Spice World — Restaurant in Scotland

Disclaimer: We didn't get to eat any food at the venue, hence I have given an average 'Okay' rating.

Story: Me and my family member, total 7 people along with two young kids travelled to Oban from Glasgow with the plan to have lunch at Spice World. We looked at their menu online which showed plenty of vegetarian options which included Thai and Indian dishes. The restaurant so stated that they open at midday for lunch service.

We parked our cars and headed to Spice World around 1210 pm. We were stopped at the entrance by a staff member who quite rudely informed that they are not yet open. mind you, their main entrance was open with a sign stating they open at 1200 for their Sunday buffet. The staff member then informs us that they were busy the previous night so they wont be serving lunch until after 1pm.

Okay so we waiting outside for about 40mins and now the kids are getting really hungry. About 1245 we make our way to the restaurant again and they let us in, showing us to the table. They then gave us the menu which showed two buffet options. Now all of us are vegetarians and the buffet option which had vegetarian options (right option in the attached menu photo) was not available that day, again, as they were 'too busy' the night before. This wasn't advised to us earlier nor was it on their website.

After being disappointed earlier and now frustrated about the lack of any regard for their customers, we left the restaurant and made our way to the pizza place near the water front.

The staff did not apologise nor did they offer vegetarian options for the buffet. They almost seemed to be relieved that we left.

The venue is located at a convenient location and has a few tables with water views. Interior is quite okay with visibly uncleaned, stained and smelly carpet near...

When we arrived at Oban on 22nd Aug evening, we heard a lot about Spice World from the B&B owner.

So, we tried to book table/s for 22nd Aug for a group of 8 (two families together) with 4 children, but did not get a table so we booked a table for next day i.e. for 23rd Aug 2021 at 7pm. All sorted.

Later on we realised that, 7pm on 23rd may not be possible. So, we called the restaurant on 23rd afternoon, to postpone the booking between 8-8.30 pm. We were asked specifically whether it is 8pm or 8.15 pm. We said, 8.15 pm.

On 23rd eveing, we arrived at the restaurant at 8.15 pm. One of the staff from the restaurant abruptly told us to come back after 9pm! The explanation given to us was, "there is an Asian family sitting where you are supposed to sit and I can't give you the table till they move!". So we walked out of the restaurant and booked with another restaurant.

The restaurant had our phone number, what were they doing till we walked in to the restaurant to tell us to come back at a later time? We promptly called in to postpone our booking when we realised we can't make it at a time booked earlier.

Secondly, we never got another call asking us whether we are coming in for the dinner or not? So, looks like they don't care about customers because if not him/her, another tourist will definitely walk in!

All I can say is, the customer service is appalling! I cannot comment about the food because we never got a chance to taste the food.

I wish I could...

My family and I visited this place on 31 May, tempted by a poster offering 20% discount of all food items (picture attached). As it took as a while to check the whole menu, we first ordered drinks and papard with selection of chutney. We eventually ordered two curries, two starters and bread for 4 people as we were not very hungry. The waiter told us that advertised 20% discount will not apply as we were ordering fewer dishes than people. We were a bit shocked at first but we decided to still order the food as we already had our drinks and papard on the table. But on the second thought, we were strike but obvious unfairness of this situation and asked another waiter whether the discount will be applied. He assured us that we would receive the discount as advertised. When we received the bill, the discount was not applied and we decided to challenge it. The same waiter who told about the discount first said that he has explained the whole thing at the beginning. When we pointed out that the poster does not mention any terms and conditions (also, he admitted they did not have T&C written down) he just walked out leaving us with a bill. In the end we paid the whole amount but when leaving we wanted to tell him that's it had been the worst customer service we've ever experienced, only for him to start abusing us by saying it wasn't his problem that we did't understand English. Beware of this place as the management are...