Namaaste Highgate — Restaurant in London

Extremely rude waiter who has absolutely no decorum or ability to communicate with customers. Waited over 30 mins for small plates which I’d expect from a budget takeaway. Masala chips were cold, poor in taste and were essentially just stale chips with chilli sauce from a bottle. The lamb chops were also poor quality - tough as boots, but was very hungry and was the most edible thing on the table. The ‘salt and chilli chicken’ was sloppy chicken in some sort of sauce from a jar. Inauthentic Indian food made in a cheap, budget way - perhaps should have taken the hint from the tacky decor and the poorly trained, rude staff.

Had taken one bite of the food and sent it back. Was told by the misogynistic vile waiter that I had to pay for the chips… that’s not quite the case. Was the. Told I had to order 2 more items in replacement of the ones sent back to ‘make up the figure on the till’. He then began arguing me from across the restaurant, slamming doors like a man child and insulting my choice by stating ‘i ordered too much and wanted to send it back’. Actually, I didn’t trust that the food from the kitchen was actually going to be fresh given they couldn’t even get chips right… so had to go with my safest bet and order samosa chaat which is VERY difficult to get wrong… even that came out very sloppy but was eaten out of genuine hunger.

Really disappointed and felt completely spoken down to by the waiter who I noticed did not speak so rudely to men or white people, only South Asian women who I’m sure he speaks to like this on the regular - very toxic and embarrassing for a man who is balding and waiting tables in his 40s. I’m quite aware of consumer law and I’m within my rights to send food back. Aggressive men do not do well in life… which is why you are serving tables at 40+ y/o.

The lady that also came to work speaking about her P60 forms and personal affairs openly in front of the customers… how embarrassing and unrefined. Genuinely concerned for the lack of self awareness in the place, including that of the owner in his beat up car thinking he’s the King of Bombay… I’d be surprised if the restaurant was open in a year’s time but we shall see. Better off going to the pub...

Me & my family decided to go Namaste on the day of Eid as well as Mother’s Day so we can try out their highly rated food, one that we were excited about cause we are big fans of Indian food. I personally gave them a call to ask for available reservations as well as if they were child friendly ( 3 under 2 children). Which they told me they’d call back to confirm this, once we got the call back we immediately made our way.

Upon arrival we were seated on one of the few big tables that happened to be right in in between two other customers that were already there (bare in mind there was a big tables that was in the far corner away from others). As we were odering lady hannah kept going around and asking if they were okay but constantly avoiding as well as glaring at us which she thought we’d not realise, that already got us upset but decided to ignore. We had a lovely family on one of the table and we apologised for any inconvenience caused by the children which they politely told us that it was not a problem and we appreciate it - Hannah then proceeded to go the family to ask if they wanted to move table which they declined. As minutes passed she decided to come to our table and ask if we could make the baby be quiet. A BABY…BLOODY BABY. That was the last straw for us because a happy day that we wished to continue & have a great experience in “ great establishment “ was ruined by such customer service.

The absolute unprofessionalism shown by that woman was something we’d never thought we’d have to experience let alone have to write about. She was absolutely rude and clearly shows that she doesn’t know what it’s like to keep a child at ease. This is hands down the worst customer service & experience we’d come across ! The other customers were absolutely disgusting & awful, they were really the cherry on top in this establishment. They should have never confirmed it if this the type of experience they give...

Namaaste? More like sayonara.

A very instrammable setting accompanied with a side of the worst customer service Highgate has to offer. Salt bae would be proud of the amount of salt owner/manager Sabbir Karim was dropping on our table.

Multiple requests for drinks, cold food, and a head waiter belittling a new member of staff and telling her it’s not her place to be taking food orders when she’d already taken it was just the start.

Someone call the Philippines, because all their coconuts somehow ended up in our tikka masala, I’ve had thinner mattresses than the naan bread had to offer and the chunks of garlic will keep vampires away from Highgate for many years to come.

Apparently an hour is now the norm when waiting for your mains and we’ve also had to put out a missing poster for our pau bhaji side salad which still hasn’t arrived even after asking for it three times.

Also if you’ve got leftovers, the managers top tip is to bring your own Tupperware, if not be subjected to a 40p surcharge per container and when questioned, be prepared to have your “fine dining” experience compared to supermarkets, where you have to pay for carrier bags if you want to take your groceries away with you.

To summarise if you’re happy with rude management, poor service, cold food and excuses the length of an elephant’s trunk, then you’ll...