House of Flavours — Restaurant in Reading

I have visited house of flavors many times in the past and have liked their food and service. I have also recommended it to my friends as one of the best restaurants serving authentic Indian cuisine in the area. But my last visit was really bad. I was visiting there on a weekday (Thursday) afternoon for lunch along with my infant daughter (3 months old) and elderly parents. When I entered, there were just few people having food and then the manager (Tony) came and I told him that am looking for a seat which has couch as I need to breast feed my baby, to this he pointed a section on the right hand side of the entrance and said that I can only sit in that area and those don't have couch. When I pointed to a big seating table straight from the entrance which had long couch and was not occupied by anyone, he categorically declined my request. While I understand it was a big table for 4 people but given that it was a weekday, it was not reserved for anyone and i had requested due to baby feeding, I felt the response was not appropriate. Then he suggested I can go upstairs for feeding, on enquiring if they have a baby feeding room he declined. Then I asked if I can sit at the end corner with my family so that I can feed and also have our food there, he said I can only feed there and then have to come and sit in the same area (right hand side of the entrance) for food. I found the behavior was really rude and that's when I told the manager that we would not like to have the food there and he was okay with that and we left the place. While I understand that on weekdays they open only a small section for guests for ease of serving but given that my request was due to special reason (baby feeding) restaurants being in hospitality sector should consider guests genuine requirements first rather than blindly following rigid rules. Also I understand it is a family dine in restaurant and not a pub or bar so should be family friendly. In contrast to this I have experienced lots of restaurants and pubs who are more family friendly and consider special circumstances and make the family and kids...

Nice meal although was disappointed with some aspects of the evening! Upon arrival, we mentioned that we had booked a table for 10, although we were now expecting 7-8 people to attend. The front of house mentioned that we would have to confirm the exact number for either a table of 6 with an extra chair at the end of the table or a bigger table for 10, but should the others not attend, then we would be charged for 10 people. Wasn’t impressed considering there was no mention of this at the time of booking yet front of house stated that they were fully booked that evening, so I accepted that fact and asked for a table to seat 6 with one on the end to make it 7.

Sat down with my work colleagues and enjoyed the meal which was really good, food was delicious and the service was really good so no issues there. We did have to wait quite a long time between the starter and main course for reasons unknown to us. Thinking that maybe it was as busy as the front of house mentioned, I just accepted that fact, but was disappointed again with my main which was slightly cold which suggests it had been sitting out for a while. There were 7 of us dining so I can only imagine that it was sat in the window waiting for the other dishes to be ready so that it was served all at the same time since they bring the dishes on a cart to your table. The food was very tasty and was very happy with the quality, just the time between courses could have been better as it was the best part of a 60 mins wait. We did have lots of rounds of drinks in between, but there is only so much one can drink between courses. Quite pricey for what we had but the quality is definitely there so it was worth it, just wish the overall experience had been better. Definitely worth a visit and one thing I did notice during the evening was that there were at least 6-7 empty tables so the front of house wasn’t quite right in saying he was fully booked, unless they all cancelled last minute. Taking everything into account I’d say it was an ok meal, but could have been 5 stars had some aspects been a...

I came down from Birmingham to Reading with my parents and after living in Reading for 2 years I decided that we would have dinner here after having a fantastic experience here previously. At 7pm I attempted to book a table for 8pm however the website only allows reservations to be made 2 hours in advance. So I called them up and asked if it would be possible to book a table for 8pm and they said yes and took my name. Upon arrival we were met by what I can only assume was the manager. This is without a doubt the rudest encounter that I have had at a restaurant. He said that we had not booked a table and when I explained that I had called earlier - he repeatedly accused me of lying. After saying that this offended me and explaining that I was not lying he began to laugh and then talked down to my mother who also tried to calmly explain. This whole situation was completely outrageous especially given the fact that they had a table that they then tried to lead us to. We declined this table due to our treatment and I asked him what the point in his treatment of us was given that they had a table anyway. He had no response. Very absurd and unnecessary. We left feeling that this had ruined our night - instead we had a curry around the corner at The Royal Tandori; which as it turns out had far better food for a much more reasonable price. I still have no idea why the member of staff treated my family this way. Wish I had stayed in Birmingham which I'm sure nobody has ever said before but I can say they have far better Curry and customer service skills than this...