Dhamaka Restaurant — Restaurant in Bristol

Me and my close friend were visiting the city craving indian food and saw the promising reviews of this place, being from the north perhaps we weren’t prepared to how cold and unfriendly the service here was going to be.

We both had a drink in our bags already and therefore didn’t order one, they gave us cups for some water and we poured in our drinks. Our server had come up to us and told us that we weren’t allowed to do so a bit after we’d already poured it in which WAS TOTALLY OKAY! I want to preface that that was NOT our issue because our server explained it to us calmly and I understand where she’s coming from. As soon as she told us we nodded and since I was mid pouring my drink I tilted it back and was about to put back in my bag, I’d finish whatever I had poured out and leave the rest since it was already in my cup is what I assumed was okay.

That was until suddenly a different server stampede over to our table and aggressively said “My colleague told you to put that away” as LOUD as possible and then before we could get a word in grabbed both our cups, dumped away our drinks and came back slamming said cups on the table and walking back with a strange smug grin. I don’t understand if this was some strange power play, if she had a bad day, if she had something against me and my friend or if she understands what customer service is? How was that the way to go about it? We were completely shocked at how not only distasteful this was but the lack of manners, maybe these servers need some formal training in empathy?

The rest of our meal time couldn’t even be enjoyed because the same server that poured out our drinks was staring at us the entire time and kept slowing down everytime she walked past us, literally kept watch of us like hawks till the last bite as if after her theatrical humiliation of us wasn’t enough to fuel her ego.

When we left she made a snarky goodbye too, I really don’t know how the pay is like here but she’s certainly not chipper

The actual restaurant is layed out a bit strangely, it feels almost claustrophobic in here and with said layout it’s overstimulating to say the least with staff constantly marching back and forth too. Definitely don’t come here if you want any sort of relaxation and it’s not the place to “wind down” after a long day for dinner.

The food was ok, nothing spectacular but not awful either. Gave both me and my friend awful stomach cramps after, like an abnormal amount, though we got food poisoning. The portions for the rice and naan wasn’t massive so be aware when you do order. It’s hard to get attention of any server even your own as there’s such a constant flow of traffic constantly.

I see the restaurant has a habit of replying to negative reviews poorly akin to their service so I’m ready for the long list of excuses or blaming. Believe me or do not, there’s many great places to eat in Bristol with GREAT service. This just isn’t one of them and with the subpar food and straight up mean and vindictive servers I don’t...

We chose this place over the Nutmeg for our dinner yesterday. But unfortunately was a disappointment. The dining hall was clean, plates and other cutlery were warm. Everything was fine except the glasses. We did not book in advance but were accommodated by the staff. My wife wanted to have momos and I wanted to have dahi papdi chaat. The former was not there and the later was not papdi chaat. Instead it was fafda/ghati ka chaat that too without diced boiled potatoes and no or very very less mint chutney (edible though). I felt the chickpeas in it were canned. Though we wanted to have naan and some curry we refrained from it after having the chaat. (Someone beside has ordered butter naan...it looked great though). I had ordered a Hyderabadi chicken biryani. It was served with raita and some biryani sauce?? The biryani was flavourful with long and fluffy rice and seasoned well. It had good quantity of chicken to rice, well cooked and juicy chicken. It is not Hyderabadi biryani though. Being from Hyderabad, I could not appreciate it. Its just some boneless chicken biryani. The sauce was another downfall. It was so tangy and unpalatable. Its neither kurma nor salan nor serva. Its something else. But the efforts of serving biryani in authentic way should be appreciated. We did not want to have anything else after the initial disappointment. It was a disappointment on our...

Edit after my second visit- Arrogant staff, disrespectfully arguing over a few drops of tamarind chutney!! Ruined my mood n experience. There was barely one tiny drop of tamarind chutney in samosa chat. It is the essence of any indian chat! I was paying more than 6 pounds for a chat without tamarind chutney. When I asked for it, the staff was ridiculously arguing then finally got some chutney. How can you treat your customer like that just for some chutney! There are better restaurants around with better taste n service. And I ordered Kadhai paneer - oh my god it was just floating in oil. Way too much oil!! I don't know what was there in their food, but it has got my stomach upset since 2 days!! Never going back again! Very disappointing experience this time.

Previous visit - One of the very few Indian restaurants that I absolutely loved in Bristol. The paneer makhani was delicious- finger licking good! Very authentic. Paneer cubes could have been more though. Only 4 pieces for 12 pounds was less. The gobi manchurian was okay. I felt it should have been more crispy rather than biting on raw cauliflower, though it was flavourful. And I love the interiors, reminds me of India. It's all so beautiful..and the bollywood music. Enjoyed the vibe....