Alston's Hallmark Reviews

I was at this restaurant on Saturday evening with my family, let's say that we experienced the worst service. My first time coming to this place and service was slow, (seems like they were short staffed) it took them over 1 hour to bring in our food. Food quality was not that great. The staff was more interested in helping out a party group who was in another room getting ready for a party than helping the customers. we ordered chilli chicken and it taste like General Tso's chicken from Chinese place. We drove over 45 minutes to get to this placer and we were all disappointed.

This restaurant used to be good 6 years ago when it opened up newly. Now? The main chef probably left and the food sucks.

Solid entry in the Indian buffet option array. Better than some others in the area, but buffet arrangement could be improved.

South Indian food is supposed to be spicy and flavourful. The buffet is stereotypical bland American Indian fare. Most meat items were tasteless. Indians may not find this place particularly authentic. There are other better places in delaware and West Philly region.

Second time trying the food, it was very good, service was excellent..server by the name of avi is so nice and personable with a gentle heart so kind to my father"s well being..it was a real pleasure to see this type of service, chef his name is Sembian from Chennai, after tasting the food I had mentioned how good it was, a few minutes later, here the chef came out and met us..very personable...loved this place...the food was definitely fresh and wasnt recycled food that you get at other indian restaurants...will definitely be coming back as long as the chef and Avi and fresh food is there...

I had to change my review from 5 starts to 1 Star. I could give -5 stars if possible. Here for buffet many times most of the times food is not ready on time and I have to wait at least 30 minutes after they are open to take all the food always something missing never on time. They will charge you $15.99 for an incomplete buffet. If you go early food is not ready and if you go late no food refills better time to go here is never. Very disappointed with their food no taste very bland and cheap quality ingredients. If you want to cut the costs better you close it and save money but not making customers wait for the food and not refilling. I got the complimentary dosa which they started serving recently after I completed my lunch. What should I do it after I'm full ? No time sense no wonder why this place is empty unlike before. Chef might have changed or only one chef working. Don't waste your time and money here, many better places around for less price and better quality. Please open your buffet only if all the food is out, please don't make people wait. I had this experience many times so had to give you 1 star. Hope there is a way to give -5 stars. Very disappointed patron.

Had a great dinner tonight. Great service, they were very helpful guiding us to wonderful choices from the menu. I wanted something spicy, and their recommendation of Goat Sukha was not only spicy but also very flavorful. The Tawa Paratha went perfectly with the meal. The chef even came out to describe how it was made! We had a wonderful experience!

Amazing, consistently good food and very authentic.

Excellent food, reasonably priced, great service! Home made breads, slow-baked tandoori, and generous portion sizes. Great atmosphere too!

Went for Lunch on Saturday... being veggie I have only veggi puff as an appetizer... Naan with gravy was the only eatable option. If you are a good and tasty eater... please opt other restaurants. Only Ambiance is good *

Have come to this place many times either during weekdays or weekends mostly. Everytime the food served here makes me to come again. Weekends the are lots of options compared to weekdays. They serve buffet lunch all days , its very good. None of the food turns me off. If you have not been here definitely a place to try and visit.

Awesome food, right level of spice, excellent service,reasonable price,

Highly recommended!!

Excellent food but the wait times are horrible. Had to wait for ~ 45 mins to get the order to the table and ~ 20 min to get someone's attention to refill our glasses. Food and service carry equal weight in a dine-in restaurant, the 3 stars is only for the excellent food.

Every bite of food here, whether the buffet or the menu, is delicious. Food, value, and service are top notch.

I asked for a coke and they gave it to me in a kids cup. They only have dosa on certain days and that's the main reason I wanted to have dinner here. Thoroughly disappointed in quality and altogether restaurant standards.

The best and best-known Indian restaurant in the Downingtown/Malvern region. Food is a cut above the other Indian restaurants. Service is adequate but lacking in enthusiasm.

Amazing food! Truly one of the best Indian restaurants in the area. Though no liquor license so BYOB

Food is ok. The only problem is they always provide is less spicy.

Best Indian food in the Philadelphia area. We've tried the buffet (many times) and we've had the non-buffet dinner (many times). The buffet has a lot of variety, awesome biryani and amazing desserts. The "rassam" and "dahi vada" and "tandoori chicken" are amazing. This is the go-to place whenever we have cravings for Indian food. Plus good, quick service makes it a nice overall experience.

It is very nice restaurant!!! I Love it.. Especially Chettinadu Gravy is really awesome

We have ordered Mutton Biriyani, Mutton pieces was very less in Mutton biriyani. People keep searching mutton from biriyani. Literally they found few. Looks like its a veg Biriyani.....

Just ok, not enough chicken is the chicken tiki masala

Excellent food, great service, friendly staff, splendid decor, very pleasant and relaxing atmoshpere...definately a new favorite of mine.

Some of the best Indian I've ever had! It's a nicer atmosphere than typical Indian places as well.

This restaurant has gone down hill over the last year. The food is not that good anymore and the service is terrible.

I love this spot! They have splendid dishes, their menu is rich, The cook in that spot is a real pro, I like very much trying all their dishes. The food is always tasty, the attitude towards the clients is agreeable. I frequently visit this restaurant and I not even once was unsatisfied. I recommend it with no hesitation.

I absolutely love to come here or get takeout from bangles. Never disappointed and always full and happy

Very bad management. Had horrible experience. No food available in most of the trays on mother's day buffet. No water roti was given to us until we asked. Even after asking many times some of the trays were empty. This was my last visit. Will never visit.

The lunch menu was great for my taste. Also had South Indian fare, which is hard to get in this area.

Nice ambience. Food is also good but sometimes can be spicy in Buffett. Selection of desserts is lacking for lunch buffet. Generally have only one plus ice cream. so if you don't like that one, too bad.

Very bad experience. Even though we are hungry, we could not eat the food. Biryani is very bad. Overall, highly priced for a poor taste

High-end Indian restaurant! I always felt indian restaurants lack ambiance which is one of the main factors to have a good restaurant experience. Now let's talk about the most important factor, food! We ordered Malai Kofta, Ravva Dosa, Goat Sukka, Curry leaf fried Chicken, and Masala fried Tilapia. Fried chicken and tilapia are spicy and good. The food in here is generally spicy. The entrees are okay. The coconut chutney is watery and bland. Malai Kofta is too bland.

Overrated, spicy and expensive. Food is way too spicy. If you are the type you love spicy/hot food, this place might work for you. If you are the type who thinks spices are to be used for flavoring then for overwhelming the natural taste of grains and vegetables, you should look elsewhere. Unfortunately the Philly area has very few great vegetarian restaurants. Thirty eight bucks with taxes for food I barely enjoyed (except the idlis) will keep me out of the restaurant forever. The ambience is overrated as well - looks more like a fast job on a party hall. The vegetable tikka masala, okra was loaded with oil and grease; the naan were very artificial - something like heated frozen stuff and for such an expensive buffet, rice pudding for desert - give me a break.

We had ordered Palak Paneer and Dal Makhani with Indian Breads.. the taste was real Punjabi and Ambience was really good.

My first visit this evening ended up giving one star not for the food quality because I didn t eat!!!!!then why 1 star? For such a bad customer service. When I entered with my family at around 8:45 we were waiting in the reception for 10 mins without anyone to greet and finally someone attended and asked us to wait for 2 mins to be seated. We were waiting for 10 mins and another person (waiter) who came to the reception took another customer who had just arrived (after us) without even having the courtesy to check with us. Not sure if he was informed about our priority by the first person. We further waited for 5 mins with no one coming to us and finally left the place with utmost frustration. No matter how good may be their food quality I will never visit this place again which doesn t care about its customer. Wasted 25 mins of a valuable family time on a Friday evening.

Very less vegetarian options for buffet.
Poor service:
We arrived more than an hour before the closing but by then many of the dishes were exhausted.
We asked if they would refill and then we waited for long. They refilled later only after we had finished our lunch.

I'm finding excuses to go to Downingtown just to hit the buffet! Delicious!!!!!

The interior is good and surprisingly clean for an Indian restaurant. But that is all. Food is not good except idli (steamed rice dumpling). The price is atleast twice of what it is ought to be. Never ever go there for a buffet atleast.

We have been here several times before and the food was great and flavorful. The latest visit the taste was bland, sweet, and not spicey as it has been before. We had the buffett when they opened and the food was some what warm, the biryani had no meat but only rice, the chicken dish tasted like tomato paste and barely any chicken. Asked to speak with the manager 4x to address our concerns, the manager had no interest to speak with us. After speaking with the manager, even other staff members stated the way she treated us was unprofessional.

Food was good. Tried Hyderabadi Biriyani and Chicken Chettinad. Both were good. Qty very less for the price charged. Expensive. Slow customer service.

Best restaurant in Downingtown if you want to taste authentic South Indian dishes then this is the place to go. Their seeraga samba rice Biriyani, chicken chettinad and mini parotta are my favorite . Buffet are awesome for the price.

Hospitality is great Phani was the manager and he was really nice person. The chefs Gokul and Sembiyan were awesome they came to my table and asked about the food and feedback. Very friendly place and must try.

Good food. Great service.

Had come for buffet (lunch) with colleagues and I loved the food so much so that brought my husband to the place next day. He liked the food too.

The best in West Chester!!
The thali is what works the best.
The ambience, the service is the best. Its clean!!!

Been there twice and liked the food. The first time we went for dinner I had the dahi puri for appetizer and Habanero Mango Chutney Dosa (SUPER SPICY). For once, an Indian restaurant in America really had the 'spicy' right! It was really the kind of spicy food that you would expect if eating in India. The dahi puri was equally good. The portion was just right also. I was halfway through the dosa when I could eat no more (given that I had half the appetizer as well). The next time we made it for the lunch buffet. It was good but not outstanding and that's why I knocked down a star. Pretty much the usual fare in any restaurant and they took forever to replenish buffet items and we had to keep asking for a long time before they even did it. So if you want quick service this place is not for you! Given that we were not that late into buffet (we were there almost at the start of their buffet) and still for them to take ages to replenish did not really go well.

Food service was not good. Waiting for long time for a single item.

Little expensive but you would love the food. The ambiance of the restaurant is nice, quite place, good for family and official lunch and dinner.
you can also go to this place for nice romantic dinner, lunch time could be a little too full. Staff is really nice and polite. The place is big enough and there is almost no wait time most of the times. Must visit at least once.

Food quality worst with limited choice of Indian dishes . One star is for interior design only.Indians should avoid this place.

Worst experience one could have .. main issue was even though there were two parties apart from us, they took 2 hours to serve the food.. and they were totally unapologetic about this.. lets talk about food .. one of the chutney was smelly and yogurt as well.. we tip properly as kids make mess sometimes. i wont recommend this place to anyone .. spl dont dine in.. as their take out orders were being served while we were waiting..

I don t understand why people try to serve if they dont know etiquette in this business..

Food is awesome at times and average at other times. Overall a decent restaurant.