Victoria Tandoori — Restaurant in Mansfield

First of all let me apologise for the length of this review I hope when you wake up you will finish reading it lol. The one thing I'm not is duplicitous so if I say I liked it I did and if I don't like it you'll be the first to know I must admit I was quite sceptical of the five star reviews but I can see how they have managed to win customers over. A business is about people and a restaurant is about food but it's also about relationships, company and conversation. The staff here are very attentive but it's genuine and I think they build up a great rapport with customers (I saw two or three returning groups shaking hands or hugging staff on entry as if meeting old friends) so they make every opportunity count. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that in the right environment with the right decor the right level of music great customer service you're going to feel better about the food that you're eating. Let's face it when you have an Indian meal it's all about the level of spice and whether or not the meat is tender or the vegetables and curries are tasty. I can honestly say it was really tasty and every flavour stood out. Whether it was the chilli or the coriander it tasted great. The portion sizes here are very generous and even though I'm a big old fatty who loves his food I could not manage a desert. In short if you're going to have an Indian meal and you don't mind paying a reasonable price then this is definitely a place that would be high on my agenda. Admittedly I haven't had an Indian for a while but this lived up to my long awaited expectation so I definitely got the experience I was looking for. Business is simple promise what you'll deliver, then deliver what you promised... we were asked about the level of spiciness for every dish which apparently they can change as everything is freshly cooked. We got exactly what we asked for! There is one negative but it's one that you can avoid and that is that on many of the dishes there is a possibility some of them eat may contain bones as they use the majority of the meat available... that being said once discovered and mentioned (because I had a chicken wing in my starter and my Father-in-Law got bone free breast) I was offered and given a completely bonus free main. It's a preference thing and not a complaint and I genuinely think the meal was very nice indeed. Search 4 between £25 and £35 per head you can have a lovely big old spread. They only serve Lager on draught but they do carry cider and bitter along with other drinks in bottles and cans. I don't think that's different from any Indian restaurants I've been to they all seem to serve lager. Definitely worth 5 Stars and I would say good value for money. They also do a takeaway service although I'm not sure about delivery but there seemed to to be a lot of paper bags flying about lol. So that's it my recommendation and my congratulations to the staff and management for making 2 food loving old men...

Such a shame, we have eaten there 3 times before and never had a bad experience. Our friends have had many takeaways so this was their first dine in at the Victoria. Firstly we were greeted, seated and after about 5 minutes asked for our drinks order. After about 15 minutes our food order hadn't been taken, I had to catch a waiter's eye. Order taken, poppadoms arrived. It was a good half hour before starters arrived which were very nice but then we waited and waited for our mains. I went up to the bar and asked and was told they were the next order out. Mains then appeared and, unfortunately we're not good. One of our party had ordered a Phall but even more spiced up. I could have eaten it and the spiciest I go is a Ceylon. My Dhansak showed no sign of a lentil and all 4 dishes looked as though they had been on a hotplate for ages (,did I mention that 2 of our party are chefs?). I went to complain and was basically told by a member of staff we had previously got on with very well to just pay for our drinks and go. 1 waiter was lovely and very apologetic otherwise the place seems to prioritise takeaways with a number of branded bags being on prominent display (Uber eats etc) instead of being out of site of the dine in restaurant area. These bags were being filled on a regular basis but, in a less than half full restaurant, we waited and waited for sub standard mains. Oh yes forgot to say that when our starter plates were collected the waiter took our cutlery off the plates and put them back onto the tablecloth, I had to ask for clean cutlery. Previously we have recommended the Victoria bit there are now 4 people who will never dine in, order a takeaway or...

Overall a poor experience.

We were hounded three times by three different members of staff to place our order within minutes of being seated which felt uncomfortable especially as the menu is very large.

The guy who took our order was incredibly rude, passive aggressive and it was one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had ordering at a table. Absolutely zero customer service, making us feel like we were a hassle. I can only assume he was annoyed with us for wanting to take our time with the menu.

There was a dead fly under the poppadoms basket which dropped onto the table when it was taken away. We asked to be moved and the waiter (fourth different member of staff serving us) was very apologetic but started to talk about "problems with flies" before trailing off and not finishing his sentence - perhaps realising he shouldn't be telling us about problems with flies!!

Food was average, starters very dry and plain, mains okay but nothing exceptional. Overpriced - table of 3 with starter, main and drink each was £95 and definitely not worth that price in terms of quality and customer experience.

Myself and another member of the table have also spent the evening vomiting, I would suspect this is linked somehow to the dead fly.

Only highlight was the waitress who was very friendly and down to earth, she told us it was only her second day but you wouldn't know it.

Will not...