Ridiculous delivery minimum

[jcgirl]

I called that Indian place, Cafe Spice, last night and they told me that the minimum for delivery now is $25.

On principle alone, I won't order anymore take-out from them.

What a rip-off.

[GreenPlanet]

Wow, that is really high...I'm surprised they would require that much considering they are located within such a close proximity to all of these highrises. Either way, it's not worth wasting your money on their food, it is truly sub-par at best. I personally hope they go out of business and get replaced by a quality Indian restaurant. The few times I've tried CS have been very disappointing (small portions and over-priced entrees).

There is a place I just tried for the first time called Rasoi, and I was quite impressed. They are located near Journal Square, but they do deliver to Newport (it just takes a while, our order on Saturday evening took 1 hour). But, it was totally worth it, the food was absolutely excellent and the prices quite reasonable. My roommate & I tried their Chicken Saag, Vindaloo, 2 orders of Samosa, an order of Chicken Pakoras and some naan as well. We even had leftovers the next day which were great, and believe me we can eat. I highly reccommend trying this place, just leave a little extra time b/c it will take them a while to get here. Their website is:

http://rasoiindianrestaurant.com/index.htm

Enjoy...!

GP

[Puneet]

I have eaten at Rasoi once so I can second the recommendation. The food is above average andthe prices are reasonable.

[sanjupan]

As mentioned, its a rip-off even you visit them.
I wd say you saved your money by not ordering.
Apart from not-so-great food even the ambience or service doesnt justify the cost. Pretty noisy place with music volume varying on a cheap sound system and not so kid friendly. Was there last weekend and after ordering special dishes for my kid, I was like "Can my kid have a plate"? then later "Please Can my kid have a spoon and fork to eat with" then "Can you give a napkin for my kid too!"
That was my first and last visit.
Rasoi looks tempting at least for a home delivery.

[hydroxide]

Agree with your comments. Been there only once. They over-charged me and were completely unapologetic. I will never patronize them again.

[Indian]

Never liked Cafe Spice...You saved your money by not placing your order with them. Totally not worth it.
I agree with Green Planet, Newport does need a good quality Indian Restaurant, though NY City is quite close and so is JSQ, but it always is convenient if we have something near by.

[Butchcjg]

We tried Cafe Spice when we first moved here...it looks so pretty inside and we were excited to have Indian nearby. BLAH. It was bad. The food isn't very authentic, it's wayyyy too spicy for my tastes, and it's overpriced. No thanks, never went there again.

Does anyone know if Amiya is better? Or, should I stick with NYC?

[07310]

We tried Cafe Spice when we first moved here...it looks so pretty inside and we were excited to have Indian nearby. BLAH. It was bad. The food isn't very authentic, it's wayyyy too spicy for my tastes, and it's overpriced. No thanks, never went there again.

Does anyone know if Amiya is better? Or, should I stick with NYC?
I've been to Amiya several time and have liked it, I've been told the foods "authentic" but don't really know, it is very spicy.

[venus_aisle]

Ameya food is very good in my opinion and so is their service. Their Ras-Malai's ( a desert) is one of the best I've ever eaten.

I'm totally in agreement that CS ****s! Once my friends from out of town were vsiting and I took them to CS. We ordered fod and everything was great till then. Then the waitress serves a plate of samosas which we hadnt ordered. Since were were all busy talking, we didnt realize it and we ate it. The waitress actually came to claim the samosas and then had the nerve to yell at us for eating it. Since we didnt want to make a scene, we just told her to charge it to us, but this is ridiculious. We are all well-off and would have spent a lot of money there on food and drinks, but we hardly ate anything and went somewhere else for drinks instead. The rudest staff I've ever seen.

Oh yeah and once during brunch hour, I was with a friend and we ordered just one brunch item since my friend wasnt hungry. Now, the brunch plate has a fixed quantity of food, its not buffet style. When my friend tasted some food from my plate, the server actually told us that the food is for one person only and we cannot share it. Isnt this ridiculious, If i'm paying for a fixed quantity who cares if I eat it, share it or give it to my dog.. Needless to say, I have personally boycotted this place..

[GreenPlanet]

solid post venus, i couldn't agree more.

i hereby second the motion and agree to personally boycott CS from here till kingdom come.

an afterthought: i do believe our community has the ability to move forward from this point, if a majority of us take interest and create change it will happen!

[Humanoid]

I remember having lunch at Cafe Spice some time ago, and they served very little rice with the food I ordered. When I asked for more rice, they complied and then charged me $5 for it. On another occasion I also "stumbled" on a little stone in food and it actually chipped off part of my tooth... Their prices are somewhat high as well...
Haven't been to that place for a very long time, have no desire to visit them again...

[Tiger7]

CS taste is ok, but entry quantity is less and is over priced. people are average friendly. well, it all depends on their mood. :(

AMIYA is very baaaaaad in attitude. The other evening we went with our kid, and I have to ask 3 or 4 times for high chair, and for extra plate.
Biryani Rice was so hard that my hands doubted if its cooked. When I told the lady (owner I suppose) how hard the rice is, instead of an apolody for the discomfort or changing the serving, she just say "ooh ok, I will inform my chef".. well, then what abt the 2 biryani's on my table?? into air??
we did not complete our dinner (seriously) and left the place.

I find some Indian Restaurent menu's with door man (mostly the Grove St ones), and I call to order, and after all the ordering they say that the minimum is $15, but I clearly see its written as $10 on their menu. when I ask Y, they say that the menu is OLD. always OLD??

[renuka]

CS is good for certain items - I can't say I've had a bad dining experience there but $25 for delivery seems a bit steep. I was curious so I called and today they said the minimum is $20. Amiya's is $15 but I agree with Tiger that the food is pretty bad in terms of the quality esp. the rice - we had a similar experience. Also, they used the same serving spoons they use in the entree to serve our dessert without washing the spoons!! Obviously the dessert tasted of spices etc... When we complained they said it's not that bad ! :(

[Puneet]

an afterthought: i do believe our community has the ability to move forward from this point, if a majority of us take interest and create change it will happen!

Would it be possible to create a forum with sticky threads for all the restaurants in the area. People could then post their experiences there. We already have a couple of threads - one for Azucar and one for CS.

I know there is already a section on this website which contains member's ratings of the restauarant. However that does not give an idea of the good and bad points of a restaurant.

[jcgirl]

Renuka,

Interesting that they've told you $20.

I'll have to try Rasoi again; I got food from there a year or so back and thought it was just o.k.

Unfortunately, with the restaurants by Newport, like with Lefrak, it's a question of "Hey, too bad, you don't like it? Good, where else are you going to go?"

[JimGee]

Karma Kafe in HOB is excellent. Best Indian food I've had in NJ. Not sure if they deliver here, tho.

--
JG

[Sergei]

Would it be possible to create a forum with sticky threads for all the restaurants in the area. People could then post their experiences there. We already have a couple of threads - one for Azucar and one for CS.

I know there is already a section on this website which contains member's ratings of the restauarant. However that does not give an idea of the good and bad points of a restaurant.

Good idea. Here it is: http://newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/showthread.php?t=2097