted in Google scolded us for not being able to find the place and was like "aap ko ye bhi nahi dikha?". I don't need condescending moralising when I am out for lunch. If we didn't find it, your job is to try to explain to us with patience where it is.

The waiter got water bottle. I said can I have normal water. His full of attitude reply was - the bottled water is also normal, please say "regular water". Is it that big of a confusion what I meant? Or is this only smartassery towards paying customers. This is also an example of the aforesaid misogyny, he was much politer to tables around us where men were sitting.

I had gone to this restaurant in 2019 also, got weird vibes even then, they took one and half hour to serve us and refused to pack food. They have a lackadaisical attitude. Atleast four years ago, the food was ok, decent. But this time around the goshtaba's were so small, the size of sparrow's eggs, the curry was clearly old. It was so salty, it clearly had been boiled ad nauseum for many days. It was on the verge of going bad. The dum aloo were equally bad, there was just no salt.

It is just difficult to comprehend such a place exists in GK1. I am writing this review as we are getting the bill, seething with anger because this has been such a horrible experience. I am so so happy and relieved to be leaving!

This is a very bad example of Kashmiri cuisine. Hideout Cafe is Zakir Nagar has much better food at more reasonable prices. It is fresh and tastes good. And even though the place is small, the service is better. Matamaal is also a better option. Good food, professional atmosphere. Don't come here if you want to eat Kashmiri food for the first time. Go to the other options I have enlisted.

Just FYI to those to whom this information will be relevant: there is an active bar here for alcohol which might not be preferable. The atmosphere is not family friendly or female friendly. This is essentially a bar catering to leery...

We recently went to Samavar for lunch. After arriving we were the only family in the restaurant and it was empty. The customer service was horrible, we ordered Lemon soda and after waiting 15 mins were told that Bar Manager was saying he won’t make it as the water pump wasn’t working. Later there were few people who came for lunch and they were served lemon soda and upon enquiring we were told that now pump is working. Capt. Rawat who is the Restaurant manager was standing all this while next to our table and didn’t bother to take notice of our complaints that food was served after half hour wait, he was busy watching the cricket match on tv. When we got tabak maas starter it had no salt, upon requesting salt we were given an empty container with barely any salt in it. Next the food we ordered Yakhni, Rista we’re just ok but Rogan josh had no masala but was full of oil with no taste. The waiters were busy watching cricket and didn’t bother to serve us water at all. When my family complained Capt. Rawat who was standing all this while there came to us but didn’t make any efforts to rectify the quality of bad food or service. There is a reason why this restaurant sees poor clientele and was empty, it is because of the service. There is no lighting and whole place looks dark and shady. I would not recommend taking family here for dining. For food pickup it might be ok, even then don’t recommend it for long wait times , super oily food. Save your arteries and please find a better place for dining. My family also didn’t enjoy the experience. We are from JK so had high hopes from this restaurant. Never...