Simla Restaurant — Restaurant in Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

Visited Rasa for the second time last night. First experience was lovely. Attentive staff, delicious food and great atmosphere. Following this I highly recommended the restaurant to family. We decided to visit last minute and walked in and they sat us all (table of 8 last minute as they had had a no show for a similar booking).

We arrived at the restaurant at 8pm. Ordered drinks by 8.15 (2 large glasses of wine came out small and we had to ask for them to be changed) and food order was took at 8.30. Poppadoms arrived at the table at 9.15 (1 hour after being in the restaurant and 45 mins after ordering) My husband asked for an extra poppadom and it didn’t arrive so had to get up again to find someone to ask for another (because the waiters were no where to be seen).

Food arrived at 9.45 (1 hour and 45 mins after arriving). The restaurant wasn’t full. One large party at the back. And one family of four. Another couple came and went whilst we were waiting because they had waited 45 mins for just their poppadoms to come out so they cancelled their order, paid for drinks and left. We couldn’t do this as we had children with us.

When the food arrived one dish was stone cold and three of the curries were luke warm. I’ve experienced this a few times in other restaurants (never an Indian I might add) but they took the food away and heated it up. Although they did come out and show us with the food probe that it was adequate temp (it might have been for law but you expect your curry to arrive at the table piping hot).

We had already asked to speak to the manager 3 times during the evening and was told he was busy. I state once again, that there was only us and one large party (25-30 people) one family had finished and left and the couple who cancelled their order. There were at least another 10 tables not occupied so definitely not at full capacity. We told the waiting staff that we were not happy and they said they would speak to the manager. They came back to us and said that £20 had been taken from the bill. We thought this was fair and appreciated the gesture of good will (although we still hadn’t seen or spoken to the manager)

Then Bill arrived and we noticed that it seemed very high considering what we ordered and the fact that £20 had been deducted. Therefore we asked for a menu to add up what we’d had compared to what was on the bill. We found that they had added another tables drinks (total of £30 onto our bill) that was the last straw. We demanded to speak to the manager and made it clear that we wasn’t going to pay until we did. The manger then sent the waiter back to the table to tell us that he would speak with one of us at the bar (he wouldn’t come over to the table). What manager of a restaurant refuses to come and address a table?? Due to the fact that we had been communicating our issues all night through several different waiting staff the manager had been highly mis informed of all of our issues. If he had have came to the table in the first place this would have not been an issue.

The whole experience was a nightmare. Poor service and a manager who clearly isn’t fit for the job or able to manage customer enquires. My mom wrote a review (Catherine masters) and the manger replied that we only wanted discounted food. I can 100% tell you that that is not the case. As a family we often eat out together and rarely, if ever complain. We should not and will not pay for inadequate food and service and we certainly will not be paying for other people’s drinks. I will however state that although my food wasn’t hot it did taste lovely so I would like to thank the chef. The waiting staff also tried their best to resolve our issues in the absence of their manager. This restaurant is let down by someone with highly inadequate people skills and poor management. Will never...

I usually don’t write reviews, but my experience at this restaurant last week was so appalling that I feel it is necessary to warn others.

We went in expecting a proper fine-dining Indian experience, but from the very beginning it turned into one of the worst meals I have ever had. We ordered biryani, and instead of receiving a well-cooked dish, we were served rice bulked up with potatoes. Not only is this an unacceptable way of stretching a portion, but the potatoes themselves were stale. The moment I bit into one, I regretted it. For any Indian planning to eat here - please avoid at all costs.

When my friend politely approached the waiter to provide feedback, the staff were not at all receptive. They brushed it off without care, showing zero professionalism. Matters then escalated when another customer, entirely unprovoked, interjected and accused us of being scammers. Let me be clear: we are a group of doctors and accountants. The idea that we would choose a fine-dining restaurant just to scheme over a plate of food is not only absurd, it is offensive. What made this episode even worse was the sheer lack of class displayed, no person with the slightest sense of manners would interfere in someone else’s business, let alone insult fellow guests. And through all of this, the staff stood by in silence, allowing paying customers to be humiliated in their own establishment. Their passivity was as shameful as it was unprofessional.

At that point, we decided to leave because the entire environment had become nasty and uncomfortable. At the till, the waiter pretended to do us a “favor” by removing the service charge as a so-called discount. But when we checked the bill after leaving, we realized we had actually been overcharged. That is dishonest and unacceptable.

Communication was another major issue - none of the staff seemed able to speak clearly or explain things properly. For a restaurant claiming to be fine dining, the lack of basic communication skills was shocking.

Finally, what truly sealed this experience as one of the worst ever was what happened after we left. Our car was parked directly in front of the restaurant, with a full view of the staff and tables inside. As we sat there, we clearly saw waiters pointing, talking about us, and making faces in our direction. This behavior was deeply disrespectful, childish, and absolutely unprofessional.

In summary: bad food (with stale ingredients), staff unwilling to take feedback, a hostile and insulting environment, dishonest billing, poor communication, and waiters mocking customers behind their back. This is not fine dining, not authentic Indian food, and not even acceptable service. It is a disgrace. If you value your money, your dignity, and your time, avoid this place completely. There are plenty of restaurants that know what good food and respectful service mean, this one is the...

Really disappointed to be leaving this review. We have been regulars here for the past year or two and have brought family here several times with high recommendation. Unfortunately Simla is no longer the dining experience it used to be.

The main things that drew us to this place prior to tasting the amazing food was the use of dry ice on the tables. It made it feel like more of a dining experience, rather than just going to the local for a curry. It made Simla stand out from the many other Indian restaurants that are local. Secondly was your amazing cocktails, something we looked forward to as much as the food.

Sadly the dry ice hasn’t been used on any of our visits for a few months now and the atmosphere just isn’t the same as it was. Not only that, but on our visit this Saturday (8th Feb) we were told that alcohol is no longer being served. Yes you can bring your own bottle, but that just isn’t the same. (They then charged £3.25 per small glass of coke)

The food is usually amazing, however this weekend was that was not the case. One of our group members had a chicken Balti and couldn’t eat it because it tasted and smelt of pure garlic.. not how a Balti should be, but was too uncomfortable to say anything. There was so little sauce in the chicken Korai (despite it costing £9.95) that once mixed with rice it was dry, bland and hard to eat. We also asked for 2x chicken nuggets and chips for our 4 and 1 year olds. They brought out adult sized portions for each of them which came to a total of £17.90!!! For them to eat one nugget each!

Oh and it gets worse. Rather than us adding up our meals at the table to split the cost between the family, we paid in full and took a photo of the receipt to work out at home. LESSON LEARNED! They’d charged £9.95 for 1 chicken tikka fried rice AND had the audacity to add on a £10.60 tip for themselves! Which we hadn’t realised until we got home....