Pista House Lakemba — Restaurant in Sydney

I would like to bring forward some tragic experience I had at my weekend lunch here at Pista House Lakemba.....Worst service ever seen..I was there today would like to point few out of the many issues...We had biryani today which was ok at first but my opinion minutes changed as this place is super unhygienic in terms of cleanliness & staff dirty service..and the only waitstaff uncle serving there doesn’t even possess 1% of etiquette while serving food..I ask him empty plate and he brought clean plate but with his dirty oily finger marks on the side he held it.....Just front of us one arab guy shouted and left the place out of his unhygienic behaviour as he topped rice in his plate while he was eating..other major issue is that they displaying something and giving you something else and then charging you hefty for it i.e. instead of fresh tandoori naan displayed on the menu they giving you microwave hot 1$ afghani bread which they brought from the shop next door along with fews days old Paaya...upon complaint they refuse to take that back ( also to mention missing Salad 🥗 on the table again which is shown in menu ).

On top of that waitstaff uncle has enough retaliation to fight you and disgracing you when I complain about stale food we received and behaved rudely and offered me tremendous favour by saying pay 3$ less for roti which I refused to accept and ask to pay full. Moreover instead of charging right amount 48.97$ and they charge me 49$ rounding even when I paid by card....it’s not abt cents and dollars its about the response and service you receive after paying good price....worst place to eat in my opinion and will never be going back again for sure and will stop my friends and knowns from going there....Never seen anything like this in Australia before....In India dhaba service and food is 1000 times better than this Pista house Lakemba...if there some minus rating i would give -5* on their...

After may be 10+ recommendations i went to this place last night after driving 20 kms I dont understand why it is so Famous. Mushy overcooked rice in Biryani. No taste no Flavour. Chicken 65 was super salty, I had to mix it with biryani to neutralise the salty taste. Unhygienic kitchen, dirty tables and filty water jugs.

Other patrons where sitting on the same table on which I set down. Which made me uneasy and uncomfortable.

No cutlery was given while serving the food which I think was a blessing in disguise because not sure whether they would be clean or no.

Biryani wasn't fresh either, looks like it was cooked earlier during the day.

Customer service - it doesn't exist.

Also it is a Cash only restaurant in this world were you can pay using only a Tap from your phone.

Suggestions -

Cook Less, Cook Often. This will help the restaurant to maintain the quality.

Rearrange the seating style, so everyone can eat in peace and with their own pace.

Need more rustic and natural Flavours in the biryani. Coriander and Mint leaves can help.

Get glass bottles from Kmart, they are just $2 each to replace those plastic jugs and keep them in the fridge.

Since people are dining in, having a proper printed menu would be a good idea.

Empty your bins regularly, don't let it overfill.

Hyderabad is known for its food. Please work on it. I hope my suggestion will be implemented.

Will give it...

PATHETIC CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Was genuinely excited to see ‘Pista House’ during my first visit to Sydney. Walked in eager to try Irani Chai. Guess what my first greeting was? - one of the workers giving me a death look because I had my phone out.

I look at him to order, ignores me. The person behind the counter walks up, I said I’d like to order an Irani Chai.

He immediately goes to say, You’re not allowed to take pictures inside here as you like. I’ve attached the video I took - Being a Google Local Guide, I do share my experiences with pictures & Videos.

I asked, Why not? What’s the issue? Never had anyone ever say this? He blatantly had no response but to say, Not allowed, No. not allowed. I’ve only clicked whatever is displayed for everyone to see. Did I enter into a ‘Staff only’ door and start filming? No. Did I enter into the back kitchen to record something? No.

Pista House, this is TERRIBLE customer service, I never want to visit here again. And after reading some of the 1 star reviews I see why they’ve been dodgy with tons of hygiene issues.

I would like a response from Management to this review, Else I would like to Tag PistaHouse directly on X (Twitter) to check how they want to represented? This is horrible for a reputable name such as ‘Pista House’ that’s loved and renowned...