CLOSED: Padma

This was my worst experience eating at dozens of Indian restaurants all over Japan. When we arrived and said we were vegetarian and didn't want dairy products the owner smiled and said “vegan”, and clearly understood, which always seems like a good start.

It should have raised alarm bells when he said that everything except paneer (cheese) dishes can be vegan, but it's also possibly true, so we trusted him. We asked about garlic roti and he checked with the chef and came out and confirmed it didn't contain dairy products, so we ordered it and rice and a couple of curries.

When the garlic roti came out it had melted cheese all through it. I've probably eaten all the main European and American non-dairy cheeses, and also had an incredible imitation cheese made by a Japanese chef out of soy powder. But this was traditional cheese, melted through, with the bubbles on the surface blackened under the grill. It smelled and (yes, we were naive enough) tasted like cheese.

We asked the chef again, assuming it was a mistake, and he went back into the kitchen. We heard a loud discussion, followed by a reprimand to his chef (in Japanese) for first telling him it didn't have cheese in it. These mistakes happen, and we expected him to come out and apologise and replace it, which would of course have been fine. But instead he came out and assured us that it was (cheeseless) “garlic powder”. It was very obvious by his body language that he was lying, and I think he knew we knew. Needless to say we left the roti, and after seeing it left uneaten - cheese on top - he still had the cheek to charge us for it.

Not surprisingly for someone who cares so little about his food and his customers, the curries were greasy and insipid - a meager few vegetables mixed with a gravy that I think was straight out of the freezer. It really made us wonder if the gravy was even vegetarian (as many Indian restaurants in Japan use chicken stock). He obviously doesn't care to serve the food his customers need or request.

This restaurant is just cashing in on a never-ending stream of gaijins (foreigners) visiting Hiroshima for the history who think Indian food is a safe bet for vegetarians. It often is, but not here - avoid at all costs! Unfortunately I didn't make it to Roopali this visit, but I used to go there regularly while living in Hiroshima a few years ago, and they seemed to be careful to make vegan food.

With the Vegan options in Hiroshima being limited and most closed on Sunday night, I was delighted to be greeted with a big smile and "Vegan not a problem" from the staff.

The food is delicious, we ordered three curries, two serves of rice and one chapati which was a good large serve for two people. I would recommend the chana masala (chickpeas), it was delicious and the chapati was wholesome.

A special vegetarian set is available as you can see on their online menu, you can also have a smaller set with veg only selections. There are many vegetarian curries and deserts to choose from on the in store menu.

Vegan options include most vegetarian curries that don't use paneer (Indian cheese), chapatti and rice. You can do the smaller set menu and choose vegan options.

A great clean, fresh and wholesome choice for Hiroshima when you've had your fill of Okonomiyaki!