Namastey India — Restaurant in England

I'm aware 0 stars seems harsh but this really reflects the experience that we received during our visit. We arrived and was seated and looked over the menu and ordered our food which is what was to be expected. From then we were waiting a prolonged amount of time for our food to come to the table. During our wait one member of staff came to apologise and explained the kitchen only read half of the order so there will be a wait on the other half to be cooked so we will have a wait for everything. The wait continued and they came to apologise and offer a 10% discount on the meal. The wait continued and they came with another apology and gave some poppadoms that was stale. They then came again with a further apology and a refilled drink. During this time there are 2 other tables with people seated waiting a period of time too that was not offered any of the same customer service that we received which caused tension due to the unfairness of service. Our food then was finally brought out there was only 1 portion of chips made when 2 was ordered. We also were given the wrong dishes amongst us as the staff was not aware of which dish was which. This caused a problem as I don't eat red meat and if I just ate the meal handed over I would of been eating a red meat dish which isn't fair for anyone to have to experience needing to sift through their food to make sure they are eating what they ordered. Once the food was all handed over we began eating and trying to enjoy our food. At this point a group of people were seated next to us that was unable to read the menu and decided getting up and leaning over our table to point at our dishes was the way of communicating what they wanted and there was 1 staff member trying to manage this situation and instead of other members of her team coming to assist their colleague and also to support the customers in choosing their food in a more appropriate manner the other staff just continued walking past allowing this one member of staff to struggle. We didn't eat very much of the food due to us being informed half of our meal was made and we were to wait for the other half to be cooked which led us to beleive half of the meal was sat for around 1 hour before the other half was ready which isn't appetising for anyone. Also the mix up in dishes put us off. The other customers leaning over and pointing at our foods and just the food not generally meeting our standards which I would like to say are not high. Just to add to our experience the service for the tables around us was not to where it should be either. One table order desert and waiting nearly 30 minutes before being offered their bill to which they said we are still awaiting our desert which hadn't been handed over to the kitchen. Another table was given stale poppadoms which were sent back for fresh. Another table was sat waiting for food for over 45 minutes and not one member of staff apologised or even addressed them. A customer knew someone in the kitchen and stood in the doorway of the kitchen with a child chatting with staff while a member of staff was trying to get through with plates. There was many staff on shift walking around but not actively taking the work load off the one young woman rushed off her feet. They seemed to be very zoned out and not aware the restaurant was full and needed their assistance. The one lady that was rushed off her feet was cleaning tabels, laying tables, serving food, taking orders, taking complaints, apologising to customers, taking payments, chasing missed orders and missing food and the slow service while staff were wondering around the place looking lost and unaware to what they should be doing. It's a shame due to my family being big Indian food lovers and them coming on holiday to Blackpool multiple times a year we will not be returning to this restaurant. I'm a big beliver in noone can improve unless they are told what the issue is so I hope they can take my points on board and make positive change for their business as this won't last if it continues the way...

I'm surprised this restaurant has such a high rating. Positives: Onion bhajis and Okra dishes are delicious, full of flavour. Fast service

Needs improving: The dips for poppadoms were not freshly made, i've never experienced this before and eat at lots of Indians. They seemed to be processed sauces from a jar.

The chicken tandoori had obviously been microwaved, the chicken was cold in the middle whilst steaming hot on top. The lamb chops were so shrivelled and dry behind the sauce on it, they were not fresh and had obviously been microwaved. The lamb chops tasted of the smell of dog food, I spat my bite out.

Table is sticky, I'm sure it was clean but perhaps the type of gloss on the table? Not great having your arms stick to the table whilst eating. Could get around this with nice table clothes.

I don't understand why a restaurant wouldn't cook and serve fresh meat, especially, lamb chops, that hasn't been microwaved. They take a few minutes to cook. The restaurant wasn't busy, they would have had time. We paid £50 for the worst Indian meal I've ever eaten, I usually pay around this much for fresh and delicious Indian food, pure laziness not cooking from fresh. The only other thing I can think apart from laziness, is they are not bothered about returning customers , as perhaps Blackpool is mostly tourists here for a day or 2.

Lastly, I did tell the waitor i wasn't impressed. He offered to cook it again, but I'd already sent my chicken back to be cooked again, and it came back even more microwaved, so I said no to a new chicken as I did not want more microwaved chicken. Unfortunately, there was no offer of a price reduction, I probably wouldn't have written this review...

Overall the experience was good. We odered Malai kofta,dal tadka, breads, masala chaas and gulab jamun for desserts. Malai kofta was delicious, to perfection. Dal tadka was good but we had requested for it to be extra garlicky but it was normal one only. We asked for condiments (lime, onion, pickle) but said that they will charge for it which I think was not right. Garlic bread and butter tandoori was exactly what we wanted. Consistency wise Masala chass was too thick but taste wise it was good. Lastly Gulab jamun it was okhay not that great because the gulab jamun was not fluffy enough and served ice cream with chocolate syrup which somewhere misplaced the taste of gulab jamun. Also check on the dishes of portion size because rice was just a small bowl for 3 people. Chef Chema was kind enough to understand our preferences and made sure we were comfortable and was having good experience. Mr. Vishal (the server) was very attentive with our table. Mr. Deepak(specs: manager) somewhere I felt we could not communicate well and was a little rude, also his attitude was not right being in hospitality industry, because there were lack of service in our food and drinks. Otherwise it’s a good restaurant...