Meesha — Restaurant in Seattle

Ok I'm a big fat sucker for prix fixe or chef's tasting menus. You just sit down and wait to be served a series of hand-curated courses. A new modern Indian restaurant promised to bring elevation to Diwali dinner in this $95 per person experience. ⁣ ⁣ Let's go course by course and talk about why we were so disappointed with this meal. ⁣ ⁣ Let's start with dessert: ⁣ Diwali mithai thali - besan halwa, makhana phirni, paan kulfi⁣ The halwa and phirni were fine, better when mixed together, but the paan kulfi was cloyingly sweet. I'm a huge fan of anything paan flavored, but this ice cream left my throat feeling scratchy from the saccharine. ⁣ ⁣ Amuse Bouche:⁣ Mathri cornets - smoked eggplant bharta ⁣ This was the first course I had, and actually was extremely promising. The flavors of the cornet and the bharta were complex and inviting. ⁣ ⁣ First Course:⁣ Bengali Alur chop - potato croquette, bhaja masala, jhal muri⁣ Nothing to write home about. Stale bhel, mis-seasoned potato patty...come on. How you gonna mess up chaat?⁣ ⁣ Second Course:⁣ Kori ghassi- braised chicken, tomato pachadi, akki roti⁣ Ok this one I had a huge problem with. You can't give an oily, greasy saalan and expect a comically small flatbread to balance it all. It left an unsettling feeling in my stomach and acidity up my esophagus. ⁣ ⁣ Third Course:⁣ Tawa macchi - panfried snapper, moong dal chuki, shishito peppers⁣ Fish was well seasoned and perfectly cooked, but the shishito pepper lacked salt. Also, this was the worst dal I've ever tasted. The chef claimed she meant to leave it al dente on purpose, but it was ridiculously dry. Also...why you gotta plate it in such a phallic shape...?⁣ ⁣ Palette Cleanser:⁣ Anardana churan chuski - pomegranate popsicles ⁣ Best thing I had all night, hands down. I had actual dreams about the perfectly spiced popsicle. ⁣ Fourth Course:⁣ Nalli nihari biryani - slow cooked lamb shank stew, awadhi masala, saffron rice, burani raita ⁣ While this was a good course, it was huge compared to the rest of the dishes. I didn't have space left for this, even though O hadn't eaten anything before this meal all day. The garnishes were spectacular, even though the lamb wasn't completely tender. ⁣ ⁣ The aesthetics of the location were lacking as well. The utensils and cutlery were stained and looked as though they hadn't been polished in decades. There wasn't much to remind you that you're in an Indian restaurant, which might be good if you're trying to assimilate yourself, but I hardly feel that's needed. All in all, while this restaurant had a few highlights, I won't be...

Beware! Came here hoping to get a nice Valentine’s Day meal.

For two people, we ordered: Three starters, one main dish, kitchen naan, 2 cocktails

1. Starter: Andhra gobhi 1/5 This dish was supposed to be very refreshing with the crispy cauliflower however it came out extremely oily and burnt. We could barely taste the cauliflower from the burnt areas

2. Starter: Rarah keema po 4/5 The flavor of this dish was perfect, however it was definitely still a bit on the oily side. But if you do have to come here, this would be the only dish I would recommend.

3. Starter: Chandni chowk aloo tikki 3/5 The stuffed potato croquettes were made perfectly but ruined by the excessive amount of sauce they lathered onto the dish. All you could taste was the sourness of the sauce.

4. Main: Lamb Mutton 1/5 Absolutely no flavor. Nothing to say. Meat was so hard and distasteful. Did not eat after the first bite.

5. Kitchen Bread 4/5 Pretty good but definitely different from most other place’s naan… it was glistening with oil

6. Cocktails (Merchant’s Wife & Tipsy Girl) For $19 per cocktail this is just not it. Didn’t taste at all like the ingredients listed in the menu. However the cocktails were definitely quite strong if you like it that way.

Three words wrapped up our entire experience here: OILY, BLAND, RUSHED. No foods to balance out the oils.

Keep in mind, three of our starters came at the same exact time and our main dish came out 5mins after. We felt so rushed the entire time with the pace of food and waiters constantly asking if we were done and if they could take our plates. You can definitely tell that they were trying to increase their turnover rate by how constantly they were coming over and the spacing of tables. The tables were so close that I could hear the people at the table next to us whispering to each other.

After our absolutely terrible experience, we were charged with a mandatory 22% gratuity charge. Total for everything was $150 plus $33 gratuity and $18 tax. Would not eat at this place if it was $20 much less $200.

Disappointed in my own selection of restaurant this Valentine’s Day. Will definitely be booking early next year, so I am not left with this last...

My husband and I are vegetarian and vegan respectively. I ordered the Chana Chaat and my husband ordered paneer do pyaza. There were multiple pieces of chicken in his paneer dish. After a bit of passing the buck around by the servers , we asked to speak to the chef and explained that this a very big deal as a lot of Indians are lifelong vegetarians, many for religious reasons too, and as an establishment that serves Indian cuisine, we expect them to be aware of the culture that they are borrowing from for their livelihood, and respect the sentiments of their audience.

One of the biggest draws for me to visit Meesha was their separate vegan menu, but this incident was a complete trust buster, a big letdown. It is extremely important for restaurants to recognize that having a vegan menu is not a statement of being cool/woke, it is a responsibility towards your customers and their way of life.

The chef was very apologetic and though I cannot say that I do not regret my visit, I was a bit relieved to see her sincerity in acknowledging her mistake. She offered to call the owner but probably couldn't arrange it, so we then had another member of the staff come talk to us. This person, though outwardly apologetic,seemed insincere to me and veered the direction towards "comping the meal and offering free dessert"!!!! I was a bit alarmed to hear this.. because if we were able to come to your "upscale" restaurant in the first place, we're definitely not looking for a free meal... After violating your customers' personal/religious/environmental/life choice, please be careful and respectful in how you're approaching them. It is rather understood that the meal would not be paid for, and also quite obvious that we wouldn't choose to stay on for dessert after an experience like that !!! The offer in itself isn't as much an issue, but a sincere acknowledgment and thorough PROMISE that this would never happen again was far more important to us.

Also, it the owner could have at the very least offered to get on a call/asked for her staff to get our email/number to personally get in touch when possible, it would show that this establishment...