Hatti Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Newport

We had gone to the Hatti about 6months ago and found the food had dipped in quality somewhat, and the service massively. We were surprised but thought maybe they were just having an off night, as it had always been one of our favourite curry houses in Newport, with the manager Zee providing an unmatchably customer experience.

We later discovered that Zee had left and that there was a new manager, which probably explained the dip in quality. Last Friday, however, we decided to give it another go (as sometime places under new management take a while to find their feet) and ordered a takeaway.

What arrived was some of the worst curry we have ever experienced from a professional establishment. The paneer makhani was not a makhani sauce at all, basically just a korma sauce with loads of red food dye in it. It was so sweet it was inedible and it looked radioactive. The Bhindi was mostly just onion, was swimming in oil and tasted of absolutely nothing. The veg balti was also nearly all onion, clearly just with a bit of chopped frozen veg cubes thrown in (the type you get from iceland that has sweet corn and 1cm standardised carrot cubes). The sagaloo and rice were ok, though nothing to write home about.

We ended up throwing almost the whole meal away it was so disgusting.

I phoned up to let them know the food was not up to standard and to ask for a refund. I was told the manager was out but that he would be back in half an hour and would call me back. He didn't.

I phoned again after 50mins and was told he had been back and had gone out again and would call me back in an hour. he didn't

I phoned a 3rd time, and this time he did eventually call me back another hour later at 11.15 at night.

I explained that we don't like to complain but that the meal was literally inedible, and that, being asian myself, I was a curry fan and had always rated the Hatti especially highly. I explained the details of the meal and received a load of irrelevant nonsense from the manager saying that I was wrong, and how since he had taken over the chef was much better than the previous one (clearly they are not). He also tried to tell me what a makhani sauce should be like even though we cook it most weeks, and know full well that the red korma mush we received was not makhani. He also tried to say it wasn't frozen veg in the balti...when it so obviously was (and as if any chef in their right mind would put bits of sweetcorn in a curry otherwise!). He said he had worked there for four years, which is mind blowing as you think he would have learned customer service from Zee if so.

He agree to refund just two dishes of what was a completely sub-par meal, and said the refundcould take 3 - 5 working days. A whole week later and no refund had been received. I phoned up (once again) and the person answering the phone said they would text the manager then call me back. They didn't. So I called again. This time he tried to tell me he had attempted to call me. He hadn't (no missed calls and phone had been next to me the whole time). He then tried to say that if I wanted my refund I needed to call the company 'kukd' who handles their online orders, to try and sort my own refund?!! When I said that this was a ridiculous way to run a business and that it was for the manager to sort, he begrudgingly agreed to ask the manager again. Some time later I received a call saying the refund would take another few days. Then finally, we received a call from kukd, who said we would have a refund in 48 hours.....9 days after the original terrible order. Who knows if we will.

Avoid this place. What an absolutely staggering fall from grace for what had been such a wonderful resturant with impeccable food and service back when it was under the control of the marvellous (and clearly irreplaceable) Zee. Such a...

Service: NYE so expecting it to be busy restaurant (the restaurant is massive on two floors) l, it seems the owners brought in lots of temporary staff as they didn't know the menu, allergens or if they were vegan or could be made or not. Order taken by one guy who took about 15minutes to take the order, food came then a second lady came clearing away (or trying) plates that we were still eat. Tried to clear my curry away when there was still meat and sauce there.

Food: Starters were poor like they had been purchased from Iceland and reheated (Bhajis, tiny little meat samosas) and not sure if it was the lighting but the lettuce garnish looked well dead and browning. Both lamb Currys were good, north eastern chicken curry was a poor flavour and chicken had a rubbery/fibrous texture like it had been over-brined (to much acid). Chipatis, roti were dryer than the Sahara and had a tight texture like the dough had been over worried. Kemma naan and rice were good.

Restaurant is too big so when there's busy nights calling in outside staff to help didn't give a good impression and the food reflects that as I guess they also had a few extra kitchen hands.

Very...

Went with 2 friends after hearing how good the place was. We were greeted politely and after the usual covid temperature checks and question, were shown to our table. However, we were served by a waiter who seemed to think that wearing his face mask below his nose was ok....its not!!!! Although my food was ok and tasty enough, my friends chicken dish was still raw which put her off her main meal (rightly so). We did complain to the waiter who failed to do anything about it so when it appeared on the bill, I said we wouldn't pay for it and they did take it off the bill, which was good. Service was slow and we didn't get a nice hot towel or refresher wipe after our meals either, despite other tables having them. We seemed to wait forever to pay and in the end went to the bar to settle the bill. There was just a lack of attentiveness and I think the sheer amount of takeaways going out the door might explain why there didn't seem to be enough staff to ensure the paying guests within the restaurant were taken care of. A bit disappointed with the overall experience and won't be visiting again as there are better indian...