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Saravanaa Bhavan
Edison, New Jersey
(Scroll down to read the review)
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Saravanaa Bhavan
Reviewer's Summary: Average Food; Bad Service
Address & Telephone No:
Saravanaa Bhavan
149 Wood Ave.
Edison, NJ 08820
Ph: 732-767-0033
Hours:
Lunch
12:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Dinner
5:30 PM-10:00 PM
Closed: Tuesday
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Saravanaa Bhavan was a favorite from our childhood years in good ol' Tamil Nadu.
So when a new branch of Saravanaa Bhavan opened in the Oak Tree Road area of New Jersey, we decided to pay a visit sooner rather than later.
When we visited the new Saravanaa Bhavan branch off Oak Tree Road, the restaurant was just about five days old.
To get a good feel for the restaurant, we tried a variety of dishes including perennial favorites such as Masala Dosa ($6.25), 2 Idli and one Medhu Vada
($3.95), Ghee Pongal ($4.95) and Madras Coffee ($2) as well as other items like Tomato Onion Uthappam ($6.95), Poori ($4.50), Rava Kesari ($2.50) and Milk
Tea ($2).
Our overall experience with the Saravanaa Bhavan food was just average.
Easily, the best dish we had at Saravanaa Bhavan was the Pongal. It had the right amount of ghee and pepper and came with coconut chutney and sambhar. The
coconut chutney was a little bland though.
The most disappointing dish was the Masala Dosa, which came with a heap of bland potato and onion filling inside. As for the Medhu Vada, Idli, Tomato Onion
Uthappam, Poori and Rava Kesari, none of them stood out. They were just satisfactory, no more and no less.
The Masala Dosa came with three kinds of chutney (coconut, tomato-ginger and coriander-mint) and sambar. Besides the three chutneys and sambar, idli included
milagai podi as well. Dosas at Saravanaa Bhavan come in various kinds and range in price from $5.75 for the plain Dosa to $8.75 for the Onion Rava Masala.
We wanted to try the Mysore Bonda but were told it'd be available only in the evening although the menu doesn't say that.
The Saravanaa Bhavan Coffee was as tasty as any that we have had. The Coffee was one of the few highpoints of our visit to Saravanaa Bhavan.
But the Tea was just awful. Not only was it lukewarm, the chef seemed to have added sugar with a vengeance making the Tea taste like panagam a.k.a. juice.
The other unpleasant part of Saravanaa Bhavan is the poor service. Our waiter did not bother to fill our water glass even once. If Saravanaa Bhavan is a
self-service restaurant, the management should clearly say so. Then our expectations would not be so high.
When we asked our waiter for suggestions, he was clueless as to what to say. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he mumbled, "everything is tasty in
Saravanaa Bhavan." That's no help to someone who needs assistance in navigating the menu. The Amigo, who got the Masala Dosa to our table seemed confused and
had no idea what kind of dosa it was.
The finished plates were not taken off the table, even after 15 minutes. As a result, when our order of Coffee and Tea came, our waiter struggled to find
space for the beverages. But even then he was too indifferent to get the finished plates removed.
We had ordered Tomato Onion Uthappam, Poori and Rava Kesari as take-out. However, When we got back to our place, we were shocked to find there were no spoons
or napkins in our bag. Such carelessness in a new restaurant is surprising and smacks of indifference to the customer.
Perhaps, the management believes that the power of the Saravanaa Bhavan brand is so powerful that customers will put up with even shoddy service and mediocre
food. But competition is severe in the Oak Tree Road area, even for South Indian cuisine.
Perhaps, the waiters are completely untrained in the art of service. Our waiter certainly seemed like he just got off the boat (more likely the plane, these
days).
Unlike Moksha, the interior ambience at Saravanaa Bhavan is drab. Very little effort seems to have gone into sprucing up the place.
All in all, we left Saravanaa Bhavan disappointed. The Saravanaa Bhavan outpost in the Oak Tree Road area of New Jersey is no patch on the original Saravanaa
Bhavans that we have visited, time and time again.
N.B: Saravanaa Bhavan also offers Special Meals ($12.95), Quick Meals ($10.95) and Mini Tiffin ($7.95). - RR
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