Gopuram Taste of India — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

Edit: You'll see below the review I originally wrote 6 years ago, but I recently returned to this location and had a not-great experience. The buffet was the only thing in effect at the time that I went - the last time I'd been, they also had a dinner menu. Anyway, the food wasn't on the buffet table itself but apparently on stoves in the kitchen.

The waiter (host, even chef apparently) was super nice and accommodating, trying to get myself and my friend the things we wanted from the buffet on plates himself, as well as prepare tandoori chicken and naan for us. My friend asked for a drink but their soda fountain was broken or something.

The food tasted good. Not as good as I'd remembered, but it seemed like the whole staff wasn't there so I understand why the quality may not have been great.

When my friend and I were nearing the end of our meal, waiting to pay the tab (the waiter was preparing to go orders and answering the phone - he did everything!), and after just chatting over our picked-through plates, my friend noticed a roach crawl into my food.

I shot up from the table and we inspected another plate that had another small bug in it. We panicked a bit, as we'd just had a long great meal with an awesome waiter, but feeling sick after seeing bugs so brazenly crawl onto our table.

We alerted the waiter and he seemed embarrassed and apologized; basically just saying "I'm sorry. I will not charge you." He didn't seem surprised at all.

I hate that this has happened to such a great restaurant, and upon reading more recent reviews... I guess I'm not alone.

OLD REVIEW:

I like the Gopuram on 23rd Street, yes, but I really adore this one. The decor is nice, the waiters even nicer. They're so attentive and nice and constantly come around to offer fresh food before it goes onto the buffet.

As for the buffet, the restaurant seems to have a good handle on when to refresh the food and how to keep it from tasting 'stale' as buffet food tends to.

Anyway, this place is really great. I've taken a few people here that had never had Indian food; it's a good place to introduce people to the cuisine, and it's a good place to go get your fill of flavorful, bountiful...

Gopuram Memorial - The buffet looked sad, tasted even sadder. It tasted like the owners must have really watered down the flavors and spices of the menu to cater to their predominantly Caucasian palate. The experience overall was inconsistent with the Gopuram brand I remember from 2010. It was as if they were going for the mom and pop, hole in the wall Indian restaurant feel. The food in the buffet did not look or taste freshly made. The room was hot (no A/C?). The plates were paper and the cups plastic. The rice was also sitting on top of plastic wrap in the buffet bar, which with heat was essentially melting plastic molecules onto the food. The staff was nice but between the cook and the one waiter, they struggled as customers walked in for pick up orders and attending to the few customers in dining. I hope management learns from this review. As a customer, it was a poor experience. Time to take a renewed perspective from the customer point of view and examine the aesthetics and experience. The presentation of the food in the buffet bar appeared unappealing. The restroom was not clean and the paper towel dispenser did not work. I noticed a bunch of awards at the front entrance from 2015 and 2016. It's been over 5 years, and I hope you all live up to that again. However, after writing this review and reading some of your recent ones, I seriously doubt you will change anything because you're making enough of a profit not to...

Poor customer service!!! Wish I could give zero stars!!! Called restaurant to inform them that my Naan bread was missing & I paid $2.00 additional for the bread. The lady would not even accommodate the missing item. Instead she argued that she packed the bag and even had a male worker get on the phone and tell me what he packed (as if the door dash driver only removed the bread.) My total was approximately $55 dollars and I have ordered from them many times before so I guess it was more important to not refund me $2 and to lose my business altogether than to accommodate a loyal customer!! I will take my business elsewhere!! Thanks Door dash for the refund! To anyone else if this business gets your order wrong they will not own up to it!!! So beware!! Update *I finally received a response to this review after approx 1 month only to be further insulted being called sir....I'm a ma'am or customer would even be appropriate since you aren't sure!! Next, Door dash did give me a refund so there was no need to address the refund "policy" in your month later response to my review...my issue was r/t poor the customer service. It would have been easier to provide information about contacting door dash for a refund when I called you business rather than argue with me that you put the naan bread in...very...