4486 W 8th St, Cincinnati, OH 45238

Overview

Date of Visit: 14-August-2020
President: The Debonair Matt Butler
The Show: 7
The Score: 7.3

The Report

This July 2020 episode of “The Quarantined Curry Connoisseurs” saw our adventurers brave the streets of Westside Cincinnati in further search of the top Indian restaurant of the year. As always, the night started with drinks at a nearby bar, this specific one being The Crow’s Nest on Eighth street within walking distance of the main event. It was a pleasant enough establishment that seemed to bring in a lot of locals as most people appeared to know each other. All in all, it served its purpose of properly preparing our palates for what was to shortly come.

Moving on to the meat and potatoes of this report (preferably in the form of a lamb curry), we find our esteemed group at a humble establishment called Mayas Indian Restaurant. There is no alcohol served but we were able to bring in our own beverages and the staff provided glasses as needed. At a glance, it is obvious that this place is not trying to compete with glamorous restaurants and is most comfortable serving take-out. I will be referencing this throughout the report but first, let’s talk about what we came here for: The food. Opinions from the group were varied and ranged from “excellent” to “what the heck do you mean excellent?! [insert scoff]”. Most were at least satisfied with the value to cost ratio of their dish. Your experience, dear reader, might just depend on the type of dish you order. You can choose a heat level for your plate that ranged from 1 to 6 and although the spice level was not disappointing, per se, it was stated that the level 6 did not burn anyone’s tongue which is abnormal when that is your hottest setting. If you like your fare spicy, you might want to pick a level higher than your usual. Also, the portion sizes were more than enough for the price of the dishes which makes up for some (not all) of the shortcomings. The staff was polite and attended to the table’s needs while juggling the responsibilities of caring for the steady influx of call-in orders, take-out patrons, and other seated guests. It cannot go unmentioned that management did respect our custom and gave complimentary popadoms which were tasty and came with some outstanding chutney. This does not affect the score but does give account to what the restaurant will do in order to satisfy their guests. Before I start nit-picking at what was wrong, I will state my observation that the restaurant had plenty of room for improvement, but you will not be disappointed with your purchase.

Now I will touch on some of the aforementioned “rooms for improvement”. Although our reservation was called in a week in advance and the president checked in on numerous occasions, the venue did not appear to be prepared for our arrival and we had to slide tables together at the last minute. This might be because of the steady flow of take-out customers which seems to be their main business but this minor grievance is worth mentioning, nonetheless. Also, the bathroom looked like it wanted to appear clean but there was evidence that I will not mention here which let us know that another cleaning was in order. The rooms also lacked much ambiance, which is slightly excusable for a take-out restaurant. However, there are tables to sit at so ambiance counts regardless of your main revenue stream. Lastly, there aren’t many parking spots which also attests to their focus on take-out.

In a nutshell, if you want good-tasting Indian take-out with great portions at a reasonable price, you could definitely do worse than Mayas. Especially if you live in the area you should absolutely give them a try. However, if you are looking for somewhere to take a date or want a nice, quiet place to eat with friends or family, you might want to explore other options.

Overall summary of the deliberations:

The Good:

• Friendly staff
• Good take-out spot

The Bad:

• Not many parking spots
• Customers cycling in and out and all tables are close to the door, no real room for intimacy

The Ugly

• That thing in the bathroom

Next President: Rob Bosma

The Handover Picture