Namaaste Kitchen — Restaurant in London

We visited Namaaste as a group of nine to celebrate a friend’s birthday. From the start, we handed a cake to the staff, asking them to keep it safe and bring it out later for the celebration.

Our waiter struggled to keep track of everything and had to confirm the order multiple times to make sure it was correct. We didn’t mind too much at the time, but looking back, it was a sign of what was to come.

Our drinks took about 45 minutes to arrive, and the starters took almost two hours. When they finally came, the quality was disappointing. I ordered masala chips, which are usually a favourite of mine, but these were undercooked and tasted like they’d just been tossed in a bit of sauce – barely resembling the dish I was expecting. When I asked for them to be properly cooked, the waiter seemed confused and asked if I wanted them “well done.”

When the rest of the starters came out, more complaints followed. Most of us felt our food wasn’t fresh, with some items seeming like they’d been reheated in a microwave. This didn’t set high hopes for the main course, and sure enough, when the mains arrived 30 minutes after the starters, the quality was just as poor. Although I was hungry enough to finish my meal, it was hardly enjoyable.

Throughout the evening, the waitstaff were inattentive and unapologetic. As we were celebrating, we decided not to make too much fuss, but at the end of the night we chose not to pay the service charge given the poor experience.

The manager took serious offence, arguing loudly with us in front of other customers. He insisted that we’d been treated well, mentioning things like taking our photo for free and giving us a “free” curry – which we hadn’t asked for. Things escalated further when he returned our birthday cake box, which we’d asked them to keep safe, covered in curry and food debris from the bin. Despite explaining why we felt the service charge was unwarranted, he became increasingly rude and even told us we were banned from returning to his restaurant.

In short, it was a frustrating experience. Save your time and money. Atmosphere was also terrible and they could do with renovating the place, the menu had mould all over it, the toilets were scary, the menu was huge (which should have told us to go elsewhere) and we might owe him 63p because the manager can’t do simple maths and made it our problem.

Response to manager: Thank you for your response, but it doesn’t fully address the issues we experienced or the behaviour we encountered.

Firstly, we were respectful throughout our visit, even during a frustrating experience. Our group simply declined the service charge after long delays and subpar food quality, and we attempted to explain this calmly when asked. Unfortunately, instead of listening professionally, the manager reacted defensively and put on a spectacle for other diners, making the situation needlessly uncomfortable.

Regarding the cake packaging, rather than respectfully declining our request to keep it safe, the manager repeatedly stated that he’d thrown the cake box in the bin and returned it to us covered in curry. This was especially disappointing, as the cake was meant for a birthday celebration, and his handling of it seemed careless and dismissive. You shouldn’t have shouted at my friend like that.

His attitude also seemed inconsistent. Before we declined the service charge, he was very friendly, even suggesting the birthday girl “take him out” to celebrate and making comments about receiving special treatment because it was “also his birthday.” This came across as inappropriate and unprofessional, especially in a business setting.

Finally, it’s worth noting that we aren’t the first to have had issues with the manager’s reaction to feedback. Other reviews mention similar incidents, which suggest a pattern of defensiveness when customers express dissatisfaction. A constructive response would have gone a long way in handling this situation, and we would have appreciated a more respectful approach. You can find reviews mentioning a ‘compulsory...

Booked here for my daughters birthday as a surprise but was very disappointed in the service. The waiter that took our order was talking to other waiters while asking for our order and forgot to tell the kitchen about our starters so they just brought out the mains but when we tried to explain we went through 3 waiters for them to understand what we were saying as the first two did not speak English much . The waiting service was poor as we had to try to flag a waiter down when we wanted to order drinks and that took time , when we got the attention of a waiter they had to call another waiter as they did not speak enough English. Through the evening we did not get any attention except when we asked for the bill and the waiter asked if we would like shots on the house , to which we declined as it was to little to late and not one mention of a happy birthday to my daughter but they said it to other customers.The waiter only apologised and a acknowledged the service we revived once I said I was not willing to pay service change , so it seems to me they did not care only when it came to paying the bill. I am massively disappointed with this restaurant as the reviews were good - food is good but nothing special in my opinion and service very very poor it spoilt the surprise and evening so definitely will not be going here again, there are niche better restaurants serving the same food with better service! I also have a bad stomach I think they re- heated the food and used cheap oils to cook...

Don't order a delivery - just ordered this evening; told 45 mins to 1 hour delivery; nothing after 70 mins; i call them - oh yeah , it'll be there in 10 mins. Still nothing. No updates from the restaurant. Then the driver calls - he's in Islington, about 30 mins from my house (I live 10 mins drive from the restaurant). Driver says he's the only driver the restaurant has and he had been told to go to Islington first. I call the restaurant to complain and they offer 25% off (so we might pay 75% for cold, late food?) or they'll make a new order (so we'll wait another hour? It's already 10pm). The guy at the restaurant says "I don't know where Islington is - is that a bad route to go before delivering to your house?" So my food is on a round trip of about 60 mins. before coming to me. It arrives after 1hr 45 mins and i tell the driver I won;t be paying if it's no longer hot. Sure enough it's almost cold. We put it down the waste disposal and microwave something from the freezer - a great Saturday night in! But now the driver and the restaurant are calling me every 2 minutes, demanding payment, demanding the return of the food; ringing the door bell repeatedly and waking my children; being generally belligerent and rude. And then laughably the restaurant calls to say i'm blocked from ordering again! like I'm ever going to order from this restaurant again! You have...