Carlton Lounge — Restaurant in London

Where do I even start. Never have I ever had to write a review like this in my life because I’ve simply never received such disgraceful service. So I travelled down from Peterborough with my family to Carlton lounge for their Diwali celebration where I made a reservation for 12, mixed adults and children. I had phoned up to make the reservation to make sure all details were correct and said we would like the Diwali celebration set menu as advertised on their website this was £40 per person. The manager told me if I wanted the set menu it would be £480 for 12 and bear in mind 12 people included a 6 month old baby, a 4,7 and 8 year old. He said he will call me of his personal mobile and give me his personal bank account to transfer the £480 which is found truly shocking and bizarre as never has any restaurant out of the thousands I’ve been to ever asked for anything of the sort. I told him I will be making the reservation online with a fee of £60. On a arrival to the restaurant where we was booked for 7pm we was handed the normal menus and when asked about the set menu the manager came over with his Personal mobile phone with a photo of the menu again truly bizarre and totally unprofessional. Out of all the items displayed we were told we were only allowed to pick the SAME 2 for each person. Then the manager came back asking us TO PAY THE BILL before we had even gotten any food at all, at this point my husband was extremely angry as again when do you ever go to a restaurant and pay the bill before you’ve even ate. So then our starters came which we got through very quickly and then sat and waited for quite some time for our mains to only be told that our mains will not be served until the firework display had been done. After the firework display we waited 1 whole hour for our mains to come out and bear in mind everyone else (those who arrived well after us) had been served. Mains came and again it was not what we had asked for and many items missing. They served us tiny portions of curries with no rice and 1 tray of naan which was certainly not enough for 8 adults and 3 children. Curries that were served were so small and literally 2 pieces of meat in them, was literally all sauce no meat. Then again we had to sit and wait and ask for our dessert as nobody was bringing it and when they had came we had 1 Gulab in a bowl! And menu clearly stated dough BALLS in a sticky syrup topped with crushed pistachio and that’s definitely NOT what we got. The rice that was given so late and 2 curries we asked to take away and the staff told us as it’s from the SET menu we cannot take it away.

No staff attended our table asking us if we would like any more drinks, if we needed anything else, nothing , nothing at all. From the moment we got there till we left we were not happy or satisfied one tiny bit, leaving a restaurant with an empty stomach is surely not right.

The firework display. The outdoor space is very small and they had loads of fireworks however this was a huge health and safety hazard. My children and I was covered in bits from the fireworks, ash all over us and in our eyes, my son had to run under the shelter as his face literally got BURNT. People where FAR to close and although the fireworks was nice they was not safe at all, and when you’ve dressed up for an evening dinner and you’ve come out covered in ash that’s not great and The fact that my son’s face got burnt says it all.

Let me once again say that never have we ever had such a horrid unprofessional unsafe disrespectful dining experience. We travel a lot and go to many different restaurants and this by far has been the absolute worst. For a restaurant that likes to sell themselves in such a high standard they should be ashamed of themselves. And DO NOT advertise a SET MENU if you are not even going to have actual menus for it or give the customers what is stated.

Thank you very much for making our diwali...

I have been a regular customer of this restaurant for so long. Not only for the atmosphere but for the quality of the food. Adding to it, I usually take takeaways for my home. The food is brilliant, and the staff inside the restaurant is nice. They give amazing customer service but the only thing I feel really bad about is the guards outside. It happened before and today again the same, I ordered takeaway and parked my car next to other cars outside. I ordered on the phone and the order was ready to pick just had to collect it. Mentioning again I didn't block anything, I parked appropriately as I am an automotive addict. So, the guard approached and told me to park outside somewhere, I explained to him that I ordered on the phone for takeaway and just needed to collect it. But he refused with a very bad attitude that felt like I was begging all though I was a customer, a regular customer is paying for the service and the food. I had to move out and find a parking far away just for a few seconds to take takeaway. I felt really bad  especially the attitude of the guards outside. I never gave a bad review for any place which is really good and I am regularly using it but today after facing if for second time I have to do this. What is the meaning of takeaway if you can't understand the real meaning of takeaway? I do a job of customer experience and this is not the right way to treat your customers especially your regular customers. Like a Jenga, one piece can destroy the whole game as of so, it doesn't matter how good the food is or the good staff inside the restaurant, one piece can destroy everything. The guards are like owners and the best way to go here is taking public transport or cab otherwise anyone would be facing such...

Located in an area where there's stiff competition, an Indian restaurant needs to be on par, or better still, rise above the competition. Fortunately for Carlton Lounge, it sits in the middle, riding a smooth wave where it's better than some, and almost on the highest tier when it comes to food quality.

The starters was the weakest. We ordered a mixed grill dish, containing a selection of grilled meats. In my opinion, and referencing my taste preferences I'd say the meats were nice, but not spiced and flavoured heavily enough, although I'm sure for most people they would be fine. I'd give this 7.5 out of 10.

For mains we had a lamb curry and a chicken biryani. The chicken biryani was one of the best I'd ever eaten in a restaurant so I'd give this dish 9 out of 10. It was full of flavour, moist and contained a reasonable portion of chicken, although I'd have preferred a bit more.

The lamb curry was the khara masala. It was a tomatoey sauce but had a nice flavouring to it where you could actually taste the spice really well, although I'd have preferred more of a heat kick to it, but Hina our waitress did say we could pick the intensity and we opted for medium. We'll go for hot next time! I'd give the curry 8.5 out of 10.

Hina's service was excellent and very friendly and made our visit extremely comfortable. We're definitely going to go back at some point.

We visited on a Sunday afternoon when it was very quiet so the atmosphere was lacking, but then this made everything arrive quickly!

They also have a large, lovely beer garden in the back with comfortable padded seats, which you'd never know from looking from the...