Nadu — Restaurant in Bristol

**adding an edit to reply to the owner's embarrassing reply. I complimented all the dishes that were good and if you look at the ratings I gave they are very fair and honest. 3/5 for food, 5/5 for service, 5/5 for atmosphere. Shame I can't leave 1/5 for not being humble.

I assume you're upset that I chose to visit Pappu Dosa while I was visiting Bristol too? Interesting you're more interested in that than the quality of your own food. I was actually expecting Pappu to be much much worse than it was. But the breakfast was good. Not perfect, maybe not authentic in every way (I know the owner is white... The chefs are not), but it was good.

Your "tear and share dosa" is still overpriced and whatever it costs on the old menu/vs new menu I deemed it too much. I noticed you didn't retaliate about the frozen parotta. Interesting.

I assume you judge all your customers the same way you do me, and assume because I'm "white" that I am stupid and know nothing. The same way you make your food differently for "British tastes". But while you mock my name without knowing anything about my ancestry and stalk my Google history, I will not stoop as low as to mock you as you did me.

neenga adigam panivaa irukkanum. vanakkam vaazhttukkal

Original review

In an honest and balanced review I have to say the food is very average. The service was great and friendly and the place felt comfortable.

There was no particular dish that tasted bad but nothing we had was amazing and was far from authentic. We avoided ordering the dosa because £12.50 for a plain dosa with no filling is extortionate (no matter how big and impressive it looks on a plate) The podi used on the uralai dish was bland but the potatoes themselves were cooked well and crispy. The parotta were ok, but did taste premade/frozen. The kaj kari was just overly sweet with no flavours other than cashew. The garam pagoda was surprisingly tasty and the only dish that had a hint of chilli, and the spring green poriya tasted quite good and fresh.

If this was a cheap curry house takeaway there would be zero reason to complain. But I thought a place claiming to be specifically Tamil/Sri Lankan would be much more authentic and true to the name so my expectations...

Have been wanting to come here for a while after hearing good things. The staff were really accommodating as we didn't have a booking and it was a busy Saturday afternoon. I'll start by talking about the restaurant itself and the ambience generally- the staff generally seemed young and occasionally inexperienced but they were friendly and tried hard. There was loud reggae music playing (which a friend informed me she experienced a lot in Sri Lanka as well) and the place was decorated in a cheerful bright tropical sort of a way which all added together with the cocktail specials gave one the not altogether pleasant sensation of being in a turtle bay...however, thank goodness was wrong in this. The cocktail specials (any two of the same daquiris for £15) were delicious and the food was absolutely insane. Certainly the best Sri Lankan food I have ever eaten. Heads and shoulders above any other places in fact (we had previously eaten from the coconut tree on Gloucester road a lot and really enjoyed it. But no more!) We started with the tear and share dosa which was a fun and interactive start to the meal. Glossy, crisp and huge with a trio of yummy dips, we ordered 2 for the six of us but one would have done as they were a metre in size. My husband and I shared the bone marrow curry which was literally that- two huge chunks of soft fatty bone marrow with a thick rich curry sauce served on flaky, buttery paratha. Amazing. Soft shell crab on delicate coconut. Deep fried crispy lamb rolls with a spicy smoky sauce. Juicy hot sweet devilled chicken wings. Just all so very good. We also tried some things that our friends ordered, a spicy pork curry that was out of this world, potatoes, coconut sambal, cashew curry (probably my least favourite thing but the vegans liked it very much). Overall a really great experience and we will certainly be back. Can't...

The food and cocktails are always lovely and although not the cheapest, does do the trick. It’s a pity though, that despite the front of house staff being pleasant enough, they lack any real enthusiasm or knowledge regarding the offering and when asked seem to be unaware or uncaring about anything. I was rather shocked last night to be told that the member of staff serving us didn’t know what sorbet or kulfi flavours they had on offer despite the menu advising to ask for the flavours of the day. Their reason was that virtually no one ever ordered desserts so they didn’t think the information needed. When asking about the brandy’s on the menu, the same member of staff said that no brandy was available and none had been for a number of weeks. Perhaps this was also due to no one ever ordering it. The atmosphere is lively and the place definitely does have some charm, however I am of the mind that what really makes a place special in its magical ability to have some type of synergy is yet to be found here. Eating out should still be a treat even in 2022 where everything seems to be entitled and cynical. Maybe I am old fashioned. Again, the food is great. The chefs clearly take pride in preparing the food and it would be lovely to see the front of house match that.

Edit:

While eating my doggy bag leftovers the next day at home, I found some pieces of black ceramic/stone in my food which could have seriously damaged my teeth. It looks like the same ceramic that the dish was serve in leading me to suppose there must have been a breakage in the kitchen that found it’s way into the lamb perattal...