Taste of India Utrecht — Restaurant in Utrecht

Second visit 21.07.2024: A pathetic experience.

Based on my first visit, I rated Taste of India five stars and had recommended it to many of my friends and colleagues and several of whom visited. However, after my second visit, I feel obliged to revoke it. This recent experience was drastically different and deeply disappointing.

Based on our previous amazing experience, we decided to revisit Taste of India for a family dinner. Unfortunately, this visit was a stark contrast to our prior enjoyment, marked by inconsistency and a deeply disappointing experience.

The staff members, two polite and attentive young women, were doing their best to manage all guests efficiently. We ordered portions of paneer kadhai, aloo gobi, onion kulcha, lamb biryani, and the chef's special salmon curry. When the food was served, we found that the salmon was not cooked properly, with the inside still raw. Addressing this issue with one of the staff members, he assured us that he would replace it with a properly cooked portion.

To our shock and dismay, he returned with the same salmon, albeit with the raw parts removed and the portion drastically reduced. The broken pieces we had left were evident, revealing their attempt to disguise this deceitful act. Even worse, the salmon was still raw the second time, proving that they hadn't even bothered to cook it properly. The quantity was much, much less than the original portion, making it evident that they brought the same portion excluding the parts we had already cut. What a pathetic and poisonous way to treat customers. It's disgusting to think what they did to my food.

The final blow came from the main manager, who, unlike his previous attentive demeanor, failed to approach our table or inquire about our experience, despite making rounds to other guests. This blatant neglect and disregard for our concern highlighted a severe lapse in their customer service and commitment to quality.

We did a last-minute booking, and now we feel it was a mistake going there. This experience has left us deeply hurt and shocked. The blatant dishonesty and lack of genuine concern for customer satisfaction are unacceptable. Based on my previous amazing experience, I had recommended Taste of India to most of my friends and colleagues, and many of them even visited. However, after this experience, I am not recommending this place anymore. Therefore, I am revoking my previous five-star rating and giving them a single star. We will ensure that we never visit this establishment again, and we will not recommend it to our friends or colleagues.

Such poor treatment of customers is unforgivable, and we hope that this review serves as a cautionary tale for others considering dining here.

————————————————————— My dining experience at Taste of India Utrecht surpassed all expectations. It's undeniably the epitome of authentic Indian cuisine, offering a palate-pleasing journey unlike any other. From the aromatic chicken biryani to the rich butter chicken and flavorful paneer dishes, each plate was a symphony of flavors, served with meticulous care.

The restaurant's ambiance, whether indoors or by the canal, offers a picturesque backdrop to savor the delectable dishes. The staff's warmth and professionalism further enhance the dining experience. Additionally, their selection of Indian beer adds a delightful touch to the meal.

It's a must-visit for anyone craving genuine Indian flavors and impeccable hospitality. Looking forward to...

Very bad dining experience! I don't want to give even a single star for their service. A lot of discrimination against brown skin clearly. Please avoid at all costs! Not worth your time or money.

If you are an Indian or a person from Indian subcontinent reading this review, please avoid this place. They discriminate on the basis of ethnicity. If you are a Dutch person reading this review, please avoid this place because this is NOT TASTE OF INDIA (neither with the food, nor with the service).

The service was terrible and the person who took our order was super rude. I think her name was Shahana (at least that's what her colleagues called her). We reached there around 6 PM and asked for a table for 3 and the first thing the waitress asked was, "are you here for dinner? " I really didn't understand what that meant at the beginning. Then we asked for the baby chair and she grudgingly got one, claiming she now has to remove one of the regular ones and she asked us to clean the dirty chair ourselves, which is not usual at any restaurant. and apparently she makes all the customers do this! We placed the order for appetizers and drinks with her colleague , but she came back to ask us, "are you going to order the main course or just appetizers"? when asked as to why she is repeatedly asking us these questions, she said "there are many reservations for later in the evening and if we were going to order only appetizers she would not have given us a table." We tried to ask if we can eat the appetizers and then decide and she kept insisting that we tell her upfront if we want to eat main course. Our 3 appetizers and 2 drinks arrived and yet the badgering didn't stop! We asked what if we want more of the appetizers and eat that as our dinner? She declared that we are misunderstanding her and kept repeating the same point that, if we don't order main course she wouldn't have given us the table. It was futile trying to talk to her and another man came in and they had a discussion in their own language and clearly not Indians. Simply using the name of India and making a fool of the people who are non-Indians. We lost our appetite to eat any more ( which we had initially planned to), paid the bill and left. Also, she kept insisting that all this mentioned on their website (We checked and no such information is there on their website). Extremely disappointing service paired with the Okayish food. It would have made much more sense had she admitted that they are fully booked (which clearly they weren't) and we would have happily found another place to eat. The otherwise beautiful canal of Utrecht lost its appeal, all coz of the horrible presence of Touch of India. Shame!!! Also friends, pls read through the other reviews for this restaurant and you will see how most Indians have consistently had a bad experience. Also, friends Indian food is synonymous with Indian hospitality. this is nowhere close to what true Indian food service stands for. Please spare yourselves of all the trouble and spend your valuable money and time on the other better restaurants along the beautiful...

I usually only write a review to give some love to my favorite places. However, this time I am writing a review because unfortunately the service was subpar.

We, three girls, came to taste of india for our monthly Indian dinner date. We love Indian food and we’ve tried many restaurants already. This time taste of india.

The location is great next to the canal, the decor inside is beautiful and walking through the kitchen when coming in adds a nice touch.

As we were hungry we ordered papadums to come straight away. We had four starters to share: hot wings, mint chicken (don’t recall the exact name), samosas and onion bahji. All of them delicious but the mint chicken was a little less tasty and a bit on the drier side.

After starters we had a little break and ordered our mains butter chicken, roghan josh chicken and paneer kadhai. They came with a portion of rice and a tiny serving of dal. The butter chicken was okay but there was a bit of a tomato puree taste. The roghan josh was delicious. And the paneer was okay, not exactly my taste and I didn’t like that the veggies were very roughly cut. That might be the dish and or my personal preference.

So far good you would say but unfortunately the service was not what we expected. We could not order some tap water to go with the other drinks we ordered instead I had to order a beer plus a bottle of water. We asked the waiter and later on what I presume to be owner who stated clearly that they do not have tap water. They have it ofcourse but they did not want to offer it to us.

My friend wanted some extra mint sauce and mango chutney, which came at an extra charge of I think €2. And lastly we wanted to pack our left over mains which cost another €1. This did not make us feel welcome at all and as mentioned from all the indian restaurants we tried this was a first to experience this level of service.

When we mentioned this to the owner upon asking the bill he straight up blamed us for making the waiter walk too much as we ordered first our starters and later our mains. He said it was busy and it was our fault for making the waiter walk additional times. This was ofcourse not the reaction we expected. We left as soon as possible and chose another place to have additional drinks.

And to top if all off when we paid another waiter mistakenly entered an additional 0 so instead of paying 125,60 we paid 1256. Luckily my phone has a limit and only accepts payments of a couple hundred.

The level of service highly impacted our experience and we will never visit again. My tip, try a different Indian restaurant there are so many good ones with super...