Plainfield’s Mayur Restaurant

Plainfield’s serves the best Indian food in Portland. But, the service is unfortunately so reprehensible that it makes it impossible to eat there. On the last two occasions we left the restaurant before eating. The first time was during warmer weather when they asked us if we wanted to sit outside, we said we didn’t, and then the host/​server/​someone was so perplexed as to where we could sit in the empty restaurant, that we said we would just find a restaurant that was capable of seating its guests (we also had reservations). The second time we sat at the table and no one came for fifteen plus minutes so we left, they didn’t even say a thing to us — nothing. A while before these two attempts, I made a reservation for a special occassion, only to receive a call on the day of, informing us that there would be a prix fixe menu, when the website said nothing about a special menu. It is very awkward to encounter a restaurant that is essentially hippie pretentious — they take their reservations seriously and really consider themselves to be a ‘fine-​dining’ establishment, but it stops there. I wish they could get their act together even just slightly. This is definitely a bittersweet situation because the food is so outstanding, but I haven’t been able to return in over a year because all my attempts have failed. What a waste…

I have not been to Indian restaurants or tasted Indian cuisine in my lifetime so I might not have a good idea of its cultural authenticity whether the meñu is great or not. The plainsfield restaurant situated on the historical Meir mansion slowly introduced my curiousity to Indian food and I am not quite happy. Although the brevity and graciousness of the server created a red carpet service, the food is a little bit bland. I am not only referring to the flavor of the food nor its presentation but the texture is a bit off. When I take information from the menu I should expect to taste it on the item. For instance, the appetizer Dahi Wada (crispy oentil balls) was supposed to be crispy, but what I tasted was a stale pre-​fried falafel like ball drenched in green sauce which also tasted like a green salt lick. Another example is the lamb entre which I have to admit was not gamy, a good thing, but was cold, very dry and chewy. Assuming that the lamb was marinated in yoghurt, the lamb should have been tender and sadly it was not. The sauce on the lamb entrée is the only saving grace on it. It is very smoothe, creamy, minty and a little bit nutty which I find very interesting. All in all I would like to try dining here again, but this particular night maybe the chef was not up to par.

We decided to try this since it looked a bit different from the regular restaurants. It is actually a old victorian home converted into a restaurant. The food was decent and had some good flavors. Even the portions were good. What I loved was that they served every table with 4 – 5 types of chutneys, pickles, papad, which was yumm. make sure you have enough money in your wallet-​its a bit on the expensive side :). Good if you need a change, but the food dint blow me away. so ‘ll go with 3 stars.

Th place is very nice, wood carving and white drapes, the food was ok, i enjoyed the samosas and really the whole dinner was good but for the price, i expect better. 80 $ for 2 entrée’s and an app?! it was descent Indian food, but you can get descent Indian food all over Portland metro for alot cheaper

Pros: It is true, the atmosphere of Plainfield’s Mayur is lovely… we dined outside, in what was dressed as a colonial India patio. The service was unobtrusive, helpful, and just a touch slow~ oddly, this seemed to suit the place. The wine list is excellent, the do deserve their write up in the ‘Wine Spectator’. I can see that they’ve done all they can to make this a nice restaurant~ but, in typical Portlander summer fashion, we all still dine in our t-​shirts.
Cons: I can see why the restaurant stands mostly empty. The price tag for your meal does run quite high, and I’ve had much better at ¹⁄₃ the price. I would swallow this price tag for flawless food, but it was not. The food is very aggressively salted, not typical Indian food salty~ where developed flavors carry significant sodium. The food was so salty that it eclipsed the delicate, and half developed, flavors of the food.
Front of house trumps the kitchen. Sadly, I won’t be back.

Phenomenal. Everything I had here — pappadums, fireworks salad, the mushrooms and greens thing, and the creamy prawns thing — made my mouth taste new flavors that were shocking and fantastic. Plus it is such a sweet dining room, and the staff is charming. And, holy crap, the naan is like light puffy tantalizing airbread.
I thought San Francisco and NYC had the best Indian restaurants in the US, but no, Plainfield’s wins.

My boyfriend and I decided to try Plainfield’s for a special occasion. I love Indian food, he doesn’t. So, in essence, the four stars I’m giving the restaurant is a combination of our experiences: He loved it, I’ve had better Indian food.
We started with papadum and dahi wada. The papadum was all right (a little stale, though), and came with an assortment of chutneys and sauces that added a lot of flavor. The dahi wada are described on the menu as fried white lentil balls in yogurt sauce. I was picturing something like a falafel, but it turns out they are more like a lentil doughnut, which is actually, despite how it may sound, totally delicious. They were the best part of the meal for me, hands down. After appetizers, the waiter brought cucumber sorbet as a palate cleanser – pretty tasty, although the consistency was more like a sno-​cone than a sorbet. For entrees, we got the mint lamb chops and butter chicken. The butter chicken was very good and pretty hot. My boyfriend loved the lamb chops (I don’t love the classic lamb-​mint pairing), but struggled with the cut of meat, which was bony and awkward to cut, and disliked the inclusion of mushrooms in the dish. The entrees came with rice and naan. The rice portion was very small.
The meal was close to $ 100, with wine. Which is okay for Fancy Dinner, but weird for an Indian meal. Plainfield’s Mayur is supposed to be (I think) a cross between the two. Fancy Indian food! But as fancy it doesn’t quite do it: It’s in a huge, Victorian home that’s either charming or in need of a renovation; the service is great, but the atmosphere is a little weird (quiet, nearly empty, odd music). The food, though good, doesn’t strike me as authentic, either. Now, I’ve never been to India, so maybe I don’t know authentic Indian food. But as a person who’s eaten her way across the U.S. on Indian buffets, I enjoy the food at Bombay Cricket Club more.
That said, it was a good evening, with tasty food, in an interesting house, and I’d try it again – especially if someone else were paying.

Try the Dahi Wada appetizer. Do not try the duck. It was not rendered correctly, and a complete waste of the hefty $ 30.
Surprisingly, our silverware was dirty, by that I mean there was still pieces of food on them after being cleaned. This happened twice.
Everything else was good, but realistically, you can have good Indian food for a fraction of the price.

One of the best restaurants in the history of Portland. Everything is yummy, atmosphere is lovely. Very authentic Indian food and stellar wine list.

I had such high hopes for this place. Something about it made it seem as if it would be a really nice date spot for a special evening. Maybe it’s because it’s in an old victorian house. Maybe it’s because it’s so frickin’ expensive. Maybe it’s because the waitstaff, who are very nice, seem to want you to feel like it’s a special place. Unfortunately the food, which is what we were really there for, was very unspecial.
Maybe the meat dishes are better. Our biryani was both dry and kind of oily. It was «Royal Biryani» I guess because of the edible silver leaf bits… they didn’t do anything for the textural issues it already had. The garlic naan was the same, which is weird because you can see the guys making it in the kitchen. How’d it manage to dry out in the 6 foot travel?
Um. Now that I’m writing this review, I actually can’t remember what else we had. That may seem insignificant to you, dear reader. But I’m now certain that there is no reason to go back. You see, I have this weird memory and remember 98% of all of the meals I’ve ever had. It’s really taking up valuable mental space; I blame not being able to learn another language on this. If I’ve forgotten what I ate somewhere, it was really unremarkable.
So I’ll just stop here and say that it was a very forgettable meal. Except for the bill. THAT I remember.

This is the best Indian food I have had in Portland. VERY authentic and VERY tasty!
I could see how the service would be slow there (I think they only have 3 employees) but I was there on a slow night and the service was fine.
Extensive wine list! Great food! Great atmosphere!
I highly reccomend!

we were visiting portland for the weekend (mostly for the food, I’ll admit) and we found this place in a «where to eat» guide in portland. We went there for dinner. The food was fresh but left something to be desired. It wasn’t fusion enough to make me say, oh this is really neat. Our meals were very fresh but quite bland. The menu was clearly Indian food but the product was lacking flavor. we are from southern california and really love Indian food, to be absolutely honest, this was sort of an insult to Indian cooking (super bland and not authentic but not fusion enough, so just in the category of not very good Indian).
Comment by the man at the table next to us who was clearly from India…” this isn’t spicy and lacks flavor” Touché my man, toche.
Also, the décor is a bit odd and the service is on the slow side. They recommended that we should make reservations but only 3 tables were full when we were there.
I’d skip this place.

I really wanted to like this restaurant. The owner/​chef/​waiter was nice enough to accommodate us 15 minutes before closing time, and the menu looked great. The service was not bad, and the ambiance was okay.
The food was without doubt the worst Indian food I’ve ever eaten. We ordered an appetizer and three entrees, and the best I can say about any of it is that one of the entrees was okay. The other two were so intensely sweet, with such a bizarre combination of flavors that they were practically inedible. The naan was like no naan I’ve ever eaten, it was dry and crispy and flavorless. The appetizer (Crisp Dumplings in Creamy Sauce) was also bland and flavorless. The mango lassis had the consistency of ice cream smoothies.
It was doubly painful to receive the bill at the end of the meal and to realize that we’d spent over $ 150 for three people to not eat.

Rediculously slow.
Overpriced.
Tacky décor.
Gross, salty attempt at Indian food.
I’ve had better.
The waiter spilled a scalding hot red sauced-​dish in my lap.
Out of politeness, I assured him it was ok.
He had the audacity to say to me: «NO, it’s not ok! I burned my hand!»
There was never an «are you alright?» from the waiter, and no compensation of any kind was offered (a free meal or glass of wine would have sufficed), other than when the manager/​owner came over and folded the white linen table cloth OVER the sauce to make my dining experience more enjoyable…
The only good thing about the evening was the wine, which I sipped as frequently as possible just to keep my mouth from getting me into trouble and my mind from anger. All the while, I kept telling myself I would never step foot in this high-​priced thrift store-​looking place again. Do yourself a favour: make your own Indian food or go somewhere else.

AMAZING Ambiance and Service, but the food is not at all close to REAL Indian food.

Been here a few times, and it tends to be very slow. I made a reservation; however, it was clearly not needed. Anyways, the lady that served our table was very friendly. I ordered a vegetable samosa, garlic naan and the velvet butter chicken (chicken tikka masala). The samosa was good although Ive had better. I like there to be actual chunks of vegetables and potatoes in mine, however it seemed like it was all pureed or something. The garlic naan and velvet butter chicken however were very good, Id absolutely eat them again sometime. In the past I had their tomato coconut soup which was good as well (and I usually do not like coconut soup). Ultimately, I will come back, just once in a while.
If you are a vegetarian, they have a very vegetarian friendly menu.

This should be a NO star review — but fellow Unilocalers know that we cannot offer the big zed even when it is really needed.
We tried P.M. on a Monday evening. We had made reservations as indicated on their website. It was slow we we arrived. Three of our four person party were seated and we waited for our fourth. When she arrived the staff did not seat her nor did they indicate to her that we were seated. They just let her stand in the foyer and wait. dum. bad.
The waiter (later I realized he is the *owner*) has a habit of leaning on the water pitcher will he talks to you. He rests his hands across the pour spout which a a food handler no-​no. yuk. bad — don’t drink the water. (kinda authentic Indian — not drinking the water — but not the experience I was looking for that nite.)
P.M. was out of three of the beers they had on the menu. The wine we first selected was also ‘out.’ Who is ordering the supplies? hmmmm.bad.
The food was slow to arrive. Dad was buying and he ordered almost all of the appetizers on the menu. He wanted to try the flavors so he went hog wild. Most portions are quite small — also authentic — no prob. The items are also very salty and generally more odd tasting than any Indian food I’ve had anywhere.
Bro’s first choice for entrée — not available. He gets the Gosht Saag Pudeena. It was awful. The green pureed spinach stuff under the chops was truly some of the most foul stuff I’ve ever seen served. really — yuk.
I try for Bara Jheenga Do Pyaz. But waiter states that it is not lobster (since that would be too expensive to serve [???]) It is made with shrimp. Shrimp aint lobster. Yes they both live in the sea and look like giant sea monkeys but shrimp aint lobster. duh-​uh. bad. I get the Chandan Gosht: (Sandal Wood Scened Lamb Shanks). I think they meant «scented» or mostly they meant «really salty lamb»
I am not making this up — this meal was terrible. Even the nan was sub-par.really. sheesh.
On to the veggie selections — Sis *always* orders Mutter Paneer when we get Indian food. She would not eat any of the slop that landed after her first couple mouthfuls. In fact she tried my lamb in order to get the Mutter Paneer taste outta her mouth. yikes.
Dad got the Royal Biryani. Best part: the piece of silver flake. P.M. could not screw up the taste of pure element. Thank Ganesha — something to be positive about.
For what Dad spent on the lousy service and truly awful food we could have had two nites out at any of the other decent Indian joints in town. Save your money and time — go anywhere but Plainfield’s Mayur for Indian food.
p. s. — I did not really ‘get’ how salty the food was until later that nite when I met up with dad getting water at 2AM. I have never been so thirsty after a meal — it had to be the salt in the food. I understand the saltiness of Indian pickle but I did not have enough of that to explain the unbelievable thirst that kicked in a couple hours after dinner. bad.

I had heard good things about Plainfield’s, but was rather disappointed when I finally made it there.
The food was average, and was WAY overpriced for what it was. The atmosphere is nice enough, but seems kind of like a restaurant from a college town 20 or 30 years ago, the kind of place you would have had your parents take you to for a special occasion because it was «fancy» and «exotic», and you thought was really special because you hadn’t eaten in that many good restaurants in your life.
The service was good.
There is not really anything bad about this place, but for the money, you can do much better.

GOOD:
Nice atmosphere
Friendly service
Vegetarian/​vegan-​friendly
Daily specials are much cheaper than the regular entrees, so if you go, get one of those.
BAD:
The food is not good, in more than one way. Both entrees, the side of rice and the condiments were LOADED with salt, and we could barely eat any of it. Everything was overcooked, and no fresh vegetables to give it some life, unlike the advertisement, which showed mostly fresh vegetables.
Our appetizer, although it tasted OK, was very awkward to eat and felt cheap (seemed like 50% rice crispies).
The cutlery is silver. So what? It’s way too small and frankly, not that nice. I’d rather have plain old stainless steel that is functional.
Prices are too high for the quality of food.
SUMMARY:
We’ll never go back. How could they possibly let that overly salty food reach our table? The bottom line of any restaurant is food quality. Unless the food is good, nothing else matters. Luckily we had a $ 20-​off coupon so it wasn’t a total disaster. We were very disappointed.

Authentic Indian — no joke. Very expensive, but a taste adventure. The wine list is amazing too.