Saji's — Restaurant in Gateshead

Positives: It is extremely rare for me to give 5/5 stars on every category but this place certainly deserves every single one. From the moment I walked in to the moment I left it was nothing less than outstanding. A very warm welcome despite requesting a table for one, in other places it’s quite easy for the level or service to drop because of it. It was quite busy but all the other customers looked very happy, there was a big party table in the main hall and 7/8 tables in the smaller hall. Despite how busy it was, they made you feel like you were the only customer they were serving. Incredibly polite and thoughtful staff, always with a big smile and positive attitude. I ordered the House Special Platter to start and I gave them the option to surprise me with the main dish, I only gave them the instruction to bring a side of peshwari naan. The starter was served on a hot grill dish and it was still sizzling on the table, all the meats were served on top of a bed of onion not to overcook the protein which I thought was fantastic, many places would put the meat directly onto the dish and by the time you get round to eating it, it’s burnt. So that was a very pleasant surprise. The portion was very generous, enough for 2 people to share I would say, there was salad on the side and a few sauces should you wish. The main course was lamb desi handi (chefs special) accompanied by garlic rice and peshwari naan. I don’t like to use the word perfect because nothing is but this is the most appropriate word I can use to describe this combination. The meat was on the bone which I know isn’t to everyone’s taste so make sure to ask the waiter if you have any concerns but for me it was delight. The meat was beautifully cooked, effortlessly falling off the bone making it easier to eat. The garlic cloves were big enough for you to put them to one side should you wish and the naan was cut into slices already which was a nice touch instead of me trying to tear an even piece every time. All the while the staff was very attentive to me possibly wanting another drink and making sure the food was to standard. It was one of the waitresses first shift and I can honestly say that it didn’t appear so, the training given was to a pretty high standard. So well done! I also ordered the coconut dessert as well as a surprise dessert and I got the gulab jaman with ice cream. It was honestly the cherry on top of an already incredible meal. The combination of the hot gulab with the cold ice cream reminded me of my childhood and I hadn’t felt this excited to eat a dessert in my adult life as much as this. Thank you so much Sajis, I will definitely visit again in the near future. Other Indian restaurants owners in Gateshead should really come here to see where the bar is atm. Lastly the restrooms were very clean and they seemed like they were checked regularly with plenty of soap in the machine, the hard dryers are very efficient.

Negatives: 1 little cobweb above the emergency exit (it’s a positive I guess as it’s not needed very often) The waiter in charge of bringing out the food could have had his shirt tucked in but that’s a very minor point and I honestly struggled to find any negatives which is rare if you’ve seen my other reviews. Fantastic...

Visited this place upon the recommendation of a friend, was booked in as part of a large party. Table was not ready or prepared for our arrival and thus were still putting it together when they took us to the upstairs room, despite it being booked 3 weeks before hand.

We took our seats, waited 20- minutes for the menus, then it was another 40-50 minutes before they came back to take our food order. Waited half an hour for the starter and then another 50 minutes for the mains to be served, by which point it was nearing 10pm.

In the entire time we were there, no one came round to take a drinks order, most brought their own alcohol as they don't have a licence to serve it. However some of us would've liked to order soft drinks. I walked through the downstairs of the restauraunt several times and it wasn't busy, there were enough staff to wait the tables but some were seemingly wiping plates......yet no one attending to customers upstairs.

There was no communication from staff, the young waitresses were run ragged. You want to be respectful to the staff, had requested to speak to the manager 3 times to raise concerns around the wait and some issues with the food being served and have still yet to.

In the end I had to cancel my main meal because it was too late at night in which to eat a large dish. I'd noticed the other similarly large parties were waiting quite some time for their food to be served, speaking to a guest at another table....2hrs for their mains to be seved to them.

When some of us got our mains it was served piecemeal, with dishes and side plates missing. It could naturally be addressed if there were staff around in which to ask, or if there was communication from the staff.

The food quality itself was inconsistent, some of the dishes like the onion bhajis were sublime, the prawn cocktail was laced with too much vinegar and below in the photo is supposed to be a "king prawn butterfly", having compared against how its made in other restuaraunts seems to have been made half hearted.

There were a litany of failures this evening, no communication from staff, inconsistent food quality, no drinks order taken, lack of preparation for bookings with a large party, complete ignorance to customers in the upstairs rooms.

In short I would recommend you spend your...

I've been going to Saji's semi regularly for almost three years as I live close by. The food is very good and everyone is very friendly. I would recommend it to anyone and frequently take guests who like a great curry there.

That said, there is some room for improvement, but I'd feel mean knocking off a star for that as I am a big fan and don't want to suggest otherwise.

I will say that service hasn't been as fantastic recently - I've been left waiting a long time (to order, between courses or just to ask for the bill), been brought the wrong curry more than once (always taken care of) and I've never been convinced that booking a table actually makes any difference whatsoever. The food is always best on the weekend in the restaurant - during the week and takeaway just doesn't seem to be the same for some reason.

If there's one thing that really needs sorting out it's the back room. It's like sitting inside an acoustic box, especially when people are drinking and getting enthusiastic. I run a small recording studio and treating the acoustics of a room is a vital part of that - this room would benefit a lot from using the same techniques. It desperately needs some soft furnishings on the wall, book cases full of books and different shaped things to diffuse sound. That would break up what's essentially a big box full of hard, flat surfaces that serve to amplify sound. A bit of basic acoustic treatment like that would make a massive difference to the experience of sitting in there on a busy Friday or Saturday night.

Though as the five star review suggests, none of this is enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the place. If the company is good I don't mind a bit of a wait anyway, always get a table eventually whether booked or not, the food really is very good and the core staff are very friendly...