Ashiana — Restaurant in England

We (two adults and a little child) visited Southend on a long weekend and decided to dine here. Our experience started with terrible reception. Within a few seconds of us settling in the seat, the waiter was in a super hurry for us to place the order. We requested a couple of minutes, but he was restless and turned up again within the next 15 seconds.

When we placed the first round of order our of a hurry (due to him turning up over and over again), he was even more upset. He said 'this is a fine-dine restaunrant and he is expecting £100 per table' (in a rude tone...meaning we were not worth dining here!?) This was before even we placed all the orders. I have dined in several super fine-dine restaurants and they are nowhere close to that (neither in food taste, nor in behaviour). Their prices are low, matching that of takeaways in my city (Cambridge) and we ended up paying ~£55 in the end (that's all we (two adults and a child) could eat tbh). Anyway, if you are in similar situation, do not visit them.

The next thing is food (nowhere close to fine-dine). Their chef need to learn how to make biryani, they probably follow a technique typically used by low-cost takeaways. ie have a single pot of white rice and do a hasty mix of spices when we order. Even in such cases, I have had a good tasting biryani elsewhere. Anyway, locals with poor knowledge of Indian/Bangladesi recipe may like it.

There were some positives though. Some of the curries and other dishes were just fine, and taste was ok. The guy who sounded like the manager was cordial in the end and kindly booked a taxi for us when we requested a taxi phone number.

Usually I do not write reviews but my wife insisted that I write one after...

Shocking performance, blatantly trying to rip us off with their Valentines Day menu. I booked a table with you 3 weeks ago in your restaurant and YOU did not inform me there was a set menu - I don't eat at restaurants that have set menus as they are a scam, as yours most certainly was!!! We decided to leave then my partner and I were subject to all kinds of abuse. One of the waiters followed us out into the street and hurled move abuse. Disgraceful behaviour towards your customers!! I have no idea how you’ve won any awards, totally unacceptable service all round. I would not recommend your restaurant to anyone and I hope that people that read this review acknowledge the appalling service and behaviour we experienced and go elsewhere. There are plenty of much better curry houses around Southend that care and look after their customers!!!

In response to your reply, I booked the table directly IN YOUR RESTAURANT!! YOU DID NOT MAKE ME AWARE OF A SET MENU AT THE TIME OF BOOKING - that is your mistake, not mine! My partner did not want to eat the amount of food on your set menu, she ordered one starter dish and rice, yet you still wanted to charge £30. That is inflexible, not customer centric and a BLATANT RIP OFF. When we decided to leave you immediately became abusive. It seems you only look after those customers that don't raise any questions about your so called value for money menus. You clearly have no capacity to deal with customers that want something different from what YOU want. Don't forget, your business is wholly dependant on having customers show up at your restaurant. If you don't treat people properly your business will fail...YOU FAILED!! Word gets around about poorly run...

I’d like to mention it was likely due to short staff and a busy evening as the restaurant seem to have good reviews. But myself and my partner visited here for the first time on Saturday evening and at first it was lovely. We had a reservation for 7.30pm and were both very hungry. We were seated and were offered drinks and poppadoms which was lovely. But after 1 hour 40 minutes out main dishes still hadn’t arrived despite being a couple not a big group. After this time I asked a waiter (all of who were very friendly and welcoming I can’t deny) how long our food would be. He said he’d find out and then never came and told us. After just under two hours since we arrived, still no mains and we got the hot towels and a dessert menu. At this point we decided to leave as we were both very hungry and very embarrassed in front of the rest of the customers. I think our order was missed on its way to the kitchen. Like i said I don’t think it’s a reflection of their usual service, just a bad day. They gave us our drinks and poppadoms free as an apology and did apologise profusely. It’s just a shame because my partner and I hadn’t been out for an evening to ourselves in...