I find we have this problem with a curry dish at the place I work at too. Some people don't realize when they order it that it will not be as spicy as at thier favourite thai restaurants. Of course when I make our sauce I try to make it flavourful and tasty, but I am limited in that I have to stop short so that it is appealing enough for "the masses", and not just for spicy food or hard-core curry lovers.
I chose the curry cream sauce instead of the curry tomato sauce on spinach fettucine. It comes with broccoli, bell peppers, shrimp and scallops. When it arrived, we all commented on how good it smelled....but, after the first bite, I knew I wasn't going to be satisfied. The curry was sooo bland....it was like the chef just sprinkled curry powder in the cream and heated it up. It was strange because the smell suggested it to be full of flavour, but it just wasn't. Maybe that's what I get for ordering a curry dish in an Italian restaurant??
FOOD is HOT!