Ayesha Indian Fine Dining - Key Biscayne — Restaurant in Florida

I wish there was a way to give 0 stars or may be less. The food was ok. But certainly not worth the high price and unprofessional attitude. Anyways that would have been fine if the following incident had not happened.

We were a party of 4 adults and 4 kids, basically 2 families with kids. It was around 9 PM. We were asked to wait for some time as it was busy time which was perfectly ok. Then they asked us if we would like a table outside. We said ok but I was wondering how they were going to fit all of us out side as all outside tables were for only 2 people. Then they pulled a long plastic party table that you get in Walmart, covered it with white sheets and added 8 very uncomfortable chairs. But they put the table not in front of their restaurant, which would be their property, but in front of the store right next to the restaurant. It felt very awkward as if we were offered a table in the middle of the street. We reluctantly agreed as it was already late and we had kids.

But that's when the whole trouble started. The restaurant did not have permission to use the space in front of the store next door. In the middle of our dinner the next door store guy showed up very upset and demanded to enter his store but our table was blocking his door. Instead of apologizing to the store owner for using their property illegally the restaurant people started an argument with him that it was after hours and he was not supposed to be coming back to his store at that hour, all in front of us !!! 😳😳😳 successfully ruining our evening. One of the restaurant guys who was arguing with the store guy told us, in a very non apologetic tone, sometimes unpleasant things happen and we have to deal with it and we were forced to move our table further down with still argument going on. Apparently they had done this before and the next door store owner was certainly very unhappy about this.

We were left extremely annoyed and highly dissatisfied at the unprofessionalism of the restaurant personnel. Eventually after all this happened another restaurant guy came and very casually said he was sorry. What annoyed us was that they were acting as if it was not that big of a deal. It felt like they were doing us a favor by letting us have dinner there. Needless to say we just wanted to leave ASAP after all this happened and requested for the check. I was mad and was determined not to tip, but they had already added the tip in the check. We didn't want to ruin our evening anymore. We simply paid and left. Had to finish our dinner at a...

The food here is normally very good, so this is more of a customer service gripe. The only ok part of the meal was the Indian Salad as I was intrigued what “indian dressing” was. It’s just oil with a fancy name. As far as a garden salads go, it was fine. I added balsamic vinegar when I got home. The tiki masala dishes now include green and red peppers, which I assume is filler. That was new.

I wanted to grab dinner to go for the family before the torrential rains hit. I tried calling at 3pm & 4pm with no answer. It turns out the restaurant is closed between 2:45-5:00 which is fine, but your voicemail should state so instead of “call us back if you are placing an order.” I called at 5:05 and placed the order. I was told it would be ready in 20 minutes. I left the restaurant 45 minutes later and there was only 1 table with customers, so the restaurant was not busy. I tried to pay for the order in cash and was told they could not cash unless exact. Fortunately, I had enough loose bills to pay.

My suggestions to the owner are update your voicemail to set good expectations for someone calling in when you’re closed, not sure why the food took twice as long, and have change available for cash payers!

Food...

One of the best tikka masala dishes I’ve had in a long time. The owner and chef was my server and talked with me about the menu As I was ordering. I come to Key Biscayne about once a year, and I try to make this fine restaurant I stop for dinner during my stay.

Edit: 2023 unfortunately this place has deteriorated. I want it to succeed and visit twice a year since 2012. The new interior can’t compensate for poor food and a grim, sad atmosphere. They are polite but during a busy hour at adjacent restaurants, I found myself alone with three servers. The tikka masala tasted like a sweet tomato soup with no Indian flavor. The bright red sauce is what happens when I abandon cream for water and cornstarch. It tasted bland and cheap. The naan was poor. I’m really disappointed as I look forward to visiting this restaurant each time I’m on the Key. It’s always seemed as if it lacked customers but the atmosphere was pleasant and the food great. A lot has changed. And an Indian restaurant isn’t where I expect to have to listen to a Christian preacher for an extended period of time on the television. Everything changed. None for the better. I can’t imagine I’ll want to return. Two rocks in my rice/food...