Moghul Tandoori — Restaurant in Heidelberg

It seems to me that the German population has little understanding of Indian food. That is the only reason I can think of for this restaurant's survival thus far.

Please take note of this review. I am a British citizen, where curry has practically overtaken any other food to become our national dish. Heavens knows how many excellent curries I have eaten, and I'm a foodie, but I'm no snob either. Your perfect food reviewer.

Moghul Tandoori, in a short phrase, is ALL STYLE AND NO SUBSTANCE. To say that the décor is overdone is, in my opinion, an understatement to the point of lacking the very style which this restaurant is trying to desperately to attain. It rings false, and so too does the food.

The popadoms were not good (over-spiced). When our order of 'onion bhaji' arrived it was not onion bhaji but ONION RINGS with a very light spice in the batter (one could forgive a person for believing they had ordered fast-food instead of Indian food!) served with salad topped with German salad dressing, which was extremely out-of-place.

The portions were very small, and the massala potatoes were bone dry. These potatoes had obviously been reheated and, sad thing, we visited this restaurant on Labour Day so the restaurant really should have made more of an effort with fresher food. I also ordered an okra dish, which had barely any okra and was mostly padded-out by huge strips of ginger, which completely overpowered the dish. Neither can I say anything positive about the naan bread, because the dough was NOT naan bread! They seem to be making their naans with some kind of thin unleavened dough - like something you would find out of Lebanon or Israel.

Twice we had to correct our order as the waiter(s) gave us the wrong thing. We were served by three different waiters, which was confusing, and the first argued with us when we pointed out that he had not brought us what we ordered. Fortunately we are very reasonable people, so we were more inclined not to argue back. I do not understand why there were five waiters in the restaurant as it could have easily been served by two - one suspects there is very poor management here.

No doubt the Moghul Tandoori looks nice, and is in a nice location, and this probably lures Germans and tourists-alike inside. The tourists who know better probably never return, but the locals do not seem to know much better. For instance, Kingfisher was marketed as 'Indian Premium beer' which it is not - it's a staple, and a low-range Indian beer at that.

The clientele, I noticed, was mostly families and wealthy adults 50+ for which the strange Indian-German-Fusion hybridity of their food seemed to go down well. However, for people looking for actual Indian food, this is not the place to go.

I've heard good things about Saffron on the other side of the river, and will try that place next. I hope you have found this...

It is definitely not an authentic Pakistani / Indian food place at all!! After a long wait my food arrived and the chicken karhai had under cooked boneless meat chunks in some runny tomato purée , big chunks of onions and Italian style cut tomatoes lol!! Seriously 😳 do you have any clue how to make karhai!?! Above that cold naan were (cherry on top) Extremely rude staff trying to act professional and look busy, we kept asking if someone could take our order then nobody returned asking if we liked the food or if we are done eating or we need a check - complete ignore all in all horrible experience! Extremely bad service despite fewer guests, completely overpriced.

Looks like no one has any check and balance, just trying to attract non desi’s who have no clue how Pakistani food tastes like and ripping them off with bad service and food.

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So where do I start? In terms Authenticity when asked, they say a mixture between Indian and Pakistani food. Being Pakistani myself and a food fanatic when it comes to my cultural cuisine, I found none of that in the food, especially when it came to the taste. If you are a person who is looking for Authenticity and good taste I do NOT recommend this place. The portions are absolutely small and the prices extremely high. The desserts although aesthetically pleasing, are also very small In portion and high in price. You're basically paying for the ambience, which is the only reason so many go there i suppose. Anyways my personal main reason for posting this review was to emphasise that this place does NOT represent Pakistani food and don't expect good portions for what you are paying. Even with the...