Silver Oak Indian — Restaurant in County Westmeath

I have been eating here and have had food delivered for a few years now and up until my last experience I've always found the food to be very tasty which can be seen with the review I left here about a year ago.

That said, the true value in service and customer oriented business is found through adversity. I have mulled over whether or not to leave this review for a few weeks now considering if II should put the despicable treatment and service I received from the manager down to a once off, bad day experience.

However, I have decided now to update my previous good review since some of what the manager said to me cannot be out down to a once off, particularly charging staff for food which was not packed correctly and using this a reason to explain why they must receive the food back. I would posit not advising customers of this when requesting food which had fallen to the ground and subsequently binned would be a better approach but now knowing why the manager insisted the food be returned and the restaurants position on charging staff for food loss leaves an incredibly bitter taste in my mouth and sense of staggering disbelief a restaurant would treat their staff like this in this day and age, especially given the issue may have occurred with the delivery service and not the staff who packed the order.

My issue began when the food myself and my partner ordered arrived and I tried to lift the paper bag containing the food out of a plastic carrier bag. The food at the bottom had leaked out of its its containers and soaked the paper bag so badly it ripped and the food fell through the paper bag. As I was holding the plastic bag in one hand while using the other hand to lift the paper bag out of the plastic bag the food hitting the plastic bag caused it to drop on one side with food falling to the rug on the floor. Nearly all of the containers had opened and given its Indian food the sauces ran out onto the rug quite quickly.

My partner and I cleaned up the mess and threw the food in the bin in the kitchen. I called the restaurant to explain what happened and on this call the staff member said they would resend the food to us and it would take half an hour. A couple of minutes later the manager of the restaurant called me back and reiterated they would send the order out to us again but he wanted us to return the food to the restaurant. I advised the manager the food had fallen out of its containers and was now in the bin. The manager reasserted he would need the food back and explained he need to see how it was packed so he could take it up with the staff member who packed the food and take the cost of their wages since food costs are now so high.

I explained again the food was in the bin and most of it was not in the food containers stating it will not help him figure out how it was packed incorrectly. As he insisted on having the food back I advised I would give the whole rubbish bag from the bin to the delivery driver when the food was being delivered again and I also told him I would invoice the restaurant for costs incurred with cleaning the rug since he was adamant about docking the staff members wages the cost of the food. The manager stated he would want to see the rug but as things were getting heated I decided to leave things there.

The food was delivered but I refused it at my door advising the delivery driver to return it to the restaurant. I advised the driver the restaurant manager wanted the food back from the first delivery back and pointed to the rubbish bag containing it but the driver didn't take it, unsurprisingly given it was clearly messy inside though tied tight at the top.

The manager's approach to the whole matter was appalling and I can categorically state I will never darken the restaurants doors again and will never order delivery from them either. It's massive shame because I never had tasty Indian food until I tried this restaurant but Spice India do do a very tasty Lamb Tikka Masala, naan bread, chutneys, etc so my business will now go...

If I could rate this place 0 stars I would. I ordered food this evening, was told 40 to 45 minutes. I waited an extra 10 minutes just to give them time to have it ready. On arrival there were 6 other people in front of me. I waited 15 minutes before I or 3 of the 6 in front of me were even asked if we were waiting for a table or a takeaway. The man at the counter was very busy answering the phone and then acting as if he was looking after everyone taking names but no orders appearing. More and more people arrived, reception area was full and people queuing on the stairs. 3 times the same man asked me my name but still no order. Then he seemed to vanish into thin air. Next a young lady arrived, same scenario, she asked my name twice then magically appeared with an order which was not mine. Its also worth mentioning that they had no names on orders and were just calling out orders of food but had no idea who they were for. Still no explanation of where my order was. At this stage it is 1 hour and 45 minutes since I ordered. When i mentioned this to the girl she said she would check. She arrived back but ignored me. 2 hours in I told her I had to go as I was waiting 2 hours no explaination, no apology, nothing. I walked out after 2 hours with no food!!! Other people were waiting ages too but not as long as me. Also 1 man came back with the wrong order as well as sit down orders being served up as takeaway and vice versa. They seemed to have lost total control of the kitchen. I love the food here and would regularly sit in or get takeaway but after tonight's fiasco...

Unfortunately, I had a very unpleasant experience at Silver Oak in Mullingar. The customer service was awful – not because of the waitresses, who were polite and friendly, but because of the man standing behind the counter (I think it was the takeaway section).

When we entered, he rudely waved his hand at us to move further inside, without a word. A nice waitress then approached us and led us to a small table in the corner. We had sat there before and knew it was very uncomfortable, so since there was only one other group in the restaurant, we politely asked if we could sit at another table. After a moment’s thought, the waitress agreed.

However, as soon as we sat down, that same man rushed over — a rather rude, balding man of Indian appearance — and asked sharply how many people we were. When we said “two”, he pointed at the small corner table and said, “That one. This is a table for four, that one is for two.” I asked again if we could sit at the bigger table, and he repeated the same thing in a very unpleasant tone.

We decided to leave. Just a few steps away, we went into another restaurant where the difference in attitude was striking — the waitress greeted us with a big smile and said we could sit anywhere we liked.

It was supposed to be a belated birthday dinner for my friend, whom I rarely see, and this experience really spoiled the evening for me. I definitely won’t be going back to Silver Oak again — thankfully, Mullingar has plenty of much friendlier places to...