Gurkha Restaurant Barnstaple — Restaurant in North Devon

AVOID - Shocking experience and such a disappointment.

Started off well, the restaurant has been recommended to us many times by lots of people. We called ahead to book a table and was told that because everything was cooked fresh to arrive on time for our slot, brilliant! We arrived a few minutes before our allotted time and what greeted us was a packed restaurant and not a friendly staff member in sight. In fact we were mostly ignored by the chap waiting tables and just felt very awkward clearly stood waiting in the doorway. We then managed to signal to a waiter and explained that we were here for our table and was told it would be five minutes...The minutes came and went so we went to the bar to investigate further to be told by another member of staff that we would "have to wait a while". We questioned how long was "a while" but the staff seemed confused and far too busy to clarify. With three hungry children in tow the atmosphere was turning sour and we were then half shown/gestured to two chairs in another part of the restaurant and told to wait. Meanwhile another family was being asked to leave their table to accommodate us!!! So embarrassing and completely unnecessary which made for a very awkward encounter with the people at the table that had been asked to move!

Looking at the previous reviews and hearing glowing recommendations from friends, it's clear this place is massively popular but our experience was that of a crammed little restaurant that had overbooked itself with NO customer service. I'm sure the food is wonderful, but honestly, even if we had been lucky enough to be greeted and seated I still wouldn't have felt comfortable eating at such close proximity to another table.

Can honestly say we won't attempt to eat here in the future. Maybe we were just unlucky but I sure as hell won't be going back...

Having recently moved to the area from the south east of England we were keen to find a good Indian/Nepalese restaurant. We had tried The Spice and The Sagor in Bideford (our closest town). The Spice was a complete disaster and The Sagor was just okay but nothing to write home about. So tonight as we were on Barnstaple we decided to try The Gurkha. The staff were welcoming and friendly, orders were not rushed but but taken promptly, drinks arrived quickly, and the food was delivered in good time. The food was lovely, unfortunately we decided to play it safe and ordered 'known' dishes so that we had a direct comparison and they all tasted as expected. So I said unfortunately at that's because I would have loved to have ordered some of the dishes on the menu which looked intriguing. If I have one negative comment I would say the meat to sauce ratio could be better but overall the taste was lovely and we will be back. I am aware that they are opening another branch in Bideford at the end of August '24 so if the food is as good there then that is set to become our new favourite Devon...

Came here for a different style of cuisine and having had Nepalese food a few years ago I wanted to try a different dish again.

I ordered the Base Camp Curry from the waiters recommendation as I wanted a traditional dish with some spice. Ordered this alongside a Gurkha Naan (Garlic Naan with fresh Chillies). Other dishes that were ordered was Tori Macha and Shahi Paneer. All the dishes were really good, unique, flavorful and tasty. The Base Camp Curry was exactly what I wanted, not over spicy where I rushed or fought through my dish, but enough heat for me to enjoy a dish with a kick.

The waiter was really friendly, approachable and knowledgeable in each dish which helped in making decisions in what to eat.

The location, although on a side street makes it more interesting as to what's the restaurant going to offer. From my experience I would say definitely give it a go, you won't go wrong

Dropped a star on the atmosphere as we weren't there whilst it was busy so couldn't give a full 5, but with the background music and service from the staff no...