India Gate Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

got there for a 7:30 booking, our party was one of the two tables there. there was one waitress on the floor. tables around us had dishes and rubbish on them which stayed there for the entirety of our visit. we had our orders taken around 7:50 - 8pm. we waited until almost 10pm to be served our meals. our drinks came about 30 minutes after we ordered, a one of the kids in our party received his pint of soft drink about 40 minutes after we ordered. we had quite a large party so i understand it may take longer than usual to serve up, but there were takeaway orders going out the door as we watched, and the only other table there had also been waiting for a considerable amount of time. when our (empty) plates were brought out, some were dirty and had to be replaced. the food was very good when we finally got it, but i’m not sure it was worth 2 hours of waiting. when it came time to pay, the waitress gave us FOUR DOLLARS off the order, and told us they only had one chef in the kitchen for the day because of the holidays. when someone from our party started to pay, the waitress went to the kitchen and had a very loud argument with the chef about how much to discount her…this may have been due to the new year leaving them understaffed, but waiting over 2 hours for meals?? at this point, staying closed for public holidays and only taking takeaway orders would be the smartest idea. i’ve heard good reviews about this place that were written during the year outside of public holidays, so if anyone is planning on making this their next dinner spot, make sure to book mid-year instead of public holidays because, as with any restaurant, they will most likely be incredibly...

Average Food, rude service and uptight owner (WHO DOESNT CARE about customer feedback !!!). I will be frank that the food was average (and NOT BAD).. but unfortunately it all went south beyond that !!! We went in for tea and snacks (at sharp 5 pm - too late for a full course dinner usually). We didn't order the main course as we didn't intend to and just ordered multiple entrées. When we went to counter to pay the cheque, the owner (that's what we were told) enquired about how the food was ? - and we gave him our honest opinion about taste and how we felt. Surprisingly, instead of accepting our comments or responding to them, he went on a tangent and started blabbering about how much it costs them to maintain the tables (apparently is $20 per person) and how good customers usually order entrées followed by mains (indicating that we were NOT good customer coz we ordered only entrées). I enquired the reason for his statement, where his colleague interjected stating that "We are a 'fine dine' restaurant and anywhere in Melbourne it is 'common sense' to order the full course."

Now in that single statement, customer service-101 went out the door. Not only their menu nowhere states that they are a 'fine dine' restaurant, they also made me feel that I was a stupid customer who is not aware how to much to order (and spend) at these 'fine dine Melbourne restaurants'. And this is in-spite of the fact that we had total bill of $50 for 3 adults. Upon continuing with my conversation, I mentioned to the owner that such comments were unacceptable and would look bad on restaurant review websites - to which the owner blatantly said "I DON'T CARE !!"

I am not going back...

01/04/2022 My Personal Experience: Ordered a Meal, using the online ordering system via the India Gate website, for my family at about 6:25pm. Text message received at 6:40pm informing me my order would be ready at 7:25pm. I showed up at the restaurant at 7:15pm. I was informed my meal was still "10 to 20 mins" from being ready. After waiting 30 mins, I enquired how long my meal would be. The young girl disappeared into the kitchen and didn't reappear! After 5-10 mins more I get the attention of another staff member and ask the same question. They disappear into the kitchen as well. I get a nod from her about 5 mins later as she is returning from serving some meals to tables that I interpret as "it won't be long". At 8:15 my partner is suggesting cancelling the order and getting Macca's. My meal finally comes out of the kitchen at 8:25.

I'm informed that they had run out of Onion Bhajis and substituted Samosas instead. For the wait I was also given 4 Gulab Jam deserts as compensation. That's fine and I wander off.

Finally get home about 8:40 (after ordering at 6:25!). I unpack the meal to find that the Vegetable Korma, with a note for no Mushrooms, I had ordered had also been substituted to a Mixed Vegetable Curry with Mushrooms. So my partner and daughter couldn't eat it!

After waiting two hours, and waiting until the unacceptable time of 8:40 to feed my 7 year old, they then couldn't eat what I brought home. After the 2 hour wait I couldn't afford the time to take it back!

Poor service, poor communication. Support local? Not...