Let me begin with the conclusion. My first ignoble prize goes to Sankalp for sheer thoroughness in messing up. You need to be a genius to mess up every step of something, and at Sankalp, they excelled at it. Here's how:
We were offered seats thirty minutes after committed time and the reason for the delay was : "The seats we have reserved for you are not getting vacant as the people there are taking longer than we thought". This is like you entering a bakery and they telling you the bread they had reserved for you is not baked yet. Bad analogy but goes with their logic. For the same ingenious reasons, they did allow other people who were scheduled after us (because their seats must have become available earlier)
Anyway, we get in, late and hungry. We choose the Thali. Lo and behond, Thali not available. What kind of restaurant tells you they don't have Thali available? Ok, first day. We order Chettinad chicken with Puris, an exotic Dosa, and Bisibele Bhath. The steward is not sure if the Chicken comes with one Puri or two and he corrects it later. He also forgets the fact that THEY serve puris in pairs. Anyway....
This Dosa I don't get to taste but it is probably palatable. The Chicken is very salty. But worst - it's not Chettinad. It's some Random chicken that's neither southern, neither Chinese or Indian. It's an arbitrary taste. The Bisibele Bhath is 'misal rice' - they have no idea what bisibele bhath means. And it comes in a soup bowl size bowl - puny portion.
The puris are full of oil and made in dough so 'thin' that despite being deep fried, they are uncooked. I show one puri swimming in oil to the manager - he does not show any regret - he in fact looks at it as if that's the way it should be but offers to change. They take time to get a puri-refill.
Another dish we order is the Nilgiri special dosa. It's salty, not well-cooked, and not as ordered. Onion is missing.
After the meal is over, we have to ask thrice for finger bowls. We wash our much older hands.
After this ordeal, we decide to go for some deserts and hope that will be a solace. We place the order, the waiter comes back after ten minutes to tell us what we ordered is not available. Enough, no deserts.
For a place that's $$expensive, this place does not do serviettes. They have flimsy tissues that stick to wet hands and are comparable in quality to what you get in stand-in restaurants at train stations.
If you're looking for a through disappointment or a case study in how-not-to-run ANY aspect of a restaurant, this is THE place to visit. Even if powai-ites know just an iota about good food, I look forward to eating at the next restaurant opening here.
kalidas
