Madras Ananda Bhavan, Phoenix, Arizona, Vegan-friendly Restaurant Details

Food:

Very bad service and not-so-great-food. Owner and staff almost discriminates against Indians.. As soon as a white guy enters, all attention goes to him and the Indians are not taken care of.. I mean, seriously? I think, these folks need to get educated on hospitality. Before that, I would say, that please don't take any set of people for granted. We don't walk in to a restaurant to be subject to discrimination.

Next, we ordered pani puri and they gave us with "masala dosa" stuffing. I mean, that's crazy.. Its like having salsa on top of pizza and saying that its topped with tomatoes and onions.

Food:

I wish there was a no star option. Let's start with the fact that this place does not believe in serving ice. Add that to the seeming lack of air conditioning, I was uncomfortable and thirsty the whole time. They start you with a bottle of spring water and then it takes them 15 minutes if you ask for something else. When they bring you a different drink, DON'T expect it to be very cold or on ice..you will be disappointed.

I brought my 5 year old niece with me and she obviously ate nothing from the buffet (what kid would like it if even I had to force it down??!) Despite that, the lady proceeded to charge us for 3 regular adult meals.

There were maybe three dishes on the buffet that I liked a little bit. Their dessert wasnt even worth going up for. I am writing this on our way home from this place and I am so full of regret. My favorite Indian place to eat at is India Oven in Mesa and I will never cheat on them again. Their buffet is delicious, dessert is amazing, service is attentive and wonderful, and their $&^#ing drinks are ICE COLD and ALWAYS full.

Food:

I have lived in the area for 10 years and decided to stop in and try the lunch buffet. I thought the food was great it would have been a perfect match in price if they dropped the cost down to $9.99 . The wait staff was nice but there wasn't much direction, when my room mate and i walked in for lunch the hostess/waitress brought us to our table gave us water and left. After about 10 minutes we figured out that you just go up and get a plate without indicating what you wanted to you order or paying for your meal. Their was one line for the the buffet the tables were clustered together causing constant jams in the flow of customers. The buffet was set up in a very inefficient way , the currys came first down the line muddled with a couple soup options then came the rice which split the curry selection in two followed by the sweets which there was no barrier defining where one started and ended , the salad was at the end with sauces followed by another small dessert selection of a donut type concoction. Suffice it to say it was at first hard to get a grip on when i took a bite of tandoori chicken with rice and the rice turned out to be a sweet carrot rice dessert. Once i figured out the lay of the land it was great , from curry goat to tandoori chicken with some Sambar soup yummy and chicken biryani delicous.... all in all a good experience i will definitely go back.

Food:

I decided to try this place despite the review about no salt.
I don't know what that other guy was talking about, there was salt on every table. I'm glad I came. authentic decore, and food. the Onion Rava Masala Dosai was excellent, as were the Gobi Manchurian, and Malai Kofta.

I'm a white guy so Indian food is not always my first choice, but I was pleasantly surprised. it wasn't too strong for my palate. the Gobi Manchurian by the way only sounds spicy, it was quite sweet.

Also I would like to point out the place was very clean, and had white table cloth without white table cloth prices.
~$10
A definite try.
-Jeff Cornelius

Food:

Wow..Thats a great food. After a long time, I ate the idli that tasted authentic. The masala dosa served in buffet was also awesome. The Sambar was aromatic and it increased my appetite. They served me 7 varieties of deserts..never ever in a buffet i ate in USA. Non-veg lovers may not like this place because there is no non-veg food available here. Well that is what this place is famous for ..The vegetarian food. I am from South India and I liked every dish in the buffet menu. I am a spicy food lover. I wished the biriyani tasted little spicy but that was ok. Totally I enjoyed dining food here and I will definitely come back.

Service was decent and I felt there need to be little improvement in ambiance. But over all it was a decent place to dine good Vegetarian food.