Electric Gravy Mumbai Bar & Canteen — Restaurant in Austin

There is a clear need for a good sit-down Indian dining option in Austin, in both the everyday and the celebratory tiers (like Pondicheri, Kiran’s, Musaafer in Houston). I’d like to have this hope for Electric Gravy in the near future. The food was average in an uncharacteristically (for desi food) bland manner although the place has certainly made an effort with the decor.

Food: we got the Samosa, chicken tikka masala, karahi chicken and saag paneer. The samosa was average while the coriander chutney was good. The chicken tikka was passable. The Karachi chicken had the best flavor out of everything we ordered. The saag paneer (as you can see in the photo) is literally sautéed paneer cubes, onion, saag (like spinach) with almost no flavor/spices. As a vegetarian, I understand wanting hero ingredients to shine through the dish, and am always looking for thoughtfully made dishes. This dish disappointing me on both fronts. Also, I realize this restaurant probably wants to keep the menu ‘limited’ unlike regular Indian restaurants (which have very expansive menus), but, having just Saag Paneer and Chana Masala on the menu for vegetarian main dishes for a Mumbai Bar & Canteen is just incomprehensible to me. That too at the downtown restaurant price points. The grilled naan was nice - soft, warm and fresh.

Drinks: mocktails and cocktails with fun names. We got the Kabutar and the Mumbai 75 (nonalcoholic) and both were decent but nothing super impressive. Drinks are of course not cheap but the prices are consistent with most if not all Austin restaurants.

Ambience & decor: fun, colorful, Bollywood-themed decor. Tables are set up very close by so try as you might you will be sharing conversation across tables and have to be loud to talk to your own group as well. Good desi hip-hop music though!

Service: polite service although it was slow considering it wasn’t super crowded on a weeknight.

As nice as the place looks, the true pull for a restaurant must be the food and...

I never leave google reviews but felt compelled to because of how atrocious my experience was here.

Upon sitting at the bar I had to beg to get service. The bartender made eye contact but didn’t greet me. When I asked for recommendations he couldn’t give me any. Shocking for how small the cocktail menu was. I went with the espresso martini, which was quite possibly the worst I’ve had in Austin. They used bottled La Colombe iced coffee they probably bought at HEB. I also had the frozen marg which was decent but nothing special.

When I asked for recommendations on food neither of the gentlemen behind the bar could give me much. I had to pry out of one of them that his favorite dish was the pork vindaloo, so I went with that. I also ordered the curried queso. The vindaloo came out and no queso, which they forgot. They apologized profusely and comped it for me. Then they brought it out with chips even though the menu said naan. I asked for naan and they brought it out, but it was the worst naan I’ve ever had. The dip itself was pretty solid. Now to the pork vindaloo: one of the worst dishes I’ve ever had in Austin. Practically inedible. The pork quality was inexcusably poor and the sauce had no flavor or spice. The rice was also awful, it tasted stale.

I had such high hopes for this place when I read about it, but ended up having the worst restaurant experience in my 4.5 years in Austin, from the food all the way to the service. Do yourself a favor and...

The drinks really shine here. I like grabbing a couple of nice drinks before I go out on the town and consume god knows what. The frozen lassi is delicious. Sweet, but I could finish one on every visit and then move onto the next drink. The Kabutar was very good too. It had some flavors I wasn't used to having in a drink, such as tamarind. Having been jaded from the upscale drink options in town, I was quite surprised in that regard.

As far as food goes, the finger foods were my favorite. You have to get the Pakora. There are times when I hate fried food, but this was so delicately fried that the batter and salt weren't overwhelming. It pairs really well with a cold beer or drink. The Fried Chicken on Nann was another one of my favorite. Tikka masala was good, but don't expect it to be styled like most other restaurants. I found it to be more mild and had a smokey element to it. The Grilled Paneer was addicting, it left me wishing I could have a velveeta sized brick of it.

All in all I'd say it's a great send off spot to get the...