Swagat Indian Cuisine - NW — Restaurant in Portland

I can only assume the positive reviews come from clueless people that have never eaten good Indian food. Extremely disappointed. Let's break this review into two sections, service and food. Service: If you are going to open during a pandemic, please do not run your restaurant on Skeleton staff, where the server feels the need to rush patrons from the point of touching the menu to finishing their meal. I felt utterly rushed by the server through the entire experience, rushed to order, eat, and pay. The result was a very uncomfortable and unrelaxing experience. Even if the food were good, the service would not make me come back.

Food: My son does not like spicy food (however, he loves Kormas), and as we all know, a Korma is a very mild dish, which would be a good choice. When I asked if they made a chicken Korma, I was told the chicken curry was the same. This dish was far from a Korma; this was not a thick gravy braised with yogurt or cream as a Korma should be; it was instead a generic curry sauce with spice. Ok, what's with popadoms with no mango chutney?! This is blasphemy where I come from (united kingdom). And what is with the main dish surrounded by a multitude of condiments? Where am I meant to put this? The small helping of rice barely balances with the sauce from the main dish. Two, naan bread does not even begin to justify the overuse of condiments. The whole configuration of the dinner here is way off. My malai Kofta was ok, nothing more. Sum-up: This Americanised Indian food is subpar at best. I highly recommend you try...

I was so excited to try this place so I convinced my family this would be the "BEST" indian food in Portland. I come from a place where we have the best Indian in all of Canada hands down!

1.) My moms dosa was hard as a rock and cold as ice- definitely undercooked as well. I have had South Indian food since I was a little kid and this was not a dosa! We talked to the server . Yes, they changed it (much appreciated) but still wasn't a dosa. It was yet slightly lukewarm but mostly cold - like it was pre-made.

2.)The thali was fantastic but we waited for extra rice since we had too much curry left for about 20- 25 mins. It finally came when we asked. Should have not needed to ask the waitress as we were being ignored after the cold dosa instance.

3.) I wanted water- I understand things get busy- but the waitress was not paying attention at all. After a while only 3 tables were left as mostly the dinner rush was gone. I have travelled to many countries and the water is topped off without being asked once! I left my glass as a signal on the edge- took 25 minutes yet again and that too after asking!!! Ridiculous.

If it takes 20 minutes to ask for water and not get the service I hoped for- it is super disappointing when you are so excited to eat there!

It was my first time in Portland so I did not know any better. I would NOT RECOMMEND Swagat to anyone unless they really improve their service and the reasons are listed above! I didn't feel "Swagat" at all- more like ignored. Super disappointing dinner...

NOT FOR INDIANS. DO NOT WASTE TIME OR MONEY. This place is overrated. Veg food is horrible. Ordered Malai Kofta and Paneer Tikka Masala, Garlic naan, Roti. They don't have Salted Lassi only Mango Lassi (guess its easier to just pour from a pre-made gallon of Mango Lassi). Both vegetables were just watered down TOMOATO SOUP one with (frozen) kofta and other with some onions n few pieces of paneer. Super watery that once served in the plate it just flowed everywhere and you cant differentiate which subjee is the gravy from. Serve was kind to bring us a substitute Veg Masala, which was even worse, red color WATER with boiled frozen vegetables - peas, green beans, carrot the same frozen veg pack you get at Walmart. We thought lets just eat dal rice and fill up our stomach. Dal was over cooked and hyper bland with large leaves of spinach. HORRIBLE subjee after subjee and now they cant even get basic yellow Dal right. Simply disgusting. Only savior was some plain white rice and garlic naan. My fellow Veg Indian fiends save your self and find a different restaurant unless you like to stay hungry.

Management - Apparently when I tried to share feedback there was no manager on duty on a Saturday evening (likely the most busy day of the week). The bar tender showed up, listened, nodded and said OK and walked away. Glad he at least did discount the subjee. Your server on the other hand was apologetic, calm, very considerate and definitely provided an A+...