Shan-A-Punjab — Restaurant in Brookline

Ate the lunch buffet at Shan-a-Punjab many times. Loyal customers -- no more!

Called them two nights back, requesting if we buy groupons, if we can do a take out order, as I have multiple fractures and am unable to climb or sit on a regular chair / table. Got the go ahead.

Bought 2 groupons for $35, one for me, one for my friend who has been driving me, lifting me, caring for me. We are two separate people with our separate items, going to our separate homes.

Ordered the food. The lady took it as one order. Called to ask what the total is above the groupons, was told it is $60.60 but they will only take one groupon. I did not have an additional payment method with me and they were closing. It was near 10pm and I had not eaten the whole day, as I was working at the library, hungry, tired, in pain, looking forward to a familiar, warm meal.

Spoke to an extremely rude manager, who began by saying he did not want to "argue" with me! He said, you can use one groupon today, and one another day, for take out. Though it would not be enough food for us, I said OK. Let me get half the food, I do not have additional funds with me, as we bought the Groupons expecting to pickup the food.

He said, you want $60 worth of food to go waste? I said, no I do not! I want to buy the food, but you are refusing to give it, so please atleast give me half. We are hungry. I am in pain. we have driven all the way, I am injured and have not eaten the whole day. He said, he will give all the food, or none of it and will throw the rest out!

Then he said, you want to come in here and get $60 worth of free food? I said, no, we don't want to get free food. We have paid for the groupons with your consent! Nobody said you can only use one groupon. If we knew that, we would have bought none / bought one / ordered $30 of food and picked it up!

Then he said, you can come tomorrow and order the same thing, but actually today I won't give you any food!

Finally he said, actually you know what, even if you are hurt, from tomorrow, I won't honor any groupons for pickup.

I asked for the owner, and the manager sounded extremely nervous. He refused to give me a contact and said call tomorrow and we will see if we want to connect you! I called the next day and spoke with a lady. She reluctantly gave me the owner's name. She said he comes around 4pm. I called at 6pm today and reached the same manager! He said, the owner is out of the country! He left 4 weeks back! He is in India. I said, yesterday the lady said he is here and arrives around 4pm everyday. He said no, he is not here. I tried to reach the owner multiple times to not make this horrible experience public -- but the restaurant manager prevented me from reaching the owner.

THIS IS THE treatment given to loyal customers by this restaurant. They lie, they insult, they humiliate and they deny you your order and further after advertising groupons, they try to shame you for using them.

DO NOT BUY GROUPONS TO THIS RESTAURANT. They use bait and switch tactics. DO NOT WASTE ANY OF YOUR MONEY ON THIS RESTAURANT. There are plenty of good Indian restaurants in the greater Boston area who treat you with the warmth, hospitality, respect and dignity that is a hallmark of Indian culture and particularly when it comes to food. Every customer deserves to be treated with respect, and an establishment that does not respect or value its customers, does not deserve the business.

Fortunately, Groupon does have good customer service. They refunded my...

DO NOT ORDER delivery unless you want a 2 hour 10 minute delivery time.

Food is good. Dining in experience was ok. However, their service for delivery is terrible! Never, never, never order delivery from them. I ordered through Grubhub and the expected delivery time was an hour later - even though the restaurant is only a 10 minute drive away. After waiting an hour and 15 minutes, I called the restaurant. The person on the phone gave me some lame excuses like "it is too far" (I live 1.7 miles away). "there is a lot of traffic and we have a lot of delivery orders"(at 4:00PM on a Sunday afternoon for Indian food?). "we can give you discount for your next order" (as if I am crazy enough to order again from this place!)

After 1:30 hours, I called Grubhub to complain. They spoke to the restaurant and I was told that the food is coming in a few minutes. The restaurant lied again!

After 2 hours, I called the restaurant again. Again the person gave the excuse saying "the driver is stuck in traffic". I checked Google maps and there is absolutely no traffic in my area - its 6:00PM on a Sunday afternoon. And the food is supposed to come "after 10 minutes". Seriously? Another 10 minutes after it's already 2 hours!!!! The guy did say that they were gonna give me a 30% discount.

Finally the food came after 2 hours and 10 minutes from when I ordered. And it was cold and not at all good tasting. What's the point of paying more than $50 when I can't get good quality food at a reasonable time? Needless to say, my hunger has gone by this time.

Never ordering from this place again! And you should also beware. There are better Indian restaurants in the area - and it does not take them this long to deliver ever. Even walking to the restaurant would have been faster. If you are hungry definitely look elsewhere and give this place a wide berth.

Update: They did apply a credit of 30% as they said. However, this still doesn't justify 2 hour 10 minute...

I personally love this place. I know nothing of Indian culture or cuisine more than the average person does. But what I do know is, if I’m hungry and craving some of what American calls “Indian food”, this is the place I’m going. Tastes delicious, they always ask me what spice level I want my food. They used to have a buffet, and then shut it down during the COVID-19 pandemic due to obvious sanitary precautions and for the safety of all their customers! Every time I’ve come to dine here, I’m either the only one there or there are one or two other dining parties, which again, I’m not a bit fan of experiencing that, but that doesn’t change the truth of how good the food is! The portions are relatively small. I can handle a lot of spice when I ask for spicy food, they still have never crafted that much of a spicy dish for me, I hope one day they do, but that’s a personal preference! I also absolutely appreciate the kind service the staff provide. They are welcoming and hospitable and make it comfortable enough to not make it feel like they are all watching you eat as your the only one there! Try it. You find out you will be pleased! You’ll find I posted two pictures! One with food in the plates/bowls, one shows empty plates/bowls. Yes! Every single bite is delicious! You won’t want to leave a single grain of...