India Star — Restaurant in Des Moines

Ok at best, nothing spectacular. Certainly not worth the 4.2 star rating it currently has. We'd been here once years ago and were underwhelmed but decided to give it another try. We allowed an hour to dine before our movie and still barely made it. It was super early... We got there about 5:15pm and there were only a couple other patrons in the place. We knew we were on a time crunch, so we skipped an appetizer and just ordered entrees within about ten minutes. Then the wait began. We waited while two other tables came in about 10 and 20 minutes after we did and proceeded to order. We waited while phone orders were taken and told it'd be ready in 20 minutes. We wanted while the latter of the aforementioned tables got their appetizer. We waited while those phone orders came and picked up their purchases. Then, we waited some more.

About 40 minutes into our wait, I began to get nervous and contemplate our bail point. When would we need to Chuck some money down for our lassis and leave to be able to make our showtime? At 30 minutes until the movie (50 minutes into the wait) our food finally arrived. We immediately asked the server for a to-go box and a check, since we only had a few minutes to eat before we had to dash. He seemed surprised, but offered no apology for the nearly-hour wait. He did bring us boxes right away, but no check, though he did bring our neighbors (you know, the ones who ordered twenty minutes after we did?) Their food immediately after we got ours. So we quickly ate a portion and stowed the rest in the box.... Still without the requested check (the server was busy discussing a catering order with another server and a customer) so we went to stand at the cash register so we could pay. Again, he seemed flustered and eventually found our check so we could escape. I'm not sure if they lost our order or if it just gets less priority than take out, but, if they can't handle non-buffet dine-in customers, maybe they should just do take out except for during buffet times

But what about the food? It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't memorable. We asked for medium spice level, but it was super bland, almost like they forgot. The spice blend was ... Ok. I suppose that, if this is all you have access to, it's maybe acceptable. It's not Taste of India in Cedar Rapids. Or Seva, Korma Sutra, and India Palace (to name a few) in Kanses City. We'll take our leftovers, add some more vegetables, and definitely more spices, to it and it will be nicer than what we had tonight.

I'm also not one to care about decor if the food is tasty, but our 50 minute wait left a lot of time to stare at the walls. The space seems run down and could use some personality. Right now, if you walked in without looking closely at the few prints on the wall, it could be any generic restaurant. I don't think it needs to be over the top or kitchy, but some personality beyond...

Been going here for atleast 7 years, and believe it is the best Indian Restraunt in the Midwest, along with Indian Oven (in Omaha, NE) and India Delights (Ames, IA) ... Now I've seen a few Indian Resturaunts in Des Moines Tandoor, on 8th St. which Closed, and Namaste on Swansom Blvd ... They also closed Closed ... and there use to be one in Urbandale (they also closed) ... Meals and Buffets are two different things, and with the diverse spices used in most other middle & Eastern dishes this resturaunt dose try to apease their average midwestern customer ... If you want it Authentic just don't be afraid to order it "Spicy" otherwise stick to the Buffet ... I read the reviews here and am laughing as this place (next to Indian Oven 200 miles away) has the best south Indian Traditional Naan selections, as well they still cook Chickpeas, close, anise cardamon & saffron in their rice ... The smell of the resturaunt alone is authentic enough to disprove half of these reviews, not to mention they have enough repeat clients to have been in buiness for almost 20 years and are still family ran :) If you had a Bad Buffet, I assure you order some Chicken Shahir Korma, or Lamb Vindaloo and ask for it tradisionally "Spicy" ... My Favorite Naans are the Cheese (a very brittle dry cheese baked into the Naan) or Garlic ... The only think I would even question to be premade would be the Golum Jomman (a puffed and Fried cheese ball desert rolled in Rose water and a Sugary Honey) ... This place is a Jem to have in Des Moines, and Seeing that one-by-one Indian resturaunts have closed, There is a reason this one has stayed open contrary to many bland pallet reviews (P.S. If you you are ever in any traditionally Ethnic resuraunt and don't look the part it is not uncommon for flavors to be dulled, as that is the reason why you see "Buffets" some Eastern Resturaunts, Buffets are great ways to try toned town versions for meals, but if you want their Authentic Flavour a key trick is joke with your waiter for a minut, then give a nice complement to the atmosphere, and ask what they would recomend for an "Authentic" Dish ... I would say 9 out of 10 resturaunts I've tried this at, not only have I gotten good food, but...

My husband and I decided to try India Star for the first time tonight and it was majorly disappointing. The staff was not overly friendly and just told us we could sit at a booth but didn’t actually seat us. We ordered samosas, chicken vindaloo, chicken biryani, and garlic naan (this is the same meal we get at every Indian restaurant that we go to at least the first time). The samosa came out fairly quickly and were ok at best. Pretty dry and had a lot of fennel seeds for some reason which seamed to be a theme later. And then we sat and waited. And waited. And waited. After the two tables adjacent, who came in after us, had already gotten their food and one had even paid and left, one of the staff came over and said that they lost our order and asked what it was that we wanted…. We re-ordered and asked for our food to go and then waited another 20 minutes. We were there for 1 hour and hadn’t even eaten our meal. They gave us a very small discount but they should have comped our meal. We got our food home and it was hot which was the best thing I could say about it. The vindaloo was ok but I ordered mild and it was spicier than expected. I love spicy food so it was fine, but not how I ordered it and I’m not sure why the white rice needed fennel seeds. So much fennel in everything! My husband’s biryani just looked sad and it was very bland. The garlic naan was probably the best part but it was just fine. Needless to say, we will...