Asia Benfleet — Restaurant in Castle Point

On Wednesday my friends got to the restaurant before me and informed me that the manager had told them that our table for 15 wasn’t booked until 7.30pm. I had a WhatsApp confirmation from the manager after I’d paid the deposit confirming the table was booked for 7pm. When I got there, the manager argued with me that the table was for 7.30pm. Even after physically showing him the message he still argued with me. This is just pure greed when restaurants allow walk ins when they know they have tables booked in advance. We waited for 25 minutes outside in the cold until our table was ready. Once sat down the manager apologised and said the food would make up for it. Well…. The food. I have no words. It was chewy, tasteless and utterly uneatable. The sheek kebab starter didn’t even taste like meat, just chewy gristle. No flavour whatsoever. The lamb tikka butter main was tough, chewy and I couldn’t even cut the meat with a knife it was that tough. The rice and sag aloo were tasteless. No spice and no flavour. The food was utterly disappointing BUT the worst thing was the poor customer service from the manager. He was rude, argumentative and lacked any kind of empathy for our poor experience tonight. We suggested a reduced bill for my food especially and he point blank refused. He told us that if we didn’t pay the full bill he’d phone the police immediately. Absolutely ridiculous. I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. He’s definitely one of those people who is never in the wrong and definitely refused to take constructive criticism. We were the most polite group of friends and all we would have appreciated was an apology for the terrible experience and a reduced bill but we got neither. Avoid at all costs. You’ll find the food bland, gristle rather than soft, tender meat and an extremely rude manager who severely lacks any kind of customer service skills. Safe to say I’ll never go back and definitely do not recommend this...

A good new restaurant in Benfleet. However my meal tonight was very disappointing. I asked for a butter chicken, but was given a chicken korma with a nob of butter on top. I’ve had butter chicken from different countries around the world, including India and Singapore unfortunately this felt like a put together dish with something that the kitchen had in stock, chicken korma. I wish I had now ordered something different. Shame because the service and friendliness is fantastic.

New edit : 22 Feb 2022 After visiting this restaurant several time over the last few years, I can honestly say the service is impeccable. And the food is also great after taking advice on dishes from the manager! So I have changed my original review from 2 stars to 5...

Our first time for dinner last night, my hubby and I have been meaning to go here for awhile Now as heard good things. Having been to a fair few Indian restaurants around the area we can definitely say this is the best. Service was excellent, food was great, it was nice and quiet as we went at 5pm. It’s the little things that matter, like having the naan bread come out already cut and getting an extra onion bhaji. We went for dishes we normally have and now will know how good the food is we will definitely be back to try out all the different things on the menu. Thanks for a lovely meal guys and keep up the...