Reviewer's Summary: Bad Food at Cheap Prices; Fine Medhu Vadas, an Exception.
Dosa Express serves unappetizing food at cheap prices.
Perhaps the cheap prices explains the crowd at this self-service South Indian restaurant on Green Street in Iselin (New Jersey).
When we first visited this dump a couple of years ago on a weekend night, it was crowded. When we recently revisited Dosa Express on a week day evening, the place was still a dump. Yet there were 13 people digging into their Idlis, Medhu Vadas and Dosas. Not bad for a Wednesday evening.
As its name suggests, Dosa Express offers a variety of Dosas besides other South Indian favorites such as Idli, Vada, Pongal and Tamarind Rice. In addition to the regular Masala Dosa, the restaurant also serves Butter Masala Dosa, Set Dosa, Paper Masala Dosa, Chili Masala Dosa, Onion Uttapam and more.
You pay at the counter, receive a token number and wait for your number to be yelled out. Our Dosas took about 15 minutes but the other dishes arrived earlier.
Prices at Dosa Express are cheap.
The costliest item on the menu was the Onion, Chili Rava Masala Dosa at $5.75. The Plain Dosa is just $3.00 while a regular Masala Dosa is $4.00. These are hard to beat prices.
Idli is $2.25 and Vada $2.75. Besi Bele Bath, a speciality from the Southern state of Karnataka, is available on weekends for $4.00.
We tried a variety of items including Onion Masala Dosa, Idli, Vada, Paper Masala Dosa and Mango Milk Shake.
Except for the Vada, all the other dishes were just plain awful, leaving us baffled as to how this place could possibly stay in business.
Both the Masala Dosa and Paper Masala Dosa were almost unedible, let alone palatable. The potato-onion filling in the middle of the Dosas was tasteless. Surely, a Dosa joint that can't make good Dosas belongs in the Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not book. Idli, another South Indian speciality, was only slightly better in taste.
The Chutney that came with the Dosas, Idli and Medhu Vada was a disgrace to any Indian restaurant. Hopelessly bland, the Dosa Express Chutney had as much resemblance to the real Chutney as the boxing champion Muhammed Ali has to Julia Roberts.
The Sambar was equally bad. Barely warm, it had no flavor of the rich southern spices that one expects from Sambar.
Medhu Vada was the only surprise in an overall bad dining experience at Dosa Express.
Although just lukewarm, the Medhu Vada was still crisp and the best item on our plate. We are sure the Vadas at Dosa Express must taste a lot better when they are hot.
We dug into the Vada with much gusto and would certainly visit Dosa Express again just for the fine Medhu Vadas they serve.
There was no coffee although it was listed on the menu. We met with another shake of the head from the person at the counter
when we asked for the Indian soft drink Thums Up, which was also on the menu. Finally, we settled on the Mango Milk Shake ($1.75), a bad decision in hindsight. We should have stuck to just water. - © Rekha Inc.
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