Shimlas Great Horton Road — Restaurant in Bradford

Unfortunately Google doesn't allow 0 stars option and are incredibly lucky to even get ONE star for which is undeserved. It is with great disappointment and shame to announce that I absolutely do NOT recommend Shimalas, it would be too kind to even give it a title of a restaurant when in reality it is unworthy of it.

Me and 5 other of my friends had gone out on a Tuesday night to celebrate a friend's birthday and from what I remeber all together spent just under £130 which is roughly £20 per person, and we had ordered; Chicken Briyani ( Mild ) , Prawn Biryani, Butter Chicken ( Also Mild ) accompanied with naan, Naga Donner and Chicken wings. For my self I had ordered a Meat ( Lamb ) karahi which was at the spicy level of medium, and so we arrived with high expectations of vibrant delicious food only to leave with a dirty and sickening feeling in our stomaches where you could feel the harshness and heaviness of the karahi sticking to your gut that left me poorly for two days.

We had even ordered a small portion of chocolate fudge cake. Which I wouldn't even call a cake, for it lacked the fluffy, spongey texture and the rich chocolatey flavour. Even the small addition of the soft served ice cream outshined the main star, which let's be real was probably store bought.

For thoose reading this thinking that it might be just because i have a low spice tolerance you are quite wrong. Quite the opposite in fact, me and my family are Pakistani and are accustomed to spicy and flavourful food, and so with that Shimals fails to live up to that authentic, and flavoursome cuisine that Pakistan has to offer and has sadly stained its image. Not to mention 5/6 friends (including me) are now painfully confliciting with the aftermath and struggling to continue their daily routine without having to hold on to their stomachs.

Where was the depth? The richness? Nonexistent If I really, really had to pick anything valuable or even decent from our experience it would probably have to be our drinks and the naan. Suprsingly the naan was fluffy, warm and quite light and the drinks severed were refreshingly sweet and fruitful and WOULD have complimented and contrasted the curries and briyani served, (if only they were even slightly decent) How disgraceful.

Overall, the atmosphere was relatively average and more of a place you take pictures for your Instagram, so please, please do NOT let the presentation and looks of Shimals fool you, looks can be deceiving. Also please sort out your disorganised and chaotic parking system, it was incredibly akward and oddly desgined. You have been warned. Authentic Pakistani food? Don't...

Uber order

Ordered: Original chicken donner Fried (masala) fish Creamy naga wings and chips Chicken wings

So i had previously boycotted Shimlas due to an incident regarding the quality and quantity of food and the service.

Basically, there were three lots of us customers in the takeaway section, two of us had exactly the same complaint about the food and the service by some guy at the till wearing a cap. The “manager” was EXTREMELY rude to us both upon complaining. The third customer walked out without their food.

That was yeeeaaaaaars ago now so we thiught we’d give it a shot as it had been so long.

Chicken donner was good. Nothing much has changed. Good chicken, relatively fresh, good sized portions. Mayo on point however mother said it had tamed down in terms of the flavour it used to have.

AVOID THE FRIED FISH. I was EXTREMELY disappointed. The fish was overdone and cold, very thin and burnt at the edges. Massive waste of money. May have been a little better had we have eaten in but this was gross. Never again.

Chicken wings were good. Freshly cooked and well flavoured.

The pièce de résistance however were the creamy naga wings and chips. 11/10. Absolutely amazing flavour. Proper wings and not the anorexic things that other places now pass off as wings. Wings were Hot and fresh (although ngl the chips were yuk). Absolutely loved them. Had steam coming out of my ears mouth ears and nose. Tears streaming down my face but could not stop licking my fingers!! Definitely definitely definitely 100% recommend if you like spice wothout compromising on the...

I attended Shimlas on the Wednesday 23/03/22 arrived around 17:25 we are from the Greater Manchester Area took us around 53 minutes luckily we managed to find parking just up the road (I guess when it's busy parking can be a pain).

One of the main reason I choose this establishment over others such Anams/Mumtaz due to the google reviews.

We ordered:

Chicken Pakora Seekh Kebabs (Lamb) Chicken Jalfrezi 2 x Garlic Naan 2 x Chips Salad Mango Paradise (Mocktail)

Was told that we were unable to get the Mango Paradise due to use ordering before 6pm (not an detailed reason but I didn't want to get into debate over it).

The tables are slightly too close to others so privacy can be an issue for some (but I guess they want to maximise dining it so not a big issue).

They have a few staff also and they are very nice and helpful and they clean toilet facilities.

Bill came around £30.70 for 2 people so not mega expensive.

Now the food Alhamdulilah to food was amazing my Mrs loved it (she is a very picky eater), I honesty can't saying anything bad about the food, everything was on point.

One thing I did note is that lady who across us did complain about her food being late and other people getting food before them even though they arrived after them (I guess this could be due to some food taking longer to cook).

I would recommend visiting this establishment to my family...