Mazala Pijja — Restaurant in Pine Castle

My wife brought us here for Father’s Day for lunch, and I have to say that our experience here was very mixed.

Let’s start off on just finding this restaurant. The actual restaurant is hidden within a small run down looking plaza, so it’s not easy to find this place as it doesn’t stand out. You’d never guess that such a classy looking place was tucked in the plaza’s innards.

As we walked into the plaza, there was a very pungent smell as if someone had flooded a toilet in the bathroom. That’s the first thing we noticed. To access the restaurant, you have to walk all the way to the back of the little plaza.

Once we reached the actual restaurant in the back, there was no one there to either greet us or sit us down. I had to wave down what we presumed to be the waiter. Once he saw us, he then sat us down. At least at this point, the foul odor in plaza hallway was not longer noticeable. (Thank god)

While viewing the menu, the waiter brought us water but NEVER offered us any drinks, I thought that was a little weird. Our waiter’s English was also not very good so he couldn’t really recommend anything and we had to figure the food out on our own.

Now, once we ordered, the food came out very fast. We probably waited less than 15 minutes for our food. Now, with that said, we were only 1 of 2 parties there, sooo.. take that for what it’s worth.

Okay, not gonna lie, the food here was VERY GOOD. Not the best Indian food we’ve ever had but still very good and worth the money. The chicken Tikka Masala was very yummy, the Samosas the really good, and the Chicken Tikka was THE BEST IVE EVER HAD! Hands down! It was delicious! Try it!

The garlic naan, and cheese filled naan was also stellar! Now, the rice that came with our meals was good but nothing special.

Overall, we really liked the food.

Okay, so, now for the bad…. The service in general was just down right bad. Like I’ve stated before, during our entire visit, we were never, not once, offered drinks while we were there. We could have asked, but that would defeat the point of an honest review. Right? Our waiter was MIA the majority of the time. Our waiter never once came and checked on us unless I waved him down for more food.

I also had to wave our waiter down yet again just to get the bill.

The restaurant itself was very stylishly designed and decorated, but the service just didn’t match the aesthetics of the restaurant.

So, I will recommend this place just based the on the food because it was very good. Just know that the service here may be a little underwhelming and that the restaurant is located in a very dingy looking plaza. As for the prices, expect to pay an average of about...

Really cute restaurant with a great Bollywood vibe that we were very excited to try but ultimately turned out to be overhyped and lacking due to disappointing guest service and an overall negative experience.

We were seated at Gully quickly but it took about 20 minutes for a waiter to take our order. We were never offered drinks, only warm glasses of water, and the entire side of the room we were on seemed forgotten. Artik was the waiter (one of only two waiters it seemed and it was not very busy) and he came up after we had to flag him down and said “tell me” — no greeting or offer to share more details on the menu or anything. The food we ordered was good, no complaints there other than the mediocre plating (which is really sad considering how cute the place is) — but the service was just awful. No one refilled our water cups; we had to ask and wait another ten minutes before reminding the waiter again for it. We asked for cold water and he filled one cup and left (there were 4 of us at the table with empty cups). By then we had finished eating and he saw that yet we had to wait another 20 minutes before we could get his attention again and ask for the check. Artik never stopped by to ask how anything was or if we wanted anything else. When we finally got the check, we didn’t get a recap of the order or a receipt just a few taps on a machine and: “you owe me $68 and I’ll text the receipt.” We paid and went home, checked the text receipt only to find out that we were charged for two drinks that we did not order (we had no drinks, only 4 food items). So on top of the terrible service, we were also overcharged! No one picked up the restaurant phone when we called and based on the poor service, I doubt anyone will resolve our charge issue.

Overall, really very disappointed. Orlando has been blessed with some cool spots, especially with amazing Desi / Indian food recently but this one fell short. Atmosphere is one thing but an Instagram / Tik Tok friendly vibe can only get you so far, food is also important — but service is above all the most essential piece of the puzzle. Gully does not have that, at least not yet, and hopefully they’ll eventually get a staff that knows the basics of how to serve and how to interact with guests. I won’t be back to find out and I certainly won’t be recommending this place to anyone, but I’m hoping for a better experience for other guests...

Update: The original restaurant 'Daana Paani' was revamped and the new place with new menu and staff was established. Definitely need to close out Daana Paani' reviews on Google and start this as a new eatery at the same location as this set up seems deceitful. We tried "Gully" but was underwhelmed. Ambience is 3.5, staff is 4, chef is 2.5. It's only a week since they opened when we visited so I think I'll try the place out once more once they find their footing. Food in this instance had sometimes under salted or over salted issue, some were super greasy and oily and except for 2 dishes out of the 8 we ordered were below average - makes it worse that the entire menu has become at least 30-40% more expensive. We are happy to pay a premium for preserving the food quality as previous place did but that is not the case at the moment. Staff said it's the same owner so I don't know why they chose to ruin the perfectly amazing Daana Paani'! Daana paani is a gem hidden at quite an obscure strip mall on OBT at Doss Ave. The decor is tasteful and fun, clean and inviting. The food is delicious - I grew up with excellent Indian food and generally I'm disappointed when I dine out and choose Indian food. But I have visited this place five+ times in past year and everything has been exceptional. Their Khoya Kaju is DIVINE- food of Gods I'd say! The naan, bhatura are all perfectly seasoned and yummiest carriers for the amazing array of sabjis they offer. The mango lassi is good too. Chaat will definitely take your tastebuds back to India. The portion size is GENEROUS and you'll definitely have few take home boxes! This review will be incomplete without mentioning their exceptional customer service. Since we visited with our baby, now a toddler, they allowed us to order on our drive and have food ready to serve on arrival. They also remembered what my little one enjoyed last time ( 2 months ago no less- thank you Shubham!!) and had it ready as a surprise. Willy waited on us diligently and joyfully. Shubham truly made our day special with his personal touches and happy, friendly demeanor. When we left it felt like leaving a relatives house rather than a restaurant! If you are on the fence between two places, choose here- it's...