Sagar Vegetarian Restaurant

Short Version:

Great hot food, Fairly cold service.

Longer Version:

Visited Sagar with my family. My mom and dad are both extremely picky when it comes to South Indian food. They have tried plenty of South Indian restaurants all over the world. When they came to London, we visited the traditional East Ham south Indian restaurants but living in Chiswick, Sagar was an obvious at-least-one-visit joint.

We entered the Sagar restaurant with a healthy amount of skepticism, having being bitten by many a crappy restautant of the same name in the US. However, we were about to be pleasantly surprised.

The food was very good and very Mysorian. We had the Thali, the Mysore Masala Dosa. While my mom, a huge Rasam fan, was raving about the Mysore Rasam, my dad was quitely polishing off the many items on his plate. The Dosa , chutney and sambhar, all tasted very good. Paricularly the chutney. Reminded me of home.

Now lets come to the areas of improvement. The service definitely left a bit to be desired. As good as the food was, the experience on the whole did not leave us with a desire to go back. The service was very cold. It wasn't bad but just cold and the staff seemed very non-caring and distant.
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Mahagyani
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The food is good and our family are its regular customers. But when we asked for an empty plate as we wanted to share the thali which was too much for one person, the waiter refused and said "no sharing". How ridiculous is this! People go to a restaurant to sit together at a table and share and eat. I don't feel like going back again.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Friday, August 03, 2007

If you want a traditional curry in a western setting, forget it. No flock wallpaper or obsequious waiters here, just delicious South Indian vegetarian fare in contemporary, light surroundings.

This is a bustling and friendly restaurant with a vibrant atmosphere. It is full of Indians eating with their hands, which is a great sign of authenticity and quality.

The staff are friendly, respectful and efficient, which must be a challenge for them, given how busy they can be.

Their busiest time is before 8.30 pm when it is essential to book, especially if there are more than two people in your party. If you want a quieter visit, go a little later.

I love this restaurant and am delighted to have this affordable jewel on my doorstep.
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Saskia
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Very impressed with our meal at Sagar. For starters we had the bhajia, mogo chips and bhel puri - all three tasted very fresh and extremely well prepared, with delicate use of spice. The mains were also excellent - I can highly recommend the masala dosa and uttapam here. We also had some good curries and lemon rice. The only item that I wasn't so impressed with was the paratha (north indian style bread) - but then this is a South Indian restaurant, so parathas are certainly not their speciality! Service was both efficient and polite. I'll definitely be visiting again soon - thanks to Sagar for an excellent evening!
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Neil Madhvani
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 19, 2007

I went to this restaurant from an (Indian) friends recommendation which didn't disappoint. The food is really authentic and delicious - very filing. Those who have criticized this place obviously aren’t used to eating authentic Indian food which this is. The lack of meat definitely is not an issue as everything seemed to be packed with flavor. Very cheap to eat at and near impossible to leave with an appetite remaining.
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Marie W
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 16, 2007

We went to Sagar last night for the first time and, being completely passionate about food, it was the best curry I have ever had in London - absolutely delicious vegetarian curry and really reasonable - we paid £30 for two including a very delicious bottle of house red wine. I would recommend it to anyone and also the 'decor' was far better than normal curry restaurants - very good service too.
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shona pollock
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 02, 2007

I ate dinner at the Sagar Restaurant last week. I was very disappointed by the service and the food I received. I used to eat there regularly and the food was always good. However, on this occasion it was barely edible. Aloo ghobi was extremely oily and the bread was stale. When I asked to change my bread the waiter answered that was the way they serve it. Eating in a lot of Indian restaurants I am certain that it is not necessary to cook everything that oily. I would like to add that the service used to be a lot better than it is now. I despair at how the standards in this once fine restaurant have slipped. I would strongly recommend anyone not to waste there money in this restaurant.
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Thomas and Veronica
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Friday, January 19, 2007

Highly recommended restaurant but food I order was not fresh, waiter did not understend English and the floor was full of people eating with their hands. I was served wine kept open for a long time. Only one good issue...it was cheap.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 8
Friday, January 19, 2007

Have been to Sagar for both lunch and dinner in Jan 07. Both meals were a delight, served by helpful and cheerful staff. The lunch 'special' was fantastic value for money.
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Mary
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 08, 2007

Sagar does nice Masala Dosas with a mushy filling including peas and their Sambar is quite good too. But there didn't seem to be the unusual vegetable dishes one can usually get in South Indian restaurants, like the one hard by West Croydon station, or those in Willesden Lane, no green bananas, pumpkin, beetroot etc, which I have seen in non-vegan South Indian and Sri Lankan places.

However it seemed popular for its breads with local indian families and was quite good value.

But the veg section was dull and uninspiring, which is odd for a veggie place. We struggled to get beyond potatoes and the waiter advised spuds were in the dosa, so we had an uninspired dal and strips of veg in milk instead of aloo gobi. They were okay, but nothing special.
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william.simpson
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Thursday, January 04, 2007