Shalimar — Restaurant in Bruges

I advise people to read this review before visiting Shalimar. My husband and I went to Shalimar to have dinner around 6 pm, while my husband preferred not eating anything since he wasn’t hungry.

We entered the place and were asked if we had a reservation. On saying no, we were told you go sit in the extreme end in a shrewd tone. After reviewing the menu, I just ordered for myself -and it included a full dinner meal ( curry and naan) , which was around €22. After the server finally came to take our order( which took a while), he bluntly stated

That he expects every person on the table to order for at least €25. On asking how was it possible to order a lot since it was only one person eating, he said he didn’t have enough staff to clean the table if you ordered less. Upon further argument, that nowhere is it mentioned that one cannot order less than €25, he said he would this time “let us eat” here. By this time we had enough, and we just left the place without further ado. I found the server to be extremely rude and condescending. I also felt that not everyone around was treated the same way.If I only wanted a coffee in a 5 star, I would just get that and treated the same way as someone ordering a $200 meal. It’s a shame such restaurants exist in a peaceful place...

This restaurant is located a bit outside of the city center of Bruges, but after reading some disappointing reviews for some Indian restaurants in the center, I realised it'd probably be worthwhile to visit Shalimar. I did not regret this decision. I'm not that familiar with the Indian cuisine, but I did enjoy the food. I had the chicken vindaloo, which is quite spicy, but it was worth it. My friend is vegetarian and for her too there were quite a few good options. The service was really good, the waiters like to engage in conversation so feel free to socialise if you feel like it. The price is very reasonable, we paid a bit more than €50 and we definitely did not...

I rarely rate places 1 star but my experience here has been one of the rudest and weirdest. Here is what happened :- We (me and my wife) ordered biryani, papad raita and a lassi, one of the staff(probably indian, spoke hindi) came to us shortly after placing order saying they cannot serve us unless we order one more main dish. We were heading out because we were not that hungry plus this felt a bit disrespectful, while heading out this man said the most bizzare thing “All Indians do the same, come here and do not order one main per person and say we are not hungry”. This is outright shameful and management should look into such...