Dilshad — Restaurant in England

Came to Dilshad on Mother's Day for dinner and the only decent thing about the place was the music. The service was rather unfriendly. After we placed our order they came over and said "usually if people don't order enough main meals we refuse to serve them but because you've come this way we don't want to upset you." I was absolutely astonished because a huge part of the Indian cuisine is to have little sabzi/dahl/curry dishes and share them between people with rice or chapattis. The only reason we ordered side dishes was because the only truly traditional Indian dishes they had were side dishes. We would have been more than happy to order mains if they were actual Indian dishes (aloo gobi, mutter paneer) but the majority of the "traditional specials" were different types of currys with several meat options and singular vegetable substitutes. They also chose to take their own initiative and add a random rice dish to the meal which we didn't ask for because they clearly decided that we hadn't spent enough money to suit them. It would've been another matter if the food was nice but the dishes were way too sweet for our tastes. I definitely won't be...

Hands down the worst curry I've ever eaten. Ordered a Dhansak and got a soupy korma-like slurry with a pineapple slice in it. It tasted very bland. The manager tasted it and said "this is a Dhansak the way we prepare it". I swapped it for a Bhuna, which was a bit better but still very bland. My colleague had a Madras which was practically a tin of tomatos with chilli in it. If you went to a chip shop, ordered chips, and were given deep fried parsnip slices, you would tell them that these are not chips, right? I ordered a Dhansak, was served something else, and told by the manager that it was a Dhansak. These people do not know curry. Perhaps they should open a chip shop instead but you would probably get a bag full...

I eat out a few times a week. And I used to work at an Indian takeaway. And I always try to be positive when reviewing places however there is only so much one can do.

To be brutally honest there is no pride taken in the food at Dilshads. The chef is no chef. All the meals have the same tomato/massala base. Even the bloody Tarka Dhal is tomato based with whole lentils. Nothing like any other Tarka Dhal I have ever had.

The service was mediocre, I ordered a bottle of chardonnay and received a bottle of Jack Rabbits Sauvigon Blanc.

The only saving grace was the place was clean, the food fast and the poppadoms fresh.

The lassi was fairly good too, but then the old man did do that...