There's nothing wrong with an ethnic restaurant that is modestly decorated and where the standard of the service is mediocre if the food is something special because, after all, the food is the reason you choose to visit an Indian restaurant in the first place,...right? Unfortunately the offerings at the Flavour Of India are rather a good match for the tired decor of the restaurant's interior.
My search for good Indian in Napier continued at the Flavour Of India where we dined for lunch. We ordered chicken tikka, vegetable samosa, a chicken tikka curry and a parantha. The curry was good, but the rest of the dishes the less said the better.
The chicken tikka was a solid pass taste-wise, but I couldn't help but wonder why it was priced at $18 for such a small helping in which there were precisely 6 small pieces of chicken. Yes, only 6! You get much larger helpings (at least twice the size) for less $$ in the Indian restaurants of Sandringham and Ponsonby in Auckland where rents run 5 or 10 times. A decent curry, but way overpriced for what you get.
From there it was all downhill. The chicken tikka was so bland it bordered on tasteless, as were the vegetable samosas. Indian food is known for its complex flavours created using many spices and herbs, yet these dishes tasted like the chef had forgotten to season them and were what I would expect to get for $5 from the microwave meal section of the supermarket.
The parantha was, admittedly, good, but the rice was not, I strongly suspect, cooked that day. Twice as we were waiting for our meal to arrive we heard the unmistakable sound of a microwave starting up. At least two menu items were not cooked fresh but reheated. Microwaves have no place in an Indian restaurant and anyone who has visited India knows that even the street-side vendors can cook up the most delicious treats without that sort of mod con. One does not go to a restaurant to eat bland, reheated food that was not made fresh that day.
$40 for a curry, chicken tikka and vegetable samosa appetisers, and rice and bread does not sound like a lot, but when the quality is poor and the surroundings basic, Flavour Of India has reinforced in my mind the idea that while Napier may be known as a destination for food lovers, ethnic food is often a let down.
I am yet to find a good Indian eatery in Napier.More