Sapthagiri Taste Of India — Restaurant in Jersey City

"We didn't call you to eat, you came by yourselves," said the manager last night when something such happened. We, a group of 5 friends went there hoping to dine a lovely meal ending up in a mess. Waste of time and energy.

I won't be a penny dishonest or hesitant in sharing my experience. Before even looking at the menu, the first thing we told the manager (so called) that we would be sitting 3 and 2 friends on different tables to not pay the 18% gratitude tax. (Cheap is Real). He approved. Then we asked what if we sat outside together?! HE APPROVED. We ate happily. Food was okay but DOSA service was slow. They ran out of "patties" (ragda-patties). Whatever. Then the bill came with gratitude tax. Precisely $15. We argued based on the prior agreement of waiving it.

To this the manager said, "Our restaurant is very busy can't you see!? I was busy so I couldn't inform the waiters about it. You should have told the waiters." He means to say we should inform that each waiter that comes to the table and not the manager? You're very busy that you don't have I guess some 2.5 seconds to inform your waiters? Who makes the bills? You or the waiter? Who added the tax? Can you hear yourself? Are you kidding us?

We asked questions like this. HARDLY HAD he pulled some $15 out of the drawer when the DOSA maker guy came and starting "almost shouting." He refused to pay us back at any cost. And finally added, "we didn't call you to eat, you came yourselves."

With this note, we left the place. Money wasn't the biggest matter, but the quality of argument they had, I think they need to revise manners. I think that would be better for them.

Finally, the fun fact! I asked the manager, "who's the manager?" He boasts "I'm the one! Why?" I left the place with a sly smile and loud voice, "doesn't seem so!!" And he further shouted "I KNOW."

HAPPY EARLY...

We were down on Newark Ave for Indian, and the girl insisted on dosa. Being a Tuesday and remembering the great reviews here, we happened upon Sapthagiri's dosa and dishes buffet. Even if it's vegetarian, for $10/12 that's hard to beat for dinner. The place has basic decor, fairly tight table density, is well lit, and the service was good even for a buffet. I wasn't blown away with what I ate, but it was cool to try so many things and it was definitely worth a shot. I had a variety of things that I couldn't recount if I tried. Seriously, I attempted to try everything they had with mixed results. The buffet ran almost the length of the restaurant. They included daal tadka, a basic dosa bar, a spicy potato curry, a paneer dish, a spinach dish, a salad, a nut based curry, a potato ball from this huge platter, 2 kinds of rice (1 fried), and a variety of sauces and accompaniments. My favorite item was the potato ball, with a number of items like the spinach and paneer curries vying for second place (flavorful despite lacking core ingredients). The dosa was too basic for my taste and the dough wasn't savory enough--I prefer Sri Ganesh's down the block. I did not like the daal tadka, which is suprising as I normally like the dish. The inclusion of rice pudding for a dessert was nice. The girl also ordered a mango lassi which came out orange, but was rich and delicious. I can see how this place got its rating, aside from the few misses. It seems great for vegetarians and all the dishes have unique flavors. On the other hand, I prefer other restaurants on this stretch of Indian cuisine, and I have many more to try. It's probably going to be awhile if I give this place another shot--this time...

Attitude is something we as customers take it for granted. When it is served right, we don’t realize and only when a business shows its other side to us, we realize it actually exists.

It was almost before close of business hours, we placed an order through Grubhub and called Sapthagiri to confirm if they will be able to fulfill the the order and they confirmed they would. We started waiting from 9.45 till 10.25 without a complaint. Then we started doing the waiting game and calling them multiple times, that the driver hadn’t arrived. It was not until 11.10 that the driver finally showed up.

We ordered the North Indian Thali and to our complete disappointment most of the rice had spilled inside the paper bag, due to a broken styrofoam box. We called the restaurant to complain and instead of apologizing, the first thing he said was ‘Let me talk to the driver and get back’. He called back and said that the driver told him there was no rice spilled in the car. He clearly didn’t care that there was an unsatisfied customer on the other side, but have his hands clean.

We indicated him that there’s difference between rice spilled inside the bag and outside of it and there was no necessity for him to validate with the Grubhub driver about a starving customer, at wee hours. We had to send him the picture on how supremely the food was packed and sent and how it ruined a dinner at 11 in the night. It’s more than 2 weeks and we are still waiting for Sapthagiri to get back to us, after their ‘We’ll check and get back to you on this’. Good luck with your astounding...