Dhamaka Premium Indian Kitchen & Lounge — Restaurant in McKinney

We went to this restaurant at around 8:15 pm on saturday. Not much crouded. May be 3 to 4 table occupied. In fact it has less than average size seating capacity.

The ambiance was one of the best in DFW area indian restaurants if not the best. The buck stops there.

We were seated after 5 min and told by the waiter in advance that he needs 5 more minutes to take order. Some one came after few minutes and places water glasses without water and left. When we looked around there was a person sitting at the bar not doing anyrhing. Later realized he is either the owner or owner partner since he had access to back kitchen. Indian culture treats serving food a noble thing. If the people belong to restaurant sit idle rather than serving water to customers, we can clearly see lack of passion. We just left the restaurant with out ordering any food. In fact another party just left before us as well. Same treatment to them as well.

As far as prices concerned, very expensive. Almost double the average menu prices in the area.

Edit:

The restaurant manager called and told me i left too early before they serve food. Also told that they have CC TV footage that shows they were about to serve water . I dare the restaurant publish timelines how long the water was not served. First of all, does it take two trips to serve water. Even the glasses are wine glasses type glasses. When we went with a little kid, they didn't even bother to give a kids friendly glass. May be they will say i didnt ask for kids freindly glass.

About reservations. We were not told about the need of reservation.

i thought they called to say sorry for not able to attend to us, rather they were blaming on my impatience. A family of 4 with a little kid comes there, they couldn't serve water and blaming me that i didn't ask for it. They gave empty glasses as empty as their dedication to serve the guests.

As far as i telling them that we have a family emergency, we told them we are getting late for another appointment. Of course we gonna say that rather than something bad on their faces. We don't want to start a fight at the location.

The lady who called me blaming my facts are wrong and she saw the footage, i would encourage her to post the footage on google. We hesitated for a minute to leave you can see the hesitation by two of us standing and two of us still sitting.

Price deserves quality in terms of location, Ambience and more importantly service. After all its service industry. Just because you have a posh restaurant in a great location, you dont get to charge whatever you like.

Does the restaurant even know whats dining experience means. Its means service not just the taste of food. If you cant get to the point of tasting food because of the quality of your service, then its not dining experience.

When on the call with me , i told her I am recording the call just because she said she have a cctv footage and she got furious that I am threatening her.

I drove 20 min to the restaurant and waited for another 20 min to leave there.

By the way she also mentioned that the person who was waiting(refer to my top portion) "might not be the owner or may be but chilling there and if it were the owner, they have employees to serve food." I guess someone can give a running a restaurant 101 class for them.

if a guest comes to our home and leaves without eating food, we wouldn't call them unreasonable for not...

I was so looking forward to dinner at Dhamaka after seeing a video on Facebook about it. We got there and there was no one in the reception area. As we stepped up to the counter a bright light shone in our faces - It was an outdoor motion sensor camera that activated. OK WHAT! We waited quite a bit so I asked my husband to call the restaurant to let someone know we were "waiting to be seated" per the sign. Eventually a friendly guy came and seated us. There was 1 table of 4 and us (So glad I made a reservation). This should have been a warning sign.

After a bit of a wait we were offered water (with or without ice). We never got water AT ALL! I am not going to bore you but there was a lot of waiting - This is because there was 1 waiter who was taking orders, serving, and making drinks. I felt sorry for him BUT then again he only had two tables - us (2) and the table of 4 . He should have been front of house tending to his customers but he kept disappearing to the kitchen and staying there! (Unless he was cooking the food as well?)

My husband's food came out long before mine. He had the Lamb rogan josh and potato samosas and garlic naan. It was very tasty and he enjoyed his meal. My husband finished his meal when mine finally arrived. I had the butter chicken fondue! UM OK that was not a fondue. It was 4 bites sizes of chicken in a small ramekin with a candle under it to keep it warm and cubed bread with about a tablespoon of grated cheese on the side. After waiting so long for my food and my first bite was grissel I was over it and left my meal which was $18 . (I picked on my husbands food while I was waiting for mine).

The table of 4 finish eating and the waiter handed them the check - didn't clear the table first. They sat with the dishes and their dirty plates in front of them right up to when they paid.

The waiter came to check on us and asked if everything was ok. (The table of 4 had left by now so we were the only table). We said yes and he turned and walked away - he did not take any empty glasses or dishes away! It is not like the restaurant was so busy that he could not clear the tables

This restaurant has so much potential. The fit out is stunning. They food is really nice and tasty. Even the 1 waiter running the place was lovely. But long wait for service, drinks, meals, lack of clearing tables and not bringing food out for all in the party, at the same time, and the dam outdoor camera's constantly activating lets this place down. Yup there were also outdoor motion sensor camera's in the dining room that kept activating every time the waiter came out the kitchen - We had a bright light shining in our faces the entire meal! It was so off putting. And who does that!

Three times people walked into the reception area and waited to be seen to and then left when no one came! This restaurant has the potential to be a great restaurant but they don't seemed bothered - it...

Dhamaka relies on its location and decor to attract people, but once you sit down, it all falls apart. Located in the beautiful Adriatica Village, it looks upscale from the outside, but the food, service, and attitude of the staff and owner leave much to be desired.

We ordered garlic naan and chili naan, specifically asking for them to be crispy. What we got were soft, undercooked breads – the garlic naan was flavorless, and the chili naan was just raw chilies thrown on dough. It was laughably bad, but we didn’t complain, hoping the rest of the food would make up for it. That was wishful thinking.

The Paneer Tikka Masala was the real problem. We asked for a spicy paneer dish, debating between tikka masala and kadhai paneer. The server recommended the tikka masala, so we trusted her. What arrived was an overly sweet dish – completely inedible and nothing like what we’d requested. We politely asked to replace it with kadhai paneer, assuming this would be simple. Instead, the server said they’d charge us for both dishes – the one we couldn’t eat and the replacement! She even said, “This is a fine-dine restaurant, and we don’t change dishes.” Fine dining? I’ve been to the finest restaurants, and this is NOT how they behave.

After arguing, she finally agreed to replace it without charging for both, but there was no apology or acknowledgment of their mistake. It felt like they were doing us a favor by replacing their own recommendation that was completely wrong. The arrogance and lack of basic customer service were astonishing.

The cutlery on our table didn’t even match – each spoon and fork was different. They don’t have a printed menu, and the QR code leads to a digital menu still showing the name of the old restaurant, “King.” They haven’t even bothered to update their menu but act like they’re above criticism. It’s pure laziness and arrogance.

The only reason people likely visit is because of the Adriatica location, which promises a premium experience. But this restaurant delivers subpar food and even worse service. It’s clear their focus is on riding the coattails of their surroundings, not on improving their standards.

This was our second visit, and the same issues persisted. The attitude of the staff and owner is ingrained, and the food is inconsistent at best. Fine dining is about more than just fancy decor – it’s about the whole experience, including how customers are treated. Dhamaka doesn’t understand this.

Save your money and go somewhere else. Adriatica has plenty of better options where you’ll be treated with respect and served food worth eating. Dhamaka might look good from the outside, but once you’re in, it’s all downhill. I won’t be coming back and wouldn’t recommend...