JB’s Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Bowral

Rating: Hospitality: ★☆☆☆☆ Value for Money: ★★☆☆☆ Amenities: ★☆☆☆☆

EDIT: (to clarify owners response) - we we not the ones to call you "oi" or even say any disrespectful. Again, only shows how the manager/owner is mixing up customers and lacking hospitality skills. Original review below.

My recent visit to JB's Indian Restaurant was a disheartening experience primarily due to the manager's unacceptable behavior, which had a profound emotional impact on our dining group. I feel compelled to share my experience, which left a lasting negative impression.

Starting with hospitality, it was abysmal. The person taking our order, who I later learned was the manager, not only got our order completely wrong but also reacted defensively and used inappropriate language when we pointed out the mistake. His unprofessional behavior was shocking and completely unwarranted. This behavior not only ruined our meal but also had a distressing effect on the children, toddlers, elderly individuals, and ladies in our group. Some of the kids even ended up in tears due to the manager's outburst.

To make matters worse, the manager's apology felt insincere and lacked meaning. He attempted to justify his response by referencing a previous customer interaction, which was entirely unjustifiable. Venting out frustration from a previous customer on our group was inexcusable and only added to the distress we experienced.

In terms of value for money, JB's Indian Restaurant falls short. While I understand that portion sizes may vary, the main issue here was not the quantity of food but rather the manager's conduct. We expected a pleasant dining experience, but his outburst overshadowed any concerns about portion size.

Amenities were also lacking. The restaurant didn't even provide basic handwash facilities, a fundamental requirement for any dining establishment. Furthermore, the absence of a high chair for kids made it inconvenient for families with young children, showcasing a disregard for the comfort and needs of their customers.

To add to the disappointment, the manager's behavior was defended by the entire restaurant staff, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere for all diners. Overhearing the manager's bragging about being the sole Indian restaurant in town further underscored his lack of professionalism.

In summary, my visit to JB's Indian Restaurant was marred by poor hospitality and a lack of basic amenities, but the key issue here was the manager's unacceptable behavior, which had a profoundly negative emotional impact on our group, especially the kids, toddlers, elderly, and ladies.

I strongly caution against dining here and recommend exploring alternative dining options...

Probably the worst dining experience I’ve ever had.
If I could have left a zero star rating I would have, as one star really is more than this place deserves.
We are Southern Highlands residents but usually get our Indian food from The Grand Indian in Mittagong, but we were recommended to try JB’s by some locals who we met a couple of weeks ago at a Christmas party. We arrived for our 7:30pm booking to a full restaurant, and were told to wait outside while a table was prepared for us.
We were seated at 7:35pm and our order was taken at 7:45pm.
Our order was papadums, some roti and naan breads, and three main course dishes and some rice. And a bottle of sparkling mineral water for our designated driver. We brought our own bottle of wine as it was BYO night.
At 8:15 all we had received was a carafe of warm tap water. No papadums, and no sparkling water.
By 8:30pm the restaurant was down to only one other table still waiting on their food, our table, and a table of two who had walked in at about 8:15pm.
And at 8:30pm we were still waiting for food, though the papadums and the sparkling water that we had to beg for had been brought out. We were ravenous and devoured the papadums the moment they hit the table.
At 8:33pm the table of two received their entrees despite the fact that we hadn’t received our food. And our bottle of wine was empty. Finally our food arrived at 8:37pm more than an hour after we first arrived.
Our two mild curries were definitely on the medium side rather than mild. Although the fish was tender it was drowned out by the curry powder.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was “different”. The Indian music playing was definitely too loud, and when it was turned down, there was immediately more conversation in the dining room.
But at 8:15pm the music had stopped, and so all we could hear was the female chef and the male waiter arguing ferociously and continuously in the kitchen. We could also hear the saloon doors to the kitchen squeaking loudly every time someone went in our out through them.

Because of the lousy experience, and the lack of apology or explanation, we invoked the “no dessert” rule, paid our bill, and left.

We won’t be going back.
And we’ll be recommending everyone we know to do what we should have done, and gone to the Grand Indian...

Updating this review with actual events as there is no option to reply on the owner's response. "The initial review mentioned staff, as for us everyone is staff (however to clarify, our whole interaction happened with owner only not with any other staff member)" Order was taken incorrectly 'by the owner'(may very well have been a miscommunication or a rush rush thingy, as the kitchen was about to close) When pointed out that the dish served was not the ordered one, the owner argued that is what was ordered and noted by him (No intention what so ever to explore the possibility of miscommunication) Basically one would feel disappointed with such replies, but it seems you cannot even have a disappointed look on your face in this restaurant. Next, speaking a common non-English language, you say "Koi ni aap remaining dish le aao yaar" (translation = lets leave this topic and you (aap = respectful way of calling people, generally elders) can get the remaining dish. Somehow these words sounded disrespectful to the owner.

• Suddenly, without even an attempt of clarifying what he felt, the owner whom you were talking, started shouting with aggressive comments & curse words (In front of children and senior citizen) Later owner explains his reaction being like that as he had a few rude customers on the day and also everyone was overworked.
• Really? So by that logic we shall start shouting at everyone one we meet on a bad day. Framing some other customer's behaviour on someone else is again not a very professional method of dealing with things.

Initial review: Food Price = On higher side for the portion served Food Taste = Descent towards being Good Hospitality = Very bad experience in terms of behaviour from the staff which ruined overall experience. Sydney-siders being type casted based on pre-defined mindset by the staff is not a good feeling. Rationale given behind aggressive and rude behaviour was being overworked but being in hospitality business, being overworked does not justify venting frustration on anyone specially when there are children and...