Tandoori Lounge — Restaurant in London

This restaurant is well-decorated from ceiling to floor, with high-end, purpose-built interiors. However, it leans into a pompous image with excessive celebrity photos on the walls, as if trying to manufacture a premium reputation. I didn’t recognize any of them, but maybe they matter to the Hornchurch crowd.

Upon arrival, I was immediately approached by what seemed to be the manager. She bluntly told me the restaurant was fully booked and there were no spare chairs. When I pointed out that I’d just have to stand there, she eventually suggested to get a baby chair for my daughter before finally producing an actual chair from the back after several minutes. The exchange was unnecessarily confrontational, considering that throughout our two-hour visit, multiple tables remained unoccupied.

None of the order-taking staff were of Asian descent, which isn’t a problem in itself, but it became clear they were unfamiliar with the food. Many struggled with the pronunciation of basic dishes, and it was obvious they hadn’t tasted most of what they were serving. They did their best, remained professional, and took our order well enough, but some proper training would go a long way.

Then the wait began—30 minutes for starters. When they finally arrived, there was a mix of decent and disappointing. The Papri Chaat was the best, fresh and well-balanced in flavor, though it’s hard to mess up a dish that’s mostly assembly rather than cooking. The Mogo was undercooked, tough, but had good spicing. The Chilli Paneer was a disaster in seasoning—completely overwhelmed by an aniseed-heavy dry rub that ruined the dish, though the paneer itself was cooked well. The Pakora-style fritter was underdone inside despite being burnt at the edges, which speaks to poor temperature control in the fryer.

After finishing our starters, we sat waiting. And waiting. The manager had what looked like a personal meltdown, fanning herself and surveying the restaurant before disappearing entirely for the rest of the night. Meanwhile, service ground to a halt. It became clear that the kitchen was handling orders in bulk, serving every table’s starters before moving on to mains. I watched tables that arrived after us get their starters before we got our mains. A large Asian family across from us was also struggling to get attention from the staff, who deliberately avoided eye contact rather than address the growing frustration.

After 45 minutes, our mains arrived, hot and freshly prepared. The Dal Makhani was decent but not memorable. The Aubergine curry was well-executed. The Naans and rotis were good, though nothing special. The biryani looked fine but was overpriced. The lamb chops were on the smaller side, as expected, but still underwhelming for the price.

One of the most unpleasant moments came when I asked about halal options. The response was dismissive, cold, and needlessly blunt, delivered with an air of superiority. A simple, polite “we don’t serve halal, but we have great vegetarian and seafood options” would have sufficed, but instead, I got a deadpan, almost hostile response. For a restaurant supposedly representing Punjabi cuisine, alienating a major part of the South Asian dining demographic doesn’t seem like the best business move.

We wrapped up the meal, and I had to leave early due to my daughter’s bedtime. My brother-in-law later sent me the bill for my share: one dal makhani, one naan, a roti my daughter barely touched, a bit of shared rice, and some starters—no drinks. Somehow, that amounted to £30. I checked the menu later, and no, my brother-in-law wasn’t trying to shaft me—the prices here really are ridiculous. Charging £15+ for a basic main in a mid-range Hornchurch restaurant makes no sense, especially when the service is slow, the execution inconsistent, and the experience lacks warmth.

This place wants to look high-end, but it doesn’t deliver at that level. The food isn’t terrible, but it’s...

After starting the year in isolation it was great to get my foodie year up and running. For this I decided to stay local and enjoy some fabulous Punjabi Cuisine at my favourite Indian restaurant the Tandoori Lounge. I love their Punjabi style of food which is very different to your normal Indian restaurant. This is why I find it hard to understand when I see people turn up look at their menu and leave because if you love Indian food then you will love it here.

We decided to go for an early evening table and on our arrival was given a very friendly welcome before being seated at our table. We started with a drink while we had a look at the menu. This consists of vegetarian , seafood , meat starters and mains , biryanis , rice dishes , breads and of course desserts. There is also a good selection of gluten free options just mention when ordering.

For our starters we decided to order the Tandoori Vegetable Kebab and the Punjabi Rashmi Kebab with a delightful Mixed Raita on the side. These were both delicious and full of flavour and spice.

It was now time to order our mains and we couldn’t resist the temptation of ordering our favourite dishes and also remember you can have each dish as spicy as you like. Again just mention when ordering. We chose the Jhinga Karahi a prawn dish mixed with herbs , spices , onions & peppers. The Tandoori Lounge Special Lamb cooked in a punjabi style gravy. To accompany these we chose the Sag Aloo , Jeera Rice and Tandoori Naan. Every dish was cooked perfectly with the flavours and spices of each dish spot on.

Before dessert we had a little break which gave us a chance to have a catch up with owners Sukh & Haneet. They are a lovely couple who along with their young and friendly team try to provide you with the best dining experience possible. So now on to dessert and watch out pastry chefs as I had an absolute delicious Gulab Jamun Trifle a mix of gulab jamun , mango custard , cake , whipped cream , coconut & pistachio. We also had the Gulab Jamun which are soft doughnut’s soaked in a syrup.

This brought to an end another fantastic visit to the Tandoori Lounge. Their punjabi style of food is absolutely delicious and so it will come as no surprise when I say that I would highly recommend a visit to this fabulous Indian restaurant. I for one will be looking to make a return visit in the near future.

Thank You Sukh , Haneet and all the team for a fantastic evening and look forward to seeing you...

Went to Tandoori Lounge Hornchurch for a Quiz Night. We booked a table of two but was put on a table for 6, tried to separate the tables, the owner wasn't too happy but agreed to do so. We were then told that we had to remain partnered with the other members on the table for the quiz which hadn't been communicated when purchasing tickets. I must say here that our partners on the table were great so we were very happy we were partnered with them!

The Quiz, atmosphere and food were great, no complaints, well executed.

My complaint is that we had bought a bottle of wine only and when we asked for the bill, it came with a service charge of £2.50 which I disputed. The waitress taking payment said she couldn't take it off the bill as it has to be paid. I again said that its supposed to be optional and she went to speak to the Owner who came over and said the service charge is payable. I asked why and explained that we had only bought a bottle of wine and there shouldn't be a charge on it, and she actually said, was it served at your table, shouldn't my staff be paid for that?? Tried to explain it again but she was not having any of it just repeated that its to be paid. Have never come across a rude front of house owner like this before!! Paid the full bill because it seemed to be getting out of hand and she was not willing to take it off but informed her that I will be putting in a review, she said, go ahead! Will never be going to this restaurant again. No customer service at all!! Nothing on website to say that service charge is payable other than for tables of...