Namaste - Authentic Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Portsmouth

Been here twice now. Last time I tried to order the guthi vankaya but it wasn't available. This time my son tried to order a rava dosa but it wasn’t available. So he went for a plain dosa, husband ordered masala dosa (he asked the server if it would be crispy and she said yes) and I asked for idli. Masala dosa arrived but wasn’t crispy at all - very floppy, thick and spongey with very onion-heavy filling. Plain dosa was also soft and spongey. My idlis were probably the best of the lot. Dal was a bit better than last time but still quite watery with only onions and no other veg evident. The chutneys were the highlight - very good. I think we’ll give up on dosas from this place - we can make better at home with store-bought batter. My idlis came a good 5-7 min after the dosas were served - at one point we thought they had forgotten the order and had to ask after it.

To follow, we ordered the Andhra fish curry (Nellore chepala pulusu) and lemon rice for my husband and I to share and mutton fry and biryani rice for my son. The rice dishes are very good. The mutton fry was ok, very spicy (they had checked what spice level he wanted) but quite light on the quantity of mutton. The fish curry was disappointing - for £10.99 it was mostly onions and tomatoes in a tangy tamarind sauce that was lukewarm - 2-3 tiny pieces of mostly skin and bone.

When the server came to ask how things were, we mentioned that while everything tasted fine and the rice was very good, we were disappointed with the quantity of fish in the curry and what fish was it? She called over a manager who said it was sea bass. If it was, they must have chopped one sea bass into about 50 pieces and given us the 2-3 bits from the tail end. I would never put sea bass in a fish curry. Generally South Indian fish curries are made with a more meaty fish like kingfish. They apologised for our experience. Bill came to just shy of £50. The service is friendly but comes across as inexperienced.

I had high hopes for this place, but having now spent over £100 in total over two visits trying out various things from the menu we felt should be their strengths, I can’t say I am impressed. Discussing with my husband, even the biryani which we had on the first visit had a very small amount of lamb in it. The rice dishes were the highlight for us - pulao rice, biryani rice and lemon rice were all excellent. The dosas were more home style than restaurant level. Even dosas I have had at friends’ homes are better than here. And if the fish curry is meant to be similarly home style, then I can say any Indian family I know would be ashamed to serve those bits of skin and bone to a guest. Yes, Indian home style curries can include skin and bones but they don’t leave out the actual fish!

So farewell Namaste - we wish you all the best but won’t be returning...

Awful experience. Members of staff bombarding you to order telling you what to eat. The food was dreadful. I had 3 chunks of chicken neck no meat 2 wings no meat! and a thigh knuckle. Loads of wobbly chicken skin, one small mouthful of actually meat dry. Far too mild with what was meant to be their spicest dish. Halfway through me NOT eating the food the waitress came over and asked if I wanted some ketchup as I seem to not be able to stand the spiciness?? I queried why she would think that and she said a lot of you do!! I told her the reason I am not eating it is because it was not good she said the chicken is always that colour in our country not like the frozen stuff here! The naan eventually turned up covered in grease. The chef came over I explained everything to him. His answer was; next time should be better would we like to buy a dessert! Can't see this place lasting long. This is just half of what happened. As for the response below.. you clearly have not listened. Failed to mention NO meat. 3 chunks of neck no meat ! And all of the bones. And no mention of the awful naan. Which was as far away from a plain naan as it could be! No mention of the women offering me ketchup TWICE. Or implying 'we' meaning English. struggle with spicy food. We only eat frozen chicken? I was fully aware of what I was ordering, it was just NOT EDIBLE. Instead of trying to justify all this, just accept that the meal was awful and be understanding. I have a picture of all the bones, grizzle and neck if you want to see it. And when someone asked for the bill bring one with it itemized. Not just the card machine with a...

I genuinely didn’t want to post anything negative, especially since this is a family-run business. I understand how hard it is to keep things going, and we used to order food regularly when they first opened — back when the food was actually good. But after today’s experience, I can’t stay silent.

The service has consistently declined. On a previous visit, even though we were the only customers, it took over 30 minutes for our food to arrive because the chef was busy sitting and chatting. He even forgot to serve the side dishes that were part of the order. I let it go then, thinking it was just a bad day. Clearly, it wasn’t.

This time, the food was beyond disappointing. The chicken in the biriyani was incredibly tough and nearly impossible to chew. We only ate it because we hadn’t had anything all day. The rice tasted almost spoiled, and they didn’t even bother reheating it until we specifically asked them to.

The hygiene is deeply concerning. The toilets were dirty, and given the state of the food, I can only imagine what the kitchen looks like. Unfortunately, I’ve been sick since eating there — and that’s not something to take lightly.

And to top it all off, I ordered a family pack biriyani, and the quantity was barely enough for two people. That just felt insulting.

It’s really sad to see how far this place has fallen, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone anymore — not for the food, the service, or...