O'Desi aroma — Restaurant in Plano

We visited O'Desi Aroma on a Friday afternoon for lunch. This was our 1st visit to this restaurant. We had heard about few positive things about this place. Hence, we thought of giving it a try. The interior of the restaurant looks fine and neatly done. Not too big of a place, but not too small either. Decent one.

Initially, the place was not much crowded, just a couple of customers. But, gradually, as we placed the order and settled down, more and more crowd started trickling in. Nice decent family crowd. We have noticed this quite often. When we visit a restaurant, initially the place would be almost empty, may be a family here and there. But, once we have placed the order and take our seats, the place becomes jam-packed. On a side note, may be we should think of doing Paid-Visits to these restaurants. :) :)

The staff was very courteous. The lady at the Checkout-counter was very helpful in helping us with our choice. She seems to be the Manager. This restaurant is kind of half self-service. We place the order, they give us the number plate, and then they will serve the order at our table.

There were quite a few Combo options. But, we chose A-la-carte. We are pure vegetarians, and there were quite a few veg options. We ordered Butter Naan, Spicy Vindaloo and Veg Biryani. The taste was really good. Spice level was as we had ordered, we had asked for extra spicy.

The Manager lady was courteous enough to enquire with us about the taste of the food a couple of times. Nice welcome attitude. The only negative is the quantity of the food for the price you pay. For just the 2 of us, we did not find the food sufficient. Usually, with Naan, a curry and Biryani, we have to use a To-Go box for the left-overs. But, here, even after finishing off the food, we were still hungry. Remember, the price is not too cheap either. So, I guess, they need to work on the quantity of the food on each order.

Otherwise, the taste, quality and spice level of the food is really amazing ! Great...

The Chicken Kebab Combo should really be called a duo or trio (depending on your preference for the starch). Four decent sized pieces of chicken, very moist inside, with an above average taste. I would have preferred an extra minute or more on the grill for the chicken pieces, but then each cook knows how to accommodate the masses. The accompanying Pindi Channa was good, but the (Plain, by request) Naan wasn't up to expectations for restaurant quality. Perhaps, a fast food place could be forgiven on this score, but I like my Naan just a little thicker. Better still call it crisp Roti and forget about meeting expectations with a proper Naan.

The Murgh Nazakat was good too with four tender succulent pieces of chicken submerged in a bowl. Glad that I opted for rice instead of Naan to soak up the liberal dressing of "liquids" in the bowl. The grilling of the chicken was lost in the liquids but the flavor of the spices remained gentle.

The menu is limited to the wall (long live kiosk monitors, eh?) above the order desk. No printed copies are available to browse leisurely while seated at the table - fast-food concept strikes again! The money saved in printing menus is probably "donated" to the IT company serving the kiosk and other order entry apps. Give the IT company more money to build an app to let customers order while seated at the table. Perhaps, this app already exists, but I was not made aware.

There is no tea service - remarkable for a "desi" food joint. You can have all the Lassi you want as long as you like the Mango flavor. It is bottled by the ODA chain and the absence of other flavors was not explored...

After hearing their add on funasia drove to Plano from Irving to try their unlimited thali(veg) over the weekend. It was around 12.99 with butter naan option. Except fresh naans, every thing else was just average. Definitely not worth the price. I would go for buffet some where else for the same price plus more. Their appetizer and desert size is too small(too small even for the 3 year old kid) and are limited. Appetizer and deserts were the only 2 things, I felt it tasted good but what a small portion it was!. What they call "unlimited" is just name sake. Service is too slow. If you ask more curry, it will arrive after 10 minutes or so. Till then you will fill stomach by having some thing else. and the staffs are not welcoming while serving the portions if asked more. It either their gesture or the wait, it will refrain you asking more of curries, naan or rice. Over all I did not feel its worth the money and would not be returning.

• EDIT after owner response* Every thing was unlimited over the weekend? If so, please train your staffs accordingly. They served 1 quarter sized tikkis for appetizer per thali and when I asked 2 more piece they said its limited and I cannot have more. Dessert were not served until end of the meal. When I called staff, they came after 5-6 minutes or so and said I need to pay and order desserts. I said, are you sure? Can you confirm with some one else? Then the guy went in and bought again 1 quarter sized ras maali per thali. I was very disappointed by the gesture of your staffs while serving the food. I am okay with limited options but please do not call its unlimited and...