The Lancer Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in North Hertfordshire

Please note the stars are based on our dine in meal.

Having seen the awards the restaurant recently won, my son treated me to a takeaway. It arrived barely warm. I took into consideration they may have been busy and the distance travelled. It looked amazing and having heated it up it was palatable.

We thought it would be a good idea to attempt a dine in meal as a family! We received initial drink and pre appetisers within 10 minutes. As we had been chatting we hadn’t realised we had been left for an hour before we had ordered our meal and more drinks. Each of our drinks arrived separately which seemed a little peculiar. We had began to notice how slow the service for us was. Everyone that had arrived before us had already left. More customers that had arrived an hour or more after us were being served and some leaving having been fully served. Three separate occasions we queried where our meals were the same staff member told us the food was on its way out now. Having been there 2 hours without a meal. We asked for the bill so we can pay for what we had. We were no longer hungry and just wanted to leave. 20 minutes later a young member of staff bought the bill over and it had included what we hadn’t received. Poor lad could not apologise enough. He really was the highlight of our visit and we knew he was powerless to do anymore for us. He was ushered away with the card machine by the person that had repeatedly told us the food was coming now. He they informed us he was just going to get our meals. 10 minutes later we calculated our own bill. £60 for drinks and pre appetisers! Took it to the tills to pay. The same person told us a 4th time the food was coming out now, despite the kitchen staff all stood still in silence watching this unfold. My son stepped in and asked him to stop pushing the food and just let us pay for what we had so we could leave, only then he relented, we were then allowed to pay and leave. We were on the premises 2 hours 30 minutes in total.

We did take into consideration the time of year, and may be busy. Sadly, we didn’t feel the same respect and consideration was being given to us so we...

Unfortunately The Lancer let me down this time. I usually eat in the restaurant and have no issues and the food is amazing always … , but ordering takeaway is a nightmare - I’ve ordered takeaway twice now and had problems both times. This last time was the worst… ordered my online takeaway at 8.15pm, by 9.30pm no sign of it (they advise that it can take 60 minutes). So I called the restaurant thinking the driver was maybe lost, only to be told that our food had been cooked but there was no driver so our food was still in the restaurant!! Apparently they were very busy… it’s a Saturday night so would always be busy in there so that’s not good enough. When I complained, the manager, who said he’s not normally there, assured me that a driver would be sent immediately - so my food arrived eventually 1 hour 45 mins after I ordered it, it was not warm obviously , and I wasn’t hungry now ! If I had not rung to complain, when and would I have even got my takeaway? More importantly, this person had promised me a refund of my whole order which never happened despite me emailing The Lancer 10 days ago…. Hence now they’re getting this very negative review and I will Never order from The Lancer again (they’re...

My folks have been coming to the Lancer for yonks, likewise, we "kids" get taken out there a couple of times a year. They always made it ritual on NYear's Eve, an early supper at the Lancers.

It never fails to be top-notch food, and whilst I dot want to belittle the cooking in any way, what really sets this one restaurant above the rest is the friendly, un-forced, professional service, always a fine line with waiting staff, being both friendly but also allowing the client to enjoy the meal without fuss or interference is a real balancing act.

Prices are on-par with elsewhere. The beer's cold too!

The dishes are not nearly as oily as some Indian restaurants can be, which in my book is a good thing ( I order the naan's without gee / butter), and with an good, extensive menu it's good to choose a different main course each visit for variety.

Plus... a hot dish, is just that, not some slightly diluted down jalfrezi, which is oft' what is served up elsewhere.

All-in-all, it's not just another good Indian restaurant, it's...