Pal's Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

First visit to an Indian restaurant and I am now a big fan of Indian food!

Goat Masala: This was the star of today’s show. It was cooked in a spicy medium thick sauce and very tasty. This made the meat moist and delicious! It also comes with rice. I highly recommend it!

Lamb Seekh Kabob: It is like sausage, but fresher, spiced differently, and has a dryer texture. It was served on a sizzler like cast iron platter with onions, green peppers, carrots, and a slice of lemon. It also came with white rice.

Garlic Naan Bread: Soft with a garlic taste and a tiny hint of another seasoning I couldn’t recognize. Very soft and good with just about anything. Especially good for snacking while waiting.

Indian Coffee: Friend had it and enjoyed it. Free refills.

Service: The server’s attention was divided, but helpful. He was not fluent in English, but knew enough to explain things.

The majority of their business seemed to be DOORDASH, UberEats, and GRUBHUB. There were only four tables occupied of the 15 or so that were available, but there were constantly drivers showing up and picking up orders, dividing the server’s attention.

Don’t get me wrong. We were helped completely, but often with some waiting.

Atmosphere: Definitely felt like we were in middle-class India. There were music videos of Indian pop music playing on two screens. The booths were comfy and the décor felt more like a home than a restaurant.

Visited on a Monday at...

I really enjoy the food at this place. It's very well made and tasty, but you can tell that the boldness of the flavors are watered down for a West Michigan palate. The decor is all right and has definitely improved over the last couple of years.

But the service is just not that good. The waitstaff are usually disengaged and almost monosyllabic and rarely smile. A carry out order on the buffet costs more than dining in, which makes no sense. I have called to ask for buffet times and have been very rudely communicated to, without even a "hello" at the beginning of the call or a "goodbye" at the end of it. I have personally witnessed the owner (who is usually a nice guy) argue with a customer about the semantics of their groupon - twice - instead of acknowledging the customer's mistake and letting it slide. I have seen a server shout at a customer for the very same issue.

If Pal's would improve their customer service, then I strongly believe that they could get more business. But when you are combative, disengaged and resistant to customer input, your business will always struggle. May I suggest a customer service survey to see what customers really want?

I do really like the food here, but after coming here several times in the last year, I'm not sure...

I'm a long time dine-in customer, and I ordered for take-out via GrubHub for the first time yesterday (basically just to get the $7 off.) We got everything we ordered, as-ordered, well-packaged, with generous portions all around, and a ton of rice. The food was as delicious at home as it is in the restaurant, and the service just as friendly. One caveat to new customers: you should probably dine in at least once to get to know the place before ordering online, (or at least call them first with any questions.) One of the dishes I ordered was Chicken Vindaloo, which I requested at a 4/10 spicy in the GrubHub comments. They kindly noted on the dish's container that they can't make it "mild" because the sauce is pre-made as spicy. However, as their note also indicated, they tried to tame it down, and I think they did a great job. When I've dined-in, they've been more overtly accommodating, but this may be a new thing, and honestly, it doesn't bother me. If you don't want spicy food, they have other dishes, and you can always cool off the burn with one of their delicious desserts. I highly recommend starting with the Veggie Pakoras; the Chicken Masala Tikka and the Chicken Vindaloo are my favorite mains; and a Mango Lassi is the perfect way to...