Kerala Restaurant — Restaurant in Leeds

Extremely long wait for poor quality food

I visited this restaurant with a group of around 14 friends.

We ordered our meal at 7:30 pm but it did not arrive until 9:45 pm.

We repeatedly asked when our food would arrive and were told that it was coming.

We could see that lots of takeaways were being ordered at reception and delivery companies were constantly arriving to pick up and take deliveries out of the restaurant.

The restaurant was not full.

The quality of the food ranged from extremely poor to mediocre.

We repeatedly asked the waiter what was going on with our food. It was like we were wasting our breath as he did absolutely nothing but walk off. Even when we did call for the manager he was pretty useless and disorganised.

I do not believe the food was prepared until we really started to complain around 1.5 hours after we originally placed our orders.

When we tried to pay at the end it was a complete farce. We asked for a substantial discount given the poor quality of the food and the excessive time we have to wait. The manager simply could not cope.

He was trying to cross off the food that each individual had ordered and take a specific payment. I believe he should have given everyone a fixed discount or asked for a particular discounted amount.

People were trying to rush off for buses and trains at the end of the meal having been there for over 2.75 hours, and given less than 30 minutes to actually eat the food when it did arrive. Despite people politely saying that they needed to go and that they needed to pay something, the manager continued in a very systematic manner of dealing with each person at a time and kept walking off into the kitchen / back of the restaurant.

Eventually, a lot of us simply had to put money on the counter, what we thought was fair, and walk away or otherwise they would have missed their train or bus home.

I have eaten all over the world and never had to wait over 2 hours for a meal, never mind near three hours. Eating in Spain and having a very large fresh paella made was once ‘relaxed’ at 1.5 hours, but it was very fresh and tasty and we were told to wait this time.

This place was a complete joke. If we were ordering something particularly complicated or difficult to make or we had a very large group, I could possibly understand that having to wait a little longer than a couple ordering at lunch time. We were ordering relatively simple food at an Indian restaurant.

As I said above, this table had been booked well in advance, the restaurants was nowhere near full, nobody appeared to be rushing around or communicating what was going.

I would certainly not recommend anybody going to miss establishment unless they are prepared for a long wait and poor food.

Things do go wrong at times. However, you expect the staff to communicate that to you, apologies, give you free drinks and keep you updated with the problem.

We were never told about any problem. We honestly believe we were just ignored and they continued to deal with their takeaway customers until we became extremely frustrated.

If we hadn’t become extremely impatient I wonder if we would have ever received of four would that evening.

The issues are clearly down to poor management at this restaurant.

I never heard anybody apologising for trying to explain the reason for the...

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Kerala Restaurant in Leeds and overall, it was a satisfying experience with some notable highlights. Here's a breakdown of my visit:

Let's start with the positives. The Chicken 65 dish was excellent. It had a flavorful blend of spices and was cooked to perfection. The taste was spot-on, leaving me thoroughly impressed with this particular dish. Additionally, the Kerala paratha was another delightful surprise. It was flaky, soft, and had a wonderful aroma. The combination of the paratha and the main dishes enhanced the overall dining experience.

However, one area that could use improvement was the waiting time after placing the order. It took longer than expected for the food to arrive at our table, which created a slight inconvenience. While it's understandable that restaurants can get busy, reducing the waiting time would greatly enhance the overall customer experience.

Moving on to the main courses, we ordered both chicken and mutton curry. Unfortunately, the curries were disappointingly sweet. It was unexpected and didn't align with the traditional flavors I was hoping for. The excessive sweetness compromised the authenticity of the dishes and left me slightly dissatisfied. I believe adjusting the sweetness levels in the curries would greatly improve the overall taste and authenticity.

In terms of ambiance and service, Kerala Restaurant in Leeds provided a pleasant dining atmosphere. The staff members were friendly and attentive, ensuring our needs were met throughout the meal. The restaurant's interior had a warm and inviting feel, adding to the overall dining experience.

In conclusion, Kerala Restaurant in Leeds offers a generally positive dining experience. The Chicken 65 and Kerala paratha were standout dishes, impressing me with their taste and quality. However, there was room for improvement in terms of the waiting time after placing the order. Additionally, the overly sweet chicken and mutton curries were a letdown, as they deviated from the expected flavors. With some adjustments to the waiting time and balancing the sweetness in the curries, Kerala Restaurant has the potential to elevate its overall dining experience to a...

Let me go through the positives first. Chicken 65 was good as well as the mains were good. Enjoyed it. The not so positives. The entrance to the restaurant requires cleaning. it looked like the stairs leading to restaurant hasnt been cleaned in days. Not a great look. The restaurant lighting was cold (not warm lighting) and it was lit primarily by natural light which is ok but just wasnt lit enough. One of the starters had a hair on it (not a great start) and I think the person who brought it in apologized, I say "I think" because I could hardly hear him and then it was someone else who brought our food and not the same person. I find this strange, its just my opinion. Samosa was stale. There was a party happening and seemed like the restaurant couldnt handle walk in customers, they were taking their time and eventually couldnt provide us with some items at the end and we just cancelled it. They should do better with this or just close the restaurant for walk in customers if they are struggling. We asked to pack our leftovers (3 times) as there was a lot of it left. The waiter then brought the bill and then we asked again, she had to go back to change the bill as containers were extra. This just shows she's either not focusing or just lost.

The BIG ONE, waiters were nice enough but our kids have nut allergy and when we asked about allergens in Briyani the waitress initially said no and then after placing the order we asked again to ensure there wasnt any, then she mentioned "It's just some cashew sprinkled on top" as if it does'nt matter. This was shocking to us. They need to be made aware of the dangers of nut allergies and any allergies for that matter. This is a serious error.

Three stars are for the mains and...