Indian restaurants in Buenos Aires

There are a handful of Indian restaurant in Buenos Aires and we have tried them all. None is authentic, the spices are mild and the dishes are not hot. However, for the sake of the saying "when life gives you lemon..." this is my ranking:

1 - Mumbai (Honduras 5684, C1414 CABA)

Cheap, extremely disorganized and slow service. But I love their parantha, which is flaky and hot.

They have a bunch of websites, facebook pages, instagram pages and two Google restaurants in the same location. It seems someone is very bad at password management and keep creating online profiles. Once you order from them directly on Whatsapp, you are on their list and they send you the updated menu and promotions by whatsapp. But only when they remember to. They also attach the menu with the prices not updated, and then they ask to pay a different rate. Again, extremely disorganized but the food is the best there is in Buenos Aires.

2 - Delhi Mahal (Av. Córdoba 1147, C1055 AAB, Buenos Aires)

Lunch special are cheap and you can stuff yourself on a budget. Not very different from Mumbai overall, but the food is milder. I have never tried to ask to spice up the food, to be honest, but they could have asked if I wanted my food spicy or not.

3 - Taj Mahal Cocina de la India (Nicaragua 4345, C1414 CABA)

This one is on the fancy side. The restaurant is big and well decorated. The food is not cheap but average in taste.

4 - Thali (José A. Cabrera 4175, C1186 CABA)

It is a closed door restaurant inside of Güngur, Indian Fine Arts. It is sort of a private cultural center on India where they give classes of Indian dance and host exhibitions of Indian-related arts. They also organize events with Indian dances and dinner nights. Since it is a closed door restaurant, you have to book in advance. The best part is that they don't do the usual stuff found at other restaurants, but I don't recall the food as being memorable. Call over the phone as they are not very responsive when contacted in writing.

5 - Delhi Masala Indian Restaurant (Defensa 714, C1065 CABA)

Probably the oldest Indian restaurant in Buenos Aires. We went there once, and it was the same stuff as in Delhi Mahal. We need to revisit, but the distance and the dull memory haven't yet prompted us to drive 'til there.

6 - Dostana (Humboldt 1721, C1414CTQ CABA)

Not particularly cheap, not particularly tasty and just two blocks from Mumbai. However, the service is quick and nice. Been there once, and that's more than enough for me.

7 - Ali Indian Restaurant (Av. Sta Fe 2784, B1640IGO San Isidro, Provincia de Buenos Aires)

It is the only Indian restaurant outside of Capital and it is tasteless. The ambience is depressing and the prices weren't cheap. They do have themed nights with all-you-can-eat which makes it a popular option in the area. Both times I went I wasn't impressed with the food, the price nor the ambience.

8 - Tandoor (Laprida 1293, C1425EKE CABA)

In the fancy neighborhood of Recoleta, with dim lights, Argentinian waiters dressed like indians and a very upscale attitude and a hostess welcoming guests at the door. It was crowded with foreigners and affluent locals. However, the food was tasteless, spiceless and the waiter didn't ask why we left the food in the plate. I emailed them on the next day to complain. I was thanked for the message and promised they will check it with the kitchen. Which means that they didn't do anything and never got back at me. I wasn't expecting a free meal, but they could have made the gesture and offer to come back and get a discount. They did not. Which is unfortunately too common in Buenos Aires, but still disappointing coming from the fanciest Indian place in town. And they screwed my 40th birthday dinner, so I am quite bitter about it.

Add that it was also the most expensive of the (short) list above... a well deserved last place, I am sorry.

Quote from Bombonera

I went to the number 2 option a week ago- the Delhi Mahal. They advertise that they open at 7pm for evening service. I rolled up at 7.40pm and was met by 2 staff members mops in hand suggesting I come back in half an hour.

Just to be clear, I did not return in half an hour given I’m not sure what the current time rate is that applies to an Argie’s half an hour.is there an online calculator for Argie time?

Nobody eats at 7.40 PM here. If you want food before 8.30 PM, you should look for a bar or a pizzeria open non-stop during the day.

In general, people here are not customer oriented and they don't give a f*** of prospects nor clients.

I wanted to try a Colombian restaurant in Villa Crespo. On their IG page it reads that it was open from noon onward. Lo and behold, we arrive at 12:23, a girl was mopping and said "we open at 12:30. And just like @Bombonera , I did not return. They lost 5,000 ARS of income for 7 minutes. They could have told me to take a seat and let me wait 7 minutes without telling me they would be 7 minutes.

I didn't have a problem in saying out loud "I don't see what could be different 7 minutes from now" and storming out. The girl continued to not give a f*** and went on with her mopping.

----

About #3 Taj Mahal - they lock the door because they suffered a robbery in 2018. The door thing is annoying, they have to open both for you to come in and get out. They do not have a dedicate hostess at the door, so you have to wait for a random waitress to come to the door. I guess it is worth the peace of mind of having your dinner in a safe environment.

Quote from InfoBAE

Tres delincuentes armados cometieron un violento asalto en un restaurante de Palermo este viernes por la noche ya que tras robar la recaudación del local y desvalijar a los clientes, le pegaron un culatazo en la cabeza a un mujer.

El hecho ocurrió pasada las diez de la noche en el restó Tajmahal, especializado en cocina hindú, ubicado en la calle Nicaragua al 2300.

Había aproximadamente 20 comensales cuando los ladrones irrumpieron en el salón para hacerse de un importante botín, que rozó los 50 mil pesos. Según fuentes policiales, se robaron 20 mil pesos de la caja registradora y otros 28 mil pesos que le extrajeron a las personas que se encontraban cenando en el restaurante.

Según contó uno de los testigos a TN, en todo momento los tuvieron bajo amenaza a punta de pistola. Y a una señora de unos 60 años le pegaron brutalmente con la culata de la pistola en la cabeza para sustraerle la cartera. Todo sucedió con rapidez ya que al ser tres pudieron hacerse de inmediato con las pertenencias de la gente. Se llevaron dinero, relojes y teléfonos celulares.

That's still an issue for me... and I have been here 9 years. I can't change a whole country, but I can't bring myself to adapt to this one in a couple instances: when I am hungry and when it is work-related.

I think we have a rant thread just to vent our anger at Argentinians.

My last one is against the copy shop where I had my customized folders and stickers designed in November. In that instance it took them 2 months to deliver the folders and stickers. I was VERY patient, until I told them that I had been waiting long enough... the World Cup, Xmas Holidays, civil holidays, strikes, their 2 weeks vacation. And as usual, they found a way to make me feel like the shitty person of the situation: the copyshop owner said she had a stress-related breakdown and had to be hospitalized. So her vacations were health-related.

The work was well executed, but the time spent to actually get the f*** folders & stickers was insane. I could have ordered them from the US and have them mailed here!!!

And I even fell again for it, because it is now time to restock. Since they have the design files it makes sense to go again at the same copy shop -- it is just a matter of printing again the same design. However, the owner is still OOO, the other two people working there have NO CLUE of costs and it took them 10 days just to provide a quote. They asked me how much I paid in November and to bring in a sample because they have no record of my job, they need to see what kind of cardboard was used etc. And that they'd need to check if they still had the design in their computers because of technical issues with their system.

I made them promise I wouldn't have to wait 2 months this time, but by starting with a 10-days delay just for the quote I am thinking I have been a fool.

First it was they needed the sample (which I brought on the same day), then it was that they were with no electricity (may be true given the power outages, but they could still do the math using a calculator... right?), then it was an IT issue. Then they didn't communicate with me anymore because they "lost all whatsapp messages". Then they quoted for a different quantity because they apparently lost also the piece of paper where they had written my order. Finally, I asked when the folders would be ready and got no reply.