Fozia's @ The Grand Central — Restaurant in Liverpool

We had parents visiting so took them for a nice meal. We’d seen great reviews of this place. We called ahead to book and arrived early on a Saturday eve at 5:30pm. It was pretty empty accept 2 other tables. When someone finally saw to us, they were not friendly and just gestured sombrely to an empty table (which was dirty, even though we were expected to arrive having booked). She took our drink order, but it then took literally 30 minutes to receive anything. She seemed to spend about 10 mins polishing the glasses for our lemonade jug before finally meandering over. They were clearly short staffed, there was only 2 young women (1 in the kitchen & one serving). The one on the till, really took her time & didn’t seem to care at all that people were waiting. All 3 tables waited at least 40 mins for their food. Mad when simple street food should be mostly already pre-prepared. 2 more couples came in and no one greeted them at all. They just stood there for ages, it was painful to watch. The atmosphere was chilly and awkward. The background jazz music was barely audible next to what felt like the sound of tumbleweed. We felt like a burden having anything other than just a main course. The food (when it finally came) was very nice but nothing spectacular, it was cheap & cheerful no frills street food which was fine. We would have been happy with the food if the staff were not so unhelpful. We didn’t feel that welcome at all. Clearly the food is literally the only thing going for this place. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re in a rush.

In response to your reply below,

1. A previous event is not our problem - you should be staffed accordingly.
2. you didn’t have a “large booking before us, it was a table of 6 blokes. A large booking is 10-20 people.
3. having worked in hospitality for many years myself, I know what pressure feels like and all you need do is smile and warn people that you are behind. And wipe the table for them. It’s NEVER the customer’s fault if you feel stressed. Ever. Cooking the food fresh is great, no apology required obviously! But leaving them hanging without informing them or even a drink to get on with for over half hour & having a face like a slapped arse -...

I've been getting food from here since the time it started out on Lodge Lane. Since then, it's been my favourite place to get food in Liverpool. So far, I've only done takeaway orders (they do collections-only at the moment), but I plan on eating in very soon.

The food is consistently amazing; it's clearly made with love/passion and tons of experience. That's not even considering the price, which is very reasonable. Though I'm used to home-cooked Bangladeshi food, I can confidently say they do indeed cook authentic home-style Kashmiri food. Non of the other samosas, that I've had in the Asian spots in Birmingham/Manchester, compare to the samosas here at Fozia's.

I've noticed a couple of bad reviews related to wait times etc so I will say this. When I went on their opening week (on Lodge Lane) I was initially a bit disappointed with the food. But on my second, third, fourth (etc) visit, I could tell that they'd got into the rhythm of things, and it's been amazing ever since. With that in mind, give them a chance to get into the rhythm of running the restaurant and you won't regret it.

Although there isn't one thing that I wouldn't eat on the menu, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the chapali burger. I usually opt for traditional curries or kebabs-in-naans, so I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. The desi flavours and mashup of textures are unreal - way better than those gimmicky smash burgers that are all over social media.

And lastly, don't forget to grab a cup of their...

Not a Kashmiri restaurant tbh, if you dont know what is Kashmiri cuisine no problem i will tell u kashmir is famous for Kashmiri wazwan which is world famous that has multiple dishes /saalans mostly lamb including yakhni with gushtaba , rishta , , tabak maz and many moreKashmiri bread made in tandoor called kandir cout means bakers bread, nun chai or namkeen chai made with different type of tea and is salty in taste , cachwor which is also a type of bread that is crispy, harisa which is basically derived from ancient iran is a lamb dish its cooked overnight in tandoor and is like a paste of paste of lamb rice and spices watch on youtube u will enjoy, phirni is special sweet dish which is relished by ppl of Kashmir , nader monj is like a fried nadroo that is taken with chatni , and much more dishes are found here bcz its original side of Kashmiri culture that people are unaware in uk and rest of parts of world . And we speak Kashmiri language and dont have mirpuri or pakistani derived culture 💓 best of luck if you want to try some of it i have friends from srinagar,baramulla (IOK) they can host...