Cafe Spice — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

I didn’t take the decision to leave this review lightly, as one thing I must say about Café Spice is the food is outstanding, however, after Saturday’s episode – we won’t be back.

My family has ordered here more or less every week for around 6 years. The food is ALWAYS very good but last year, we started receiving cold orders and frequent orders with items missing. Of course, we complained and at one point were basically told that they were too busy to send out the missing items. My mother wasn’t impressed and quite rightly so. We paid for food that we never got and were made to feel like our loyalty and custom didn’t matter – we were just brushed aside. Eventually it was rectified, and both sides were happy. We received a discounted order and an apology, and the restaurant retained our business.

Saturday gone, the same thing again – missing salad, mint sauce, and onion salad. I called the restaurant and was told the items would be sent out straight away. After almost 25 minutes of waiting and now with cold food we originally received (only 4 starters I might add – not a huge banquet), I called back. Eventually, the manager came to the phone and yet again basically told me that they were very busy, and it was likely the items wouldn’t be sent. I tried to explain to him how this was NOT acceptable! We’ve paid good money for our food and for it to be delivered, and we expect to get what we paid for. The restaurant/take away being busy is not our problem. I was well within my rights to state this, as it was the truth, and I also asked why someone else told me it was being sent straight out (this resulted in an argument on their side of the phone that played down the phone to me). He clearly didn’t like the fact I was calling into question his customer service and said “I don’t need to listen to this” and he hung up on me. I called back only to be hung up on again and then told my mother to call. Prices have increased, the cost of living has increased yet we still keep back money to SPEND at YOUR business and when you don’t fulfil the order, that’s the attitude we get.

My mother called and he recognised her voice. Within 20-minutes we had a complete new order and after an hour – the other items that were supposedly “being sent straight out” also turned up. Clearly no communication. So how can 2 people from the same house get such complete opposite levels of customer service? We don’t understand.

My final nail in the coffin for Café Spice is that the manager said he would call my mother this week to discuss what went wrong. It’s now Saturday – 7 days after the fact and no phone call. That tells us everything we need to know.

We’ve been loyal customers for a very long time but after the disrespect I received on the phone, in contrast to how my mother was spoken to, we will not be ordering here again. As I said, the food is very good, I can’t say anything bad about that, but when the owner of a business tells you they are too busy to send what you have paid for, that is not acceptable, neither is being rudely hung up on. I am self-employed, I run my own business, and I would never hang up on a client/customer.

In short, when they are busy and stress is rising, the customer service is terrible and given the cost of things, I’ll be taking my money somewhere else because loyalty clearly means nothing with Café Spice. Such a shame as we love the food, but good food doesn’t make up for terrible service. The attitude the manager had with me in comparison to my mother was like night and day – I meant nothing because he obviously didn’t recognise the address or my voice, but my mother meant everything because he knew her voice. Really disappointing. I am an influencer and have told many, many people to dine here when they are in Newcastle but that will not be happening now either – take better care of your customers – you’ve lost a...

Poor,poor,poor,please can a manager reply to this..booked a table for four adults,the table might comfortably sit three,.Before even being asked if wine was required,the waiter attempted to remove glassed,by putting his fingers on the glasses themselves,the actual part you would sip from,when I informed him we wanted wine,he tried to put the same glasses back...no,no,no...I had to request fresh glasses,two of the four starters were kebabs,one bajoin, one chicken starter,took about twenty minutes to arrive and they were very bland and not piping hot as you might expect...Main course arrived much quicker,..4 madras currys with pilau rice and four poppadoms, madras currys are supposed to be fairly hot and spicy...this was certainly not the case,and the sauce had no body to it and seemed like it was from a jar or a cheap supermarket, the poppadoms arrived,but without any dips or chutneys. .oh dear me...tut..tut..we waited about 15 mins after finishing our meal to have the dishes removed,and the waiterms tried to take all the plates and dishes at once,this was quite comical and embarrassing, we ordered two desserts,ice cream and cheesecake,the ice cream arrived and sat on the table for a good 5 mins until I reminded the staff that we were still waiting for another dessert, which they had either forgotten about or had sent someone back to the cheap supermarket to collect,as it tasted very cheap and had a damp biscuit base,during our Anniversary visit ,there was one other table of customers,and a couple of take out orders, so I can't even begin to guess what was delayino the food...bad food,bad service,did not leave a tip as this is done only for good service and good food...Last point..."TOILETS "..they need a good clean and a bit of up keep, A bit of paint and a good air freshner wouldn't go a miss....shame really as the decor of restaurant is really nice..also maybe use service staff who are actually trained...and this whole experience was mine for £82.35p...what a massive rip off...will not go again...and will tell as many people as possible about my expensive...

I have always used cafe spice and meals were delicious ive just spent £18.65p and the whole meal was disgusting 😩..tye mushroom pilau has changed to big brown ones that are awful the chicken tikka was so tough it would break your teeth hardly chew it only had 2 pieces the sauce had no tomatoes and was disgusting to eat so drythe chips were freezing Cold the naan bread had no keema meat inside or garlic as supposed to be i have just thrown it all out for the birds if they even want it will never go back again the whole meal was absolutely disgusting and couldn't even attempt to eat any of it..Please go elsewhere the meal was disgusting and a waste of all that money Nd arrives 45 minutes earlier than said came came at 5..30pm was supposed be 6.15pm I wouldn't recommend this to a dog that would probably turn its nose up at it im furious as was very hungry and a meal wasted and so much money to go outside it won't be getting my money again I should have complained and then made them take it back but no credit on my phone paid on my card or I would have said pick this disgusting thing back up i can't eat that only fit for the garbage don't use them you will waste your money if you do Absolutely rotten to the core furious isn't the word your food is disgusting dont use this restaurant or you will be as...