Lala's Restaurant — Restaurant in Kirklees

This place used to be absolutely perfect, the absolute best Indian restaurant I’ve ever had. I used to come here all the time and I even introduced my family from out of town to the restaurant and it became our staple place to celebrate every occasion because the food was spectacular, the atmosphere is wonderful and the staff were lovely.

Now I have had 2 disappointing experiences that make me hesitant to come again as I can see there is a decline in quality and the treatment I received.

Around Christmas, I came here with my mother and my family. My mother was running late but I thought this was no problem as there is a beautiful waiting area to wait in while she makes her way to the restaurant. We were sat there for a while admittedly but I ordered drinks to our waiting table and kept letting the staff know what my mother’s current ETA was. They would not stop pestering us as if they thought that we were only there to sit in the waiting area. A more senior member of staff was shouting at his staff and walking around very stressed that day but thankfully the loud music masked it a bit.

Eventually, it was made clear that they either expected us to get seated at a table or leave the establishment so we chose to get seated. We got seated at a decent table and then suddenly the senior member of staff starts talking to his wait staff and gesturing to us (we can’t hear what was said) and suddenly the waiter came over and told us we weren’t able to sit there as there was a reservation and we needed to move to another seat. The restaurant was not very busy so this was a bit confusing but I said that’s fine and got up to go to our new table.

It was the most terrible table in the restaurant! It was very tightly put by the rail around the staircase so we couldn’t even move our arms on our side of the table because there was no space and the table seemed very small and cramped. My mother then came in and we tried to enjoy our meal. When our food came, it barely fit on the table! Our toddler was seated mere inches away from sizzling hot plates and it was a battle to try to move things around so she couldn’t burn herself. I had never had this experience in my life at any restaurant, let alone Lala’s. The worst part: in the whole time that we were there, nobody was seated on the table we were moved from and all the perfectly fine tables around it were also completely free. I genuinely believe they looked at us and decided to give us the bad table because they thought we were time wasters. After going there many times a year for the last few years and having the staff know us and be so nice to us and our daughter especially, it was a massive shock to be treated like second class citizens just because we were in the waiting area for longer than they wanted.

The next time I come in, it’s with my in-laws. They don’t live in the area but they always want to come here because I took them there a couple years ago and they fell in love! Unfortunately, the menu items have recently changed. Some of the food has gotten a new recipe and sadly I feel the quality has gotten worse. For example, the masala fish used to be a sizzler and it was absolutely delicious. Now, it is no longer cooked the same way and has been taken off the sizzler menu. For some reason, it is now much more bland and tastes like something I could get at any takeaway. It used to be something special and was my primary reason to go to Lala’s so I very likely will never come again for this reason and the experience I had...

Not what it used to be and won't be back. As a long time fan of Lala's in Wakefield (prior to Huddersfield opening), and Huddersfield since (as the chef moved), I was disappointed on my last visit (Oct 2019), but tonight (quite Monday in March 2022) gave it another try. Wish I hadn't, things had only got worse. The amazing venue is let down by both food and service.

The chicken tikka sizzler is ok, and was on previous visit too. Garlic naan similarly was ok as was salad. That's where it ends though. Poppadoms arrived with the waiters thumb holding them down in the basket! Pickle tray was band. Mutton Bhuna was not a bhuna, way to wet. Meat was tender, but the curry itself was too wet and salty with spices not cooked out. Chapati were quite dry, as were the onion bhaji.

Seated quickly on arrival. Waited an eternity for someone to order drinks, so much so that we immediately also ordered food, and asked for the starters with the main, so they would get straight on with cooking the mains to catch up some time.

When serving, everything arrived except the bhuna and the sizzler. It was another five minutes before they turned up. The curry with the sizzler was not nice, and very very watery; wasn't eaten. Normally I'd have given a restaurant the chance to try again, but 1) I didn't have the time, and 2) I'm convinced this was already their A game so no point.

Staff were friendly enough, just not attentive or timely.

Sorry Jnr, never thought standards would slip this low and I'd find myself writing such a poor review. I won't be back as the journey from Wakefield is not worth the risk of...

We dined in on Wednesday evening, ordering Chicken Jalfrezi & Karahi Gosht. When taking the order the waiter told me they don’t do tap water and we have to order a bottle of still water (illegal as they are a licensed premises), he then came back and said they were out of still water so will give us a jug of tap water! While clearing the table of extra glasses and side plates he dropped one of the glasses shattering it 🤦🏻‍♂️ The chicken jalfrezi that came was not made with chicken breast but cheaper cuts of chicken thigh / leg! The Karahi Gosht (I asked at the time of ordering if it was Lamb - was told that it was) was actually made from Beef! One plus point was the presentation of the Naan bread, it came hanging on a stand, but the waiter gave me a fright when he went to pick it up at the end of our meal and knocked my glass over! I’m afraid I won’t be returning to such a a place where the service is something out of a Fawlty Towers sketch, they are illegally refusing to serve tap water and purposefully misinforming diners of the...