Balti Palace — Restaurant in Stafford

We booked a table for 6 on NYE at 7.30pm.

3 times on arrival at reception they changed their mind if we were upstairs or downstairs, bearing in mind we did have a 70 year old included in the booking.

After taking us upstairs our eldest parent fell on the unmarked downstep at the top of the stairs, injuring herself with no help from staff, they were clueless as to what to do to help or how to react.

Following recovery we were seated and after 30 minutes waiting given another bookings starting poppadoms. Another 10 minutes in we were finally asked for our initial drinks and order.

Disappointing considering the circumstances.

Nearly another HOUR later we we offered a second round of drinks but no main or any idea of when it would arrive.

After 2.5 hours since arriving and finally fed up with hunger I chased it up with the bar reception.

Rude, abrupt and no apology I had to argue as they had no interest in their failings to satisfy their customers. The priority was obvious, to fill as many seats as possible without haste.

If the food hadn't been delicious I would have refused to pay.

Seriously disappointing particularly as we have been there many times previous with no fault.

A week later and still on a walking stick for the injured party.

You only need to read down previous entries to see their response is only toward good reviews and have no interest in supporting failed customers.

I would not recommend and would award 0/5...

This place would be 4 star experience if not for the sour taste left in our mouths at the end.

The food is very tasty, quick to come out and well cooked. Selection on the menu is good. Portion sizes a little on the moderate size. Made up for,just about, by high standard of flavour and effort in presentation.

Owner is in the room, comes across well at first but while we were eating he mentioned something about the end of the meal, which I didn't fully catch. While we were waiting to ask for our bill he appeared with a cake and two spoons, said we should taste it. So we did.

It was very good.

The bill came out,with the cost of the cake included. We generally only pay for things we explicitly order and would never order a cake after an Indian meal.

Honestly felt like a scam. He was just a bit much and with the range of Indian restaurants across Stone and Stafford we expect we'll give the place a miss now.

Shame as food is good quality

Felt the place lacked atmosphere though and was cold...

Now if I could have given it zero stars I most definitely would have. It should have given us a hint that the other Indian Restaurant in Eccleshall was heaving on a Friday evening and this one had two people dining, but we tried it anyway. The popadoms were excellent, so high hopes for the rest of the meal. My wife had cauliflower banji, which though wasn’t what was expected was ok. My tandoori chicken arrived, beautifully presented but when I attempted to eat it, I found it totally dry and inedible. After informing the waiter it was over cooked he returned it to the kitchen only to return saying the chef says that’s how it should be. Now I’ve had enough tandoori chicken to know that it’s always a little charred on the outside but tender and succulent on the inside. At that we just walked out. We have never, ever done this at any other restaurant in our lives. Disgusting service and appalling food. We will never use this place again and I advise others to...