Akbar's Restaurant — Restaurant in Rotherham

I rarely leave bad reviews, but our experience at Akbar’s Rotherham was simply unacceptable — especially on such an important day.

We visited to celebrate my graduation and I was clearly wearing my gown and mortarboard. Despite this, we were ignored for over an hour and not even offered menus until we asked. No one acknowledged the occasion, asked what we were celebrating, or offered to make it special — something you'd expect at a restaurant of this calibre.

When we were finally seated, the service continued to disappoint. A waiter said, “call me when you’re ready,” instead of checking in or guiding us through the menu. When we asked for tap water for the table while we decided on drinks, we were given only glasses and had to ask again for the jug — which arrived greasy and tasting like dishwasher soap. It felt unhygienic and frankly suspicious.

I asked for my friend’s cutlery to be moved so she could sit beside me, and the waiter slammed them down without a word. Throughout the meal, we were served by at least 3 different people, all giving us conflicting information. One said the BBQ share platter (not listed on the menu) was sufficient, while another insisted it was only a starter. When we ordered more food, Raj — the main waiter — was rude and dismissive, giving off an “I told you so” attitude when we tried to clarify the confusion he contributed to.

To make matters worse, I clearly spoke in English when asking him a question, and Raj pretended not to understand a word I said. However, the moment my Asian friend repeated the same thing — out of frustration — he suddenly understood perfectly. It was baffling and felt deliberately dismissive.

Moreover, the waiters kicked off a fuss when we asked for tea without milk for my mum, stating that it only comes with milk and were very unwilling to meet our requests. It really beggars belief this restaurant proved incapable of delivering a cup of tea.

Despite waiting so long to order, we watched multiple other customers arrive much later and be served quickly, which raised serious concerns about potential discrimination.

This was supposed to be a joyful occasion to mark an academic milestone, but it was made frustrating and disappointing by poor service, disorganisation, and a clear lack of basic hospitality. We left feeling ignored, disrespected, and disheartened.

I hope Akbar’s takes this feedback seriously and works on treating all guests with equal respect — especially during meaningful moments. And needless to say, I won’t be...

Absolute chaos . Very busy as you would expect for a Saturday night fair enough. However, parking impossible so had to leave my car way up the main road which I hated doing due to the ....how should I say it...less celubrious environment locally. Finally sat down with our group celebration of my wife's niece's 30th wedding anniversary after sitting waiting for 40 mins ( even though booked in advance for 7pm.) . Place was chaotic and poor old waiters not coping at all. Had to wait another 20 mins just to get a drink and orders took. Starter meal very nice but the meal on the whole otherwise appalling. Seafood curry well over cooked leaving king prawns tough and inedible . Menu was terrible as choice limited and food indication of how hot and spicy just invisible apart from the occasional dish stating 'mild' . My wife's dishes supposed to be exactly that but alas...not to be as so spicy she had to leave most of it. 20 of us in our group with only one person satisfied. All this and with screaming children behind us ( Inc babies which were frightened by the sheer noise I should imagine, and should never be there in the first place at 9 pm!) Making the atmosphere most irritating and unpleasant made for what should have been a wonderful celebration subdued to say the least. Personally I have cooked Asian food for years myself and cooked for many Asian friends and would be ashamed to serve up such awful food. Prices not cheap and example of small bottle of cobra nearly £5 !! Haven't got a clue why this place so busy ....all I can say is they must be used to mediocre food and extremely hungry!!! Very, very disappointed is the understatement of the day here.....avoid and spend your money elsewhere where you don't come away feeling somewhat taken to the...

Grew up eating here despite people telling me terrible experiences of food poisoning and bad customer service, including a smell coming from the kitchen. Ordered a curry as a takeaway and half way into eating, I found a SNAIL IN MY FOOD !!! I don’t recommend eating here and I wish I listened to all the warnings !!! When I went to notify them (I didn’t even complain as I mentioned I grew up eating here so I had respect for the establishment) however they didn’t reciprocate the same respect as they accused me of lying especially the girl at the front desk who deals with the phone orders, claiming I was lying as if I had put in the snail myself! She continued to call me a liar, got defensive and said she didn’t believe me and I couldn’t find the pictures at the time as they were on my other phone (like I said I didn’t come to complain just notify them). She called the manager over who told me the same that it never happens (which I have heard the opposite from a lot of people when I shared my experience with them). They said that they have a “process” to wash the spinach (clearly not well enough). I could also hear her laughing at me during this and telling other employees, which made me feel unwelcome and angry, as I came very calmly. Was treated very horrible, they don’t know how to deal with complaints and did not handle the situation well at all. Lost a loyal customer and DEFINITELY WON’T be...