Eastern Spice-Indian Restaurant Geelong — Restaurant in Victoria

The thing about this place is, the food is great but the service is just horrible. It doesn’t even meet the standard of a normal restaurant let alone fine dining. The last two times we’ve been we’ve had a really bad experience trying to reason with them when they haven’t been properly prepared for us to come despite us booking well in advance, and sadly we won’t be returning anymore. Both times we’d booked 5 days beforehand. The first time, they scrambled together a table squeezed into the corner of the brightly lit bar area where people pay, and the next time they gave us a seating arrangement where we had to sit side by side and not face to face as a couple. Even when we tried to politely reason with them that it wasn’t what we had in mind for our dining experience, they snapped at us and stormed off. It is really disappointing when you try to be understanding of their restraints but they show no understanding for the pleasant eating experience you hope to have made reservations at such a restaurant for. The service people there seem to have no hospitality skills or even the ability to politely talk to customers. They don’t even greet when you arrive. It’s unfortunate that such a yummy place has such bad service.

In reply to the owners reply-

We were never told our table would be at the bar. The wait staff thought we were a last minute booking (she said this to us) when we had actually booked 5 days in advance and that is where they hurriedly put together a table for us.

The second time, we were 8 minutes early. This was just our way of making sure we are punctual to a booking. We would have happily waited those 8 minutes for a face to face table just like all the other couples had if we were told. We were also not offered two tables.

When booking at a restaurant, hoping to sit in the actual restaurant and face to face, aren’t exceptional requests requiring entertaining. Your wait staff makes us sound like unreasonable people who don’t see the importance of abiding by restrictions in a pandemic. We work in healthcare and the news. We are very aware of these things. We also do our part in supporting small businesses by eating from them often. We have only had pleasant a experiences in the other places we have booked. Your wait staff has simply given you false information. Both times we have decided to leave we have been very polite, but your wait staff has been snappy and rude. It is what it is. Thanks for investigating the issue, good luck to...

So we went there yesterday with a group of 8 people without any booking. At first they told us that they can’t accommodate us and we all were ok with that and walked out happily. Then this indian lady called us back that they can have us,so we went back.

After 30 seconds of placing our order,we got a call from other friends that they are joining us too.

Keeping covid guidelines in mind, we ourselves thought of going to some other place as The restaurant was fully occupied. So we told that lady that we have 5 more friends joining us so we are going to some other place as it will be too many ppl here and it will be hard for you to accommodate us.

That indian lady then smiled and said : “ ok no worries “.

As soon as we walked out, my gf realised that she had left her handbag on the chair. She went back to collect it and saw that indian lady was already holding it and instead of walking towards my gf to handover the bag she took it to the counter and didn’t let her touch her own bag. She refused to give it to her as she was really mad at us and wanted her to listen and apologise for walking out after 30 seconds of placing an order. When my gf didn’t come out of the restaurant for 3 minutes i went in to see what’s going on. I found that indian lady was very aggressive towards her and was arguing without any sense. Then i asked her to let me speak to her manager, then she replied that she herself is the manager and was blocking the front door so that I can’t speak to her manager.

She had zero customer skills,no values, no right to hold on to people’s property, very minimal english speaking skills, was abusive, disrespectful towards me and my gf, glad that we walked out from this place and didn’t have dinner there.

I won’t even recommend this restaurant to my worst enemies. The vibe that we got from this place spoiled our mood for the rest of the day.

Once these holidays are over, i will be taking this matter ahead to the court if I don’t get a written apology from that...

Really fantastic service and food. In terms of the Indian restaurants I've tried in Australia, this is the best. The naan, kulfi, scallop curry and palak paneer are all fantastic; fresh, well balanced and delicious.

I really appreciate the quality of the naan here, it reminds me of the pizza bases in napoli. Although, personally, I prize naans more highly than any pizza.

The kulfi reminds me of a street vendor I came across in Delhi, selling kulfi on the stick so heavy with khoya it was almost chewy. This one is far more creamy and silky, and nevertheless the attention to detail is definitely clear from the first bite.

The scallop curry is the lure here, I never cook scallops in such a lavish coconut cream because I generally dislike the intrustion of heavy gravies on shellfish. This dish, however, comprises of tender and juicy scallops simmered in such a balanced, rich yet unobtrusive sauce that I recommend it far more highly than any scallop pie in Tasmania. In fact, I'm sure that if this dish was baked into a pastry crust it'd win an award somewhere.

Who actually finishes any of the dregs of gravy when they over-order at an indian restaurant? Definitely not me, usually. This last time though I couldn't leave a damn spoonful of that palak paneer gravy. I loved being able to clearly delineate the addition of coriander seed.

All in all, it's really an excellent dining experience. None of what I tried here is pungent in the way I usually want my food to be, instead it's incredibly well spiced and fresh. I'll be back to try more...