Paisley — Restaurant in New York

It's interesting that at any Michelin star or fine dining restaurant I've ever been to, if a patron dislikes a dish, the management and chef have never taken umbrage, accept the diner's experience for the truth or what it is, and typically bend over backwards to accommodate the patron.

In contrast, the middling establishments feel wounded when you actually don't like a dish (for whatever reason) and reflect that hurt back in their attitude towards you as if there is something wrong with you for not liking every single thing plated in front of you.

Our server began the evening by deciding for my daughter what drink she would like, and didn't pick up on any cue about our questions or concerns about sweet vs spice. Those mocktails, as well as my cocktail, were overly sweet; my wife finished maybe a third of hers and I stirred my ice literally a hundred times in hopes of diluting it and making it more well balanced. Our daughter reveled in the sweet though our wish was of course to not have that much sugar close to bedtime.

The appetizers and entrees we had were generally ok (samosas, tandoori lamb chop, dahl, chicken tikka masala, rajwadi paneer, naan, and jeera rice) were at best fine. The lamb chop was meagerly seasoned and overcooked, the chicken was dry and overdone as well, and the rice and naan were pedestrian. We didn't finish anything but none of that was an issue, if left at that it would have just been an unremarkable meal. Oh yeah, the tables are tiny, fine for a coffee shop but falling short for any sort of multi-dish family style meal. We migrated some items to the chair seat to make room.

Anyway, our server forgot about us for about 10-15 mins, even after our entree plates had been cleared for a while, so we flagged the manager to order a dessert for my wife and so we could get our daughter home for bed. The manager advised three of the desserts (the most popular ones) were unavailable and she encouraged my wife to order the malai kulfi, an Indian dessert, hyping up the taste. I've had good versions of this dish, this was not one apparently. My wife had literally one bite and pushed the bowl away.

Once our waiter finally returned and I mentioned my wife didn't care for the dessert and that it would be nice if he could take it off the bill, he immediately looked annoyed and said he was not sure if that was possible. Several minutes later, he returned and dropped down the bill without a word but an annoyed expression. It was the same one we saw from the manager on the way out.

Not sure what was more troublesome for them, that someone only had a bite of their self-lauded dessert and expressed dislike or that someone would ask for a few percent off a $200 dinner bill.

I don't leave bad reviews with any frequency, but the ones I have (and there is maybe one a year like this) is because of the service / treatment. And yeah, this is one of them. The 2 stars are because of the 3 star food vs the 1 star service.

They can do much better, and save yourself some time, so can you with your choice of...

Place was recommended by a friend who loves the food here. The food indeed was very good. Service was good for the most part except for waiters coming too often to take away cocktails while the glass wasn’t empty. About 90+ min into our meal, while we were enjoying our after dinner drinks and chai, the waiter brought the check to us without us asking for it. We were approached 3 separate times within 15 min to see if we were ready to pay. A woman came up to our table and kindly asked us to pay and stated the next table was waiting to be seated.

Our party of 5 spent close to $500 at the restaurant and the restaurant decided to auto tag on a 20% gratuity yet felt they had to turn the table after 90 min. I don’t recall when making the reservation with Resy that the table is only reserved for 90 min. For a $$$ rated restaurant, I feel you should at least allow your customers to have a 2.5h experience instead of running the establishment like a timed all-you-can eat buffet in 90 min. If the table indeed have a 90 min timer, then please make that apparent with Resy or on your website so your customers are aware and can make the informed decision whether to dine at your establishment.

1/29/23 846a Addendum to above review to reply to owner’s response to my original review.

Please be informed that no one at your restaurant had made us aware when we were seated at 5:20p that there was another party coming in at 7p. The first time we heard of another party waiting for our table was when the owner came to our table at the end asking us to settle our bill because another party was waiting. Please refrain from making false claims to twist the truth and change the public’s perception of my honest review.

In addition, there were no mentioning on your website, nor on your digital menu of this auto tipping policy for a party of 5 at your establishment.

Your attempt to change the public’s perception of my true and honest review is quite upsetting as you are claiming you’ve given disclosure on something that never happened.

I would also like to take this time to remind you of the below rights for consumers when it comes to auto-tipping in NY.

“it is incumbent upon any restaurant including an automatic gratuity charge to provide—in advance—clear and conspicuous notice that an automatic gratuity charge will be levied and all terms associated with the automatic charge. If consumers are not provided advanced notice the consumers may have a claim under the NYS Deceptive Acts &...

Just had one of the most AMAZING dinner experiences EVER! So here we are, in the midst of Corona Kookiness on a chilly, drizzly, overcast evening in TriBeCa, only to find this phenomenal oasis of sanity and civility to make my wife and I feel warm! And it had nothing to do with the temperature, but rather the incredibly welcoming staff! From the moment my wife and I longingly peered through the windows, we were immediately greeted by a welcoming wave on the other side of the glass. We dutifully put on our masks, and made our way in to place an order from the take-out menu. No sooner had we started to order than the waitress began to make convincingly solid recommendations to accompany our requests. We went with every single one, and I am SO glad we did!!! First of all, they managed to figure out a way to accommodate an outside table for us that somehow managed to be shielded from the elements while following State guidelines. Before the food arrived, however, our drinks arrived, which were specialized cocktails created by the genius masked mixologist behind the bar. My first cocktail was the Silk Road and my wife ordered the Gimlet... amazing! I later ordered an Old-Fashioned, and could not stop myself from ordering a second (my wife followed her awesome gimlet with an O-F after tasting mine). As for food, everything from the samosas to the lamb dishes to the curry and chutney combining dishes, featuring food from the northern and southern regions of India as explained to us by our waitress were freaking DELICIOUS!!! Diet be damned!! And then the flambeed bread pudding... OMG!! Caramelízed and crispy from the flames!!! Finally, I had to ask the name of this incredibly friendly and knowledgeable waitress who helped to make my wife's and my dinner experience so magical, and it turned out she was the owner!! In addition, another lovely woman who was serving us throughout made us feel like we were the most important people in the neighborhood. Just an overall EXCEPTIONAL experience. To a gloomy day, they brought the sunshine! THANK...