My wife and I were ready to visit our favorite Indian restaurant. I decided to check out the competition and after reading reviews, I felt compelled to try Charminar, instead!

Bonus: proximity; saved time, and gas $.

We typically order Butter Chicken, Chicken Biryani, Tandoori Chicken, and Chicken Tikka Masala! Add, mango lassi when the mood strikes. The verdict? The food was savory, default spice levels wonderful, chicken was tender, and blend of flavors were perfect for my taste. The Tandoori Chicken set the tone for the rest of the experience; loved it!

Now for the ratings:

Overall 4.75/5 great food, good service, fair value, nice ambiance. Superior experience to most $$ restaurants in the area.

Value 4/5 not stingy with meat, but not generous either on two dishes. Still better than most.

Tandoori Chicken 5/5 Order it, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Want smoke infused flavor, you may not like. But judging on its own merits.. I find no fault. My only complaint is I would have liked another piece of chicken for the price!

Chicken 65 Biryani 4.25/5 this dish was good, but a bit pricey. Love biryani? You won’t be disappointed. The portion was fair, but not their best. ($ better spent on more tandoori chicken!)

Butter Chicken 4.5/5 great, but just a few more pieces of chicken or include basmati rice would perfect this meal.

Naan (Garlic)(Chili Garlic Naan) 4.75/5

Naan is quite good, few places serve naan of this quality. No complaints here.

The overall experience was great! I rarely feel that way about restaurants.

End.

To management:

Let’s face it, no business is perfect and I want my feedback to be useful. (Hence ratings) I weigh value, service and ‘the little things’ highly; and I believe all businesses have to up their game during inflationary times. This establishment was good, but not great in this category.

I really am nitpicking, now! The food was a home run, now for ‘the little things’

I am not a fan of places that make you buy rice for curries (minus biryani). Some businesses incorporate rice cost into the pricing model for entrees, others charge extra. Charging for rice starts to feel like I’m being nickel-and-dimed, or, inability to connect with customers with more modest incomes. For fancier rice, a premium is fine, but you’re in Mira Mesa, not La Jolla/Del Mar; everyone is feeling the sting of inflationary pressure. Price accordingly.

Next, the establishment is clean and classy compared to the lot/location. Feels like a good place for dates, coworkers, or friends to have a meal. One thing I didn’t feel was that it was kid friendly. I want to bring my 10 year old, but the family vibe —maybe by design— wasn’t there. I’ll visit again with the little one and see how she feels.

Final nitpick, and it’s a doozy! The water was truly unspectacular. What a weird critique, eh? Serve chilled or iced water, or throw a lime, lemon, or cucumber slice.. do something, anything to make it interesting — room temperature water wasn’t the best to contrast the heat from some of the dishes. I was thirsty, but the unspectacular water turned me off and I didn’t care to pay for drinks marked up 5-10x cost.

Also, I felt guilty drinking my ‘complimentary fountain drink’ (aka. coke can), if you’re going to provide gifts to encourage patronage, do it w/ no strings. (Say, “if you enjoyed your experience, please kindly review on google/yelp; we hope to see you back soon!”. That’s it, else you have a bunch of folks complaining about in their reviews.

I hope you take the feedback to heart. If not feasible (comp rice, better water, 15-20% more meat) then price it in, or have promos e.g buy 2 entrees, receive complimentary rice. Get creative, but keep prices steady; any higher and the value proposition is gone.

Nitpicking aside, Charminar is a 5/5 establishment!

Finito!