Kumar's Something Special — Restaurant in Waikato

I’ve avoided leaving a review of each of the negative experiences we’ve had at Kumars, because it’s a beloved restaurant amongst most locals and I’m a firm believer in supporting small businesses, however tonight we’ve finally had to draw a line in the sand.

In the two years we’ve lived here, and of the five plus takeaway orders we’ve placed with Kumars, we have never once had a wait time under 50 minutes long. It doesn’t matter if we order at 5PM on the dot on a Sunday night, or at peak time on a Friday night; the wait is always extraordinarily long and the food is never ready at the time of pickup. If you place an order for takeaway, I’d recommend calling ahead to ask how long the wait will be, and then add another 10-20 minutes to the quoted time to avoid waiting around in the restaurant.

Wait times aside, we’ve enjoyed a handful of the meals we’ve ordered, and always enjoy the naan. We had one instance earlier in the year where the wrong curry was sent home with us; when we called to advise them, they told us that they’d make another but it would take 20 minutes. We waited, the rest of our food getting cold, and then went to collect the correct curry only to be charged again. We figured it was a one-off mistake and decided to place an order again tonight for two vegetarian curries.

We asked for two butter paneers; curries that we couldn’t see on the menu, but we were told they could make them for us and that it would be 50 minutes. We waited, went to collect them, and then waited 10 minutes more, and then found pieces of chicken in the sauce two mouthfuls in. A less than pleasant surprise, considering neither of us eat meat, and I would have assumed (having had plenty of experience dining out as a vegetarian) that upon requesting a meat-free curry, we would have been warned if the sauce were likely to contain meat. Apparently not. I snapped some photos and the meals went in the bin.

This isn’t the first negative review Kumars have had, especially when it comes to the risk of allergens, and I don’t trust that this one will be handled without any snark or spite. The fact that Kumars has a monopoly in the area doesn’t help when it comes to standards or customer service.

All in all, I’d be very weary ordering if you’re looking to place a phone order, or perhaps avoid...

I'm extremely fussy when it comes to Indian food and I do not normally take the time to write a review unless I really believe it's deserved. I do not look for or like the plain run of the mill $10 curry restaurants. I like authentic Indian Style cooking and I like indian hot. I rate Kumars in Paeroa as good as Paradise in Sandringham Auckland. Any one who truly enjoys authentic cooked Indian food will appreciate Kumars. I have eaten here more than a dozen times in the last 3 months with excellent, consistent cooking from the husband and wife team. Ask them to cook your curries indian style and you will truly get an authentic experience. I also have to say that there hygiene levels along with fresh produce and quality meat / seafood is exceptional. Two of my favorites are the Fish Molly and Chicken Chettinad. When I take friends to Kumars we order the banquet and let the Kumars suprise us with whatever they desire to present as long as it's authentic Indian Style, we have never been disappointed. Keep up...

This is the second time we received burnt and chewy naan…we went again to purchase advise the guy at the counter said will give us a free naan with purchase of food which he did thank you for that…today again we went to buy butter chicken for my little ones as they like butter chicken and again we had to deal with the same thing my kids couldn’t chew naan at all, the man behind the counter instead of being apologetic said naan has to be a little burnt ( well yeah but not with a big hole) its not the first time we are eating a naan we know how they are made and provided at other restaurants later he started talking to his wife saying if they want to buy buy if not they can go somewhere else being the only Indian restaurant in Paeroa please stop taking advantage…. We are paying you..you aren’t providing us for free so show a little respect to...