Lighthouse Indian Paradise — Restaurant in Harborough

I visited The Lighthouse for the first time last week with a friend - for a girlie Thursday night supper. The food was lovely, the service good and the atmosphere was very pleasant, so much so that I persuaded my partner that we should go for a mid week supper tonight. We were shown to a table that was very brightly lit and we politely asked if we could move to a different one as there were many empty tables and we were told that that was fine by the lady looking after us. However, I can't help but feel that we were seen as being a bit naughty for asking to move by the other lady who was in charge! We ordered drinks and unfortunately my partner's glass of Merlot was rather "acidic". I tasted it too and it wasn't terribly nice. We mentioned this only to be told sharply that it had been opened earlier today, implying that it should ok. A different wine was suggested and was tasted. It wasn't brilliant but was a bit better so my partner agreed to a glass...which was quite sharply plonked down in front of him, causing us both to feel as if we had caused trouble. Starters arrived - a glass of lettuce with prawns in a marie rose sauce....no lemon, no bread and butter, just a plain tumbler glass on a plate. He tipped it out onto the plate...see photo. My whitebait came in a little mesh basket... again no lemon or anything to make it look appetising. There was no salt or pepper on the table and we were not offered the chance to ask for any! Main course arrived and the moules were tepid. Served without anything else, we decided to order some bread. It arrived in a basket, rock solid, so hard I could have rapped it on the table and it would not break! I drew it to the attention of the young girl serving us who seemed a little embarrassed. The lady in charge came over and said it had been in the oven...well it may have been in one at some point but it was completely cold...so not recently...and was rock solid! There was no real apology just a look that made us feel like naughty ungrateful children... New bread arrived but no butter...we had to ask if we could have some....along with some pepper and salt for the main course...as we were never offered any. My salmon on a bed of bok choi and tenderstem broccoli was ok but tepid. We really felt that we couldn't complain that the food was cold and no one asked if the food was ok, even when the dishes were taken away with quite a lot of the cold moules left. We were asked if we wanted to look at the dessert menus by the lady in charge...but her manner was quite sharp albeit hidden by a forced smile and I felt that no thank you was the answer she wanted from us...and which we gave! We had two ladies looking after us throughout our visit who were very pleasant but it seems that the lady in charge of the restaurant that evening just really did not like us at all and she made this very clear which I think was terribly unprofessional. My partner is a trained chef and has worked at some beautiful restaurants in the past, at one point he spent time working under the very watchful eye of Michel Roux Jr. in London, so he really does understand good food and good wine. We really do seem to have had a rather dire experience this evening but I am not entirely sure why as it is a very popular restaurant with great reviews. I just can't help feeling that perhaps the lady in charge of the restaurant for the evening, quite simply did not like us. One of the ladies attending our table did chat at the end of the meal and I told her how we felt. She was very pleasant and said she was sorry we had not enjoyed it more. I would have loved to have spoken to the lady in charge this evening but as we walked towards the main desk and said goodbye to one member of staff, she turned and walked the other way! I feel that regular locals are very welcome and are obviously treated exceptionally well but ALL customers deserve to treated in a pleasant manner. It wasn't a terribly expensive meal but it was £60plus that I would rather have...

Avoid. Avoid Avoid. This was my partner's birthday meal. We had to ask twice for everything. Poppadoms took one hour. Eventually our meal came 2 hours later. I had heard from friends that service was slow, one even leaving. However, the 6 of us went, the bill was £180 mainly because of our drinks bill. The table next to us had waited even longer. And my partner has been up since 4 this morning with illness from both ends! Just bumped into my neighbours who were there, they told me they had received free drinks because of poor service. Guys, this is a village, word will get around. Stop providing takeaways, master the restaurant first. Like many we were looking forward to this Indian opening!

In reply to your response.... We were not asked once whether our food was satisfactory. We had to ask for more drinks. We definitely had to wait longer than 30 mins for our poppadoms, our table was booked for 7:30pm & we received our poppadoms at 8:34pm. Your waiter tried to clear it away before we had finished, then we had to wait over another hour for our main, which was OK but not worth the wait. The birthday cake was eventually brought out, with no knife, forks or side plates. After expressing how unhappy we were with the service we then asked for the bill. Apparently there was something wrong with the payment system, we were stood waiting for another 20 mins or more. At this point the restaurant was nearly empty. I had my parents with me, who are in their eighties & wanted to go home. We said we would go to the restaurant & pay tomorrow, we live in the village, they have my name & address & I am not a dishonest person. We just wanted to go home. My mother & I both ordered the same meal, we were both sick during the night. I also know a neighbour of mine had a meal in the restaurant last night & she was also ill. The 10% discount was an insult to be honest & you more or less forced the cheap bottle of white wine onto us as we sad that we didn't want it. We left the bottle outside the restaurant when we left. I will definitely not be visiting this restaurant again & I will be telling all I know to steer clear.

Your website is a joke, it's all based on lies. Your toilets are disgusting & I think you may have got the local primary school children to decorate the restaurant, both inside & out. Please bring back the seafood Lighthouse...

Very disappointed, fish was cooked nice, service excellent, unfortunately let down by quantity. We had the Captains table, advertised as push the boat out 5 star dining, what we got was the paupers taste of what the captain might get. The portion sizes were a joke, when they brought the last dish out, I couldn't believe it, we had to stop on the way home to get something to eat. At £260 (food only) for 4 £65 each, no drinks or desserts, it was upsetting. I have to say the food they were bringing out to the other tables looked amazing. If we'd had the normal menu we would have had desserts coffee and happily paid more! I didn't want to spoil our night by saying anything you must have known the portions you sent out were extremely Stingy, why half a scallop to make it look like 2? We have done many tasting menus and always left satisfied, some less than your CAPTAINS TABLE, lots more expensive. If we had ordered the dishes off your normal menu and shared each portion, as the portion sizes you brought to our table was 1 dish split into 4 it would have cost £93.50, you charged us £260. This was not a tasting menu, certainly no CAPTAINS TABLE, it was a bite size taste! As my friend said "if you'd slapped us in the face with a fish it would have been robbery with assault" Thank you for replying on here, I am sure it might look good, but you have my details so could have reached...