Spice Merchant Restaurant — Restaurant in Staffordshire Moorlands

Really really poor experience. After reading the brilliant initial reviews for this place we are amazed at how poor our experience was.

We had called to book a table 3/4 weeks ago. We called a week ago to see if we could move the booking slot by one hour. They told us that there was no booking made under that name. Whilst I would say it was lucky we called up to check, I really wish we hadn’t and were turned away so we didn’t have this experience.

The restaurant is crowded. We were shown to a table scrammed in a corner next to a radiator. The radiator is blocking one of chairs from moving meaning whoever sits there was being crushed between the table and a hot radiator.

Our table ordered 3 cheese and garlic naan breads. When it arrived we were handed two ‘cheese and garlic’ and one ‘garlic’ naan bread. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and just accepted these however the order was wrong. The ‘cheese and garlic’ naan breads didn’t appear to have any cheese on them. I will say however the naan bread was nice and was probably the only acceptable part of the meal.

The rest of the food was awful. The chicken tikka masalas were cold and the chicken itself was chewy and bordering on inedible. We ate what we could and left a substantial amount of all the meals.

After eating we asked for the bill. We asked one waiter who said they would be two minutes. We waited 15 minutes before asking a second different waiter. We were forgotten about again. In total we waited 25-30 minutes before standing up and paying at the bar.

We were not the only table for this to happen to as we saw two tables around us wait 20 minutes for their food order to be taken. There is clearly a problem with staff not being able to manage their tables. After we left we saw that the staff have been uploading Facebook live videos messing around the bar at the point we were waiting for the bill.

All in all, I have no idea how this place has the reviews it does. I’d chalk it down to a ‘one-off’ awful experience we had but I saw other tables waiting as long as we did and I can’t see our table all having received poor food and it not being a recurring theme. This restaurant has some serious work to do. £80+...

Really amazing Indian restaurant. I've eaten in Indian restaurants at least once a week for 30 years (I am from Birmingham so it is the law), and this is one of the best. Even when it is busy, the food and service are excellent. The spicy dishes (e.g. traditional vindaloo) are genuinely spicy, but all the dishes are packed with flavour (I recommend the Bangladeshi Lamb, not a spicy dish, but absolutely incredible).

Edit: I am very sorry to have to edit my review. Tonight I ordered from the takeaway section of the restaurant (we turned up, ordered, and waited) and we had a very different experience form eating in. I ordered a vindaloo and my wife a Madras. However, when we got them home it turned out we had been given exactly the same curry. Mine had some added potatoes (not necessary in a vindaloo but seems to be a British tradition) and some extra red curry powder, it seems, but otherwise they were absolutely identical. The taste was identical. (I include a photo of the two side by side.) One had "vindaloo" written on the top and the other had "madras" written on the top. So it wasn't that they had accidentally given us both a vindaloo or both a madras. And anyway, the vindaloo didn't taste like a vindaloo and the madras didn't taste like a madras. They both just tasted like a generic curry. My suspicion is that they are basically cooking one curry then adding some extra ingredients to make them into a 'vindalloo' or a 'madras' or whatever else. But, a vindaloo and a Madras (and other curries) are entirely different things and should be cooked differently. The vindaloo and the madras originate from regions almost 1000 miles apart! Anyway, I am very disappointed. I did expect better from this restaurant. I thought I had found a decent curry house in Leek. But if this is the standard now, my quest...

I would usually add a photo but we ate all the food before i thought of it :) - which should say it all really !!! Really good price, good amount of food when i picked it up it was hot. Only quibbles are about a couple of housekeeping things that might help customer experience. Firstly there should be a large sign stating the code to raise the barrier to get out. If there was one already up it wasnt big or obvious enough and it stressed me out when i couldn't get out past the barrier someone had to come out and help me. The other thing is the online ordering website. I ordered the korma zest which was delicious but there wasn't the option to choose what you wanted in the korma e.g. veg, lamb, chicken etc. I had to put it in the additional notes. To the credit of the restaurant they called me immediately to ensure they had the order right. It would just streamline things if the online ordering system was improved. But bottom line lovely food will definitely be ordering again and i would certainly recommend...