Mirchi Indian Cuisine - Kaushik Restaurants INC — Restaurant in Franklin

Yes, My review is long, but if you want honest criticism, please read on -

Presentation- 4 stars Taste- 2.5 stars mediocre or below Service from server- 0 stars ( very cold and slow) Service from owner- unsure Price- too expensive for just average food.

I see the owners don't reply for criticism, just focus on compliments. That's fine.. but Unless they own up to flaws, it would be difficult to sustain the industry.

We Went on 16th Aug, a party of 6 ( including parents whose mom is a staunch vegetarian). I am a vegetarian too by ideology and not religion. We ordered more than enough food including 2 veg and 2 non veg thali's. appetizers, kids food, soups etc...

We waited about 45 minutes with just 2-3 broken down papads. We grew hungrier and the server with a curly pony tail hair was on his phone the whole time. Not even a smile...

The owner Prem seemed like a pleasant man and no complaints about him or ambience.

To the real issue: an hour and a half later ( keep in mind- appetizer that took a good 45 minutes and we were the only people in the entire restaurant) comes the actual food with a world class presentation... We pounce in as we were starving.. and here comes the dreadful moment, THE KADAI MUSHROOM IN MY VEG THALI HAD MEAT IN IT, when we confronted the server he said it is mushroom and not meat and then I insisted and showed it to him and asked my husband , my dad and son to taste it and all of them agreed that it was chicken and then reported it to him again and then he goes back to the kitchen, speaks to the owner Prem for about five minutes and comes back out and the owner says that he would investigate it and goes back in the kitchen, comes back after 15 minutes. I was so upset, scared and disappointed that I did not even feel like eating my food anymore despite being hungry.

The owner comes back out and apologized for that and agreed it was their mistake and the server mistook it for another nonvegetarian Curry and the server had made a mistake of starting to pour out the chicken curry in the bowl and then soon realized that it was a vegetarian Curry and then he poured the Khadai mushroom in it after he started pouring the chicken without switching out into a fresh bowl. That is where the actual dish got mixed.

Prem ( owner) was very apologetic and at that point we just wanted to get it over with and leave, so we asked for the check and to our surprise Prem was decent enough to waive 1 veg Thali off the check even though my husband and I insisted many times that we want to pay for it, no matter what. That was the least of our expectations.

He said that was the least he could do. I was still in no mood for food, and the check was $ 104 and my husband still wanted to pay the $16 thali and since owner refused it after saying a few anecdotes of how staunch his own mom is and appreciated us of being so kind and understanding inspite of such a "huge BLUNDER" that could have been blown out of proportion in the USA ( suing capital of the world ).

I suggested I don't want any of his employees in trouble either but suggested nicely to be more careful and vigilant in future for their own sake. We were not angry at all, just upset yet we did not want to hurt their feelings either!

Oh, Btw, My husband DID ADD THE $16 ( thali price) to the gratuity because he is a strong believer in " KARMA BITES- WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND" and if it was in fact an accident, they deserve a second chance! I just don't want to take a chance again going there, that's all!

Oh, did I mention it was a farewell dinner for my parents who were flying back to London the very next night, so the least I wanted was to create bad memories with my little kids around, that was another reason we kept smiling the whole time through the issue!

But I am glad the issue was addressed professionally...

So story time …we came to visit Massachusetts for the first time on my husband birthday. We had a blast, got hungry and googled restaurants. We couldn’t make up our minds on what we wanted to eat so I happen to see this Indian cuisine and I told my husband let’s try it and he was up for it as well. So we drove, on our way to the restaurant I was telling him I don’t know how I feel about going to this restaurant because both of us never try Indian food and I didn’t want his birthday dinner to be a bad one. We tried googling again for American food but couldn’t make up our minds so we both said Indian cuisine it is. Upon entering the restaurant, an elderly guy greeted us (he was sooo nice!!!). We sat, he came and took our orders, we asked for advice since we never tried this kind of food before. This guy was absolutely the best!! While we were waiting for our food, like any human would, I looked around and made my comments. Now these comments made my husband surprised lol because I never liked the places we randomly eat out. But this one…was one of the best. The cleanliness, the noise level, the setting, the people, the scent of the restaurant and let’s not forgot the white table cloth. Everything was perfect and on point. Now our food came, it looked delicious. We ordered home style vegetables fry rice and lamb curry with butter naan. Let’s talk about the taste, it was greattttt! As I was eating I even told my husband to order one for my mother in law to take back in New York with us. Also, there was a younger guy…I honestly don’t know if these are the owners of this restaurant because there’s no way employee treat customers like the way they treated us. Their patience level was 100%.

The bathroom was as clean as my home bathroom.

We ate, packed our extras and order to take home. I still haven’t tried the gulab jamoon we purchased but am sure it’s delicious. AND the price was only 88 dollars. If my bill was double I wouldn’t mind paying it because of the way we were treated.

There you have it, our experience of our first try on Indian food.

I recommend this restaurant 100% and if I ever come to Massachusetts again I’ll be at this restaurant for...

Visited this restaurant for Lunch on a weekday. The restaurant is spacious, with a mid sized waiting and take out service area. The dining area is also spacious, but was thinly patronized during the time I was there. From the number of take-out bags kept ready for pick-up, it seems the place is popular for its food, although there were few customers for Dine-in. The restaurant has decor in keeping with its Andhra - Indian orientation - posters and pics from that area - and Telugu music being played (a bit loud perhaps). The food is adapted to suit local preferences regarding spice and flavors - toned down . But not so much as to completely lose its roots. My group had Chicken Dum Biryani, Goat Curry with bone and Malai Kofta (both of which are served with steamed rice), Dal Tadka, Garlic Naan, Tandoori rotis, Veg Manchurian with Gravy and Chilli Garlic Veg Fried Rice. The Dum Biryani was quite good - taste, serving quantity and visual appeal. Lightly spiced but tasty, with 2 chicken legs in the serving bowl. The Malai Kofta was sweetish, much less spiced than I would have liked. 3 Kofta balls per order. The Goat curry with Bone had a dark brownish red appearance which raised my expectations that it would be spicy - but no, it was much toned down, yet flavorful. Dal Tadka - bland, and very unlike what I expected. The Veg Manchurian with gravy - very disappointing. Hardly any gravy. The balls were crumbling and tasted like they were made from rice or riced cauliflower. Slightly tangy, but definitely unlike the dish I eat back in India. Hardly any Garlic flavor, with nominal spice levels. The Chilli, Garlic Veg Fried rice - barely passable. Again very low spice levels and flavors. The Garlic Naan and Rotis were excellent. Each of the curries, dal and the Fried Rice, Biryani can serve 2 diners. The Tab: $110 Recommendation: Good if you aren't looking for the real taste of India, yet want to try what passes for 'Indian' food in the North East USA. Avoid the Indo-Chinese items on the menu. If you want the real stuff, you'll be...