Chili Chutney Restaurant — Restaurant in Lake Forest

I'm aware that there have been numerous reviews regarding a decline in quality since the change in ownership, and I had observed this in the past, myself. However, today we had a great experience dining at Chili Chutney for a Sunday post-date lunch. It was my first time coming here in roughly 3 years, and here is an honest review.

Parking: As always, the parking is super easy. Plenty of spaces in the parking lot.

Inside: I personally liked the old layout of the warm color walls and seating compared to this disco looking white walls and rainbow prism lights, but I appreciated how clean it was, and how the stage was pretty. The vibe seems to be going for a venue for small concerts and mehmanis, which I think Mirage a couple blocks away is more well established for the job. Chili Chutney to me personally has always been somewhere I go with my family as more of a sit down place to enjoy some good Afghan food. But that's my take on it. I did appreciate that it was clean and well maintained.

One thing that I liked was that they played Afghan music the whole time. Before I only heard Spanish guitar playing, and I think this is a great improvement for the environment.

Service: We were served by Reza, who took great care of us. He was polite, kind, attentive, and very well service oriented. Given the fact that there were several people in the restaurant and he was taking care of all of us as well as catering orders and phone orders, I would say he did great. Thank you Reza!

Food: We ordered sheer chai, mango lassi, sambosa, mix filling of potato/leek bolani, aush, qabuli, firni. Here is a breakdown of my experience with it:

Sheer Chai: Sheer chai is my favorite Afghan drink, and I enjoyed it.

Sambosa: I have always been obsessed with the sambosa sauce, and this time was no different. Yummyyy!! I think the sambosa itself could have been a little crispier, but other than that, the filling was flavorful and the right amount. Delicious.

Bolani: I thought it had enough filling and it tasted great, especially with that addictive sambosa sauce.

Aush: My favorite! I like adding some extra yogurt but that's just me

Qabuli: I feel like the rice could have a little more spices flavor, but the lamb was fall-off-the-bone tender! So yummy. And the carrots and raisins were done to perfection. And when I brought it home and warmed it up everything, including the

Firni: No words. Delicious.

I know I always have very high standards for Afghan cooking because nothing compares to mom and dad's home meals. All in all, though, I would say I was a very happy girl today, and I look forward to coming back when I'm...

The food is ok I have had better. The service is what I want to talk about, The manager (Latino man not afghan) was very rude to not just me but a lady customer that was there at the same time as me. I ordered the mantu and a side of rice, he proceeded to argue very rudely that that was an appetizer, I told him "yes I know what I'm ordering" I also ordered a Lasse (a milk base drink) When I got it i took one sip and i could tell the milk or yogurt were spoiled. I told the manager that the drink tasted like the milk was spoiled and that I did want it. Instead of apologizing and asking me if he could get me anything else (like a good manager would do) He argued that I was wrong and went back to get a gallon of milk to show the expiration date. I told him well it may say that but i tasted it and it tastes spoiled. He said well its not maybe you have not had it before, I told him that I have had it before and it was never spoiled. I asked hi t take it off the bill and he said he couldn't do that. My lunch time was about to be over so I didn't have time to argue with him and I paid and left. I hope the owners know hat this place is a ghost town because of the terrible customer service they have. I'm not the only person who has had a bad experience here. After I told my co worker where i had gone and what happened, she said she had a similar interaction with this same man. They made reservations for a party of 7 for the buffet, when they got there they were seated at a table by a female waitress and he stormed over to yell at her to say that they couldn't sit there because that is a table for 10. She explained that the other waitress seated hem there and he had no right to be yelling at them. He said well if you sit here I am charging you for 3 more people, she said no I'm not paying for 3 more people we did not choose this seating your waitress sat us here, he said that he was the manager and that he was going to add 3 more people to their bill if they didn't move, they got up and left. She also will never go...

I hosted a lunch party for my friends and I planned the event three weeks in advance with Nafees, the owner. I talked to him over the phone and we discussed menu items, number of guests, how long I will be there, I was hosting a for a group of 25 women and we went into details like food items, quantity, prices, service etc, I asked him to text me what we discussed so we both remember everything. I told him I would get to the restaurant little early coz I was bringing my own appetizers and wanted to organize before the guests arrived. The day of the event he did 180 degree on me and does not provide me with full service! He says I did not inform him it's a lunch event, he thought my friends would just order from the menu, we would eat and leave immediately! I got the food items we had discussed but no salad although he charged me for it and nan came after we had finished eating, there was just one server for the entire restaurant and I felt sorry for her. He was also v stingy in giving me boxes to take leftover food, we didn't have enough and when I asked for more he said he had given me too many, who does that? He charged me $150 more than he quoted in the text messages and I felt cheated, I had asked him two weeks prior the event if I could pay with Zelle instead of credit card and he had confirmed I could Zelle him the money but at the time of payment he said I either pay cash or card. I wish I had gone to some other restaurant for my event, I am sure I would have saved some money and it would have been more a more pleasant experience for me...