Hindu Restaurant — Restaurant in San Miguel de Cozumel

Let me start by saying that the owner of this restaurant gave us great service when we received undercooked food. Other than the communication and service from the owner, everything else was terrible.

Taste: Nothing remotely close to authentic Indian food. We ordered veg fried rice, paneer biryani, samosa, naan, paneer tikka masala, and mango lassi. Except for Mango Lassi, everything was terrible. The biryani was just some fried rice with paneer gravy curry on top. The fried rice was meh and you can probably get much better/cheaper fried rice from other restaurants. The naan was totally undercooked (we were refunded for naan). The samosas were extremely undercooked. They freeze the samosas, and they need to be fried well if they are deep frying directly from the freezer. The dough of samosa was soft and very doughy. Paneer Tikka Masala was decent.

Atmosphere: The location is great. It is right across from the ocean on the 1st floor so it has a great unobstructed ocean view (if you can get ocean front table). You can get some great sunset views from the restaurant. The music was way too loud, as if it was a weekend night party, even when we were the only people in the entire restaurant in the middle of the day.

Service: Terrible service from the staff. When the samosas came undercooked, we asked them to cancel the order as we have already waited for almost 20+ minutes (despite being the only customers in the restaurant) and didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes to get a second order. Samosas are supposed to be eaten as an appetizer and not after main course. The chef and the waiter were adamant and insisted that we pay for undercooked samosas. They became very confrontational about it. We finally had to text the owner on Whatsapp to resolve this issue. The day before we wanted to order food to be delivered to our hotel. When we called the restaurant, they said that the delivery charges would be 45 pesos but when the delivery person came to the hotel, he charged 150 pesos which is 3x of what they quoted on the phone.

I would skip this place unless you are craving for a non-authentic badly tasting Indian food. I will only go here if I want to sip some mango lassi while...

Go! Eat here!!! Much pride is taken into preparing this Pakistani food. Best samosa ever. Not as spicy as Indian food (see Bombay Delights!). A little on the sweet side, especially the raita. I had the curried (stewed) mutton/Josh Rogan, a traditional Hindu curry... Braised fall off the bone mild, rich flavors. Also the curried vegetables with ginger, (kindly deleting a vegetable for me). I ordered a large mutton, with the vegetables and samosa, chapati, naan.. easily 4 servings ! Next time I will try some non-curried things... excited to learn more about Pakistani food here. Do not expect East Indian food.. not the same spice profile. Extremely good ingredients, preparation, and flavors.!!! Very courteous and accommodating owners. Go! 4 Months later and I returned to try a different lamb dish, and samosas, and a curried Ginger. I drive 13 km to go there and I have the food to go. When I got home, even though I said I did not like buttery oily type curry, the lamb and vegetable currys, even the palak paneer, spinach, were covered in a clear orange oil floating on top. I poured most of it off and then stirred it all and tried each one with a small corner of naan. The flavor of the oil permeated everything and I was not able to eat any of the food. The owner was so kind, even though it was Saturday night, that when wonderful Jesus told him that I was not happy, he drove far to my neighborhood and refunded my money and took the food. I never expected that, but not having much money, it was greatly appreciated so I can go back and have my Rogan Josh. ( it's so important to let an owner, who had not been working, know that something was not right, rather than going away angry and telling everyone it was not good.) This restaurant is very very very good, with excellent quality food. Many people Curry or stew food and I so enjoy learning this style. Also be aware that their new pizza is made on naan bread. They have great pizza ovens so I wish they would make New York style pizza hahaha. (Nothing like that...

Hidden place, first floor. Basically clean. The tea (Masala) was too sweet but okay although it was not warm. Nice ventilation, free wifi. That was the plus of my visit.

I ordered garlic cheese Naan and vindaloo. The Naan was not made in a proper tandoori oven but in a pan (!). It was covered with sesame. Sesame and garlic were completely burned black - have a look at the pic. Garlic turned very bitter. Besides the bread was very oily and the fat was no ghee as it could or should be. Both is untypical for Indian Naan bread. This was no naan, it was pan-fried, burned dough.

The vindaloo was really not good. It was incredibly oily. Basically it should be one of the hottest dishes in an Indian menu - here it was announced to be mild (?). That's why I asked the waiter what kind of Indian restaurant it is and where the cook is from. He was waiter and the cook at the same time. He promised me to make it more authentic and therefore spicy. In a normal vindaloo there needs to be vinegar and a lot of bloody spicy chilis, many contain aloo (which is potatoes) - and important is loads of garlic. That's the theory.

The waiter agreed to make it more authentic and not mild... What I got was a mess which really spoiled my stomach after half an hour. The chicken was okay but the amount of oil was just way too much. It was mega fat and oily, a bit spicy only and altogether not tasty. Really not a good vindaloo and I know what I am talking about as I used to live in India.

Conclusion:

Food 1/5 Service 3/5 Drinks 4/5 Ambiente 4/5 Bathroom 4/5

As I come for the food the rating can't be more than 2/5 together. I really had problems with my stomach afterwards for two days. The Indian boss should put more effort on training his staff and make sure there is quality being served as Indian food in my eyes is the best if it's well...