Little India Restaurant — Restaurant in Clearwater

We have come here many times over the years that it has been open, tho not since around 2019 when it seemed to be in a constant state of remodel and disrepair.

Seeing that the renovations had recently been completed, we stopped in on Sunday 6/18 for the lunch buffet. I want to stress that we 1) did not come within minutes of opening or 2) within minutes of closing.

we arrived around 12:30pm -- table for two for buffet. The restaurant was empty aside from the person working the counter. We were not asked if we wanted anything to drink besides water. Initially this annoyed me but ultimately it was fine.

We made our way to the buffet of roughly 8 dishes, all covered by gleaming silver lids and began to fill our plates.

I got the chicken byrani, some butter chicken, and tandori chicken, and vegetable pakoras, as well as mint/corriander chutney. I would have gotten naan but there was only one piece left, which I allowed my husband to take. Again -- there was no one else in the restaurant.

We sat down and begin to dig in to what is without any exaggeration the worst meal I have ever eaten in my life.

The food was not hot. The food was not warm. The food was not "straight out of the refrigerator" cold but more like "There is no source of heat under these buffet trays" cold.

The byrani was old. Reheated. Dry. Crunchy grains of rice. One bite and that was all I could stomach. It was the texture of rice that had been refrigerated and then re-heated in the microwave.

The pakora were so, so dry. Instead of being light and fluffy deep fried treats, they were heavy, dry, crumbly. And like the byrani, had the texture of a deep fried item that had been refrigerated and heated in a microwave

The chicken was dry.

The lone naan that my husband took was inedible. It was (surprise) cold and so rubbery he could not cut it with his fork, nor with his knife, nor by tearing it with his hands. When he removed it from the pan it stuck to the parchment paper it was sitting on. Know why that happens? Because it was reheated. In a microwave

Everything was so dry. And so re-heated. And so below room temperature.

According to our google timeline, we were in the Restaurant for 7 minutes. Arrived at 12:33pm and back in the car driving at 12:40.

When we left, the person at the front counter asked how things were (as if being there less than 10 minutes was not a dead give away) and I said that we had been here before but today's meal was just not good at all. I didn't have a fit, I didn't yell. Just said the food was not good. The counter person said "mmh" and then charged us the full meal price totaling $38.00 for two people. For less than 10 minutes of eating inedible, dry, room temperature, reheated food. No apology, no nothing. "mmh". I'm glad we were not offered anything to drink aside from water because I imagine a glass of Ice Tea or soda each would have put this meal closer to $50, which would be laughable if it weren't my bank account, my stomach, and my human sensibilities that were affected.

Please be aware that if you come here, even an hour and a half after opening (and several hours before closing) your food may be reheated, room temperature, and...

This year, on Friday, January 4th, 2019, I went to the Little India restaurant for a nice lunch, as a celebration for reaching my 10,000th dollar, after a full year and a half of service at my employed job.

Though, there was a time when, as I went to visit the Namaste India market next door, I thought that the restaurant was originally called the Bollywood Spice. Maybe I had mistaken it for a different restaurant when I first saw it, but it was no problem at all.

Anyways, while there were a few times where, like the Taste of Curry restaurant in Port Richey, I passed by it on my travels, I had even read some previous reviews of the restaurant. Some of which were low and a little negative, while others were more positive, I decided to one day visit the place, myself, compelled by my curiosity and interest, as well filled with my interest in India, and meeting people from there since 2016.

So, I went to the Little India, on the 4th. Upon entering, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped, just like Genie's. And I immediately fell in love with the restaurant!

The Little India was really amazing!! The food was excellent and, the buffet was irresistible!! And I must say that the service was excellent, overall. I even had a chance to talk to the people who work at the restaurant, using a little bit of my Hindi language. I really liked that.

The food was a taste of joy for my mouth!! Not too hot, not too spicy, just perfect!! And delicious!

I loved everything about the restaurant: the food, the service, the decor, the Indian flag, and seeing part of a Bollywood movie for the first time. 😉

I had even shared pictures of the restaurant with a friend of mine from India (who's name I'm going to keep a secret), on whatsapp. And while I wish I could have saved and posted them on my facebook profile, she loved seeing pictures of the place, as much as I loved being there. 😉😇

In total, and in short, I can thank the people who work at the restaurant enough for their service and manners.

With that, I hereby give the Little India restaurant...

A 5/5 rating!! I love this place!

I intend to one day come back again, because, and I think I speak for the people who work at the restaurant, the next person who writes a review about it, and in using Rarity's words from 6th Season episode, "Spice up Your Life", from the television show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic...

"Ignoring a unique and fresh establishment, such as this, could do serious damage to your social standing."

And that is...

Got food here for the first time and wanted to try their chai. My food was still hot when I get home and was happy to have a warm meal. So that's the beginning of a disappointed meal. I ordered butter chicken, chicken was cooked in bigger than mouth piece but falls apart easily so that's not a big deal but the butter sauce was so salty that it tasted bitter. The mild spicy was just not spicy period, maybe I should've order medium even though I'm not a spicy eater. I'm missing the condiments (yougurt / tamarine/ green sauce / mango-lemon pickle etc, to be fair I'm not sure if that's part of Indian culture as I do enjoy buffet style Indian food and they usually have all the condiments if they are authentic enough) that can maybe balance or neutraluze the taste bud as I eat the rice with the blood pressure raising butter chicken (can't waste food but poor stomach) I remember loving the butter chicken sauce with rice with nan or by itself, just speechless. Then I tried to chai that I asked if they're good and crossing finger or that's the last time I will ever get it from the restaurant. It is always risk getting chai. First of all it's 80% full then it tasted funny. Instead of tea leaves, I tasted bark flavor?? I can't be sure what I tasted. Just not the chai I know and I have my share of chai. Again, maybe it's Chai from different region of India? That made it different? I tasted some spices but it's not the same. If I knew the perfect combo of spices for Indian chai I would've make it myself since there're so much inconsistency in different restaurants. Higher price is not a guarantee nor if it's an Indian restaurant sadly. If I am able to have tasted the same / similar spices Chai flavor from NY, CA, FL, there gotta be some truth to the authenticity of Chai. I prefer to write good reviews but tonight was pretty disappointing. Make me miss the buffet I go and their chai over at Tampa. Food to me is a big deal, this blows. Might need to add more stuff to the butter chicken make it more palpable. Nan was ok? Eating it there when it first come out would bare a better review. Sometimes poor reviews is subjective, this is just what I thought I'd my meal; you can be the judge of yours.

P.S. portion was good. No utensils / napkins nor ask if I needed any. I didn't need them bc I was going to eat them at home. It's just good customer service.

Drive with caution as there are many uneven potholes, don't worry about it if you...