At work, our team had its monthly Luncheon yesterday. Instead of going somewhere for the usual Chicken Parmagiana or Steak and Chips, someone suggested we should try an Indian restaurant for a change. Especially considering half our team are Indian.

The place recommended to us was Jaipur Curry Bar, a narrow fronted place at the top of Bourke St, opposite the Hard Rock Cafe. It’s easy to spot though, with the brightly coloured beads dangling in the window - and the other two curry places right beside it.

We had a booking for 12:15, and were told to be prompt. Two of the guys went ahead early, to secure our seats.

We arrived right on 12.15, and were surprised to find there were no seats available. Our co-workers who went ahead told us that they were just waiting for some people to finish up, and then they would arrange our seating.

While we were waiting, we joined the queue to order our food.

Looking around the interior, your attention is attracted by a Plasma TV mounted high, belting out all kind of Bollywood music videos from its tiny speakers. Then you notice more beads and ornaments, mounted on the walls against a multicoloured paint scheme.

I looked around for some menus, but they were nowhere to be found - the only menu was taped to the bench in front of the cashier, so each person would get to the front of the queue, then read the whole menu, then order what they wanted. A bit strange, I thought.

There was a selection of curries already prepared in the bain marie, but none were labelled so I was none-the-wiser.

Finally we reached the cashier, and after a quick glance at the menu I chose the ‘Chicken Curry’ ($7.00). Nondescript, but I didn’t want to be too adventurous - we don’t have wireless connections at work, so I wouldn’t be able to work the afternoon from the Loo.

By now, 15 minutes had passed, and they’d finally assembled our table. We sat down, and waited for our meals.

And waited.

And… waited.

After half an hour and prompting the waiter multiple times, our meals started to arrive. Well, mostly.

My Chicken curry arrived, with a side of Naan bread. Wait… Naan bread? I ordered rice. I explained to the waiter, and received a blank look in reply. Then he turned around and left.

I assumed he’d gone to get my rice, but instead he was back serving another table. Our meal delivery could be best described as random, and finally when he came back with more of our dishes, I comandeered a bowl of rice - I wasn’t going to wait all day.

All this time, the two girls who ordered before me were still waiting for their meals to arrive. As we were all halfway through our meals and they’d gotten tired of asking the waiters where their meal was, (‘yes, it is coming’) the girls finally had enough. They got up, said goodbye to the rest of us, demanded their money back from the cashier, and left.