Chatora - Modern Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in London

We went here as a group so we had a food service kind of experience where they would bring us various dishes then remove the plates and bring us the next course. There were no choice in what was put on the table which I didn’t mind.

The food though was sadly average. I’ve eaten a lot of Indian food in the UK and in various other countries (other than India) and the flavours of the food were the kind of thing that someone inexperienced with curry making could easily make at home. Seriously. I put my hand to curry making some years back and the main course Dhal (the only vegetarian thing on offer) was small, kind of warm (temperature wise) but not quite. No spice whatsoever and poorly seasoned. I was not on my own with my opinion here.

There were starter type dishes out on the table at first. Some breads which may as well have been bought from a supermarket and dressed on to a plate. Some little onion bhaji balls which were small and somewhat dry and tasteless. The rest was meat. Many of the guests were vegetarian, pescatarian or vegan and they knew it but the meat kept coming. I asked if there was anything else for non meat eaters and the chap rushed off and came back a few minutes later with another plate of bhaji balls. Equally well dressed on to a plate and equally dry and tasteless.

The main was a lamb dish or the Dhal. All the dishes were in small portion type bowls so you had to get in quick to avoid a teaspoons worth left over after everyone had had their small portion. Small, tasteless and bland.

I have no axe to grind with these people. I don’t even live in the same city as them and was there due to work. It’s just they make a big fuss of bringing up the Michelin thing and show you lovely pictures of fantastic looking food that could only taste out of this world right? Hopefully you had a better experience than us. I ate hardly anything and I don’t need much in a sitting. Still cost over £40 a head which silenced the crowd as the lady rushed around us bleeping as many contactless payments as she could before anyone questioned the bill.

Positives? One main one. It’s a nice well lit building but deserves much better food considering its looks. The staff are what you’d expect in any curry house. The lady taking the payments felt rushed and devoid of smiles or any sense of pride in the establishment that seems to have a very high opinion of itself. If you want a property curry, go to the east end of London. These people should do at least that well or better but in my experience only managed to achieve a level slightly lower than the most average Indian take...

Alert- Family with kids read this post before you go to this restaurant. I and my family (with a little son of 6 years old) had the most horrible experience in this restaurant (we were thoroughly harassed). We order the main course at 8.15 pm and the food arrives at 9.30 pm. The waiter checks on us by 10 pm if everything is ok. Here under is the conversation with me and the waiter. Me- complain to the waiter (old Indian guy) that it was completely inconsiderate to serve the food so late considering that we have a little son. Waiter- The kitchen was too busy to serve early Me- Well, they should manage it or at least informed us and cannot give the food so late since we have a little son Waiter- you cannot treat us like dirt and you cannot talk with me like that Me and my husband- What are you talking? (Please note- the guy is not apologizing for the delay) Waiter- You cannot talk to me like that. Since being a women you cannot talk to me (a man) like that. Me- Completely shocked and left speechless Waiter- Points finger to my husband and tells. You being her husband are not stopping her. Husband- What was wrong in what she said Me- Completely angry and point finger to the waiter and warn him to stop talking with us like that Waiter- tells my husband that your wife is swearing at me Husband- No, she did not. Do you know the meaning of swearing? Waiter has not idea what swearing means! Threatens us that he will call police. We tell him that he should call police. He calls police over the phone and tells them that "there is a women in his restaurant swearing at him". By this time our little son is terrified and shivering and crying. Looking at him we decide to take him home. The waiter refuses to give us the bill and tells that we have to wait for the police. I tell him that I will not wait and it is absolutely his problem. Waiter again threatens me and tells me that I am being recorded on camera. I tell him I do not care. Then we exit the most horrible restaurant the we went in our whole life. My son took two weeks to forget the whole ordeal. The whole video is on record and the restaurant should feel free to go to police. Police will know how the restaurant waiter harassed us. This restaurant does not even deserve a single star. Also all the bad reviews on Facebook is hidden by the restaurant and they show up only...

I attempted to make a booking at the restaurant for Saturday at 8 PM through the restaurant’s website but was put in a queue stating that confirmation is pending. When there was no confirmation received after 20 mins, I called the restaurant and checked if a table was available to which they said, it wasn’t and wouldn’t be available for another hour or so (which meant that the table was not going to be available till after the time I was looking to book, i.e. 8PM).

I therefore, considered the booking not possible and proceeded to make a reservation at another restaurant. Approximately 2-3 hours later (at around 10PM) I got a call from the restaurant where the person on the call spoke very rudely and almost started shouting at me for not showing up for my booking (A booking for which I never received a confirmation via email or a phone call from the restaurant). I tried to politely explain this to the person on the phone, that there was some confusion as I never received any confirmation and wasn’t going to wait around till 10 PM when my plans for dinner were for 8PM, however, the person on the other end was not willing to listen and continued with their rude tone, blaming me for making them wait and not showing up.

I honestly was quite taken aback by the way I was being spoken to for a mistake I did not make. I will definitely not be visiting this restaurant going forward and would be discouraging my family / friends and acquaintances from going their either, as I think the quality of food / dining experience is reflected in how you are valued as a customer / potential customer and clearly the obnoxious way in which I was treated, really reflects poorly on the restaurant as a whole and therefore, the type of food being served.

Updating my review after seeing the reply:

In your eyes I maybe an irresponsible customer but the experience I had with you guys yesterday clearly confirms that you guys are bullies who will go to any length to prove yourself right and a customer wrong. If you would spend less time focusing on hounding and bullying customers who put true reviews and more time on your hospitality which is the basic tenet of being in the service industry you could do wonders for yourself. May God bestow you with some intelligence...