The 29029 Restaurant Wareham — Restaurant in England

Most people think that Nepalese food is very different compared to Indian food, but as an Indian food expert and as an Ambassador for UK Nepal Friendship Society, part of that role is to provide an insight into the similarities of Indian and Nepali cuisine. So, it comes as no surprise that I couldn't wait to do my review for Mags4Dorset at The “29029” restaurant in Wareham whose menu provides contemporary cusine with a twist of Indian and Nepalese dishes. The restaurant is set in it's own delightful space. Halima, my daughter accompanied me to 29029which had just opened for lunch and we were the first to arrive so had the pick of the restaurant. We were shown to the table of our choice by the friendly waiter who gave us the menu informed us that we could help ourself to the buffet or they will take our order after a read of the menu. Lucious green forestry behind the restaurant gives it a very natural feel and the decor inside is fresh with modern interiors, soft lighting and a warm ambiance. Lots of light and space made it very comfortable. The 100 seater restaurant offers both a buffet and a'la carte menu so if you're really hungry you don't even have to wait for your order to be cooked. Khim Lal Kharel - the executive chef, has worked in luxury hotel groups especially 'The Taj' and 'Oberoi' which includes many locations across India, Dubai & Nepal and some of London’s most prestigious Indian restaurants has created his own menu to take Indian& Nepalese cuisine “beyond authenticity” with an emphasis on refined yet creative food. Halima opted for the buffet but I wanted to try the more authentic Nepalalese recipes so chose the 'Medley of Canapes' to start which promised a selection decided by the chef and for my main I chose the 'Gurkhali Lamb' accompanied with greenpea and sweetcorn cake and some boiled, fragrant rice. While I was waiting for my food to arrive I was cheekily helping myself to Halima's papadum. The buffet was a selected choice of authentic, traditional dishes including a chicken curry, vegetables, lentils, lamb curry, samosas, onion bhajis, fish pakoras. Thearoma was simply mouth watering. I had a bite of Halima's fish pakora and it was delicately spiced yet so full of flavour. The juicy white flesh of fish confirmed the quality of the produce being used. My food arrived and the presentation of the canapes was outstanding. A huge plate decorated with henna style designs with a 'Momo' which is a Nepalese steamed dumpling filled with minced lamb and spices, spring onion, ginger and soya and with a sesame seed chutney. A mini nepali cheesecake (nothing like the dessert) with potato, sesame seeds, cheese, fennel and mustard seeds. A King prawn in panko tempura style batter with a yellow sauce binding turmeric with mayonnaise and some fresh fruit combined with paneer, an Indian style cottage cheese. The momo was certainly breathtaking and as I asked how they managed to perfect it, I was informed that the owners wife is a momo specialist. That explained it! Halima enjoyed the taster plate too. As the waft of nepali spices filled the air, my Gurkhali dish was placed in front of me along with the rest of my order. The Gurkhali is probably the most authentic dish on the menu cooked with Nepalese herbs, yoghurt and chillies. Served with a sprinkle of red onion and crisp fried potato shards with salad as a garnish. It truly was full of flavour, slightly sweet but hot and spicy making it very moreish. The Greenpea and sweetcorn cake was exactly that - filled triangle patties wrapped with filo pastry and served on a bed of cauliflower and potato mash with a cucumber and yoghurt dressing, a rocket with mango salad with a tamarind glaze and a crispy parsnip garnish. Looked heavenly, almost too good to eat. That didn't stop me though. It was a unique dish but I was enjoying the Gurkhali a little too much to be diverted by anything else. When Halima and I thought we had been beaten by the food we realised there was still a tiny gap left so shared a Gulabjam dessert. The dessert was served warm...

Fantastic food, some really interesting and creative dishes that we’d not had anywhere else before. Would definitely come again!

The only let down was the service which was a bit … odd! It was our first time here and it wasn’t immediately obvious that there was a buffet that you could help yourself to — the waiter just showed us to a free table, took our drinks order and then left us, making no mention about food! Only when I asked about the buffet did he say it was a self-service buffet (he didn’t mention how much it cost though) … and on asking if the normal menu was available, he said it was and brought the menus to us!

The gentleman who I assume was the manager / owner, seemed pretty disinterested in us, made no attempt at small talk, didn’t ask how our food was during the meal … we basically felt a little unwanted / unvalued as guests, at least by him. The other younger waiter (who took our drinks order and didn’t explain how the food ordering worked) was friendly enough.

Also, the Indian / Nepalese background music ran out shortly after we arrived and the rest of our time there was spent in almost silence with only a handful of guests around us (it was a weekday at lunchtime). I’m not normally a great fan of musak, but in such an empty restaurant, I would have preferred some suitably Nepalese music to silence!

Lastly, given that almost all the other guests (and there weren’t many of them) looked like they were having food from the buffet, our cooked-to-order food took longer than expected to come. At least it was piping hot and very tasty when it arrived!

Despite the strange service (or lack thereof), we would still come back here if we were in the area again as the food...

This has to be the worst Indian/Nepalese food I've ever eaten in all of UK for a restaurant run business . I've been living in London the last 3 years and other than being Indian and having tried tonnes of modified Indian food in London and over UK, this place is the cherry for food that is far from being claimed as indian... why do I say that ? Well i found a chunk of strawberry in paneer makhanwala and the dish was unbelievably sweet , it even had some mango puree in it..I've eaten tonnes of this dish across India and trust me when I say this , that neither strawberry nor mango forms a part of this dish .. the second main ordered was a kashmiri aloo which was nothing to what kashmiri aloo is supposed to taste like.. it was a potato paste filled in a batter.. that's not kashmiri aloo.... The naans were dry...

I do not think this was Indian food at all and nothing close to the flavours I was born eating back in India...

I would ask you to refrain from believing you are being served Indian food, if this is the only Indian restaurant you have access to in Sandford.

Me and family left every single dish less than half finished even after a long day out at durdle door.

Lastly, the waiter never even asked how the meal was.. I guess they already got their answer when they saw our plates with all this food wasted.. I hate wasting food , but this was an utterly terrible Indian fare...

Please save your money and buy an Indian meal from Tesco which is any day better than what I was served here...

My feedback stems from me having eaten these dishes all my life and feeling that all those people who walk in are just being cheated of what really...