Saravanaa Bhavan Karama — Restaurant in Dubai

Extremely Disappointed with Today’s Visit — A Shocking Decline in Standards at the Karama Branch

I’ve always enjoyed the food at Shairavana Bhavan, and I even visited yesterday for lunch and had a wonderful experience sitting upstairs — great staff, clean environment, smooth service. But today’s visit was a complete disaster and left us feeling extremely uncomfortable.

We walked into the restaurant, and there was absolutely no staff on the floor — all of them were either in the kitchen or crowding around the billing counter. No one greeted us or attended to us. We just stood there waiting awkwardly.

While we waited, we witnessed a verbal fight and shouting match between two staff members right inside the kitchen, very close to where we were seated. It was loud, chaotic, and completely unprofessional.

When I sat down, I noticed the seat was dirty — food particles everywhere. I looked around and realized almost every chair in the downstairs seating area had leftover food particles on them. It was honestly disgusting. I’ll be attaching a photo of the chair I sat on to show just how unhygienic it was.

Eventually, the guy sitting at the reception desk came over to take our order, but even his attitude and the way he looked at us — especially at my wife — was extremely inappropriate and unprofessional. She felt very uncomfortable, and frankly, so did I.

After placing the order, another staff member took over, and our food started arriving in parts — my wife’s dish came first, mine came late and was completely wrong. I had to get it corrected.

Then to top it off, they brought me a chai I never ordered. I politely said I didn’t ask for it, but the staff insisted that I did. I didn’t want to drag the situation further, so I just paid and left.

Honestly, the only saving grace is the food itself — it’s genuinely good. But this level of service, staff behavior, and hygiene is totally unacceptable. I sincerely hope this is just an issue with the downstairs staff or maybe just a one-off bad day, because yesterday’s experience upstairs was completely the opposite.

But based on today — I wouldn’t recommend the Karama branch unless they seriously improve their service and...

I have a very emotional connection with this restaurant as we (me my wife and two daughters) dine from this restaurant on Thursdays & Saturdays for sure as we eat only vegetarian food on these days and some weekends of our choice. My daughters like the chole batture (Chana Batoora) my wife likes Mysore Masala Dosa and my favorite is Ghee Roast. Although these are our favorite dishes, we try other dishes too. The sambaar (served with Dosas, Idlies and Vadas is very delicious and unique taste. U get the same taste at all Saravana Bhavan Restaurants throughout UAE).

We started staying in Dubai, United Arab Emirates since Jan 1994. My daughters are born and brought up in Dubai .Our relationship with this restaurant is since their inception in Dubai. They have restaurant in Karama and Deira Dubai and we tasted the dishes at both the branches.

So it’s in our weekly calendar to eat Dinner from Saravana Bhavan on Thursdays and Saturday. In Dubai earlier Friday used to be a holiday and therefore Thursday is considered as weekend. So soon after coming back from school my daughters will be waiting for my arrival from office to go out. First they will play in the Karama Park and by around 7 pm we will walk to Saravana Bhavan Restaurant which is right opposite to the park. Now my daughters have grown up (younger daughter is in Berlin Germany working as a Doctor and elder one is finishing her PhD studies from the United States of America. Now also when they come for vacation Saravana Bhavan is a must go place.

The staff members (counter staff, waiters including the cleaning staff) are well behaved and down to earth in dealings. The taste of the food items are superb and the customer service is top. After Corona they have revised the tariff and the food items are slightly higher compared to other vegetarian restaurants around.

If you have not visited Saravana Bhavan, I would say you are doing a crime to your taste buds. I can guarantee the taste that you are looking for (if you are a strict vegetarian) and the customer service waiting for you is excellent. Please don’t waste any time go and experience the vegetarian delicacies from Saravana Bhavan. Am sure you will...

We had an awful experience at this Outlet in karama yesterday 17 may 24.

The brand itself stands for great quality, tasty South Indian Food. Unfortunately, our experience yesterday was unpleasant and very forgettable.

Food - Average now, it has been better before. The idlis weren't hot, but maybe fresh. The masala paper dosa was nice, but The sagu was quite bland. The chutneys and sambar were okay.

Service - The waiter initially wanted to seat us near a cramped table space near the washroom! This was strange since there were plenty of empty tables. Then I realized, they wanted to club us with the other diners, so they keep service to a particular section of the restaurant. We declined that table and asked for a different one and eventually were given menus. However, it felt rushed as if they wanted us to complete our dinner and be gone.

Ambience - the biggest upset and disappointment was the overall ambience and hygiene. More then halfway thru our dinner, I noticed a huge COCKROACH on a chair at our table. I immediately signaled a staff to alert them of this unpleasant situation. The staff was very casual and seemed uninterested in bothering to clear the bug or trap or any such action. Eventually, he made my family member get up, then casually just removed that chair without any other action. No supervisor or manager came to our table or even apologized for this horrible experience.

This incident took away any appetite we had and left us worrying about the hygiene of the food we had eaten.

With food crumbs on the floor, dirty glasses and dirty ac covers and ceiling features, no wonder they have cockroaches.

As we completed our meal prematurely, I paid the bill and told the guy at the till about the cockroach, neither did he have anything to say or did he take any action, offer any apology.

To the management - please spend money on improving your hygiene standards and customer service instead of tacky decor.

Customers cannot be taken for granted and can make or...