Ambrosia India Bistro- APTOS — Restaurant in California

Ambrosia in Aptos has maintained the quality of the food & taste. Post covid dine-in observations...papad and chutneys used to be on the house now they are charging hefty, all menu items hiked up. Mushroom masala was very well prepared, Malai Kofta needed to spice up a bit instead of tasting almost like a desert, Baigan bharta was pretty bad. Onion Kulcha and Garlic Naans were great so was the Paneer chili appetizer even though it tasted like a fusion dish. Overall, they can cut down tomato based gavy in most of the dishes. Staff is too direct telling customers to leave as it passed closing time ....Overall still a great place in this neighborhood! Will continue to be their regular customer as long as they maintain.

Recent visit was very memorable! Great to see customer friendly staff and delicious food. Bread basket (stuffed aloo parata, Garlic and regular naans) and Paneer Makhani deserve 5 star rating. Saag Paneer was bit bland, could do with more flavor & taste. Tried their Samosa chaat apetizer. Very different from any other place yet creative.

Wanted to specially acknowledge the staff for his quick action and humor in handing over forgotten mobile device from the table.

Latest visit was a bit of disappointment. Vindaloo vegetable didn’t offer taste or flavour, will be avoided. Chilli paneer was made in Chinese style and it was on dry side. For some reason potato parata in the basket tasteless whereas other breads were great this time. Mango lassi tasted bit stale. Paneer sizzler never disappoints especially the chunky fresh tasting spiced paneer...

Was dining here with family/friends on what was a pleasant evening up until then. The food was generally o.k but this review is beyond the food. This is the first time we felt threatened by the behavior of a restaurant Manager ever! All because we thought a paneer dish didn't taste well - it sent him off in a frenzy! He was rude & responded angrily to the women in our group with some words of English(?) we didn't understand & stormed out of the dining area saying 'I won't charge you..my cook left!'..or something like that. For several minutes we then heard him shout inside the kitchen. When I went over to chat with him & calm him down he wouldn't talk. All this made us feel unsafe - we had lil children among us. One of the staff members apologized but I'd rather starve than be threatened in a restaurant like this.

The restaurant has some really nice interiors - idols of Lord Ganesha, Nataraja (lord Shiva in his dance form), a serene/calming poster of Buddha, some work of art from the Hoysala dynasty...it felt so 'India' but the hospitality (or hostility) is nothing like I've experienced world-over - an evening we would rather forget!

NOTE: If you are someone who can make decisions & are reading this - train this hot-headed guy to take criticism the right way & manage his temper. Else, this IMHO isn't the industry for him. Actually I wonder, what industry has a place for this kind...

My friend and I have experienced poor treatment on two occasions when coming in around 8pm in the last month or so. They close at 9pm. Last Sunday (yesterday) were told we were the last table which we were not, rushed to grab our dishes even though our food came out really late and over cooked. The customer service through the experience wasn’t to be found and very unfriendly. When we were finished before closing they failed to give us our check. Upon asking for it we we received zero eye contact or response. We asked for boxes and they tried to take our plates away which had our leftovers on it. Afterwards I ended up very sick to my stomach from my improperly cooked shrimp. I think management needs to have a talk with the night staff (particularly the front server of Sunday night) about customer service. Everyone deserves polite service and feel welcomed to be dining within business hours. Perhaps the workers do not enjoy working there? Come up with some ways to make their work environment more pleasant with proper breaks, staff meals, and restaurant service training. I have been a server and line cook in the past and it is really depressing to spend my hard earned money this way. We won’t be returning when once this was our...