Video Visit: Khatta Mitha & Ming III

Mayuri Indian Cuisine

Mayuri Indian Cuisine

30 Lyman Street
Westborough, MA 01581

508-898-1888

Is it fair to do a review on a restaurant shortly after their opening?

My view is if a place is open, taking my hard earned cash, they should have the basics right.  There may be some issues more of a shakedown variety, and the energy of a new place often carries this.

Mayuri Indian Cuisine opened April 28, and my visit one week later qualifies as new.  Westborough diners will recognize the interior as Il Forno’s, right down to the little boxy waiting area.  In fact, the whole restaurant is a big rectangle, and would benefit from some interrupted sightlines making it feel a little less like a bowling alley.

 I was quickly seated in a corner of the sparsely occupied restaurant.  The polite staff seemed unsure of themselves, as evidenced by the floor supervisor coming over to remove the extra place settings at my table.

Mayuri means ‘peacock’ in English; the peacock is the national bird of India.

While the “under construction” website suggests they have wine, the signs at the table suggest Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB.)

The floor supervisor came over to take my order.  (At this writing, I am still not sure who was supposed to wait my table.  There seemed to be a large number of people dropping things off.)

I decided on a Number 11 – Chicken Pakora.  Think lentil battered fried chicken strips.  The waiter forgot to bring chutney, an error the floor supervisor offered to correct.

As I sat waiting for my main course, I observed:

• Deserts are from Bollywood Delights.  I am not a fan of desert company signs at tables.  What was particularly funny about these signs were you needed to put two together (from another table) to see the whole menu.

• I was also intrigued with the approach to cleaning tables.  The table’s dirty linen napkins are used to clean any table scraps, before the table is sanitized.  It may be efficient, it was just odd to see.

• In general, they were slow to remove dirty dishes…slow enough for me to notice.

My main course was Chicken Tikka Masala with Bamati Rice.  The presentation was…dull.

All the food tasted fine (while uninspiring), it’s just the ambiance and food presentation was dull.

(Full disclosure.  I didn’t stay for desert (which was easy, it wasn’t offered.)  I ran over to Khatta Mitha / Ming III.  Owner Rajan Mehtani greeted me like a long lost brother, and I was having desert and sampling a new (really tasty) appetizer within minutes.  Khatta Mitha/Ming III makes me feel welcomed and with outstanding food fresh with “new tastes.”  I really like it there.)

Hours

Lunch Buffet

Mon - Fri 11:30 am to 2:30 pm
Sat - Sun 12:00 Noon to 3:00 pm

Dinner

Mon - Thu 5:00 pm to 10.00 pm
Fri- Sat 5:00 pm to 10.30 pm
Sun 5:00 pm to 9.30 pm

On my value set, this restaurant gets the Red Light.  Giving them the one week benefit of the doubt, Mayuri Indian Cuisine gets an AMBER LIGHT…use caution.

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money