Southern Spice — Restaurant in Redmond

To the owner of restaurant

Today, December 7 2024, around 1:10 PM, my American 🇺🇸 friend and I visited this restaurant. I rarely eat out, especially after months of following a strict workout and diet routine. I initially came for à la carte, which is what I usually prefer. However, I noticed that the restaurant also offered a buffet, something I wasn’t aware of before.

The waiter recommended trying the buffet, stating that it was a better value and offered more variety compared to the à la carte menu. My American 🇺🇸 friend was also more interested in the buffet, so we decided to go for it.

Unfortunately, our experience took a turn for the worse. While the concept of a buffet typically means there are no limits on how much you can eat or how long ⏰ you can sit and enjoy your meal, after just 40 minutes, the owner of the restaurant began staring at us with what can only be described as “crazy looks.” It was extremely uncomfortable.

At one point, the owner even approached us and asked, “Are you guys done eating?” He then spread his hands on the table between us on an eating plates in a dismissive manner and said, “You guys can’t sit here all day.” This interaction was not only rude but also made us feel completely unwelcome. It became clear that the owner did not want us to eat any more or stay longer, which is not what you expect when you pay for a buffet experience. My American 🇺🇸 friend was more shocked and felt really bad about the situation.

To the owner: If you have rules or restrictions on how long customers can stay ⏰ or how much they can eat 🍽️ at the buffet, those rules should be made clear in advance. Otherwise, what is the point of offering a buffet in the first place? Your behavior and attitude completely ruined the experience for us, and we did not feel welcomed by your actions or the atmosphere you created.

I am leaving a 1-star ⭐️ review because of the poor service and the unprofessional attitude displayed by the owner. I hope you take this feedback seriously and improve your customer service...

I visited Southern Spice Bellevue today with my wife and kid, the place was moderately occupied. We ordered Bezwada Lamb Biryani (used to be our regular here) but this time we ordered it with Mild Spice level since we were having it after a long time like almost 3-4 months. This used to be our regular Biryani here (medium spice level). It never disappointed us but this time the story was altogether different. The staff was different and the service was not up to the mark as it used to be before. We started with the Biryani and in 2-3 min both me and my wife were into tears, and I was sweating a lot and it was due to excess spice in Biryani. We asked for mild spice level and the Biryani was almost on the high spice level. We were somehow just able to finish 30% of the Biryani since we were quite hungry. We talked to our steward about this and also with the manager there. The steward explained us that this is the mild Biryani itself and he tried to convince us by giving some or the other reason. After a lot of back and forth, they offered us to remake the same Biryani with mild spice level. We were happy and since we were getting late we asked them to pack it in a to-go box. We waited for almost 10 min and then we got the Biryani. To our surprise the box felt lighter than expected but since we were in a hurry and our son got cranky we rushed to our home. When we reached and opened the to-go box, we were surprised by what they meant by remaking the Biryani with mild flavor. The un-finished biryani what they took from our table, in that they just mixed some white rice on top of it and gave it back to us. This was not the kind of service and quality we were expecting from an Indian restaurant like Southern Spice. I am not sure if the cook changed or what but the Lamb Biryani is not the same as...

Update 6 months later The place has gone downhill fast. We recommended this place to friends based on our original experience.

All the food was way spicier than the last time. My eight year old couldn’t even eat anything beyond a couple of pieces of washed paneer and the dessert. Same with one adult fried that can’t handle a lot of spice.

Service went downhill. They never removed the used plates until we asked them multiple times. We ended up stacking used plates under clean ones.

Food wasn’t being refilled. Half the trays were pretty empty.

The counters weren’t being maintained clean. I saw a customer pull a waiter aside and point out spilled noodles with a long hair on the counter.

Lastly I just called to confirm that an eight year old gets charged half price. When we went, I was charged full price. I asked the guy at the counter twice to confirm and he still charged me full price for him. They tell you half price on the call but don’t honor it.

Original review Post Covid buffets have become a rarity. More so for a decent buffet. For 20 bucks, this was well worth it.

The cuisine has a notable “Andhra” influence. Indian veggies like snake gourd and tindora were alongside more standard buffet dishes like butter vegetables. I’m a meat lover and I thought the veggie dishes were a class above the meat dishes. Though on the meat end the chilli chicken and 555 chicken were good. Instead of the usual naan, I was able to get tandoori roti with my buffet. There is also chai on the buffet on counter by the register.

The bad parts. The gulab jamun was so so since it was hard and not soaked enough. Additionally, there were some customers reusing plates which the restaurant...