[rating:3]
So it is very late, and I am hungry. Before anyone says anything about eating at this hour, let me explain. For the past two days and nights, I have been bedridden with one of the worst migraine headaches I have had in a long time. Basically, all I have done is sleep. I ate a few small things here and there, the most recent being a sandwich that unfortunately did not agree with me. It resulted in a pretty rough episode that required me to brush my teeth and take a full shower afterward.
Not exactly the kind of story you would expect in a restaurant review, right? But I wanted to give you some context.
Sohna is the only place open this late (I ordered around 2:20am) that is not pizza. I was craving some real food and not pizza this time. Following some advice from my friend Pooja Narang and choosing some recognizable items, I ordered the following for takeout:
Naan, Garlic Naan, and Aloo Paratha
Naan is a bread-like product. I remember the name because my friends repeated it many times back when we used to visit an Indian spot for lunch. I always got the same thing there. I even took a date there once.
You really cannot go wrong with a baked bread product, so this was pretty much as expected. Tasted good enough. The garlic naan stood out a bit more, though overall they all tasted somewhat similar.
Plain Fried Rice
Rice is a staple for many of us with Latin backgrounds, so I had to get some. Like the bread, it is hard to go wrong with fried rice. It tasted like any fried rice would, with little bits of onion or scallion that added a nice crunch.
Chicken Tikka Masala Special
This was recommended by Pooja. I was not sure how I would feel about it but figured I should try something different. My wife sometimes orders this, so if I did not enjoy it, she would finish it. I am not usually a fan of dishes with a lot of sauce, but the chicken, vegetables, and flavors were good. I can definitely eat this again. Since I ordered quite a bit of food, I saved half for my wife. Hopefully she will be happy to find it waiting in the fridge, especially since she was less than thrilled when the delivery arrived at 4:45am.
Tandoori Chicken
Tandoori chicken is one of the few Indian dishes I know well. When I was younger, I called it the red chicken. I do not eat Indian food regularly, but when I did, my first question was always whether they had the red chicken. So this was an obvious pick.
It was just as I remembered it, dry and a bit firm. I like my chicken well done, so this was right up my alley. It was good.
There were also some sauces and pieces of vegetables. I am not exactly sure how you are supposed to eat Indian food, so I just ate it the way I grew up eating, rice and chicken with some bread on the side.
Service
The delivery was very late. I usually try to be understanding with delivery workers, but this was quite a delay. The projected arrival time was set well ahead to give a buffer, but the delivery came well past that.
I ordered around 2:22am and the latest estimated delivery was 3:30am, already more than an hour out. By 4:15am, I called to check on the order. It turned out the restaurant had not processed it yet. Mistakes happen, especially at that hour, so I did not cancel.
The first person I spoke to was not very helpful, and the second initially said they had not received the order and told me to contact Grubhub. Moments later, he found and read my order aloud. It would have been better to simply acknowledge the mix-up rather than point to the system.
The delivery driver preferred not to come upstairs with the food. Still, I try to be fair to delivery workers since they are often caught in the middle. Even though the delay was frustrating, it was past 4am and he was out working, so I tipped accordingly.
Once you get the food, it is solid. If nothing else is open and you are really hungry, this place will do the job. If you are not a big fan of Indian food, you cannot really go wrong with naan, tandoori chicken, and fried rice. The dishes are fairly straightforward and should work well even for those who prefer familiar flavors.
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