Zahid Indian Cuisine (LimeTree North Limited) — Restaurant in Chesterfield

I have been using Zahid’s for nearly 20 years and never had anything that wasn’t exceptional in all that time, that’s why it was our go to Indian. It’s probably nearly a year since our last visit, but I have to say that this will probably be our last time. I think it must have new owners as I didn’t recognise anyone in the place. The staff who used to run it were great, especially Shipon who worked the bar and reception area downstairs. He was one of the nicest people you could ever meet and always made you feel welcome. I originally booked for 6:15 for a party of 7 people, but received a phone call a few days before asking if could move our booking to 6pm as they had a large party in at 8pm and needed the table back. No problem I thought, 2 hours is more than enough time. As soon as we arrived we were immediately shepherded upstairs, no time for a drink while looking at the menu like the old days. They had only set the table for 6 people and when we queried it, it genuinely seemed like an inconvenience for them to move a table and make it a 7, despite us being the only people in the whole upstairs section. We ordered and the food came out quickly. The popadoms were disappointing, they tasted like they had been sat for a long time and were slightly soft. They also had a taste like the oil they were fried in was a bit old. I honestly couldn’t fault the rest of the food we ordered as the mains, it was fairly good, just not as good as it was previously. It certainly wouldn’t make me travel 5 miles to go here like I did before. The worst thing of all though was how rushed everything was, it was certainly not a relaxing experience. From arriving to leaving we were 50 minutes in total. The icing on the cake was when the waiter came to us at the end and apologised for the rush as they had another party coming in. We were the only people in the upstairs section! On the phone I was told we had 2 hours and were rushed out in less than an hour, so I assume they had squeezed another booking in at 7pm as well. It feels wrong criticising a restaurant with current climate being as it is, but this was a very poor experience overall, made worse by knowing how this place used to be. Really, really...

They added drinks on which we didn’t have, then when it came to paying, they removed the drinks but the owner basically added money back on (took the bill amount, divided it by 3, then punched a different figure into the card machine).

I noticed this and called it “cheeky”, then the guy absolutely lost his head, becoming angry and aggressive with me, saying “how dare I call him cheeky” and telling me to ignore the previous payments and just tap my card. I literally pointed at the calculator vs the payments he’d already taken from my friends, and that they were different. It was only 50p more per person, I didn’t care and thought it was funny really, hence “cheeky”, and only wanted to make the point that it wasn’t transparent. Hr created a ridiculous scene with his aggression, refusing eye contact and slamming down the calculator and shoving the card machine in front of me then tapping it and ordering me to “PAY HERE!” It was really weird, I refused until he spoke respectfully and he then said “I need to cover my card costs”. Riiiiight, well again you should be transparent about that, no need to get angry. I even asked one of the other workers “why’s he so annoyed, also look at what he charged versus 1/3 of the bill, it’s more”, to which the guy shrugged and said “he’s the boss, what am I supposed to say?”

The food was acceptable, the owner’s attitude was disgraceful. I feel bad for the others who have to work there under his aggression.

And CHECK YOUR BILL and WHAT THEY ENTER INTO THE CARD MACHINE. No doubt he’ll respond to this denying everything cos he’s a poor angry man who doesn’t like to...

My first visit to this restaurant last night (01/12/23) with 5 friends. We didn’t have a booking but were quickly sorted out with a table despite them being booked up. Our server, Mohammed, was excellent, very personable and attentive. I asked what he would eat on the menu and several of us followed his lead. We were not disappointed. Chicken chaat starter was exceptional, nicely presented with great flavour and a decent sized portion. It was the best I’d had. Main course was lamb tikka jalfrezi, I had mine “Apna” style and it was exactly as ordered. Great flavour, vegetables with a nice bite to them, it was excellent. All 6 meals were large portions, so much so a couple of us had some packed up to take home. The quality all round was excellent. I’m not a local to the area but would definitely make the effort to drive there with the mrs. Highly...