Come and see Rangoli...
The Oakham Curry Club (OCC) is a well-respected institution with multiple international franchises.
The OCC takes pride in searching out the finest Indian restaurants, and providing an impartial review of Curry Houses all over the world. More recently we started our 3rd franchise to find the best Indian restaurant in Shanghai.
Members vote anonymously on 5 categories - and an average score is given to each restaurant we review.
Following on from the highly successful April meet at Lotus Land the OCC chose a venue in a similar area in town to see if it matched the current CHOTY leaders’ standard.
Rangoli's meaning is in fact a traditional indian decoration that is made with coloured ground rice, often during festival periods and can be very beautiful. Unfortunately Rangoli based in the Taikang Terrace failed to deliver on this beauty and as such is placed in the wooden spoon position for the OCC CHOTY.
Our scores out of 10
Quality: 4.3 Service: 6.6 Value: 5.4 Customer care: 6.1 Atmosphere: 4.5
Overall score: 5.4
The most noticeable flaw in our experience was the low quality of food offered. The starters of Bhajis, Samosas and Bhara Kebabs lacked any real texture and appeared as if they had not been freshly cooked. The mains whilst better were fairly bland and equally lacking in their levels of presentation. It should also be considered that the OCC ordered their signature dish of Chicken Tikka Masala to give Rangoli the best chance to showcase their food. Whilst this was better than the Rogan Josh and Vindaloo it lacked any real star quality. Portions wise the dishes were adequate and the drinks were also reasonably priced to bring the meal to around 250 RMB per person. However the value rating of Rangoli would be offset against the food quality.
The level of customer care was also variable throughout the evening. A clear negative was the lack of a table indoors despite booking well in advance. However it must be said that the staff tried hard to aid our dining experience outdoors by regularly adjusting their lighting. Similarly the staff were eager to please at the end of the meal and were happy to share their support of the OCC by sporting some of our new merchandise.
The service through the meal was speedy though this could be as a result of a near empty restaurant. For a Saturday evening in Shanghai this was surprising and as such brought a lower than usual atmosphere rating.
In summary the OCC felt that Rangoli didn't really deliver on the night. As such its reputation as a venue for good buffet deals rather than a restaurant of high quality food still stands.
