Madras Pavilion

08/09/09

Bad Service and Shady Business Practices

by Elvesa at Citysearch

This is the e-mail I sent to them. Another thing I left out was there was no soap in the restroom, that's just gross!

"I visited your Houston location on 8-9-09 and was not pleased with your service. I had to ask for my ice tea 4 times and wait about 15 minutes before it was served. The lady at the next table received her ice tea right away just because her husband was able to speak spanish. This is so unclassy of a restaurant to have to speak spanish to get proper service. It also took about 20 minutes to get my dosa. Also when we tried to pay the cashier tried to charge us $28 for a buffet for two. After he was questioned about the price, he then tried to cover it up by making an excuse that he was from the Sugar Land location and didn't know what he was doing so it ended up being $24. On a previous visit, there was another suspicious practice going on. As we attempted to pay with a credit card the cashier asked if we had cash. I have also noticed that you do not give itemized receipts. This sounds like a classic way of hiding income to avoid taxes. This issue will be reported and you will be investigated. To sum things up it took effort to get service and you tried to cheat us out of our money. I will not be coming back and will make sure to spread the word through word of mouth and the internet."

• Pros: its vegetarian
• Cons: alot

05/04/09

Real Indian food

by colt45 at Citysearch

You know this is the real deal when you walk in. Lots of Indians eating there.

I got the meal that comes with like nine courses. These little plates kept coming and coming. Creamed spinach, Curried potatos, Chick peas, lots of mystery stuff. I don't know what all of it was, but it was all really good. Just with they had some meat. I'll go back for shure.

• Pros: Great food
• Cons: Vegitarian

01/03/09

Place has turned into a mess

by foodreviewer7 at Citysearch

I loved going to this restaurant several years ago. Back then, the owner was around, the food was excellent and authentic, the place was really clean including the restrooms.

Everything has changed now. The rice was undercooked, the flour used to make some of the items like dosa and vada was spolit. You could say the cooking has become very americanized - when the real indian cooks get replaced. The place stinks and the waiters have an attitude. The rest room was not well maintained.

It looks like winning awards several years back has gotten to thier heads.

If this restaurant does not "clean" up its act, it will be shutting down in the near future.

• Cons: Bad cooking, dirty restrooms

09/06/08

Never visit. Better restaurants available in Houston

by msunix at Citysearch

Ambiance: Bad. Nothing has changed over years

Service: Disaster. Waiters stink. Arrogant. No clue about customer service

Hygiene: Doubtful. Entire place smelt of restroom cleaning liquid

Food: Not authentic, poor. Discovered stones, hair, etc.

Food presentation: needs major overhaul

Overall Verdict: 2 thumbs down. Never visit again. Better restaurants available in Houston.

• Pros: none
• Cons: Madras Pavillion

07/01/08

Good South Indian food and not expensive

by duckyfuzz9 at Citysearch

We went for the lunch buffet and we very happy. We are a gringo couple who has had the opportunity to visit India and eat South Indian in South India. This place was very good. I had read a couple other reviews and I expected a cafeteria atmosphere, but its not bad actually. Two buffets were under $20 and it was all vegetarian. Good stuff!

• Pros: all vegetarian, inexpensive
• Cons: most items on buffet were very good, but not all

06/07/08

a cure for your Indian-a Jones

by cmk1126 at Citysearch

This place is usually pretty killer at lunch. Even if the buffet doesn't have any of my favorites, the dosas are always available and are delicious. And this is ALL vegetarian. Cows say, "The competition should moooooove over." Chickens say, "Cluck all those other Indian joints." I couldn't agree more.

06/01/08

Authentic South Indian

by food92 at Citysearch

Went to this place three times, first with my friends and twice with my parents. Even they were pleased with the quality of the lunch buffet (us being south indian, we're really picky). The food isn't tempered at all and they use the right amount of spices. The sambhar and idli are great as are the vadas.

• Pros: Authentic south indian, great coffee
• Cons: long lines, average dosas

03/13/08

Good place to eat

by sr123 at Citysearch

I found this restaurant by chance since I was staying in a nearby hotel. The food here is pretty good. I went there for dinner and ordered North Indian food. And was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the parathas. The entrees too were very good though I did not like the rice dishes. It felt like they were using cheaper quality rice. The restaurant manager is a friendly guy and he goes around chats will everyone. I did not try any South Indian dishes - so cannot comment on that

• Pros: Good indian food at reasonable price
• Cons: Waiter took too long to get the bill

02/09/08

Worth going just for the sambar, but enjoy the rest too!

by eatit2008 at Citysearch

As vegetarians, my wife and I especially like places where we don't have to worry about what was on the grill before our food. At Madras Pavilion, everything is vegetarian, so we enjoy it all. We've taken non-vegetarian guests and they enjoy it too. I've eaten there about 20 times over the years (always the lunch buffet), and it consistently pleases. The dosas brought to the table are always popular. My favorite, however, is the sambar with the idli (sp?--those white, sponge-like things) soaking in it. I could happily eat just that--bowl after bowl--but never do, of course, since the rest of the buffet is always tempting. The location is convenient. The restaurant itself is pretty basic, but I go for the food, not the ambiance. The ambiance I like is being surrounded by lots of happy Indian families, and that is usually the case here. I take that as an endorsement (I'm not Indian) of the quality and authenticity of the food at Madras. On busy weekend lunches there can be a line, but usually the wait is short.

• Pros: delicious South Indian vegetarian buffet, reasonable prices, great sambar
• Cons: plain tables and decor (but who cares when the food is so good?)

11/28/06

Flavorful Vegetarian Indian:- Now Expensive!

by garywise at Citysearch

Lunch buffet is varied and different than most. A little limited with selection, but all the dishes delivered without resorting to fatty, creamy sauces so common to Indian buffets. The spiced potato-stuffed rice crepe (Dhosa) served to each table instead of naan really upped the ante. I particularly enjoyed the eggplant and the mixed (root) vegetable curries, and the hot (!) and sour soup woke up my tastebuds with a vengeance. The place seems clean, full of native indians, with visible, attentive staff. Eat up! UPDATE 10/9/08 What happened? The place was empty, and the 'manager' wouldn't even pick up a pitcher to refill my tea on the third time of asking. He was content to have the poor busboy/greeter/dhosa-maker run around for him while he waved his arms trying to look busy, sometimes on the phone with his back to the dining room. (He ignored me when I entered, not a good sign) The food was awesome, but the bill wasn't. $24 for two vegetarian buffets and un-refilled iced teas. No wonder it's empty!

• Pros: Inexpensive, quality food
• Cons: Selection on buffet, what happened to the service?