Friday, September 11, 2009

MemSahib- Rockville, MD

Hi Everyone! Recently the bf was craving Indian food, so a friend recommended MemSahib in Rockville. Mind you, I did no research, nor have I heard of this place prior to going, so it was an interesting experience.
Located behind White Flint mall, there is plenty of shopping center parking. The closest metro stop is White Flint on the red line.

From the exterior it looks like a regular restaurant with dark curtains. Nothing too special, so I didn't think much of it.


Its always nice to see plaques when I walk through the front door.


I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in. There's a huge screen on the wall with Indian music videos, booths filled with pillows, and a dance floor. Looks like they serve a buffet for lunch.


After sitting down, I was confused as to why the server didn't hand us menus. Later one of them came over and said there is no menu, just a prefixed meal of 6 courses for $22 per person. So we agreed and then came out to wash our hands. Sorry I only have a picture of the towel! For 5 of the 6 meals, you don't have utensils.


1st plate came out with 4 of the 6 dishes. Carrot and coriander salad, eggplant salad and cucumber and bell paper salad with cumin dressing. I loved all of them. They all tasted extremely different and flavorful. I think I liked the eggplant, then carrots then cucumber salads in that order. There were also Chicken Kabobs, which were quite good, and hot.


The bread (more like a cracker to me) for the salad and kabobs was thin and plain so it didn't drown out the food. Since it was kind of crisp, it was interesting trying to pick up cucumbers and carrots.


2nd plate was the Tandoori Chicken. It was slightly drier than the kabob, and more salty. There was also a larger portion to split between us. I liked the coriander sauce on the side.


RANDOMLY a belly dancer came out and danced for us for around 30 minutes. It was a nice surprise! She did stuff with scarves and then balanced a tray of candles on her head.


There was a group celebrating a birthday in the restaurant so they all got up and danced with the belly dancer. I chose to stay seated and take pictures.


3rd plate we had the option of Butter Chicken or Lamb curry. The bf doesn't like lamb, so we had 3 diff erent types of chicken that night. I liked it a lot along with the rice and naan bread, and this time we were given forks.


I thought dinner was over, but they brought out a HUGE bowl of fruit. Like whole apples, oranges, bananas, and slices of watermelon. There was no way we were going to eat all of that!


Then we were given cups of chai tea ...mmmm.


We were also given small bowls of rice pudding. It was very sweet, so the tea balanced it out.


Dinner took 3 hours! There's nothing wrong with that if you're mentally prepared. The music videos were quite entertaining, so it helped to pass the time. We kept asking for the check and they kept telling us there was more food coming out. $22 is a good deal for so much food, however on the bill there was a 15% service charge, which isn't the tip, so really it's like a little over $25 a person. It's not that much of a difference, but as a customer its something you'd like to know upfront. It's a good place for large groups because they can accommodate a lot of people.  

4840 Boiling Brook Pkwy
Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 468-0098
Website

Buffet Lunch
Tues-Fri: 11:30AM - 2:30PM
Sun: 12:00PM - 3:00PM

Dinner
Tues-Sun: 6:00PM - 11:00PM

Mem Sahib on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

Jonathan said...

Yeah, we like this place too. Fun for groups.

Umm... Service charge is EXACTLY the same as a tip. And by the way you can feel free to pay more or less. Just because they add the service charge doesn't mean you owe it. Really.

Anonymous said...

Love the food, consistantly good. Buffet for lunch is the best in the area.