First off I want to say I had an amazing time at Swagat! My bestie Jessica joined us for our Indian adventure. Well, she kind of instigated the whole thing! She is kind of a pro when it comes to Indian food or at least she is a pro at Swagat because it’s her favorite! (I think Jessica is a pro at everything!)
She helped us decide what to try off of the buffet because
I was a little terrified when I saw all the choices!!! (I seriously
considered leaving when you guys weren’t looking!)
Another reason why I had such an amazing time
at Swagat was the friendly service! We were being a little crazy having a great
time and they started joking around with us! They taught us how to pronounce
their restaurant Swa-Got with the emphasis on the GOT , they helped teach me how to carry three
plates at the same time, and even gave us tea to go (It might have been just
a way to get us out of their restaurant since we did close the place down!) These
guys were truly amazing and they made my day!!
First impressions mean a lot in life, even when it is a new
restaurant you have never been to before. There are so many things we look for
in a new restaurant like friendly service, cleanliness, and how busy it is. For
me the decorations and ambiance play a huge role in my first impression. I love
to feel like I actually went somewhere exotic even if I am just on my lunch
break or out for dinner with friends! My fist impression of Swagat was “This
place is fabulous!” It was very busy for lunch and the decorations were
beautiful!
It was so enjoyable because the place looked and felt like the food
I was eating! (It didn’t look like the food I was eating!) Well, it
didn’t look like brightly colored slop, which is what Indian food looks like if
you didn’t know, but you know what I mean. As soon as I opened the door I felt like I
found a cute little Indian hideout in the middle of Zona Rosa. (I felt like
an Indian princess!) The strong aroma of Indian spices definitely aided in
this feeling! I immediately thought “This is either going to be really amazing
because I love spiced food or horrible and something I will so regret later!” Normally
I’m pretty bold, but Indian food definitely put some fear in me! (You’re not
the only one who was scared.)
Our server convinced me to try the buffet, and I am glad that I did! As I grabbed my plate I was still very nervous looking at all the different options in front of me. (It was kinda like being on fear factor!)
I decided to get a little bit of everything, and when I say everything I mean mostly vegetable dishes and a few chicken ones J
Our server convinced me to try the buffet, and I am glad that I did! As I grabbed my plate I was still very nervous looking at all the different options in front of me. (It was kinda like being on fear factor!)
I decided to get a little bit of everything, and when I say everything I mean mostly vegetable dishes and a few chicken ones J
I filled my plate with
small portions of the Basmati rice (Man that was some good rice!),
Tamarind rice, Chicken Tikka Masala, Swagat Special Korma, Vegetable Korma, Dal
Makhni, some kind of fried vegetable appetizer and Nan! I also tried the
Coconut Soup and the Indian Tea. The coconut soup was very unique to say the
least. I was not a huge fan, because it was really thick and literally just
tasted like coconut in soup form. I thought it would be delicious poured over
some cake or something, but not so much as a soup! (Word!) Out of the
two kinds of rice I liked the Basmati the most, it was delicious! My favorite
dish with meat was definitely the Chicken Tikka Masala, I’m pretty much in love
with this dish now! I also really enjoyed the Vegetable Korma, the appetizer we
tried, and the Dal Makhni, which was just lentils in a really yummy sauce. I
discovered Indian food pretty much has my name written all over it, spicy,
saucy, and you can get 2 carbs in the same meal, rice and nan!! (I try to
get at least 2 carbs in all of my meals!) Swagat will definitely become a
regular lunch destination for me! The buffet was so affordable and tasty and
the service was phenomenal.
To sum up my review I give Swagat a taste rating of
8 because I so went back for seconds!! As a restaurant Swagat I give you...7
I
will definitely be adding your restaurant to my list of favorites.
Amanda and I have wanted to try Swagat in Zona Rosa for a while now. Well, more like Amanda's friend Jessica has been dying for us to try it in hopes that we will become as addicted as she is. (So true, every time she is off work she asks me if we want to go to Swagat!) ;) I have never experienced Indian food before so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. (I was kind of expecting something awful!)
Ok, now for the food!
After much debate, and the help of our server, we decided to go ahead and try out the lunch buffet. When I saw the buffet my first thought was "OMG! What have I gotten myself into?" (Same here, Jessica on the other hand was just piling everything on her plate!) Everything looked like it had gone through a food processor! No joke! I'm talking pans and pans of different colored mashed up food!!! It looked like a #3 baby food buffet! (So true, you crack me up sis!)
Knowing absolutely NOTHING about what I was putting on my plate, I faithfully (and by faithfully I mean hesitantly) followed Amanda and our fearless leader Jessica through the buffet bar!
Since it was a buffet I had a hard time remembering the names of everything I tried, but I gave it my best shot. :) (Really? Spinach Stuff and Not So Yummy Rice was your best shot??)
I wasn't crazy about EVERYTHING on my plate, but at the same time, there wasn't anything that I hated either. This is saying a lot LOL! (For realz because you are pretty ridiculous sometimes!)
The spinach stuff wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic either. I dipped my pita, AKA Nan, in it and it was pretty good. It just didn't have a lot of flavor. I give this a 4 on the taste rating scale! (I totally forgot to try this!)
The zucchini stuff was pretty good as well, but it wasn't my favorite. I give it a 3.5 on the taste rating scale.
My least favorite was the Lamb, Chicken and Shrimp Korma. :( Again, not terrible but not fantastic either. (I agree. This was by far my least favorite dish.)
I give this a 3 on the taste rating scale.
I really liked the white rice, the Chicken Masala, and the Vegetable Korma!
The Chicken Masala and the Vegetable Korma both get a 7 from me on the taste rating scale! :)
The service at Swagat was wonderful! Everyone was so friendly! Our server not only refilled our glasses and accommodated our every need he also gave us (and by us I mean Jessica) an Indian dancing lesson, (This was hysterical by the way! Jessica told our server she wanted to buy their Bollywood cd so she could take it home and dance. I guess he thought she needed to improve her Bollywood a bit so he gave a demonstration!) taught us how to pronounce Swagat correctly [Swo-got'], and even assisted Jessica in teaching Amanda how to carry more than 1 plate in each hand! (This is harder than it looks guys! We practiced for at least 30 minutes and my arms were so sore! Of course Jessica and all the servers at Swagat were experienced at carrying multiple plates, so they all had their fun laughing at my pathetic attempts! I will say I can now officially carry more than two plates at a time!)
To top it all off, they even gave us all hot tea to go!!! I mean how cool is that?!?! (Yeah they were pretty sweet guys! Can't wait to eat there again!)
As for the restaurant over all I give Swagat a 6. :)
We had so much fun!! We will definitely be going back!!
Again, we want to be very clear that we are trying some of these foods for the first time. Our opinions and reviews can be compared to the average person wanting to branch out and try new things. These restaurants may make the best authentic dishes in the whole city, but we can only rate them by what our taste buds say! We are hoping to try multiple restaurants that serve similar dishes so we can really find out if we like these new cultural cuisines.
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