Thali Montpelier — Restaurant in Bristol

TL;DR - the portion size and the taste didn’t justify the price, one poppadom for a £1 sums it up.

I’ve wanted to try the Thali cafe for absolute ages and maybe it’s the positive reviews or my high expectations but I’m having to rate quite low. It was a disappointing and overpriced takeaway. We ordered starters, mains and desert.

The starters - we ordered popadoms and chutneys and got only 1 poppadom for £1!!! It isn’t very clear that this is how many you are getting when ordering so I have to say I was very disappointed. This didn’t have he crunch I was expecting and tasted stale and a bit burnt. The coriander chutney was lovely the others unremarkable.

The chicken samosa is delicious made with proper chickpea dough not filo pastry but we didn’t think the aloo bonda was anything to write home about.

The mains - we ordered 3 mains and 1 rice. Lucknowi Lamb - this was very tasty and the best main of the 3. Keralan Nandan Chicken - not very flavourful, 1 chicken thigh in a load of sauce. Punjabi Paneer - very little paneer in there.

Masala fried potatoes - very tasty. This was the only dish we ordered that wasn’t disappointing in any way. The tomato and tamarind chutney was lovely.

Desert - gulab jamun - I’ve had some delicious Indian deserts and this one just didn’t live up to expectations. For all of this we spent over £40. All together the portions were smaller than expected.

We love eating out and takeaways and have been to fancier Indian restaurants and are happy to pay more for nicer-than-your-local-takeaway but this wasn’t it.

Kudos for the...

THE BEST INDIAN FOOD I HAVE HAD IN THE UK!!!! I have had Indian food in multiple locations around the UK, but nothing can match the flavour profile and taste of the one I had at Thali. My partner was amazed by their Alphonso mango lassi, words can’t describe how refreshing, light and delicious it was. I ordered Jal Jeera, which was very refreshing too. The food itself had a very authentic taste, it reminded me on my mother’s cooking. Alongside our thalis, we ordered aloo paratha, which was crispy and delicious but the aloo filling itself could have been a bit more flavourful, it was delicious nonetheless. The thali themselves were spot on, amazing flavours and good portion size. We got rotis in addition to the thalis, which were good too!!

The ambiance was very retro and old Bollywood, and the song choices were great. I loved the fact that all the dishes were made of stainless steel, I have had water in a steel glass in ages and it just reminded me of home. The staff there were really sweet and polite, including the...

I haven’t even finished my meal and I’m writing this; that’s how good the food is.

Firstly, the takeaway containers are cardboard and petite, the amount of food is just perfect. I ordered the 4 peice starter, including veggie and chicken samosas, followed by the chicken thigh curry and basmati rice. The dumpling-shaped bites were of a good size and devastatingly delicious; I’ve honestly never had such good samosa.

The chicken curry came in a small soup-style pot, and had very little surface day despite being made with chicken thigh. The curry sauce was fresh, flavourful and smooth, the chicken fell apart under gentle pressure, melting in the mouth. The curry sauce is fragrant, laced with cardamom and curry leaf, and there is plenty left over for dipping the starters in.

All in all, I am totally blown away by this place. Definitely a MUST for...