Chutneys Indian Express — Restaurant in Tempe

The short review goes as follows: The food was below average, the service was very poor, and the manager was super rude.

The longer review goes as follows: We travelled to Phoenix as tourists for almost 2 weeks and had the chance to visit many Indian restaurants. We loved all the restaurants and had a very positive experience so far, until that point. We visited Chutneys and ordered Dahi puri, Aloo tiki chaat, and a couple of more things, and a Limca. The owner noticed us talking in Hindi among ourselves and said he was also from the Northern part of India. But his accent suggested otherwise, and then he went inside the kitchen. The restaurant was almost empty, and a video song was playing on a TV behind us in a language that none of us understood. The sound was so loud that we could not hear ourselves talking, and the video of that song suggested that it must be from the 90s, and it was vulgar, obscene, and inappropriate for a family restaurant, and it could make anyone uncomfortable, unless possibly if they understood the language or might have seen it before. I looked around to either ask them to reduce the volume or change the video, but since everyone was in the kitchen and the remote was in front of me, I took the liberty of changing the song to something that was more appropriate. Within the next 10 seconds, someone from the kitchen came out, asking if I changed it, to which I explained the reason. I can see her facial expressions suggesting she did mind me changing the video and she again went back inside. The first dish that we ordered arrived after 40 minutes of ordering. It was dahi puri. We noticed that some of the puri were broken and still had the potatoes were on top of the broken puris. It did not had any sev on it. There were eight puris or so. Since we were so hungry, each of us took one puri and ate it and we felt like we were just eating puris. The stuffing was at its bare minimum, and it did not taste like Dahi puri. The chutneys felt like flavored water and had very liquid consistency. Our second order of Aloo tiki came and upon closer inspection we could clearly see that it was samosa and not tikki. And instead of Limca, we got Sprite. So, we went to the manager, explaining our dissatisfaction with everything we ordered, and he started yelling at us. He shouted at us and said that he was confident that the dahi puri does not come with sev, whatsoever. He also argued that we were confusing aloo tikki with samosa. At one point, I took the samosa and washed it to remove the chutney and yogurt, showing that it was indeed a samosa. To this, he said that it is how their chef prepares it by using their special coating. Regarding Limca and Sprite, he said that since both are lemon-based drinks, it is OK to switch them, even though we were charged for Limca and not Sprite, and Limca was a dollar more expensive. When we said that we could not eat the food and asked for a refund, he took the plate and smacked it on the counter, saying, "We do not deserve the food." He did charge us for Sev puri and Aloo (Samosa) chaat and gave us a refund for the other food that did not arrive after one hour of ordering.

Being someone who loves travelling and exploring different cuisines, this was by far my worst experience. We were not disappointed by the food as much as by the manager’s attitude. He was the kind of guy who wouldn’t care about the reputation of the restaurant. At one point, his tone seemed threatening. When I read other reviews, I felt that we were not the only ones who experienced this. I believe that the staff should be changed, or else the only customers at that restaurant will be the first timers and, most...

Update: unfortunately, I will have to change my rating. I went to get take out for the first time opposed to using UberEats. We waited an hour for the food, and as we were looking at the time on the receipt, we noticed the order was wrong. Others who came in long after us were getting food so after that hour, we just wanted a refund. When asked, the staff instead went into the back and came back maybe 10 min later with food to go. It is very unsettling that all of the food comes from a window and everyone is breathing on/touching the food because no one knows what belongs to who, it is up to you to figure out what is yours. We ordered momos and got noodles instead, as well as the bhature that we ordered was absolutely raw and undercooked, almost falling apart. As someone who often cooks bhature at home, it was not cooked properly. It is disappointing to say the least, as we ordered from Chutney’s all the time before this. It was basically impossible to talk to the staff, since it was so busy. They really need more staff, as the restaurant was packed but the majority did not have their food and there was no order to how the food came out. The orders coming out were entirely random, an order for two people could come out at totally different times. We were not able to eat the food and by the time we left, all the other restaurants were closed. This took about an hour and a half overall.

The veg momos are a must try! I order them every time I eat here. I also like their pani puri, noodles, and garlic cauliflower. It’s great to have the vegan options! The food takes a while, but good food takes time to prepare so I would say it’s worth it even if you have...

First of all I’m quite regular at this place for Indo-Chinese food and my experience has been mixed but mostly good.

Here’s my rating on all the menu items which I’ve tried at Chutney Express

(1) Veg or Burn Garlic Fried Rice: 4/5

(2) Crispy Honey Chilli Potato: 3.5/5

(3) Chicken Lolipop: 3.5/5 but atleast 2-3 times I did not receive fresh chicken with a weird taste so I stopped ordering this item.

(4) Pan Fried Chilli Panner: 5/5 It’s the best on their menu

(5) Chicken Tacos: 5/5 (my only recommendation make 5 pieces instead of 3)

(6) Cruncy/Afghan Momo: 2.5/5

(7) Manchurian Momo: 3.5/5

(8) Butter/ Chicken Tikka Masala: 3/5

(9) Paneer Tikka Masala: 4/5 Con; They don’t give complimentary rice with the curry which is given at all other places and due to limited space they don’t have the setup to make in-house fresh naan)

(10) Thai Curry: 3/5

(11) Biryani: This is quite inconsistent over the time. My go-to is Chicken 65 Biryani.

Before the Chef Change in 2022: 4.5/5 After Chef Change in early 2023: 2.5/5 (I’ve discussed about it with the owner. He recommended to try it again as they gone back to their old style of Biryani preparation) My last try after the owner recommendation: 1/5 (sadly). It’s no longer the same and actually gone down further.

Try Bawarchi Biryani for Biryanis (They are among the best- goat and vijaywada chicken biryani)

I’ve tried the goat biryani at Chutney as well: 3/5 (Owner recommended: they say it’s fresh Baby Goat, but the quantity was far too less as compared to the Chicken 65 biryani, and the taste was average)

(12) Mango Mastani: 4/5 but a little pricey

Overall Rating:...