Sindhu Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Meridian Charter Township

Apologies to my American and other non-Indian fellows who may be gloating over the food served here thinking it is Indian food.

I was actually really looking forward to good food, since they have a new management. And my heart broke looking at everyone around me who were being robbed by being severed colorful, masalafied food in the name of Indian though it tasted nothing like what Indian food needs to be. Disappointment is an understatement. It was rather a feeling of being robbed of $65, that could have been better spent in a million ways.

Here's my honest review: What was advertised as 'Easter' Special menu was missing most of the items. Bad advertising and not delivering on the promise. There were 5 desserts listed, but they were 2 being served. We went in as soon as the buffet started and hung around almost till close...nope, there were only 2. And that too, the gulab Jamon was canned stuff not prepared fresh. For those who don't know the difference between fresh and canned, I am so sorry. We should have known better when in a restaurant full of people there were only 4 Indians eating there. Duh, that should have been my sign to run. The two other Indians in the table next to ours, waited for a long time for the menu. A person who seemed like the owner/manager, brought over the menu. And when they ordered, 15 mins later, the owner/manager gets back and tells the guests that the kitchen is busy and they cannot order something off the menu and convinces them to have the buffet instead. Adding that the buffet is cheaper than ordering from a menu. The said guests got started with the buffet and had a question because the labels for two of the dishes - goat biryani and chicken biryani were placed in the middle of both the containers and they didn't know which was what. They called the chef, and he had the gall to the tell the guests, if you find chicken in it it is chicken biryani and if you find pieces of goat it is goat biryani. I wouldn't trust this place especially if i have allergies or follow a faith based diet...this place reeks cross contamination. My spoon was stained at the back, it seemed like dried food or burnt oil sticking. I asked for new cutlery, and the owner/manager convinced me that it was just water spot. Where on earth are water spots in brown? Unless you are washing stuff in muddy water. I did get a replacement spoon. But 101 - customer is always right. Extending the conversation with thr owner/manager...I was sitting with my best friend and trying to stomach this inedible food and she stopped by our table trying to talk and starts off by saying "looks like you are having a fun daddy - daughter date". My friend and I are the same age....how is this person even assuming we are daddy-daughter or whatever our relationship might be. I can either take this as a great compliment for me or an insult against my best friend. I still do not know what to make of such inappropriate commentary. I was standing I line and a server/student/intern was coming out of the kitchen to fill the dish with Naan. On her way out from the kitchen, she put (bare) her hand in the container with fryums and put two in her mouth and continued to fill the Naan container. There were a couple of pieces of Naan sticking to her container that she used her 'bare' hands to move. A person ahead of me in the line pointed that she needs to use gloves while handling food and she said that she had washed her hands. This one reason is enough for me to rethink their health and food standards. For the subpar food that does not belong to being considered any where close to india, the prices are outrageous. It is such a waste.

A tip to my non-Indian people, there are other better places in the area serving much better indian food or take a drive to flint or ann arbor to know what indian food is. And, if you don't see Indian people out numbering non Indian folks, then don't eat there, it isnt authentic. I dunno what nonsense this was... i certainly know that even to save my life, i wouldnt go anywhere...

Our first experience eating this type of food. Our family ordered 6 different types of dinner dishes. Delicious, flavorful, fresh, hot. One meal had lamb, that was very good. A few of the chicken dishes did have some dry chicken. But it was not something to complain or make a big deal over. Because it was definitely edible, and good quality chicken. Just a tad over cooked, better then under cooked chicken. We all ordered the Naan, Garlic Naan so good! Cheese Naan really good! Ordered Samosas, delicious. The chutney was so good I could drink it. I ordered Samosas and Chutney to go because they are so good! The amount of food for the price is very fair! We had lots of left overs to eat off for the next full day. I spend more at McDonalds for some nasty burgers. Here I got full delicious meals and left overs for a fraction of the price. The staff are nice. Language barrier was difficult, but they worked very hard to make dinner here a great experience. The staff also informed us that the wait time for food would be long. We appreciated the notice. We felt the long wait for the food was definitely worth our first Indian cuisine experience. The wait time did not discourage is from eating here. I must agree with a few comments about being clean. A little extra cleaning would not hurt. Some spots reminded me of when my toddler has sticky candy fingers and touches stuff around the house. Doors, restroom door handles, kitchen door, glass surfaces, main entrance area, need a good cleaning. After you close and throughout your days have a person dedicate time to wipe down surfaces and clean more. This will definitely improve your reviews and experiences for your loyal customers. I also appreciate the fact of hard working people. That did not go unnoticed. Staff was constantly moving, attentive, and on top of things when it came to serving and refills on drinks, etc. We will definitely explore this type of food more within our community and we will definitely eat here again. Thank you for providing a great first experience of Indian cuisine for my family and I.

UPDATE: After posting my review I noticed a review from Afreen. His review is below my review. I would like to disagree with his racist accusations of this place. We are a WHITE family and experienced people of color being served food way before us ( Two seperate tables to be exact), and we were the 1st to arrive for dinner. This is definitely not a place serving food based on the color of people's skin. Anyone to assume that is ignorant! They are serving people based on what they are ordering. And they have two people taking orders, serving food, one looks like a young high school student just trying to do her best to get the work done. A server can't wait for one table to make up there mind about what they want to order, and let other customers hang in limbo. Also some dishes are made differently and need to be prepared according too! This is so disappointing for you to post such hateful accusations. If anything this place just needs a little more structure and routine, maybe some more staff for help. Not...

I’m not the type of person to leave negative feedback, but this is the first bad review I’ve ever written because our group was treated unfairly.

First off, my friend scooped a spoon of rice, she found a piece of wool-like fiber in it. That’s when we start to notice.

We asked the staff what these fibers were. The first staff who came over told us that the fibers were from the rice bag, and they would remove the rice from the bill. Rice was supposed to be free anyway, and I’ve eaten here before, so I don’t recall them ever charging for it.

Here's where things got interesting. A couple of minutes later, we found a large amount of these fibers, so we completely stopped eating and shared our concerns with the staff again (my child had already eaten a lot of them). The second staff member claimed the fibers came from the curry and said they were some sort of ingredient, though he didn’t seem sure of what it was.

The second staff member went inside, and the owner came out. He immediately told us that the fibers were ginger. We asked, “Do you put ginger in the rice?” and the owner replied, “It’s not from the rice; it’s in the curry.” Then I pulled out one of the fibers from the rice bowl right in front of him. At that point, the owner lost his temper and said, “If you don’t like the food, we’ll take it off your bill. This is America, not China or Japan. Other customers haven’t complained.”

Somehow, the issue with the food escalated into a racial matter for no reason. Why did the owner feel the need to say, “This is America, not China or Japan”? Was it because we’re Asian?

At that point, we realized there was no way to resolve this, and our holiday mood was completely ruined. We paid the bill and left, not wanting to waste any more time dealing with this. I’ve been in Michigan for 11 years, and this restaurant has been here since then. This is the first time I’ve ever been treated like this. If this is how you run your business, you're doing...