Natraj Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Culpeper

This review is not about the food. It is about the service and honesty of the restaurant staff. I encountered deception from a male staff member when I placed a carry out order tonight around 5:30pm (10/16/24) and it had me boiling. I walked in to a nearly empty restaurant (there was one guest dining) and placed a to-go order at the counter. The team member said it would take about 15-20 minutes (it ended up taking closer to 30 minutes, but that’s beside the point). The brief interactions I had with the female worker (who appeared to be the owner) were curt and uninviting. What infuriated me, though, was when the male cashier rang me up and I went to pay. First, I tried to pay with cash (I prefer this method especially with carry out orders to avoid being asked to tip on a to-go order I am simply picking up myself). The man who rang me up said that he didn’t currently have access to the cash register and asked if I could pay with a card. I then pulled out my card. The man began turning the handheld POS system towards me so that I could insert my card. However, he quickly pulled it back, selected the 20% tip option (which I could clearly still see), and then gave it back for me to swipe. I was stunned and could not believe that a cashier would automatically make a selection like this for a customer. I was furious. Being the non-confrontational person that I am though, I didn’t know how to address this with the cashier, and I did not want to cause a scene. The card reader was not working at first, and after a couple attempts I frustratingly tried to ask again if I could just pay in cash. This request was ignored, and he was finally able to get my card to go through. The receipt printed and it showed that I had left a 20% tip. I was so heated by this, especially since the man never even acknowledged what he had done. I know restaurant margins are slim, and whenever we dine in, we tip well over 20%. But I do not buy into tip culture where workers are expecting to receive tips for merely handing over food to a customer, let alone making that decision for the customer. To knowingly try and deceive a customer like this is appalling. If I ever do place a carryout order at Natraj again, it will be via their online ordering platform where I am given the choice to leave a tip or not (I do try to be generous whenever I can, especially with restaurant workers, but this should be on my own terms and not something that is forced upon customers without any acknowledgement – I understand it’s a completely different scenario when large groups are dining and a gratuity percentage is added to the bill automatically—at least this is MADE KNOWN to the customer), or I will insist on paying cash. If the cash register is conveniently not accessible again, then I will pay in exact change. It’s incredibly insulting to treat a customer like this, and this is a warning to other guests. Use the online ordering system or pay in exact change if you don’t want to have tips forcibly added onto your bill without any notice, consent, or...

The restaurant had a nice atmosphere. It was unusually quiet for a weekend evening, which was slightly concerning to us, but we stayed anyway. The place seemed understaffed, but service did not take too long. The garlic naan bread was good, the Indian Chai Tea was pretty decent as well. The rice wasn’t bad either. The waiter seemed friendly as well. My partner seemed content with his dinner dish as we were both very hungry and just wanted to eat. I wanted to give a higher rating, but my dish was absolutely terrible. I was still very hungry by the time we left the restaurant. I understand that many restaurants have taken hits through the pandemic and had to make cuts, raise prices, etc., but I absolutely did not get what I paid for. I ordered the butter chicken. The sauce tasted like butter chicken, but it was VERY watered down and runny instead of creamy. This wasn’t the problem that I had with the dish though. The butter chicken that I ordered was mostly like a soup with scraps, and barely any scraps of leftover chicken pieces that you wouldn’t normally serve. There were chunks of tomato to make up for the lack of meat in the dish, but of the very little amount of meat that the dish actually contained, most had chicken skin, cartilage, a few tiny pieces of bone, and a few very tough shreds of chicken. My dinner literally tasted like leftovers and chicken scraps thrown into a soup and warmed up. I did not have the heart to complain to the staff at the time. I still gave our waiter a very good tip as it was not his fault. I really hope the portions and meat contents of their...

Natraj Indian Cuisine is a lovely restaurant and we were surprised at how empty it was on a sunny Saturday morning. Service was friendly, patient (we had a cranky child), and helpful. They do mild spice levels well--low or no heat without a loss of other flavors. Note that biryani is little spicier than other options just on a base level; this is in line with pretty much every other Indian restaurant I've ever been to.

We had lassi (mango and salty), chicken soup, garlic naan, chicken tikka, chicken biryani, dal saag, butter chicken, and paneer tikka masala. All were delicious and the portions big enough that we really should have ordered one fewer entrée. All entrees except the biryani come with rice. The dal saag and paneer tikka masala were particularly good; this is an excellent choice of restaurant if you're looking for a vegetarian meal. Even omnivores will not notice the lack of meat in the vegetarian dishes (which is honestly one of the best things overall about Indian food)--these are real comfort food dishes.

All in all, I hope that business is good for Natraj, as their food and service are wonderful and it's a type of restaurant that we don't see enough of in towns like Culpeper. I want to stop in next time I'm in Culpeper and order modestly enough that I can try the gulab jamun...