The India Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Waikato

On Tuesday the 16th August my son and I were coming home after an early evening appointment and decided to have dinner out before going home. I decided to have a quick look while driving down the main street and seeing what was available. The Indian Restaurant in Tuakau was displaying $15.99, Mon Tue Wed, Any Curry & Rice, Dine in Only, 4pm till late night. So, in we went and ordered our meals. When I was about to pay my son pointed out to the owner that the pamphlets on the counter displayed a different price to the advertised price on the wall outside. The pamphlets on the counter were advertising the same dinner deal but with a lunch price of $12.99 and my son was trying to be helpful with the fact that they contradicted the outside price. The response from the owner "We don't do that anymore" I said to her that outside it said $15.99 for a main and rice and that we had come in because of the sign, and she replied with, food had gone up and that I should have asked when I was given the menu. I said that I realise that food has gone up but that is not the point, the point is I saw an advertised price and entered because of it and it should be honoured. She did not agree, she did not apologise and in fact charged me full price and said that they need to take the sign down. I told her that it is not right to not honour that advertised price as it is false advertising and that I would not be returning. I have had a busy time and haven't managed to make a formal complaint but was in Tuakau today (13th September) and the advertised price is still outside displayed on the wall for people to see. I live in Tuakau and it has been on the wall ever since we were there for dinner that night. As much as it is lovely food, as much as covid and costs have increased it is not right that the owner of an establishment does not see that it is wrong to advertise a price and then charge more on payment and still continues to advertise that price. I will not be back.

I posted this in August, it's nearly Christmas and they are still displaying it on the front of their restaurant. They have never contacted...

My food was not good nor bad but my taste may have been clouded by my profoundly negative experience at Tuakau Indian Restaurant and Bar. I ordered online and went in to pay for my meal in cash. I thought I was a dollar short, so I went back my car to get another dollar but I realised I had actually given her enough. I went back inside to clarify, and she insisted I was still a dollar short. After pointing out that she had all the money in her hand and should count it again, she didn't acknowledge the mistake and laughed at me like I made a terrible joke.

To make matters worse, when we got home, we discovered that a garlic naan we had paid for was missing. I called the restaurant six times that day, and they told me to drive back to pick it up. I live 20 minutes away, so I refused to make a 40-minute round trip for a $4.50 garlic naan. I asked for a refund instead, but getting my money back turned out to be a nightmare. It took 11 phone calls and a full 7 days before I finally received the refund.

The whole process was frustrating, unprofessional, and felt like an attempt to avoid giving me the service I had paid for. I definitely won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this...

Food was actually quite good - the “Indian” butter chicken is probably the standard of butter chicken they should all be at, not the over-sweet stuff you find everywhere. Tikka masala was done well too. Portions weren’t generous but you wouldn’t go hungry afterwards.

The negative however, and this is why they’re not getting 5, is because I ordered online for 19:45 pick up yet got an email/txt confirmation for 19:54 instead. No biggie. I get there at 19:55 and am told my order would be 15 min away. So I wait. The place wasn’t busy and there were only a couple others waiting for their orders. I got to chatting with one guy who had been waiting around 5 - 10 min already.

My food wasn’t ready till 20:25

I hope this was a one-off, chef-having-an-off-night type deal because good food is one thing, but making your customers wait 2 times over what they expected can’t be good for business and about put me off. While I appreciated the offer of a complimentary drink, I’d rather have...