House of Tandoor — Restaurant in Berlin

I usually never write "bad" reviews, but this time I thought that it was important to be honest. I came here with my boyfriend for his birthday in April. We thought that it would be a special place, but I am sad to say that we were totally disappointed. I will start with the good points: The waiters/waitresses were very nice, and we didn't have to wait too long for our orders. The place is really cute and vintage, well decorated, so that was nice.

However, the food was super disappointing and absolutely not worth the prices which are super expensive. We have been to many Indians restaurants in Berlin, especially as my boyfriend is Indian we've had many opportunities to eat Indian food, but this was definitely the worst one... First of all, we ordered a Mango Lassi, that came in a small glass (around 8cm height), and it was filled with around 6 ice cubes (never seen ice in a Mango Lassi before) which means that the quantity of mango lassi was about half of the glass (if you remove the ice cubes), and it costed 9 € !!! The taste was fine, but not worth 9 € for so less quantity. Felt like a rip off.... Secondly, we ordered a Paneer Tika from the clay oven, it tasted a bit bland, for sure not smoky, but also the paneer was pretty hard, it felt that it was not cooked enough. Then we ordered the Paneer Makhni (usually gravy creamy curry sauce), and it just tasted like a normal tomato sauce... you could taste a few Indian spices in the background (little bit of kasuri methi for example) but that was it. Unfortunately we forced ourselves to finish it as we didn't want to waste the food for the price. We also ordered the Dal Makhni (usually this nice rich creamy smoky dal) but the taste was really weird and bland. It felt unfinished, as if the recipe was not totally done, lots of things were missing in terms of flavours. And finally we had 2 butter naan, nice texture but sadly missing salt (quite a lot), so not very good.

I'm sorry to be so harsh in my review, but as it was for my boyfriend's birthday, we though that (as it is also way more expensive than other places), it would be very special Indian food for a special occasion. And it felt like we wasted our money....

Hopefully the chefs/cooks will be able to work on their recipes and improve them !! We won't be coming back but wishing you...

Last night, we visited this opened establishment specializing in North Indian food named ‘House of Tandoor.’ Situated adjacent to a hotel, the restaurant boasts a pleasant ambiance and includes a separate tea house.

Our experience was part of a broader quest to savor Indian cuisine, having dined at over 50 restaurants throughout Europe. We commenced our meal with Masala Cauliflower and Tandoori Chicken as starters. The Masala Cauliflower was enjoyable, earning a rating of 3.2/5, while the Tandoori Chicken was slightly undercooked, scoring 2.8/5, despite its well-balanced spice marination. Notably, the marination was slightly less salty, aligning with my preference for lower salt intake.

The Mimosa we ordered for drinks was exceptional, meriting a 4.3/5 rating. For the main course, our selections included Paneer Makhni, Cheddar Naan, and Wheat Roti. The Wheat Roti stood out as the best we’ve ever had in a restaurant, receiving a perfect 5/5. The Naan was average, rated at 3.5/5, while the Paneer Makhni was a disappointment at 2/5. Despite its name, which suggests a buttery and creamy texture, it resembled a tomato soup with cottage cheese, primarily tasting of black pepper and a hint of garam masala. Moreover, it appeared the tomato puree hadn’t been finely strained, as evidenced by visible tomato remnants.

Dessert included Tandoori Pineapple with Mango Sorbet and Nutella Naan. The pineapple, regrettably cold, seemed insufficiently cooked in the tandoor. Instead of mango sorbet, we were served raspberry sorbet. The preparation of the Nutella Naan suggested it was cooled to prevent the ice cream from melting too quickly, a technique that could benefit from the use of slightly fermented dough.

The highlight of our evening was our server, Gustavo, whose courteous and welcoming demeanor made our visit memorable. His service excellence stood in contrast to our overall dining experience.

In reflection, I would urge the chef to revisit and refine the recipes. There is room for improvement in ensuring the culinary offerings match the restaurant’s ambiance and service quality. My overall rating for ‘House of Tandoor’ is 3/5. I am open to returning in the future, hopeful that my feedback will be considered for improvement. Thank you, Gustavo, for your...

Let me start with the food - it was excellent. With the first bite I was transported back to India. Would surely recommend. Then why am I giving 3 stars??

It is mainly because of a negative customer experience.

My partner and I were walking and thinking about where to have lunch when we saw through a window that there were a few tables empty in House of Tandoor and spontaneously decided to go for lunch. We didn’t know we had to reserve a table before hand. We entered and asked at the bar in the entrance for a table. The bar tender called a server who guided us to a table. We were about to sit when someone came rushing towards us and stopped us from sitting. Their overall body language and their expressions were of frustration towards us as if we were trespassing!! They didn’t shout at us but it definitely made us feel not welcomed. Apparently this person was supposed to mind the reception but they were not present when we arrived and we didn’t know we should have waited for them even when a server already showed us a table. However short but the whole interaction especially the overall body language and the expression of that person left me with an unsettling feeling. I couldn’t help but wonder if we did anything wrong?? I was really of the mind to leave but I was hungry and food smelled really good.

Maybe others might not have such interaction but for me it really ruined my overall lunch. I would love to go there again but I’ll surely plan and book in advance.

Long story short: food is great and book a table...