Rose of India — Restaurant in Chelmsford

Bad reviews are easy to write, except when it's about a restaurant you've previously enjoyed. It's disheartening. Fortunately for us The Rose has been our closest Indian Restaurant for many years, when it was Jeera and before even then. We returned time and time again because the take away food was indistinguishable in its' good quality from the food served at table. Unfortunately, I can now confirm this is no longer the case.

What's doubly saddening is that when other local restaurants are able to maintain their pre-Pandemic quality The Rose seems unable to. I suspected that a lack of attention was starting to overtake the restaurant in 2018 when we had a handful of disappointing takeaways (sour cream in the Daal anyone?) and the odd sub-par meal in the restaurant. Once the Pandemic arrived the quality seemed to drop off a cliff edge.

Tonight's collected takeaway, save for the chapatis and the rice arrived tired and definitely prepared days before. Raw onion in the dopiaza, an utterly bland simple chicken curry in a watery orange liquid with a vague coriander flavour and exactly 4 King Prawns in a KP Shashlik priced at almost £13. The remainder of the dish was bulked out by some tastily seasoned griddled onion and tomato, which reminded me of what used to be. That is simply inexcusable and unfair pricing.

These observations have been made over the course of more than 2 years to the point when ordering take-away food, I have come to expect to find what I have tonight. It's unlikely there's a team of focussed and passionate chef's freshly preparing your curry for you in a maelstrom of flashing pans. Rather I suspect, this is reheated food where the microwave plays a central role. Judging by the lack of spice and seasoning (pass the salt someone) there is definitely no one taste checking the kitchen's output.

However, It must be noted and judging by the other reviews I'm in the minority as a lot of people seem to be satisfied with the product. I am not and hopefully others will take another look (and taste) at their next order and feedback their views good and bad to The Rose.

The lads are a good bunch, friendly and accommodating, but they're cutting too many corners now and need to get things back on track.

Someone let me know when...

A Gem in Chelmsford.

My wife and I recently moved to Chelmsford and, being of South Asian descent, we’ve been on the lookout for somewhere that could offer us those familiar, comforting flavours of home. We’re so glad we discovered Rose of India – it absolutely delivered.

From the moment we walked in, we were warmly welcomed by the manager, Jim, who was incredibly friendly and attentive throughout our visit. Despite the restaurant being really busy, the customer service was flawless – everyone around us seemed well looked after and genuinely happy.

Now, onto the food – it was delicious. Flavourful, freshly made, and most importantly, customisable. I like my food with a good kick of spice, and they were more than happy to tailor the heat level to suit my taste. It’s rare to find a place that can balance authentic flavour with that level of flexibility.

This definitely won’t be our last visit – we’ve found our go-to spot in Chelmsford, and we’re already looking forward to coming...

The food, service and overall value is good, however the atmosphere is not. We have been there 4-5 times, it is always very loud, people are drunk and shouting, it is honestly louder than any pub. It gets so loud that you cannot have a conversation. Last Saturday there was a group of people sitting next to us, they broke/spilled like 3-4 bottles of alcohol and were getting progressively drunker and started singing. When my friend and I were leaving, we got cat called - two drunk men whistled at us very loud. None of this was adressed by the members of staff, needless to say we won't be back. I felt very sorry for the staff having to deal with such customers, they probably have to tolerate whatever happens, but how far...