Shanti vs. Bombay House vs. Taste of India

One of my favorite types of food is Indian. In Bloomington, there are more than a few choices. I chose to duke it out amongst the three that I have tried.

1) Shanti: The food here is excellent and the service is friendly. Normally, when I eat there, I even get free dessert. They are a little expensive, but good Indian food is worth the expense. The only down-side, it takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to eat here b/c you have just spent and hour either a) waiting for your food; b) waiting for a refill on your beverage; or c) waiting for someone to take your money. I would still eat there any day; but make sure your aren't in a hurry. Tip: Shanti has the world's best Chicken Tikka Masala.

2) Bombay House: My opinion on this place is to avoid it like the plague. Here is why: a) The food tastes like it has been nuked in the microwave (you can especially taste this in the chicken dishes); and b) if you aren't of Middle-eastern decent, the waitstaff (and there is only one waiter I have encountered the 3 times I have eaten there) is rude to you. I tested this theory. First of all, I am of Caucasian decent. My husband and I went there one afternoon for an early dinner. The waiter was REALLY rude. It was actually upsetting to me. He acted as though it were a hardship to take our order, refill our glasses, deliver our food to our table, and then take our money. Not a good experience. Stupidly, I went back again to give them another chance and had the same exact outcome. After being aware of the issue (my skin color), I made a joke to my Indian friend about it. So she and I set out to test my theory. We had the same waiter, and the service was good. Normally, I would counter this argument and say, "maybe that guy just had a bad day... each time I went" but there is a distinct difference between feeling like you are being treated badly b/c the color of your skin and being treated badly b/c someone before you left crappy tip. My conclusion is that I work hard for my money, and I have many options of places to spend it; Bombay House is no longer one of those options... plus the food isn't that great.

3) Taste of India: Normally, it is hard to get me to agree to an Indian restaurant that a) advertises a lunch buffet; and b) isn't Shanti. But I was really surprised by how much I liked this place. The service was AMAZING, the food was delicious and the prices were a bit lower than Shanti. As I mentioned before, Shanti has the worlds best Chicken Tikka Masala, but Taste of India's was good as well. I also tried two other dishes (Chicken Korma and something else I can't remember the name of) and they were fantastic. The thing I like about Taste of India is that they make their chicken dishes with white meat chicken, Shanti doesn't even do that; I have to specially request white meat chicken. Also at Taste of India, my glass was never empty, there was always someone nearby to make sure we had what we needed, and it didn't take an hour to pay my check. All-in-all it was a great experience and I can't wait to eat there again.

Watch out Shanti, Taste of India means serious business.