Planet Spice — Restaurant in North Island

Do you want the best butter chicken in Wellington? I challenge you to find a better option than Planet Spice. My palate for Indian food isn’t the broadest but in my 48 years I’ve had A LOT of butter chicken and since the departure of Dawaat from Manners Mall (when it used to actually be a Mall) I haven’t found an Indian restaurant / takeaway that tops Planet Spice. Normally I go for a takeaway, and save half for delicious next day leftovers. However I recently had a chance to dine in, which gave me the opportunity to stray from my usual sides of garlic naan, roti or onion bhaji. I went for the lamb curry puffs as a starter, which could almost serve as a meal in itself. Curry puffs, much like spring rolls, are an excellent measure of whether a restaurant cares to put effort into their staples or whether they just stock up on bulk frozen items and deep fry the life out of them when needed. I certainly don’t expect these to be hand made to order, but these puffs tasted fresh and flavourful. Given that I would be eating an entire main after a substantial starter I opted for a lighter side in the kachumber - basically diced tomato, cucumber and red onion, with a bit of spice. This turned out to be a perfect accompaniment to the sweetness of the main course. It may even steer me away from my favourite bread sides in future orders. Certainly a more guilt-free selection. Another essential addition is a mango lassi - perfect to temper any heat and double as a dessert. Thanks Planet Spice for another...

Terrible service, so bad its almost hard to describe. The service was extremely slow, and when I went to ask where our meals were the waitress tried to avoid me. Then all she did was give excuses, that they had a lot of takeaway orders before we arrived. However we arrived and the restaurant was empty, and then people who arrived after us got there food first, despite 'all the takeaway orders". This is no excuse. The restaurant needs to learn to manage demand and respect the customers in front of them. I noted one Uber eats guy picking up orders on 4 different times. You can see who the owners care more about! On leaving they offered no discount for the extreme delay and lack of service, until I pushed the point. Food nice. However will not return , and I suggest you don't even bother going.

12 July 2022 Have just noticed owner has posted a reply to my review. However the response does not even relate to my experience, so is completely wrong. How do I know, I was not with a group of people, so were not able to talk with people at my table for 90 minutes. The truth is as soon as the food arrived and was eaten I left , in disgust. The owners reply really has just confirmed my...

Normally I tend to shy away from posting unfavorable reviews for a restaurant but this time is an exception. I decided to get a takeaway from planet spice last night, which included sabnam Curry and 2 roti Chenai. The roti chenais were not freshly cooked as you'd expect they would be, rather the cheap 3$ for 4 supermarket variety. I know this instantly as I used to buy those earlier! I've been to Malaysia so I know what do they look like and taste like. The restaurant ones were pretty much uneatable. Secondly even the curry had not much content but just more of the tasteless gravy. Now I know how did they ready the takeaway in less than 10 minutes! Pathetic experience and I'd dearly recommend all those who doesn't know what a good Indian tastes like, to steer away from this place and rather head over to places like taste of India for a far...