Jun 17, 2010 11:51 PM
25765 Views
(Updated Jun 18, 2010 08:19 PM)
I am not a very big fan of pizzas. But I do love to eat it occasionally. Usually my preference is Pizza Corner. But this time, I was on New BEL Road with my family and suddenly we felt like having pizza. Our choice was between Dominos and US Pizza. I remembered reading some great reviews on US Pizza, but my wife felt Dominos was better. So we decided to try out Dominos. Here’s what we experienced:
Location
The outlet is located on New BEL Road near MS Ramiah Institute of Management (near the new bus stand). The outlet is a very small one and the entry to the place is through a small stretch of pavement, followed by a staircase. The pavement unfortunatey is broken and has been fixed by placing a large stone and a huge gap is left. So if you miss a step, you are likely to break your leg and small kids are liable to fall in the hole. So, strike one!
The Menu
Like most Pizza outlets, one has to order at the counter. The menu card seems to have been printed at the time of inauguration of the outlet and has become faded. But I was surprised to find a total lack of choice. There were just a handful of options for vegetarians and the variety one sees in Pizza Hut and Corner is totally missing.
Further there are big banners, talking about Rs.39/- pizza, the lady at the counter informed us that such pizzas had only one topping - capsicum. Also, the other pizzas seems to be over-priced considering the lack of options. All my favourite toppings like Paneer and Sweet corn were mixed with mushroom and being a veggie, we dont eat mushrooms. So, lack of choice is a problem.
Ordering
I placed a order for a medium pizza and when the bill was printed was surprised to see that the price was lesser than what was printed on the menu. Then I was stunned to learn that the lady had put in an order for a regular pizza. I asked her to change the order and she went running to get her boss. The boss sent for me a toss, by saying that "once bill is printed, we cant change. So you have to eat regular pizza, why dont you order one more?". Is this the service standard of a professional company? We decided to stick to the regular pizza, since we were not very hungry and couldnt eat two regulars. So disappointing order taking, Strike Two.
Service
On making the payment, the lady refuses to give the change immediately and comes back after a long interval peering at the bills and distributing the change at all tables like a politician distributing money before an election. It was amusing to note a signboard which said that the pizza would be ready in lesser time, than the time we take to order the food. Really amusing, considering the time they took to serve. And also when we asked for ketchup, the lady responded by promptly giving the ketchup bottle to the next table!
The Food
The pizza was definitely disappointing. However, to be fair, the garlic bread was really excellent. It was the best garlic bread I have had (comparing with Hut and Corner). But the pizza was extremely disappointing, the topping of onion, tomato and capsicum was boring. The cheese seemed to have been added as an afterthought andf the pizza left a bitter taste in the mouth (figuratively and literally). It was without doubt one of the worst pizzas I have every had. I had a strange feeling in my taste buds for the whole day! So, real bad food. Strike three - and sorry Dominos you are out of my list.
Overall opinion
Overall opinion was very disappointing. I remember having a Dominos pizza long back and didnt find it very special. But this experience really put me off. I dont know if the other outlets in Bangalore are any good, but this one is really bad.
Recommendation
Definitely the New BEL Road outlet is avoidable. The next time I go there, I will try US Pizza!
Update: Based on Amit’s suggestion, I forwarded the link of this review to Dominos and within a few hours, I got a call. After listening to my tale, the executive profusely apologised and promised to look into the issue and also assured me that I will get better service next time! Atleast some one took the trouble of bothering about customers!! Though nothing tangible was offered, only an assurance.
