Great Cuisine of India — Restaurant in Centralia

Late evening dinner for two synopsis:

It had a sign board in front of the door that said open, but the entry was dark enough that it didn't appear to be open.

Our server was wonderful; She kept the water glasses topped up and was available to answer questions when we needed her without interrupting our conversation flow.

The food was okay, but not stellar. But then, we are use to The Bengal Tiger in Seattle, several amazing E. Indian restaurants in Vancouver, BC, and personal friends who specialize in cooking from their homeland.

My complaint about the food is that is tasted of frozen/reheated, rather than fresh. The spicing mistook overly salty spicy for flavour, whereas really good East Indian cooking is all about melding the spices and slow cooking.

The tandoori chicken was good texture-wise, but the coconut lamb curry was pretty awful: The meat had gristley bits that made an unappetizing texture and the sauce had an unfinished taste.

The atmosphere could use some colorful silk swaths draped across the too high ceiling and something (a different seating arrangement, maybe?) to provide more privacy in the uncomfortable, echo-y plastic booths.

There were a few other people in the restaurant, but most of their business seems to be take out. My guess is that they depend on later evening orders, being open until 9 pm, since Centralia "rolls up the sidewalk" with a majority of its downtown businesses closing around 4 pm.

The prices are high for what it is and high for Centralia. A mandatory tip for two people is not okay, ever.

I enjoyed the company, but expected a better...

Worst indian food in USA. If I can give 0 star I would have given that . The Waiter added 20% tip without asking us, they should have at least told us that they are adding 20%. We ordered Chicken biriyani, tandoori chicken. The worst biriyani ever. Its not even a biriyani. The tandoori was full of artificial colour... The worst...

Comments to restaurant reply:

No, we did not arrive late, we called you about 2 hours before that we are coming, and you told us arrive by 8.20 , we arrived by that time. So you did not do any extra effort for us, we just arrived as your instructions.

We were informed about the automatic addition of tips after the payment, before payment the waitress told me the bill is 45, when I paid by the credit card I saw the receipt of 54 $. When I asked about it then the waitress told us about the automatic tips addition. After the payment there is no point of arguing with the waitress. Your accusations are completely false and unprofessional.

We, all six customers can post reviews and share our thoughts. Your tone of replying to customer reviews instead of acknowledging your own limitations, clearly shows the level of unprofessionalism you have.

Thanks, I am...

I was pleasantly surprised to find an ethnic food restaurant in Centralia. I was driving by on the way to Great Wolf Lodge with my son when we saw a sign on the side of the highway.

While we were fairly early, the food came to the table quickly. My 8 year old son ordered the garlic naan, mango shrimp curry, mango lassi, and the rice pudding. Those wouldn't have been my first choices, but he really enjoyed them. Everything was very mild but I imagine you can ask for spicier versions.

The portions are pretty big and you will likely have leftovers to take home. I wish they had smaller plates for kids because I essentially ate what was left and there was still plenty.

I had the chai and lentil soup and they were both pretty good. The chai was surprisingly very low in sweetener, which is fine with me, but likely won't be for a lot of people who are used to sweet chai. I also wish it came in a small teapot rather than a single small cup.

All in all, it's a great place to take virtually anyone because you can adjust the spice level and there are plenty of options for vegans and vegetarians, which is pretty rare outside of big cities in Oregon...