Ms. Ottley's comments were fine -- up until she took a whack at your journalistic integrity. She should understand that like most good critics, you do everything possible not to be recognized, leaving you free to rave, carp or criticize to your taste buds' content. And the advertising department be darned. There are some publications in our town that do seem mindful of ad revenue. No names but a popular magazine's senior food critic hans't met a restaurant in years that she hasn't liked. You, on the other hand, seem to call 'em as you see 'em. And if a restaurant doesn't live up (or down) to your review, there are as many reasons as there are chefs who take the night off or serving staffs that are swamped.

I really thought that this was harsh. It's one thing to have had an experience that is counter to that of a published review - and, to be sure, the experience Deborah Ottley had was a very unpleasant one - but another thing entirely to suggest that the integrity of the reviewer is in question.
There are so many variables involved in making the dinning experience a positive one that, if I had such an experience, my first assumption would not be that the Elizabeth was paid off.

I have had wonderful dinners at restaurants and recommended them to friends only to find that their experience was not like ours at all. Fortunately for me, they have not called into question my integrity and have just chalked it up to a bad night. It happens.

i'm a little embarassed to say i've been to indigma thrice since you reviewed it, all on saturday afternoons, and 2 out of the 3 times, the food and service were impeccable.

however, the third time i went, not so much. we waited at least 20 minutes to get served, which was a problem for my friend who was on a tight schedule. it appears that, service-wise, indigma suffers when they're full. perhaps they need to hire more waiters?

and i agree with the other commenters -- it's a low blow to question your integrity. perhaps she just had bad luck?

I have been to Indigma several times and have only had outstanding service and outstanding food!

Language thoughts ...

Why would you expect a consistent experience at a place called Indigma? I assume that the name is supposed to imply India + Enigma, but Enigma isn't a positive word. Far from it. Who wants mystery food? Given that it's a made-up word, wouldn't your mind go to "indignant" first? Also not positive.

I heard that it was being replaced by a new restuarant - Conundrumex, a thoroughly confusing South of the Border experience. They have a sister restaurant in Galveston called Tic Tox Mex - Tex Mex fast or a clinic for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, I forget. If you're ever in the Little Khmer neighborhood of Galveston, try a local Irish bar owned by the Mayor called Pol's Pot of Gold. It's magically genocidal.

Okay, I'm done. Start the hate.

this restaurant manager is a very rude guy and no sense of customer service. I called befor ordering a restaurant.com coupon and their staff and manager said it was valid, later i gave my certficate numbers and ordered food and they charged my credit card for 18% gratuity. I drove fr an hour to get there and mr Tony Chemmanoor, the manager realises that he does not want to give that much discount, he says must order other stuff and more plates to redeeem my gift certificates. when I asked why he didnt tell me that before and why he decided to say that when I was about to pick my order after an hour.... he had no answer and started talkng in a rude way.......he said to me" cant you read the english on the certificate"? it was him who took the order and agreed to it and things change in an hour? is this the way to speak to the customer? I am in respectable position and well educated and dont want to hear such nonsense from someone who is supposed to provide a service. I was just using an online coupon fr restaurant.com. this is not the way to behave with customers. later I asked to cancel my order and put credit back on my account,the reply was they are busy and have no time to deal with such stuff. I would never ever go to that restaurant or recommend any friends. I have been to many other restaurants with these coupons but never had such an experience.

I was at Indigma a couple times within 6 months of it opening, and the service was horrible both times. The food was uneven. So, I stopped going.

Wow...somebody has a bad experience at a restaurant and remembers that there was a post about it a over a year ago, so she (I assume she) digs it up and writes a comment?

I found out about this restaurant from restaurant.com and all the info about Indigma listed on restaurant.com is incorrect. Their food is listed as inexpensive, it is very expensive compared to other indian restaurants. None of the menu items they claim to be famous for were available. That's the only reason we went their that they claimed they serve those foods. We ordered only three menu items and that cost us almost $60. The amount given was very cheap. 4-6 pieces of small meat with barely 1/2 cup of rice per menu that cost $16. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Not going back ever again. I felt like I was cheated, I would have tried Ludmila instead if they did not claim to be famous for these and that.