09/08/09

Vatan is a Food Stall

by amitshah10

Hi

To summarize I was handed a stell hot bowl of Daal in my hand. The server was holding cold part of bowl (upper part) and I was holding the lower part. Everything else was worst at best. In nutshell, if you want to visit a Food Stall and Pay restaurant price...Vatan is the right dinning place for you. If you dont believe me, try it out and respond to this review.

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Everything else food, service, price, staff attitude, serviy

07/10/09

Diminishing value

by crickpup

The enjoyment I get out of a Vatan visit seems to diminish each time I go. They are not kid friendly at all, charging a full $31 even for a 7 year old! They crammed us into a smaller than optimal booth. The service is less than stellar and they are trying to rush you out so as to seat the next party. The price increase in recent months has not brought anything new. First time goers should enjoy the food, although the $40 price tab (including tax and tip) leaves a lot to be desired.

• Pros: Great food for first time goers
• Cons: Too expensive, mediocre service

06/17/09

Horrible! Not going again!

by KRav

We Went there with 2 kids (American kids 6 & 8 years old) They had burger and fries before we went to this place and weren't hungry (Also, they are absolutely not a fan of non American food) So, we told the waiters that only 4 adults will be eating. He was so rude and told us that's not something their restaurant policy will allow weather or not the eat they will be charged for setting on the table with us. When we asked to speak with a manager some lady come after good 10 mins She was having difficultly speaking English at the first place... Instead of listing to us she kept on reaping the restaurant policy (r@p and made us pay 70$ for the kids who did not touch thair plates once...If I wasn't with the guests I would have left..neways I dont think I will ever go back there though!

• Pros: Good change from Regular Punjabi returant
• Cons: Way too Pricy, Very unprofessional staff, Bad resturant poli

06/15/09

Less is more

by Tinman2

I enjoy Indian food and know something about Indian cuisine. I will not be returning to Vatan.

Firstly it is expensive. At Vatan you dont have the option of ordering a single entre or a couple of apetizers, and you cant share. It is prix fixe. All or nothing. I would not normally order apetizer and entre and bread and rice and desert. I dont eat large quantities. An all you can eat buffet for $32. may be great if you plan to consume the equivalent of three meals! If not it is very pricey.

Then the quality in my opinion was average at best. Like most buffet food, it may suffer from having been sitting around a while. I thought it generally fell into one or more of three categories: too saty, too sweet, or over cooked.

• Pros: ... Taj Mahal beer
• Cons: value and quality of the food

05/19/09

Good food poisoned by bad service

by CSMobileUser

I had very similar experiace as explained by first reviewer. That was almost a year back when I decided not to visit this place again. I have guests this weekend who would like this food. So just wanted to check if they improved on service. But recent negative review reconfirm my decision not to visit this facility.

It is a shame on part of vatan to be in negative books for so long. Go their if you want to see pennywise people

04/20/09

Horrible Serivce, Padded their tip

by ab1847

Four of us went to Vatan for a friend’s birthday. She’s a vegetarian and loves Indian food, so Vatan sounded perfect. The evening started off slowly when we got sat at 9:10 for our 8:45 reservation. Our waitress took another 15 minutes to come our table. After that the appetizer and entrée round of food were both equally slow. I don’t understand how a prix-fix, set-menu restaurant can have slow service. Everyone in the restaurant is eating the same food, so why does it take 45 minutes for an entrée to be delivered after the appetizer plate has been cleared?? Despite the slow service, the food was extremely good and representative of what one would eat in India. My final complaint and the one that pushed me to leave a review was the 18% gratuity included. The restaurant calculated the required 18% gratuity on the total bill INCLUDING TAX, not just on the food and drink total. I was very upset at this because 18% was extremely generous for the abysmal service we received, but putting gratuity on the tax is WRONG. I mentioned this to our waitress and suddenly her English wasn’t good enough to understand. I walked the check to the hostess desk and explained that gratuity should be calculated on the food and drink total, not on the tax. She argued this was their policy and wouldn’t budge. I paid the total because at this point it was 12:30am and we had been in this restaurant for over 3 hours and were very restless. I will never return to these crooks again.

• Pros: Authentic Meal
• Cons: Rude Hostess, Slow Service, stolen tip

03/06/09

In response to the previous review.

by CSMobileUser2

Hi, Vatan is one of the best resturants I have ever been to. The food was awesome, its just like having dinner in gujrat. I have been to BARODA and I know what Indian food tastes like. The staffs and the servers were very welcoming and they took care of me and my friends very well. I completely disagree with the previous negative review. I think there must have been a misunderstanding. I wish VATAN best of luck and hope it carrys on spreading Indian tradition.

03/01/09

Interesting but anti-climactic

by matthiashorst

At first I was impressed with the ambiance and decor. However, when the food service began I soon realized this was a gimmick. The waitress kept coming back with a fake smile and kept asking if we were finished with the course. She grabbed my beer that was still 1/4 full and asked me if I would like another. The second and third courses were served at once, sending us a hint that we took to long with the appetizers. Desert was then served (more like tossed on the table) and the waitress whispered into our ears that the next guests were waiting for our table. By this time the fake smile was no longer there, She had already switched to "clear table" mode. Next thing I know my Indian chi tea was whisked from under my nose, cup half full, and a bill for a couple hundred + $ appeared. NOTE: the Prix Fixe price is no longer $22.95, rather it is now an whopping $31 for an array of vegetables (apparently not even organic). To say the least the experience was very anti-climactic. At first I thought this would be a great place to dine with future guests. By the end of the meal it was clear that this was a gimmick!

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: food service felt rushed and fake

02/08/09

So good you don't even know it's vegetarian

by foodiesRus81

There is nothing bad and everything good about this place! The service is attentive, the food is delicious and plentiful, and the space is beautiful! Unlike a lot of Indian places, the food is cooked very healthy - not oily - and the ingredients seem really fresh. It's a fixed-price/fixed dish menu, but you get a huge selection served right to you, and seconds, thirds, etc or whichever dish you want. At dessert time, ask for the mango pudding; that's the one dish they don't automatically bring you, and it blends wonderfully with the dessert. I went with two Indian friends, and they both love this place and say the food is exactly how their moms and grandmothers prepare it at home.

I just really hope that they remain in business for a long time! The menu is so reasonably priced, and you get so much food, and most of all, they have a HUGE space in Murray Hill, but they have very few actual tables. It's greatly refreshing to go to a restaurant in Manhattan and not be seated elbow-to-elbow with the strangers next to you, but I just really hope they serve enough people in there each night to make s profit.

• Pros: Great vegetarian, service, value
• Cons: nothing!

01/10/09

Vatan

by j0anthony

The experience all Vatan was awful. The food was tasteless. The service was terrible. They didn't even come to see if everything was okay. The staff very rude. Me being from Indian culture know and acknowledge the taste and flavor of Indian and Gujarati cooking. Their food had no flavor, no taste, just absolutely bland. It is not a place I would recommend coming to.