Swagat Indian Cuisine - Beaverton — Restaurant in Beaverton

We weren't greeted on arrival And noted that no one else was either because we were the first to arrive and the room quickly filled after us. This led to confusion as to who was really up next to be seated which was unfortunate. We ordered appetizer tempura which was amazing. However we left because in my mind Tamarind Chutney is required, like ketchup on fries, and they didn't have ANY! They were not apologetic having "run out". I've eaten Indian food routinely for 30 years- All over the country including New Jersey, New York, Florida, the Carolinas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Idaho, West Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Oregon, California and New Mexico. From Little Mom and Pop's to high-end restaurants in San Francisco and LA, and feel I'm open-minded to the various styles... have never had a "bad" Indian-style meal. But we walked out because I've also never had Indian food without tamarind sauce and it was a deal breaker. When we excused ourselves after the appetizers, we were again ignored and it took a while to check out. It was 7pm and obviously not their night! Unfortunately it was our reunion night- looking forward to a great Indian restaurant meal but we ended up with sushi elsewhere. Sad to report I've never before walked out on a restaurant after an appetizer that was actually satisfactory but the absence of tamarind sauce was a deal breaker and who knows what other staple ingredients the kitchen didn't have to...

Here is my review on this restaurant

Food Quality: This is probably one of my worst Indian food experiences in Portland and nearby area. It really made me a doubt wether the chef is really from India or Spanish descended as most of the food tasted like fusion of Mexican and Indian food fusion(even though it sounds innovative it actually killed the authenticity of food taste). Here is what we ordered and it’s review: chilly chicken it was all made of Jalapeño ( which was half cooked) and a lot of onions, and soggy chicken made it really odd and tasteless.- knowing chilly chicken can be made many different ways in different part of India( i have traveled almost 60-70% of all states in india and aware of preparations) but Either way chef should stick to one of the way if cooking. Lamb Khadai: too much of tomato and sugar was used. Even for lamb to our surprise some of them are not well cooked. Lamb Biriyani: you just don’t fry basmati rice with excessive clove powder and serve it on top of thick lamb curry and call it as Lamb Briyani!!! Seriously even if you go to a website it will tell you the most basic recipe of Briyani!!

Ambiance is really good, so as the behavior and friendliness(Portland is known for warmness of people and this place will not disappoint you)...

While the indian buffet is quite tasty with plenty of vegetarian and meaty dishes, the service is very poor.

The buffet stand-outs were the Palak Paneer, Dhal, Aloo Gobi, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala.

After a delightful food coma from the buffet, I asked to speak to the manager to put in a small catering order for a few dishes to feed about 25 people for pick-up, easy enough or so I thought...

One of the junior waitresses told me I would have to pay for each dish individually (which would be $250/dish) and didn't make any sense. The more senior staff member told me the manager was away and assured me that I could easily place the order on the phone with the manager the next day and pay a few hundred dollars for the full catering order, sounds good!

I called multiple times the next day, and the manager wasn't available. I even drove out to Beaverton and to Hillsboro and no one could help me in either locations to my chagrin.

At the last minute, I went with Abhirachi Indian Restaurant a couple of miles down the road - which is so much tastier, cheaper, and great service! So glad we went with them and the catering order was perfect. Everything was tasty and nothing spilled.

Swagat's buffet is good, but not worth the hassle...