Curry Palace & Tandoor — Restaurant in Bruges

Very disappointing experience, worst ever I would say. I have been to numerous Indian restaurants all over Europe, sometimes it was good or bad, but there was never such a BELOW AVERAGE. This was it. Ordered the table for one, was on time, since beginning the staff was not welcoming, gave me the free snacks I guess which is supposed to be given to every guest, the papadum with chutneys, Papadam was broken in such a manner that it seems guests has used it before and reused papadam was provided, she told that she broke herself somehow, anyways even if it's true, the papadum was not fresh, it takes merely a minute to make a fresh papadum, so it was used as it was not crispy, it was very soft and dry. When you have almost every main course meal that costs around 20€ then show at least some courtesy and gesture towards the guest even though it's free otherwise don't provide it. I ordered chicken momos as an appetizer and one salted lassi and for the main course, I ordered chicken tikka masala but I was told to make it spicy. Chicken momos and lassi was served quickly, it was okay in taste, but I waited for chicken tikka masala for one hour, when she served it, she didn't even apologize for it, very poor gesture towards guest, it's not pleasant at all although the restaurant was not even occupied by half of the guest, only three guest were available including me on that time. Moreover what kind of fancy restaurant is it if you can’t provide cutlery for the next dish, I had to use the same cutlery for my curry. Your average bill is 30-40€ and you are hesitant to provide fresh cutleries and the papads. That’s what you call pseudo fancy restaurant. Chicken tikka masala was one of the worst of the worst curry I have ever tasted, it was not spicy at all and the chicken chunks were supposed to be roasted or baked in tandoor or at least well cooked, but seemed like the chicken chunks were boiled & thrown in a curry, awful explanation of Indian cuisine. Due to such restaurant, sometime guest misunderstands the concept of Indian cuisine, the gravy was too sweet and without any aroma, totally flavorless, not speaking of without any spices, on asking the staff, she told me, "I should have ordered as indian spicy" that's different scale, alright, even if I granted this and tell it was my mistake but the curry was awful and not hot at all, what I have been waiting for so long time, almost one hour and then the staff make excuses trying to show my flaws and faults during ordering. I could not eat the whole meal, it was awful and the gesture and the behavior of the staff was like, if you want to eat, eat it, otherwise leave it. No more feets on this restaurant, I would even call this a restaurant. Also, I think this place is very near to the Bell tower or market square right on the city center, so it must be a touristic place not for gourmet or for people who want to experience a quality Indian cuisine. My bill was 43€ for two salted lassi (I had to order one more because I could not eat my meal, I thought only drink is worthy to order) and one chicken momos, one plain naan, rice (rice is not even served with 19€ curry) and chicken tikka masala. It's too expensive for such an experience. If you are taking that much money, show some services then. Food was awful, the staff was awful, only the location was great. NO...

I have enjoyed Indian cuisine all over the world. This place was so bad that I feel I need to warn people.

There is only one employee running the entire place (or so it seems). He almost seems disappointed when you arrive. It took over an hour for our food to arrive after ordering. If it weren't for the delightful couple next to us that we visited with while waiting, we probably would have given up and left without eating. It's not just that the service was slow, but the server never said a word about it. No "sorry we're slow tonight" or "don't worry, we haven't forgotten you" but just slow with no apologies. An entire hour passing between when our order was taken and when the first food item was delivered to our table.

They played the same 16 bars of traditional music over and over (or so it seemed) so that the music didn't even sound soothing or pleasant after an hour. The bread was gross. The rice was dry. The chicken tikka masala was too sweet. The portions were small.

The most shocking thing we witnessed was when a family of 4 arrived shortly after we did (maybe 6:15pm -- it opened for dinner at 6pm). They appeared to be an Indian family and looked thrilled to find a place to eat that sounded good to them. It was a mother, father, and two young teenage children. When they walked in, the server glared at them and asked if they had a reservation. There were only 4 people in the restaurant at the time so there were at least 30 available seats. They said no and the server looked around desperately and said, I don't know if I can fit you in. It was such an absurd response, given the number of available tables that the father clearly thought the server was joking. He made it clear he was not. His explanation for why they couldn't have the other tables was because they were for people who had made reservations, which the father understood. The father said they were willing to sit anywhere if he could make room for them, so the server reluctantly moved to the back of the restaurant by the restroom and pushed two tables together for them to sit at. I don't even know if he gave them menus. Meanwhile, 3-5 other people came into the restaurant and were seated immediately without being asked if they had reservations. Another 30 minutes passed and there was a conflict taking place in the back of the restaurant. That poor family was still waiting to have their order taken. They had been seated in a stinky dark hallway and then completely ignored. The father let the server know he was disappointed as the rest of his family walked silently out the front door. It was the worst service I had ever witnessed -- both for myself and for someone else. I don't know how this place stays in business, but I was ashamed to be a customer when I saw the way this family was treated.

In case you were wondering, after we ate our sub-par food and two hours of our life had been taken from us, there were still the same number of people in the restaurant as when the Indian family left. Not a single one of those supposedly "reserved" tables was occupied. ...

I recently visited curry palace and tandoor with a group of eight, and our experience was thoroughly disappointing. From the moment we arrived, the customer service was abysmal and the staff seemed indifferent to our presence.

The in-charge's attitude was not so pleasant. Instead of focusing on our comfort or ensuring we were satisfied, they seemed more interested in counting how many items we were ordering. It became evident that because we ordered only a few dishes for our group, we were treated less favorably compared to others.

To make matters worse, we had to wait for more than 45 minutes for our food. During this time, the in-charge's behavior was particularly troubling. They warned my baby for shouting but didn’t bother to notice other people who were playing and laughing loudly. The staff seemed to be more attentive and pleasing to other tables, which made us feel undervalued and unwelcome. This selective service approach is unacceptable and unprofessional.

The overall experience was frustrating, and it felt like our hunger and satisfaction were the least of their concerns. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a pleasant dining experience.

Addressing the owner response:

Thank you for your response to my review. Your comment about my dining experience comparing fast food restaurants and dine-in restaurants felt condescending and unnecessary. I have ample experience dining at various establishments, and my feedback was meant to highlight specific issues I encountered at your restaurant.

I understand that freshly cooked food can take longer to prepare. However, the wait time during my visit was longer than I have experienced at similar dine-in restaurants, and it was not communicated to us in advance.

Additionally, I felt there was a noticeable indifference towards us compared to other customers. I noticed that other tables, who were also loud and playing, were treated more pleasantly and without any requests to quiet down. This was particularly disappointing.

Regarding my child, I took him outside because he became impatient due to the extended wait. I strive to ensure my child's behavior does not disturb other diners, and this situation was directly related to the prolonged waiting time.

I hope you can take this feedback constructively to improve the dining experience for all customers regardless of the quantity they order.

Thank you for addressing...