Indian Delight | Cleveland, Ohio — Restaurant in Cleveland

I read the reviews on Google, and it sounded promising, I received the opposite.

Service was very slow despite me and my significant other being the only dine-in customers on a Saturday for late lunch.

The entrance is confusing, and you will definitely be confused walking in thinking you've ended up in a take-out only place. Then, to met with a awkward hostess that walks you over to a separate area to be seated and forgotten about for a solid 15 mins, no water, utensils, nada.

We specifically came here because they have pani puri on the menu, and oh boy, did we regret it. We also ordered goat briyani, chicken Tikka masla, garlic naan, mango lassi, and ask for two waters.

The pani puri I know have seasoned potatoes, chickpeas, onions stuffed inside the pani puri, and then you pour the liquid gold into it and crunch it down. The one I received had large chunks of onions and only plain canned chickpeas with mediocre plain mint water 💧 😅 . Although it stated on the menu, "potatoes" when I asked the waiter that it was missing the seasoned potatoes, she didn't have an answer.

And thank goodness they didn't have goat or chicken briyani available because I ended up canceling a replacement and only ended up sharing the chicken Tikka masla and garlic naan with my bf.

All I have to say is, "This is the worst indian food I have ever eaten!" 😫 😩

I was charged for the water (bottles) when they had free water for dine in (hence the glass cups and utensils for in-dining), why would you charge a customer for water and give them water bottles?? I didn't even mention anything about water bottles, I specified 2 waters during my order.

Me and my partner both agreed the chicken Tikka masla had little to no seasoning and tasted like the roasted red pepper and tomato soup you get from trader joes, dry chicken breast, color is really neon and looks off-putting. Naan is dry like the Sahara desert.

I also tripped walking to the restroom because of how un-even their flooring is.

Good luck...

Good food, service not so much - very dismissive. I went online prior to opening to view menu and schedule an order. The online ordering system advised it doesn't turn on until 3pm, even though they open at Noon. No biggie, decided to stop in and place my order at the counter. Got there around 12:30, lady at the counter took my order and I asked about the lunch special I saw online. She dismissed my question and said "everything on this menu you can order". Figured we had bit of a language barrier. So I proceeded to order a Samosa and the butter chicken. Total: $21 and it would be about 20 minutes. I sat in the waiting area and proceeded to go back online to view the menu which there is a pop up for Butter Chicken Bowl and other lunch specials for $12. When my food was ready, I inquired with the same lady showing her my phone and what I specifically inquired about. I would have gotten the butter chicken bowl versus paying more for the butter chicken entree (about a $3 difference). She proceeded to say, oh we don't have the bowl and as I began to share my online experience a door dasher came in and the lady I was talking to walked away from me to the counter to greet the door dasher while I was in mid-sentence. Then proceeded to say she would be back to me. When she returned I told her that she was being real dismissive and I didn't feel heard - with my question or sharing my online experience. She apologized and said they just opened up at Noon and have orders to fill. I said then said, so dismiss a customer you have right in front of you? It was like the lights were on, but nobody was home. I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. Very strange and I won't be back. Nonetheless the butter chicken with rice and...

Wow, what a facelift Indian Delight has gotten! They now operate from both the original room and the storefront to the left. You actually enter from a new door on this left side of the restaurant, which leads to a large open lobby that they have really put to great use in optimizing all of their delivery service options. I give them major kudos for being able to separate the to-go/pick-up/courier area in such an attractive way. Sure, they were not able to add table space, but I think that in-person diners will appreciate the distinct area away from table service, and the avoidance of the confusing pile-up of customers during busy hours. That being said, I get the distinct impression that their business is not nearly as strong for dining in. We had a really nice area with cute updated decor, but paper plates, paper menus, and plastic cups WITH plastic water bottles? My inner environmentalist cringes at all the plastic and disposables when we clearly sat down to enjoy a nice meal on-site.

This is even more surprising because everything we ordered was on par with some of the best Indian I've had here in town. The naan and the samosas could have easily satisfied us for a whole meal, but the Rogan Josh had such yummy tender pieces of lamb we couldn't help ourselves! And our Daal Tadka (yellow lentils) was savory enough to stand alone too. Food I've gotten from Uber Eats was equally tasty, so the kitchen is on point for sure. Given these wonky times we find ourselves in, I hope ID continues to thrive and they can iron out their to go vs dining. For such a great renovation, they shouldn't undermine themselves with lackluster...