Sher-e-Punjab — Restaurant in Tucson

We have a tradition of parent-child date nights in our house, and tonight was Father-Daughter date night. My daughter loves Indian food, but I had not taken here here yet (I have been several times over the years). Keep in mind we went with the intention of bringing home leftovers for the rest of the family and for lunch. This also allows us to sample a variety of dishes when going to a new restaurant. We had two servers, but Ni-Shae (sp?) was our primary and took great care of us. The entire staff was friendly, attentive and quick.

We started with a the Keema Samosa and Gobi Pakora. Both came out quickly and piping hot. Both had very good flavor and crunch. I definitely liked the spice of the lamb in the samosa, but the cauliflower was also excellent.

For entrees we started with both garlic and cheese naan. As my daughter put it, they set the bar for naan at this spot. It was some of the fluffiest naan I have ever had. To get a full range of dishes we tried the lamb rogan josh (hot) which had a great flavor and very tender lamb, but was not as spicy as I expected. My daughter loves vindaloo so we decided to try the shrimp vindaloo (med). Again this had great flavor with well cooked shrimp and potatoes, but I personally could have used a bit more vinegar or acid, as that is what I am used to in a vindaloo. For a veggie dish we tried the aloo gobi (hot) and this was our favorite of the night. It had a great spice level, but not enough to overpower the dish, and both the cauliflower and the potatoes were tender but not mushy. I dread overcooked potatoes and veggies. Finally, on a whim, my daughter wanted to try the egg biryani. This was a surprise to me, as I had never ordered it before. It had a lovely warm spice and aroma and was a perfect compliment to the rest of the dishes.

Overall, another very nice meal at...

We've been wanting to try this place for a while, even though it's a little bit out of the way for us. We finally decided to go last night. It started out so well, but it went downhill... They have lots of vegetarian options to choose from. We ordered the palak chana, aloo gobi, and navratan korma. They were really good - each had rich, layered flavors. We were really enjoying everything until about half-way through, when I took a bite of the palak and got a foot-long hair in my mouth! I'm not one to get easily grossed out, so I didn't freak out. I put it aside and kept eating. Of course, I did not really have the appetite that I had before. While we were waiting for the waitress to come back so I could tell her about the hair, a young guy in a hoodie approached our table and said he was fundraising for some org we had never heard of and asked if we would donate. We declined because we didn't have any cash and we weren't about to give some rando our credit card (he had a card reader in his pocket!). So at this point, I am just annoyed. What kind of restaurant allows people to be harassed for $$$ at their tables while eating? Anyway, when the waitress finally came back to our table, I told her about the hair and pointed to it. She looked genuinely horrified and stared at it for a few seconds. Then she muttered some version of an apology and left to get our check. When the check came, there was no discount or anything. No manager came to our table. I have no idea if she even told anyone else about it. So we paid and left. I'm torn because the food was REALLY GOOD (minus the hair!), but the experience wasn't great and we didn't feel appreciated. So we may go back someday if we're nearby, but we certainly won't go...

As a long time Sher-e-Punjab customer (10+ years), I gave them a 4 star review nearly a decade ago as it was easily the best Indian food you could get in town. Unfortunately, as the years have gone on, I feel there has been a significant reduction in quality to the point that I don't know if I will be going back anytime soon.

Many of the curries seem to lack the same level of spices as they used to. The keema samosa is basically just ground lamb and not much else. The kashmiri rice is does not even seem to have any real flavor when compared to the plain white rice. The flavor of the curries and samosas used to be so rich, but on my most recent visit late 12/24, the curries were extremely muted, lacking any real flavor :(

This diminishing quality has been noticed by my friends as well who are also regulars.

My friends and I have limited our visits over the last year or so as the quality has continually declined, but this most recent visit has almost solidified that I will be looking at other options going forward, as it has reached a point where it's difficult to justify the price if all you get are extremely bland curries that lack the spice/flavor profile that they did 5 years ago

To their credit, the appearance is top notch now, and the service has always been impeccable, both of which continue to improve all the time. Unfortunately as the place has improved, the quality hasn't. I am sad to say I probably will not be going back...