The Bay Leaf — Restaurant in East Hampshire

word of advice if ordering a takeaway do it through deliveroo as they will prioritise their orders and if you get let down you can get a refund through deliveroo*

Fancied a takeaway as we had a long day and an early start the next day, had a look online and saw the reviews so decided to give it a try rather than order from our usual.

Went to order via Deliveroo then noticed prices slightly cheaper on their own website so ordered that way.

When ordering a delivery estimate of 50-80 mins was given , as we were ordering early thought this wouldn’t be a problem.

On checking the confirmation email the delivery estimate had increased to 1 hour 40 mins.

When this time passed we tried to phone restaurant but couldn’t get through, eventually did and spoke to someone who advised it wasn’t their fault the meal was late, didn’t seem that interested in resolving or apologising.

Food eventually arrived over 2 hours later by which time we had already eaten due to the time taken to deliver and too late to eat.

Wish I had ordered via Deliveroo it may have been slightly more expensive but would have been easy to cancel / get money back.

No idea if the food is any good or not as we had already eaten and as some of the dishes were likely to have been reheated didn’t fancy risking heating them again.

I appreciate there can be delays but why advertise delivery times that you are not able to meet (not even close) , I expect any Deliveroo orders were dealt with quicker as there is more chance of a consequence to the business.

Really...

Two of us visited the Bay Leaf for supper last Friday. The attached cocktail bar is a lively place and was very busy so we went straight through to the restaurant.

Luckily, we had booked a table for 18:45 - fortuitous as the restaurant was packed, even at this time of the evening. Clearly it was a popular choice. The dining room was very clean and nicely appointed; the decorations simple and classy.. unquestionably, a good atmosphere and a sense of 'up market'.

Service was immediate despite the number of people coming in. We started with a couple of papadums and these were served with the usual fruity sauce, yoghurt and chopped onions. Perfectly good but nothing special. But then came the starters - we both opted for the Chicken Tikka starter which was elegantly plated and serviced in decent time. (photo attached).

I went for the Lamb Rogan Josh and my friend went for the medium chicken jalfrezi. The Rogan Josh was beautifully spiced and perfectly seasoned. The accompanying pilau rice provided a relief from the chilli and the familiar texture of a complete curry. The lamb was soft and deeply flavoured.. I could not fault it. My friend's Jalfrezi was for him, quite hot but again, he said he would order it again - that says it all!

I would thoroughly recommend this restaurant. The staff were excellent; attentive but not overly. Service was a one would hope - not too fast and not too slow. We will definitely...

Really nice food, I find it to be the best Indian restaurant in the area. HOWEVER I have ordered from this place probably 30 times over the years and I would say 90% of the time they forget something off the order. They write the stuff on the receipt and charge you for it but somehow forget to pack everything in the bag, it’s an absolute joke. I stopped getting deliveries because it was getting ridiculous. Now I have physically go pick it up and unload the bag in the restaurant to find out what they have forgotten, which is embarrassing but needs must. It’s a basic part of running a restaurant that for some reason they can’t...