Becoming one with Mayura’s chef
Traditional flavors bring too many unexpected surprises
By Miranda Agee
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But I couldn’t help wondering, “Why me?” My dining partner’s food was sans hair, as far as he knew.
I really don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to blurt it out. At Mayura Indian Restaurant I found hair in almost all of my food. I’ll spare you the graphic details about how I came to figure this health code violation and potential felony out, but I did.
However, I did not leave. But I couldn’t help wondering, “Why me?” My dining partner’s food was sans hair, as far as he knew.
Normally, I would tell you what you can do for me now and you may be expecting me to say avoid Mayura Indian Restaurant like the plague. But I really think some of you who love Indian food will love this place.
It was hard for me to look past the few strands I found within my tandoori chicken ($13.95), but when I found the first piece in my samosa ($3.95) I started using a knife and fork to pick apart everything before putting it into my mouth. OK, enough about the hair, I’m making myself sick.
The food was quite good. My deep-fried samosa, which is the egg roll of Indian food, had a light, flaky crust and a piping hot vegetable interior.
Accompanied with the mint and turmeric chutneys, I found them quite delectable. The mint gave the savory samosa a fresh and much lighter taste.
I never eat Indian food without trying the tandoori chicken. Ours came on a cast iron plate that was insanely hot.
The chicken and julienne of vegetables were still cooking and steamed as they were brought to our table. Tandoori is a spice rub that is made with chili powder, paprika, turmeric, cardamom, cumin and coriander seeds. The skin is taken off of the chicken and the dry rub is slathered on all parts of the bird generously.
This makes for a really healthy way of eating Indian since most of the fat in chicken in stored in the skin. The breast meat was a little on the dryer side, though the thigh meat was quite succulent.
The next entrée of the evening was the lamb masala ($11.95). It was so good, I actually polished it off.
My dining partner probably got one spoonful, while I had about four or five. I’m happy to report that I didn’t find any hair in this dish, as far as I know.
Dipping my naan (an unleavened Indian flat bread-- $1.95) in the thick curry mixture made it so easy not to think about how much I was eating.
The dish was made out of a mild curry and lime leaves, giving the lamb a zingy and bright flavor. It was to die for. Our meal came with some traditional basmati rice that is steamed with cloves to give it a deep earthy flavor.
Everyone around us that night had what seemed to be pink and orange pina coladas to accompany their meals. I rolled my eyes as my dining companion and I ordered two traditional Indian beers.
First we shared the Flying Horse (22oz., $6.75) which was a great quality beer and worth the money. The second was a King Fisher ($4.25). It was too light and lacked a ton of flavor. It was very much like a watered down Amstel Light.
I must say, I really enjoyed this restaurant. The service was great. Our server was attentive and gave us great recommendations on food choices. She kept our water glasses to the brim and cleared plates in a timely manner. But, despite everything, I couldn’t move past my food’s uninvited guest.
Find hair in my food once, shame on you. Find hair in my food three times, shame on me. My apologies Mayura; I liked you until the moment your chef and I became one in my mouth.



> Comments
Linda Hawkins on Mar 17, 2008 at 02:52 PM:
My husband and I have been going to this restaurant once a week since it opened, and we went to their original restaurant (Taste of India) in Brookfield once a week for years. The food and service have always been excellent and we never found hair or any other foreign object in our food. Nor have any of the many friends and family members we have taken there.
In addition, whenever I've seen any of the kitchen staff, they have been wearing hair nets.
I hope the atypical experience of this reviewer does not make anyone miss out on the great food and service at the Mayura or have a negative effect on those who are working so hard to make it a success.
The Management, Mayura Indian Restaurant on Mar 17, 2008 at 04:37 PM:
Thanks for sharing the pleasant and not so pleasant experiences you had with the restaurant. But the management of the restaurant would really have appreciated if you would have shared your experience with them personally. It seems that you did not even bring it to the notice of your server whose services you have recommended. The management of the restaurant does not seem to be in agreement with your unpleasant experiences as lots of care is taken to keep the hygiene of the food intact. And the fact that it was not brought to the notice of the restaurant manager or anyone else working there, forces the management to disagree with you having an encounter with the chef in your food. It could very much have been your own hair - who knows! However we would still like to invite you and your friend to dine at our restaurant and we believe that your experience would be par excellence!