Elephant Walk Indian Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Cincinnati

We frequent Indian restaurants in Charlotte, NC, where we live, and around the globe, when traveling.

My opinion about this restaurant:

THE GREAT: customer service, fast service, portion of chicken biryani and the sauce part of the chicken tikka masala, could park in front (quickly) and run in easily on a Saturday night (at closing). Also looked like they had outdoor seating.

THE GOOD: to go order was correct and hot and paying was a breeze (though not happy I had to go inside), open past 10, during covid (We went on a Saturday night.).

THE OK: the chicken tikka masala flavor was good (though way more spicy than the level 3 of 6 we requested.).

THE BAD: the chicken biryani tastes Nothing like what chicken biryani should taste like. Basmati rice seems like it wasn’t used or something was done to it that turned it more like a yellow Mexican type rice color. We asked for the same level 3 of 6 for that dish too and got barely any spice. It tasted like boring rice and boring chicken. It was very bland and not like a bland biryani. Maybe like a very, very blank Ethiopian dish? Maybe? Also the chicken in the chicken tikka masala was in shreds instead of chunks of chicken and I’m not sure if it’s because the chicken disintegrated because it was the end of the night or if enough wasn’t added, but to me, the portion of chicken should have been double or more what it was and in piece/chunk form and not shred form.

Our go to is chicken biryani and chicken tikka masala. I would never go back to this restaurant for chicken biryani. If it was just the end of the night and we got the “bottom of the barrel”, as they say, for the chicken tikka masala and the chicken sat so long it was just at the point that it was “fall apart”, the ew factor goes off for me and I would say: give the customer a choice about how fresh something is or isn’t, maybe offer a discount, or I suggest not selling any dish that has been cooked beyond recognition.

I also want to add that the vibe I got when I walked in was more like dive bar restaurant. It is in the “college part of town” and the whole area seems to be frequented by mostly college-goers (at least for the very short time we were in the area.). Based on the name of the restaurant and for the prices, I would have expected a more artsy/upscale feel. There is a very interesting 3 set wall hanging I noticed that Was nice. Everything else seemed to have that generic feel to it.

I see people raving about their Ethiopian food. Maybe we should have...

To sum up my experience with Elephant Walk succinctly: it's passable. Overall, they missed the mark for me: the food was not very good, the chicken tikka masala was more water-y sauce than chicken and a skimpy portion size for the price, and they forgot one of the three items from my order.

Okay, honestly, Elephant Walk was a big letdown. I really really really like Indian food, nothing fancy, just a bowl of chicken tikka masala from time to time. My favorite spot to frequent in Cincy is Dusmesh, or Akash if I find myself downtown for lunch, but both were closed for delivery during the late dinner hours.

With the chicken tikka masala from Elephant Walk, the bowl was big but it was 2/3 sauce and 1/3 chicken, so the portion size was actually very small (it's like a $7 lunch portion worth of food but sells for $13). The sauce was extremely thin and watery, which was inconsistent with every other tikka masala I've ever had. I had this for dinner but it really felt like they took a lunch size portion, added more sauce, watered it down to fill a bowl, and doubled the price. The flavor on 4/6 spicy level was pretty bland and boring to my tastebuds. [On the flip side, the regular chicken tikka (non masala) had a generous portion size, which is great, but I also felt it was a bit bland.] I love my food, and I'm not the type of person that ever complains at a restaurant, but if I were there in person this is the kind of thing I would speak to a manager about.

To the company's credit -- I requested a refund through my delivery app for the tikka masala given the quality was so bad. I figured it was a crapshoot as it's something I've done only a handful of times in 5+ years of ordering delivery online, but they did issue a refund the next day. The company forgot to include one of the three items in my order as well, which I had to request a second refund for. I hope they are able to provide future customers with a better delivery experience. Some attention to quality would help a lot; maybe they are just too busy in person to handle delivery orders.

If I give Elephant Walk another chance, it would probably be with the lunch buffet in person. As far as delivery goes though, we have some solid Indian options in Cincinnati so I would like to see Elephant Walk step up their game...

I want to start with saying that it is a very dissent Indian/Ethiopian restaurant, but... I brought my husband here because I had a really good experience there before. This time everything seemed to go side ways. They did not have any hot tea, no lemon either. Our waiter barely approached our table. I had to ask someone else to refill my water. My husband received a different type of beer than he ordered. He did not exchange it because our waiter was not checking on us at all. My meal was lacking an ingredient, and beef had more bones in it than meet. Lamb in my husband's dish was really chewy and mushrooms barely cooked. Our waiter did not ask us about the level of spicy sauce that we prefer, and my husband's bish was so hot, it was impossible to eat. Basmati rice is a tricky rice to cook. I would suggest to cook it a little longer so it would not be crunchy. They did not have a desert that we wanted, and that was on a Saturday night when restaurant should be fully prepared. We ended up getting tiramisu, which turned out to be an ice cream cake. It was a nice surprise, but I think the menu should specify that. Unfortunately, I am not coming back there with my husband, he certainly is not going to give it another chance. Nice thing was that that replaced my meal with the meal that had all the ingredients in it, when I only asked for a side of shrimps that I was missing. Please, keep an open mind and support local business. This is more for the owner to be aware of as my husband does not allow me to say anything in...