Namaste Khandallah — Restaurant in Wellington

I came here after looking at the reviews, which were very mixed so I came with low expectations.

I had made a booking for 6:30pm through their website which was very easy and convenient, when I arrived the table was ready for me, I did book it for 2 people but it was set up for 3 but no big deal on that.

Menus for food came out 5 minutes after sitting down however no drinks menus were given, however we were offered a choice of still or sparkling water.

First impressions

One of the complaints about this place was to do with the door, and I can confirm that this is an issue, with it being right next to a pizza shop it keeps on opening and closing whenever people go into that shop, this leads to a bit of breeze coming into the restaurant which is a bit bothersome, I don’t see how this can be very pleasant during winter.

Food

I ordered Onion bhaji as a starter which came out around 20min after ordering. They tasted quite nice but what I did notice is that there was an inconsistency with the temperature of each one, some were piping hot and others were lukewarm.

For the mains I ordered a simple chicken korma and the person who I was eating dinner with ordered prawn masala. These came out around 15 minutes after we had finished our entree.

My Korma was very nice and mediums spice was perfect, the chicken itself was a bit fatty. We were also given a generous amount of rice. The prawn masala was also very good however one issue was that the prawns that were in the sauce still had their tails on, meaning that the person that I was having dinner with had to pick through it and take the tails off each one.

Staff and general experience

The staff were very friendly and I could tell that they were doing their best to make sure the customers had a nice time, however what I did notice is that when it got busy most of the waiters got very busy and constantly rushing around trying to get things done, this did mean that some things are forgotten about n the chaos. I do have to give a massive shoutout to whoever was washing the dishes, my plates were spotless and they definitely deserve a raise.

Definitely could have been 5 stars if the food was a bit nicer and if it was a bit...

Having now been - I now look at the glowing Google reviews with great suspicion. Many are one offs and several of the five star reviews have only reviewed this and the two sister restaurants. Our experience on the 8th was far from five stars.

First - the place Freezing with door opening and closing constantly and a tiny fan heater doing nothing. Customers were wearing coats and scarves!

20 min wait for menus 40 min wait for water after having to ask three times. Hour for entrees (both cold dishes and needing no prep - pani puri and Dahi bhalla)

The servings were generous - just a shame it was so bad. At the end of the evening everyone (five of us) had lots left over but none took it home - not even the bottomless pit of a teen boy.

Personally my “medium” Balti Chicken had zero spice but was massively was over salted. Everyone else said their dishes were extremely salty too.

The “normal” naan was greasy undercooked and the vegan dry and overcooked.

While we were there one poor lady waited an hour and 50 for her takeaways.

The place was about 1/3 full but despite a quiet restaurant there were multiple tables complaining of delays and missing food.

When paying the cashier ask how everything was and I told him all was below average - didn’t seem concerned. Took the money and wished be goodnight!

Such a shame this local is...

We swung past for an early diwali dinner. We were taking away and it was early so the vibe was quiet and we were the only punters in. Saying that, they were still cranking out takeaway orders and a busy place is always reassuring. The owner was a supremely nice dude, with good chat and gave the three year old a couple popadoms to munch on while we waited. On the house - Small things mean big things in hospitality! Great to see a shift to using cardboard based punnets and less single use plastic. The currys. The currys are good - quality is high with the veg madras loaded with heap of veges, although it could have a splash more coconut cream. The old Delhi butter chicken reminded me of the butter chicken I had in Delhi many years back, although not as oily. Going hard with the methi was a great touch. It would be great to have some veg options on the kids menu or the option to kids size a vege curry. Takeaway naan is never going to be good as dine in but it was still warm and chewy, with not too much char that some places give you, fresh garlic would have been nice rather than dried also. On the spendy side but overall a solid addition to the area and challenging to the Tandoori...