CLOSED: India Cafe Hawaii

My wife and I have been going to Indian Cafe for lunch on weekends for 7 years. My wife is 100% vegan (I'm not) and it's challenging to find good places we can dine together. India Cafe never disappoints. We love the vegan lunch combo and especially the vegetable sambar, cauliflower kari, garbanzo beans and curried potatoes. Jiva and Niraj are both great chefs. It's like dining with family at home when we are there. We especially love the all-you-can-eat buffets that are offered about four times a year.

I am a vegetarian which can be quite a challenge living in Hawaii. I came across India Cafe at the University of Manoa campus. I immediately saw their vegetarian items and went for it. The spicy eggplant is my absolute favorite! Their coconut cabbage, mixed veggie masala and chana masala is awesome too!! I love the zaffron rice with the raita salad and 2 choices of vegan dishes. I took some friends to their original restaurant on Kapahulu St. It was great! We brought our own wine and ordered their Tali Platter for 2...soooo much food and at a decent price. I will recommend India Cafe to anyone who is a vegetarian and even those who aren't...my friend's favorite dish was the tender lamb masala...if you like seafood go for the shrimp sambal!! India Cafe has a few new loyal customers, keep up the great food!!!

We went for dinner on the recommendation that this restaurant had won some vegetarian dining local awards and were very disappointed. It is in a dodgy area so we had to get a taxi to drop us there and pick us up. The restaurant itself is poorly decorated, tired and not very clean and there are no restrooms, you have to ask for a key and walk across a dark car park to use a restroom in an office!

However it was the service that really gets the thumbs down. When we arrived we asked if they serve alcohol, we were told no. Ok so we ordered juice. Then we get the menu and see a note saying we could bring our own alcohol in for a $2.50 cover charge. So why weren't we told this when we specifically asked the question? We later found out there was a wine shop a few doors down (but we were only told this when given directions for the restrooms!!).

Then the waitress tried the hard sell on the $40 special which included a variety of dishes, 2 nan breads, some rice etc etc. Fair enough but we didn't choose this. However when I did go to order my meal I was informed they were out of Nan breads!! I was not impressed that I was not told this when she tried to sell the special - presumably I'd have been served Dhosas instead (which I don't like). I'm sorry but what Indian restaurant runs out of Nan bread??? Very poor. We ordered from the vegan/veggie list - the Cauliflower dish with rice (no brown rice available and the waitress patronisingly explained to us what Pilau rice was - yes we know thanks!) and the Tofu korma. Beware - this is not a korma, it is a tofu saag!!! The food was lukewarm when it arrived and I asked for a knife which took 10 mins to arrive - i was about to go into the kitchen and pick it up myself. However, the "best" bit was when we asked if they could ring a taxi for us as we were on holiday and didn't know the area, didn't have phone with us. This is NEVER a problem in the UK but it seemed beyond her comprehension. In the end she found us a taxi number and BROUGHT US THE PHONE!! Couldn't be bothered to call it for us. What terrible service. Do not go here - the Bombay restaurant in Waikiki was AMAZING (we ate there a few nights before - many tofu dishes and a much nicer restaurant and right opposite the Hilton Hawaiian Village) so go there instead. If I owned the Bombay I'd be insulted that India Cafe won these awards for best Indian dining. Very poor.

I love Indian food and have eaten it most of my life. I've been to Indian restaurants all over the world and hands down India Cafe Hawaii is THE BEST EVER!!! The food is absolutely DIVINE!

This was a pleasant vegan meal although a little on the spicy side but that suited me. The food was different and interesting and the server very pleasant. We had to go out to get our own wine but it was only across the courtyard.