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Reviewer's Summary: Mostly Good Food, Cheating Tactics, Poor Service
Folks, if we've said it once we've said it a million times.
When it comes to cheating, you just can't beat these Indian rascals.
Take for instance Nirvana restaurant at 1601 Concord Pike in Wilmington (Delaware).
As you enter this Wilmington restaurant on Concord Pike in the Independence Mall, you see a huge "Weekend Special" banner stating that Dosa and Idli would be served at lunch.
That's nice, we told ourselves. Who doesn't love the South Indian treats Dosa and Idli, right? And Indian restaurants in Delaware like Maharaja and Himalaya do serve Dosa with their weekend buffets.
 Dosa Idli Banner at the Entrance
But once we were in the middle of our Nirvana weekend lunch and asked them about Dosa and Idli, the cheating swines scoffed at us. Somebody should complain about these rascals to the Delaware Better Business Bureau.
It looks like some South Indian louts have taken over the management of the restaurant and, man, these greedy pigs will do anything for a few pennies. Just be on your alert.
Horrible Sambar, So So Vegetable Pakoras
Sambar Soup as the label indicated was low on tamarind and sambar spices and tasted more like plain Dal with vegetables. It was one of the worst Sambars we've been served by an Indian restaurant on the East Coast. Humans should not be served such trashy Sambar.
Vegetable Pakoras were a mixed bag. Some were crisp while others had a raw, partially cooked chickpea flour taste.
The flavorful green and red chutneys compensated for the awful Sambar. Red chutney was spicy, had a fiery look with a dominant flavor of dry red chillies in a pasty form.
Delicious Chicken Dishes
Set in a orange-yellow color sauce, Nirvana's Butter Chicken was creamy, flavorful and much relished with plain rice.
 Creamy Butter Chicken & Pakora
Ditto with the Tandoori Chicken that we found well marinated, juicy and tasty. Although a staple of most Indian restaurants in the U.S., few manage to get Tandoori Chicken right. We were happy that Nirvana's kitchen did a good job with Tandoori Chicken.
 Juicy, Tasty Tandoori Chicken
Nirvana - Decent Vegetarian Fare
But what caught our attention at Nirvana was the good vegetarian spread - Channa Masala, Zucchini Masala, Dum Aloo Kashmiri and Navaratan Korma - on the buffet table.
 Heavenly Dum Aloo Kashmiri (bottom)
Set in a watery brown-colored gravy, Channa Masala was a spicy delight. As was the Zucchini Masala.
Navaratan Korma - a melange of zucchini, carrot, brocoli, beans, green peas, onion in yellow color gravy - though slightly sour was still on the flavorful side.
 Horrid Peas Pulao (right)
While we enjoyed all the vegetarian entrees, what found favour with us the most was Dum Aloo Kashmiri. Set in a thick yellow color creamy sauce, Nirvana's Dum Aloo Kashmiri was heavenly. The small size potatotes were cooked to perfection and neither hard nor pasty. The creamy delicious gravy seeped well into the potatoes and we enjoyed this Indian vegetarian delight thoroughly.
Bad Vegetable Peas Pulao, Horrible Naan Bread
Nirvana's Vegetable Peas Pulao should not have been placed in front of diners.
Folks, it was that bad. With large chunks of white rice and devoid of the magical flavor imparted by Pulao spices, Nirvana's Vegetable Peas Pulao was one of the worst Pulao rice we've ever tasted. White Rice seems to have been added to vegetables (cooked with red chilli powder) as an afterthought rather than cooking rice, vegetables and Pulao spices together.
Naan Bread was hard, chewy, way too thick and overall very bad. Unlike a lot of other Indian restaurants, Nirvana does not care to serve fresh Naan Bread at the table. But rather, Naan bread is dumped here in one of the copper-lid enclosed vessels on the lunch table.
Disappointing Desserts
The lunch table included Gulab Jamun and Fruit Custard for desserts.
Gulab Jamun was a little rubbery and the accompanying syrup slightly high on sugar.
 Rubbery Gulab Jamun
Fruit Custard was slightly low on sugar and had a weird taste as if split milk was used or milk got split while preparing it. Overall, we did not enjoy either of the two desserts.
 Fruit Custard - Weird Taste
Poor Service
As in most Indian restaurants, the folks at Nirvana too are clueless when it comes to service.
If a waiter can't smile at a diner, he/she must be asked to get out of the restaurant business.
The lean medium-height waiter we encountered wore a mournful mien and indifferently pointed us to a table.
The same waiter scoffed at us in a disdainfull tone "No Dosa with lunch" when we asked him about the advertised Dosa Specials.
If Dosa and Idli are not part of lunch then why the hell do the Nirvana bozos advertise weekend lunch specials Dosa and Idli.
Although we were in the midst of eating, the South Indian waitress from Bangalore kept bugging us whether she could remove the plates. Very irritating to say the least and, hey, the restaurant was mostly empty any way.
Also, some young kids were taking their used dessert cups to the buffet table and the waitstaff did not care to ask them to get fresh, clean cups. Not a hygienic practice.
Guys, if you can stand the poor service, cheating tactics and unhygienic practices, you'll find Nirvana's food mostly in the decent category. - © DelawareIndia.com
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