Layla's Kitchen Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Columbus

Tonight, we visited Layla's Kitchen Indian Restaurant, 6152 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH 43231. I was thinking it was a buffet (which I definitely don't need), but that's Thursday-Saturday, 11-3. Anytime you walk into an Indian restaurant and they're having a big party...and you're the only non-Indian people in there, you know this place is good and authentic! The whole restaurant was packed with party-goers!. We we're shuttled into a side area where there were a few booths, and we ordered off the menu from there. Indian cuisine leans a bit spicy...I kept it to a "3" on the intensity scale, and that was spicy enough for me. Back in the day, I may have gone to "7".   😁 Layla's has been at this location for over five years. We met the owner, Suvasha, and his wife, who was also our server. She brought out Masala Tea (food descriptions below) and that was tasty...and full of ummm textures. 🙂 Our server brought out bottled water - that's a first, so we didn't order any other beverages. Our appetizer was Chicken Samosa. My entrée was Chicken Tikka Tandoori with white rice. This came out on a hot plate that sizzled for an additional two minutes with steam rolling off of it. We also had Garlic Naan. Everything was excellent and full of Indian flavors! For dessert, I had Kheer (rice pudding on the menu) and it was delicious with lots of different flavors and textures! The Indian party music was great....the place was a hoppin'! Don't expect that on a typical Saturday night. I did thank the party people for providing the music.   😁   I believe it was a baby gender reveal party, based on all the sights and sounds. I hope to get back to Layla's in the future and check out their buffet. If you're into Indian cuisine, this place is definitely worth a visit! ITEM DESCRIPTIONS Masala Tea, also known as Masala Chai, which literally translates to "spiced tea," is a popular and aromatic beverage originating from South Asia, particularly India. It's made by brewing black tea with a mixture of aromatic spices and typically includes milk and a sweetener. Chicken Samosa is a popular and savory fried pastry filled with a spiced mixture of ground chicken, onions, and various aromatic spices. It's a common snack and appetizer in South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Naan is a type of leavened, oven-baked flatbread found in the cuisines of West, Central, and South Asia. It's particularly popular in Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, and Iranian cuisine. Chicken Tikka Tandoori refers to two closely related but distinct aspects of Indian cuisine: Chicken Tikka: These are small, boneless pieces (tikkas) of chicken that have been marinated in a mixture of yogurt and spices. The marinade typically includes ingredients like ginger, garlic, chili powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, and lemon juice. The marination process tenderizes the chicken and infuses it with flavor. Tandoori: This refers to a style of cooking using a tandoor, which is a cylindrical clay oven heated by charcoal or wood fire. The high heat of the tandoor allows for quick and even cooking, imparting a unique smoky flavor and slightly charred exterior to the food while keeping the inside moist. Therefore, Chicken Tikka Tandoori generally means boneless pieces of chicken (tikka) that have been marinated in tandoori-style spices and then cooked in a tandoor oven. Kheer is the traditional Indian rice pudding. It's a creamy dessert made by boiling rice with milk and sugar, and it's often flavored with cardamom, saffron, and nuts like almonds, cashews,...

I have ordered through Ubereats a couple of times from this place. Their taste and quality vary between poor, below average and average. Their portion sizes are very inconsistent as well. However, to give them the benefit of doubt, I again ordered this evening and it is the worst decision I took this year. I ordered two Khasi ko Tass from here and to my utter disappointment, the portion sizes were very small. It was quite obvious that they just took the quantity appropriate for one plate and shared it between two plates. Initially, I hoped the meat would be fresh at least but after having my dinner, I feel nauseous. (Probably this is why they deliberately have small portion sizes, to protect their customers from an untimely death. Since half portion sizes make you nauseous, full portion sizes of their food will probably kill you. How considerate of them!) I will most likely have to throw away the leftovers tomorrow. I honestly do not expect any restaurants to lowball customers like this.

I am not sure if they treat dine in customers like this as well or they just use these cheap tactics on online orders because it is more difficult for online customers to hold them accountable.

I am certainly never ordering from here again nor visiting this place ever. This is the only restaurant in Columbus where I got scammed like this. I wish I could give a negative star rating.

They are primarily a Nepali restaurant that serves poor quality Indian food. However, since people outside the subcontinent would not know the difference between the two cuisines, they market themselves as an Indian restaurant to trick customers, looking for Indian food, and scam them with their thieving habits. Restaurants like these create a bad reputation for the actual Indian restaurants out there.

If someone is still considering trying this place, I would recommend McDonald's instead. You are more likely to get edible Indian food with reasonable portion sizes at a McD than here. At least a meal from a McDonald's wont make you feel like throwing up from your balcony. You have...

We visited this restaurant based on the glowing reviews, even making the 1.5-hour drive from Cleveland, expecting a great experience. Instead, we left wondering who these 1,500 people are who rated it 5 stars.

While the staff were friendly and accommodating, and the $14.99 buffet price was reasonable, the food itself was a major letdown. Bland with salt being the only spice used. Most dishes tasted like the early attempts of a home cook still finding their way.

Starting with the desserts:

The kheer felt like plain basmati rice boiled in milk – under-sweetened and unblended, with a texture that made my skin crawl.

The gulab jamun despite being extremely sweet was the only true highlight of the buffet.

Moving on to the entrées:

The biryani was a sad, salty mix with tough chicken.

The tikka barbecue was little more than salty chicken with red dye, somehow charred but lacking flavor.

Both the chicken salan and butter chicken seemed to share the same bland, watery base, as if they'd simply split a batch of boiled, cubed chicken between them.

We hesitated to try the nauratan korma and palak paneer, but gave the lamb vindalloo a shot – tough and, unsurprisingly, salty.

The naan was passable, and the puri was actually decent, but the halwa? Oddly bland, lacking any sweetness.

Seemed like all the spices and masalas were dumped into the chai, which was extremely sweet and overpowering with cinnamon and star anise.

The environment didn’t do the food any favors either – sticky floors (a classic desi restaurant quirk) doubled as a makeshift playground for the toddler in our group who loved the sqeaky sound it made when she jumped. Add a dirty bathroom with water spraying everywhere and a stray hair found in the tikka, and the experience felt even less appetizing.

To top it off, decorators were working nearby the whole time, with a balloon inflating machine buzzing away, adding to the chaos.

If you value your time, money, and taste buds, I’d recommend looking elsewhere. Extremely...