Karma Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Jacksonville

First and foremost, “Not” your old school 70’s , 80’s old music with bad service but okay curry house vibe. Minerva had new fresh party vibe feel, plus a superior banquet space for celebrate with friends, family or bussiness colleagues. The feeling was modern, fresh and savvy!

Let’s talk about the elephant or history of poor and delivery of a great dish at Indian restaurant. THE SERVICE and attention to detail was superior delivered. Just in observation of getting seated I noticed the general manager, not the usual typical owner sitting at the cash register , this leader paid was very particular focusing on straightening all the chairs to be symmetrical then and he swept the floor, for a piece of debree , that I couldn’t even see. Followed by his leadership comes, “Manoj”, my service provider. Yes you heard me correct, “ service provider because like a cell phone provider, he was connected, in tune and cutting edge, “he spoke my language of how hospitality should be delivered “Today” Manoj was heaven sent as a person who scream Hospitality !!!!!!!! Done flawlessly.

Although they were out of stock of my usual choices in scotch or whiskey, he upsold me on similar selection, that’s actually distilled in the same distillery as Glenlivet scotch.

This selection of scotch paired astonishingly and out of this world with my lollipop chicken.

Minerva’s lollipop chicken, wasn’t the traditional deep fried chicken wing , with a thick battered crust.

With Manoj’s preference involved, this young man brought me an explosion of flavor in my mouth. Which had the vibe of a traditional Indian street food staple that meets China town. This lollipop chicken was tossed in a succulent and tangy asian twist with an indochine influenced sauce.

So after my pre dinner drink and appetizer, I asked Manoj , “can the chef make a a lamb vindaloo but not prepared with traditional potato’s , I prefer mushrooms?” His responded with a royal confidence, I got it this Sir , you just enjoy”

Take a bow, Minerva , for bringing Indian cuisine on the forefront of modern hip cuisine. Like an urban hip culture stand up India, “we started from the bottom” but now here !!

Try it, with a open heart and open wallet, great food with cheap are gone, Royalty cost you, ask...

From the layered flavors of their traditional butter chicken to their rich homemade vanilla softserve ice cream, Minerva is decidedly the best Indian restaurant currently in Jacksonville! I have searched for over a year to find an Indian restaurant worthy of a five star review and Minerva is highly deserving.

The first thing I noticed was just how bright and clean the entire restaurant and buffet were. The new tile flooring is a welcomed remodel from the former India House. Perhaps most importantly, the staff were all smiles and the warm family owned atmosphere shone through. The owner was very helpful, as was our waitress in answering all of our questions. While this authentic restaurant is already a hit with the local Indian crowd, I hope that all western born give this incredible restaurant a try.

If you are visiting for the first time I suggest arriving early, closer to 11am when they open, to get the freshest buffet lunch selection, and to have ample time to ask the owner and/or server questions about any of the dishes on the menu or buffet before it gets busy.

Everything we had was delicious and tasted home-cooked, however we did notice the spice-heat level was a touch hotter than the previous India House. For the more western palat it was balanced however with the fact that the flavors were deeper and more layered than we've had previously as well, AND their yogurt sauce and/or ice cream quickly cuts any heat. We recommend asking your server to split one of their incredible mango yogurt drinks to help cool down if needed. Many who are accustomed to the heat level of traditional Indian food may not notice this at all.

Minerva offers a wonderfully decadent choice of desserts, including my personal favorite gulab jamoons, which for those who have not tried them, it's essentially a fried cake donut hole soaked in a rich honey/pear sauce. Minerva's however were probably the best tasting I've ever had with some other subtle spices layered in.

Minerva's lunch buffet is served 7...

BEWARE of this Restaurant It's SCAM Final Bill will be 110 % of Menu Price We placed an order for Masala Dosa,Chole Bathura and Chicken Biryani The menu price listed on their menu are Masala Dosa : 5.99 Chole Batura : 8.99 Biryani : 11.99 They had tactically placed a small note saying price will be different But actually they charge more than double the list price Example : Masala Dosa listed on restaurant menu is 5.99 and they charge 12.99 ( which is approx 110 % more than listed price . The moment we got to know they gonna charge double whaterever listed on menu , we immideately left without having any kind of service or food. Shame on owner and management team scamming people Note for owner : please spend some $10 to take prints with new menu prices.

Additionall Note for owner : Edited after owners reply @Owner : it's your restaurant and no one is alsking you to share the justification about the price you want to keep for each item It's your restaurant and you have full right to keep whatever price you want to keep for each You have full right and its your decision to keep price as 2 or 4 or 8 or 25 $ for a small drink or any item ( no justification needed )

The question and practice that you are doing is charging double the price against the list price in your menu

Simple ethical practice is : If you have decided that new menu prices will be kept in restaurant starting may then why you are giving the menu, can't you ask customers to scan barcode or see online menu ? Why your servers / order takers can't give a heads up to customers ,why order takers give an update only when asked for ? It's because of your practice ,your staff has to bear the heat and face customers dissatisfaction I do have full sympathy to front line staff that they have to face such unfavorable and customers ire just because owner failed to spend some $10 $20 to print menu's

Hope you will take feedback positively and ensure to keep ethical practice while charging customers same as what you show...