The Last Days of the Raj — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

The food is the best thing about the Raj-delicious. A good choice of the usual fayre, with a few Raj specials but not the widest choice I’ve seen. Delicious grub though, cooked and served up quickly and efficiently. Nice decor and a good pint of Cobra. What lets the place down though is a small, confusing “car park”, and the service that goes with the meal. When I parked at the end of the front of the building, right next to a sign declaring that the space was “For Restaurant customers only”, a man in a small red car beeped at me and suggested I park on the roadside at the side of the building. I mentioned the sign, to be told that parking there would block the thoroughfare for traffic (delivery drivers?) and when I questioned the burgundy Jaguar FPace parked adjacent to me in not the most caring of manners, I was told that that car, although occupying a large amount of space in the car park that was “for Restaurant customers only” actually belonged to seemingly the proprietor of the adjoining convenience store. That was ok though……..🤔

Service, as I said, was another letdown. The same man in the red car appeared, like Mr Benn, once we were inside, and took our order efficiently enough, although we were pressured into the upsell of two onion bhajis when we tried to order just two mains and rices, with a paratha and a naan. They were very nice though. Our plates barely had time to be cleared of the last grains of rice though before they were cleared away by another male member of staff adorned by a face mask, and when clearing the final plates away, the same man lifted a napkin off my plate and literally threw it in front of me, which Steve, my dining partner, also noticed and was taken aback by. It was Steve’s turn to pay for the meal, which he did in cash, and I don’t think a tip of any magnitude was given. Or earned, to be honest. The food is, as I said, the best thing about the Raj. I think our next meal will be Chinese at Ponteland, which Steve raves about. Hopefully we’ll be made to feel a little more welcome there and I can park the car outside without...

Made an online booking this morning (NYE) I received an email confirmation, then called them later to confirm the booking was received, the gentleman confirmed our booking was received and we're looking forward to seeing us. Half an hour later, I received a call from the manager saying there wasn't any availability at 6.00pm, but we could have a table at 4.15pm or 8.30pm. Neither times were suitable for us. So, I declined both options. After the call, I checked the website, which still allowed me to book a table at 6.00pm, and other times were available. Clearly, their booking system needs to be kept up to date. The managers attitude was appalling he made comments about how others had booked a table months/weeks ago, unlike us a few hours prior. We've always had takeaway from here, but we would think twice about visiting in the future. If that's the attitude of...

Called up a week prior to visiting to confirm it was ok to turn up without booking on a weeknight for the early evening menu, was told it was. On the evening of the visit when we came to order we were told the early evening menu wasn’t on during December despite it still being on the menu and heavily advertised outside the restaurant. Extremely disappointing as we specifically chose LDOTR because of the early evening menu deal. During the meal one member of staff persisted to lurk at the table and repeatedly asked if we wanted more drinks. We were the only party in the restaurant at this time so would have just asked if we wanted more drinks. Food was very nice so no complaints there. But the experience was tarnished by the lack of the menu we wanted to order from and the strange behaviour...