Gandhi Indian Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Reykjavik

When I first discovered this restaurant in downtown Reykjavík I was skeptical. I'd initially decided to forego Gandhi Indian Restaurant in favor of several trips to Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, because let's face it - restaurants in this city are overpriced, hot dogs are delicious, and I didn't want to spend all of my travel money on food.

By the time my week in Iceland was drawing to a close however, I'd begun to tire of eating hot dogs and was desperate for a meal that involved rice. Bracing myself for an onslaught of overpriced mediocrity, I shoved my qualms into a closet somewhere and walked into Gandhi Indian Restaurant hoping for the best.

I was not disappointed.

My food was, simply put, sublime. The rice was perfectly cooked, my chicken was tender, and my curry's flavors were perfectly balanced. The naan was fresh, and even the complimentary papadum was well-prepared. I was not expecting authentic, painstakingly prepared Indian food when during my trip to Iceland, and I'll happily admit that I was wrong in assuming that this place was going to be nothing special. Simply put, it easily ranks among the best Indian food I've had outside India.

Additionally, I was also very impressed with the quality of the service I received at the restaurant. Both my waitresses were, for the most part, polite, attentive, and efficient.

As an addendum however, Gandhi Indian Restaurant in not cheap. It's no more expensive than many of the other restaurants in Reykjavík, but this is certainly not a place you should come to if you want something expedient and...

The food was fine. The dal and naan were really good to be honest. The appetiser were okay.

Another star added for the rockstar who waited our tables. He was managing really well given how busy the restaurant was.

It could have been a perfect 5 star if it wasn’t for the manager who was really rude when we entered the restaurant. I had by mistakenly made two reservations (one for 6:30 and other for 8pm) without realising. I got an email notification around 3pm saying that my reservation was cancelled. In full panic mode, I made another reservation for the next available slot at 8:30pm. Then I got the notification for the cancellation of the mistaken 8pm slot around 6pm and around 7pm, the 8:30pm slot was cancelled as well.

We still went to the restaurant thinking the online booking system were not functioning only to find out the manager was manually cancelling them. In addition, he told us that he lost about 15 customers just because of the multiple bookings.

The bookings were cancelled by him before the allotted time. All of them. The first one without informing us about 3 hours prior. It just doesn’t make sense. If you think there’s a mistake, call us. How can you cancel the appointments without informing and expect the other party to understand.

Our entire Iceland trip had been epic and this was the last night of the trip. We had met friendly people all along and were really excited for the restaurant. But were disappointed as soon as we entered.

Really...

British Indian party of 8 traveling to Reykjavík for the first time.

We departed at 3am from our homes and managed to get to our hotel at midday. With no food, all we had were the snacks we’d packed in our luggage.

Of course, a pack of Indians in a foreign country can sometimes feel a little homesick, and feeling cranky and weary (despite a two hour nap), I decided to book this place since it was so close to our hotel.

Ease of booking: We reserved the place on a Sunday only an hour in advance, so no problems here.

Ordering: Some of my uncles are rather picky (can we have mango lassi, do you have chilli naan), but they were happily accommodated for.

Food: Food arrived quickly and to great quality. It rivals some of the UK Indian restaurants I’ve been to (this was better than Dhishoom imo, it’s overrated).

Prices: At about £20 per main this isn’t cheap, but this is Iceland where everything is taxed to hell... so just let it go. If you want a cheap sandwich, go to a 10-11 and grab some bread.

Experience: Seating was cozy, ambience was light and relaxing, and we were all greatly satisfied with the portion sizes, food quality and the waiter.

Vegetarians: We are all non egg eating vegetarians and found no problems with the choice and quality of food.

We even asked the waiter for his advice on what to do while we were here, and he was more than happy to oblige.

10/10, no idea what the other reviewers are talking about when they complained about...