What's Up India — Restaurant in Rotterdam

Okay, but certainly not among the better Indian restaurants and most certainly not deserving of the prices listed on the menu.

Upon arrival, we entered a seemingly not-so-busy Indian restaurant with a decent atmosphere which we were welcomed into by someone who did not at all seem glad to be having us. What I noticed was how long most guests had to wait for the most basic things, like getting the bill. I understand that if you get a lot of online orders, it’s busier than outwardly visible, but your priority should be with your guests.

We were left waiting for a full 25, maybe even 30 minutes after I asked the waitress who asked us what we’d like to drink if we could give her our food orders as well - “My colleague will be with you in a bit”. Upon pointing this out to the owner, we did get some “priority”, which was a nice gesture and which we’re grateful for, but I’m sorry to have to say it was all in all not worth it. The flavors were not that intense and there were some odd options featured on the menu. The chicken was, however, tender and everything arrived nice and warm, which is not always a given. The rice we ordered, in turn, was dry and I should have said something but it didn’t cross my mind.

I simply wish I had gotten up to leave like I had been intending on doing at the 25-minute waiting mark.

Dear Dinesh,

This is the madam and not the sir from that night ;-) The conversation he and I were having was actually regarding how long we had been left waiting for the check and how long we’d noticed others waiting for the same thing.

Regarding the food: it was okay, but there was simply a strange Italian-style chicken curry on your menu (that we ordered, didn’t know it was Italian-style). And the rice: I barely eat rice, my husband mostly does and my husband does not like to complain much, so he didn’t say anything. Aside from the rice, there was really nothing WRONG with your food. In fact, thechicken was wonderfully tender, which is definitely a plus compared to many other restaurants.Since there was nothing wrong per se, our reply was that it was “good”, thus not not “wonderful”. I never give out compliments I don’t think the food deserves, and what I said was accurate: it was simply good. In Amsterdam, where we’ve mainly had Indian food, the level of cooking is simply really good and I personally suspect that they must not be used to very flavorful Indian cooking in Rotterdam. That’s all.

I still respect you as a person. And like I said, we were still grateful you tried what you could (and you never said there was a top floor that was fully booked, I wouldn’t have missed that). You strike me as a polite man. In the end, it’s only a dining experience and this is only a review meant to give future diners an impression of what it’s like at...

I feel this restaurant is ok for anyone in The Netherlands not really familiar with Indian food and wants to try something different. But for anyone that has had a curry in the UK, India or just elsewhere this is perhaps not what they’d expected from a northern Indian restaurant. The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really great either. Some flavours were too perfumy, some quite blend. I’ve eaten at many Indian restaurants and it just stood out this time.

I’m just writing this review to give my honest opinion as their guest, good or bad it was our experience.

Their popardums starter were of terrible quality, the seeded ones you buy at a shop, rolled up and the small portioned chutneys were blend and uninspiring, apart from the ginger/mango one.

Their naan breads were blend and boring lacking flavour, seemed more pan fried than tandoor oven baked. The mains were also lacking punch and flavour, although they give you options for spice level and adding spices. I think as a baseline the spice level could be raised for all.

The menu was missing a lot of the typical Indian side-dishes in smaller portions, and if you did find them (like tarka Dahl) they were only served as a mains.

This also significantly pushed up the bill, which for what we got was very high for any Indian restaurant.

The interior is kitch, in the sense of trying to make it look posh but coming across cheap really. It could be seen as fun to some, it’s typical for some type of Indian restaurants. It’s fine.

The waiters were kind, young, inexperienced and lacked waiter professionalism, attention and attire.

For me the menu could do with some improvements, but please don’t adapt or cater for westerners too much. Even a more comprehensive menu with more detailed description or even pictures of dishes would be a nice to have.

The Dutch are used to exotic cuisines, show them real Indian food, no need...

Overall verdict is below average.

Just shy of average. The chicken biryani was ordered mild, but came so spicy that my wife couldn't eat it. The butter chicken has no special flavour. The service was unorganized, wrong drinks given to the wrong person with a two person party. Twice. Cutlery was expected to be reused from the appetizer to the main course. Food was placed on the side of the table, in stead of making room and place them at the center.

We had the Aloo Tikka Chaat, which was really tasty. It had a nice flavour profile, good crunch and the saus on top of it worked well with a combination of sweet, heat and sour.

The waiter did notify us when ordering that most butter chicken in The Netherlands are sweet, and that this dish is not. However, the flavour profile was too peppery. The dish did not have the creamy and velvety taste and structure. Also, the butter chicken did not come with rice. Which is something that we are not used to at all. In pretty much every Indian restaurant, rice comes with the butter chicken, or at least a naan.

The biryani rice seemed overcooked, as the grains were mushy, and not separated. Overpowering flavour of koriander, and too much heat. The complimentary yoghurt that came with the dish did not enough to balance out the heat. It also had a little too big chunks of raw onion in it.

As we were not able to finish the dish, we requested to take the rest away, but were told that we had to pack it ourselves. The waiter brought some containers and foil to pack the food. This is a first to this date. Kind of a bummer to put your food in a container. Especially as the restaurant also provides take away orders. The food was OK, experience decent. Not a place we would be visiting again when we compare it to other Indian restaurant we...