Pappadums Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Gauteng

I had the misfortune of hosting a birthday dinner at this ‘dine-in’ which I can only summarise as the worst culinary experience of my life. The bitter experience from the time we entered the premises till we left was like a bad dream playing on repeat. This restaurant called ‘Pappadums’ received relatively good reviews for the food and the decor in the photos looked pleasant, in line with my expectations for a birthday dinner party of 20. Pappadums operates from a house with a small parking space leading us to park outside on the main road. Upon entering the house, there was no one to greet us or tell us where to go. We proceeded up a staircase leading to a small room that looked like a bedroom with plain white painted walls, even the windows did not contain curtains. The atmosphere was totally bleak and desolate. There was a long table setting in an awkward 45deg angle. I assume this was the table for 20 I reserved although 3 unknown patrons were already seated and eating at this table, leaving 11 chairs remaining. When I asked the waiter what was happening, he didn’t say much but started arranging some chairs in another interleading room between the bedroom and the bathroom. This tiny 4*4 room looked like a walk-in closet or study and could probably seat a max of 8-10 people. At this point I started calling other restuarants in the area when the rest of the guests started to arrive. Luckily the 3 people decided to move their meals to the study at this point. We still had a dilemma as the seats were not sufficient for the 20 guests. We told the manager however he did not seem interested to make alternate plans. With half of the people waiting downstairs, the ladies in the room decided to rearrange the tables and chairs in a U shape whilst the waiter looked on and waited to be told what to do. 30 minutes had now passed and no drinks orders had been taken. After the tables were set, we then had to request cutlery and set them ourselves. We also wiped the dirty tables. By the time the room was set up, an hour had already passed. At this point the starters were served and the drinks orders were taken. Some drinks were out of stock. The table was not cleared up after the starters and we had to do it ourselves After clearing up, our food arrived in parts. I had to continuously walk up and down the stairs to check up on the food. The curries were served without rice and this arrived some time after the curries. One person didn’t receive their order at all as it was not captured by the waiter and two curries arrived late after some of the others had already finished eating. Throughout this, the waiter looked highly confused and it was clear that he was not trained well. I asked the manager to help him. We never received salad with the meals and the pickles we ordered never arrived. After eating, we had to clear up ourselves and hand the plates and cutlery to the waiter. We then cut the cake and asked the waiter to take tea and coffee orders to be told that the kitchen was already closed. We were not informed that the kitchen was closing. Usually, patrons are asked if they need anything else and warned that the kitchen will close. At this point, the entire evening was ruined and nothing could salvage it so we just packed up and left. No one at the restaurant dare ask if everything was okay. In fact, only the manager was in sight when we left. I will never recommend this dine-in to anyone. Eating at a food cart would be a better option.

To summarise this experience: no parking, small dining room with no decor or table clothes, unprepared, no table setting or cutlery, long wait times, delayed service, lacklustre attitude from owner, disorganised, missing orders, out of stock on drinks, closing the kitchen without communication, limited staff not adequately equipped, misleading advertising on internet, completely inefficient operation and the worst and gloomy birthday celebration ever. This is completely opposite of the Indian hospitality that we have all grown up with. I would never return or recommend...

We dined at Pappadums in November of 2017

Pappadums or more like Pappadon'ts?

We started our evening with some drinks and a plate of veg samosas to share. They were quite tasty, but one of them were filled with some form of dried seeds and spices that made it very dry and coarse to eat. The mains for the evening was a bowl of Lamb Rogan Josh and a bowl of Butter Chicken. Both of them were nice and spicy which we enjoyed, especially the lamb dish, but the Butter Chicken was very sweet. The first bite was actually pleasant, but the more we ate the sweeter it got, up to a point where it actually felt like we were having some form of dessert.

We always like to ask our waiters for their recommendations of what to order, and sometimes we are pleasantly surprised with their advice. But having the waiter tell you everything is good or that they don't know what dish goes with or that they don't know what is the most popular dish is a bit of a letdown. It felt as if our waiter didn't want to be there, obviously it is just a job for her, but being in the hospitality industry does expect a certain amount of friendliness from you in our opinion.

The atmosphere was an interesting one. The restaurant is nicely decorated with wallpaper and each table is properly set with a coloured tablecloth, flowers, and candles, but the lights were bright fluorescent bulbs that made you feel as if you were sitting in the office. Very bright and mood killing.

For the amount of food that we received, which was a lot of rice and not so much curry, and the odd flavour that came with the chicken dish, we were not very happy. Pair that with what felt like reluctant service and an atmosphere to invite office workers, Pappadums doesn't have a lot going for each bang for the buck.

TTT’s rating out of 5: Food - 2.5 | Service - 2.5 | Atmosphere – 2.5 | Value – 3

Pappadums gets an 'Angry Stare' from Two...

When you crave for any type of Indian Food in Sandton, this is the place to be. Actually when there is a quarrel between your group as for who wants to eat what? The best is to visit a multi cuisine restaurant, all under 1 roof. So, definitely this is the best option in Sandton.

We called for:

Chicken Shorba Soup Chilly Paneer Chilly Chicken Chicken Madras Dal Makhani Gulab Jamun

The ambiance is really nice with indoor seating arrangements and friendly staff. A special mention to the chef and the owner of the restaurant, Manbir who is a really nice guy and will make sure you get the best service possible.

I would like to rate this place as under:

Food: 4.5/5 Service:...