Patiala Shahi Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

• I have no affiliation with this restaurant, owner or staff. This is a 100% genuine review. *

I came to this restaurant when it was fairly new during a tough period in time for everyone (covid) with my fiance and friends (Gujarati, Tasmanian, French and Finnish), especially hospitality. The staff and owner were very friendly and gave off great vibes, attentive to us and gave very good service.

The food went down well with us all (which is an understatement, hence why we dined there at least 30 times since as a group), me in particular. It transformed me to my younger days when we visited mums friends (Hindu-Punjabi) that used to spoil us with their authentic home cooking. Well balanced spice and flavours, care and individuality in each curry instead of using the same gravy and masala for everything (which many restaurants are guilty of).

From the starters (my personal favourite the samosa chaat), through to the chole bhature, great value thalis, desserts and choice of beverages this is hands down my fav restaurant in Australia (been here 8 years in 3 different cities) and matches or betters restaurants I've been to in London (where i was born and raised)

I have Patiala Shahi to thank for helping in curing my homesickness with their wonderful food and hospitality.

In my time i have never had a bad experience. I have on a couple of occasions had something that wasn't as good as the previous times i experienced, but this is bound to happen (even when our partners or parents cook for us). The difference is in how it is handled once you voice your concerns, (in which Patiala pride themselves in enough to offer solutions suitable for everyone).

Please don't write a bad review based on one experience without consulting the staff first. Give them the chance to listen to your concerns and redeem themselves. It is not fair to tarnish the reputation of a fantastic establishment. They haven't got to their very good review ratings with 'friends reviews' etc

Apologies for the long review and that I've posted it so late after countless visits. I hope you enjoy your experience/experiences at Patiala even half as much as i...

We ordered from this place as it had a 4.6* reviews, but I think it probably deserves a 1 star, and I'm being generous. Please don't be fooled by the high rating.

We ordered take-away Pav Bhaji, Shahi Paneer, Malai Kofta and Soya Chap. All of it was meant to be medium hot.

Firstly, the two curries had the exact same gravy, the only difference was one had Paneer and the other had kofta. I've had a lot of Punjabi food, it's my favourite cuisine. So, I know that the two curries are meant to be quite different. Also the curries were not only mild instead of medium hot, but they were also sweet. Again there is meant to be a bit of sweetness, but this was like eating desserts.

The Bhaji in the Pav Bhaji was full of oil/butter. We put it in the fridge to separate the grease and you can see in the pictures how much excess of it there was.

All the curries including the bhaji were very watery, it was like having a thick soup. Again not how it's meant to be.

Finally the Soya Chap had a very yellow turmeric used on it that leaves a stain on your fingers. Again tells you that the quality of ingredients used is quite poor. The mint Chutney that came along was more water than Chutney.

All in all a very poor experience. We will not be eating from this...

After a pleasant experience the first time, we encouraged a couple of additional members to visit this place on Saturday evening. We generally understand the saturday evenings ate quite busy, but we weren't prepared to face the disappointment right we entered the place. Firstly, the staff was scarce, only one guy running around trying to catch up with the customers. He literally took 35 mins to even attend to us (of course with a courtesy, sorry). Later, the food was served relatively quickly, but the taste and quality were compromised. The Chat Platter cost $35, but we're offered a basic replacement as they ran out of a specific item on it. Secondly, the Choley Bathura was so soggy like a rubber mat, even hard to break (check the picture). We had to specifically ask for the sides that weren't served as mentioned in the menu. Think before you order a panner pizza, which to us was disgusting with no taste in it. It was quite disappointing when they served a panneer butter masala against our order of shahi panneer!! No doubt, this place has lost the charm in its maintenance of quality and service. Perhaps we would never go back or recommend any of our...