Indian Restaurant MANNA糧 — Restaurant in Nara

I went here for dinner on Valentine’s Day. I was a bit nervous because I came here without a reservation. The restaurant is located on the second floor. At around 8 PM we arrived there, there were many available tables. The staffs were kindly welcome us and led us to our table. I ordered a chicken biryani and a hot chai. We also got a cheese naan and a potato vegetarian curry. The chicken biryani portion was just perfect for me, with a lot of green bell peppers and chicken. We can choose the spice level to our liking. I chose level 2 out of 4 and it was just a perfect level without making me sweating in front of my date. The hot chain was lovely and again, the portion was just perfect for my preference. The restaurant played Indian songs and shows it on the television. I forgot to take a look about the payment method, but I am quite sure that credit cards are not accepted. Overall, I love the foods and the ambience. Another good thing about this restaurant is that it’s open until 10 PM, which is great compared to others...

This place was much worse than I thought. I only went knowing there would be vegan/ vegetarian options but from the beginning there were problems.

First of all the front sliding door doesn't work. And the decor is much too bright and the music much too loud. There are pictures of random saints on the walls.

The waiter spoke English which was good, but forgot to give me one of the menus. When I asked if I could order the meal set, but switch out the meat curry with veg curry, the waiter said no.

When I got the food, the naan itself was quite delicious and the crunch was good. But the paneer curry was too sweet and the sauce on the salad didn't go with the curry.

I only ordered naan, curry and salad but it came to ¥1900. Luckily, I could pay by card, so as soon as I was done I paid and booked it.

Would NOT recommend, will never...

If you are the typical Kyoto-ite who enjoys food that tastes like carpet samples and cardboard, then you'll love this place. It is an article of faith among Japanese people that Kyoto area food is absolutely flavorless. Unfortunately this penchant for "subtle" food flavors appears to permeate the ethnic food scene as well. I've had Indian food in Japan before and it is usually excellent, full of all the spices and aromatic flavors that one expects of South Asian cuisine. This restaurant is a notable (and unfortunate) exception. I tried four different types of dishes and each one was marginally more bland than the next. You may as well just go to a local Japanese Kyōryōri restaurant and order obanzai and...