Sanjha — Restaurant in Surrey Heath

We visited on a busy Tuesday evening (Valentine's day). We weren't there for Valentines however, it just so happened that my Mum and I were eating out on that day. Anyway, it was nicely busy, by that I mean there was a great energy, but not chaos.

Sanjha has an open kitchen which is great and provides reassurance in any restaurant! The restaurant area was really well decorated in the right mix of modern and traditional, but all really tasteful.

The waitress was immediately attentive, provided poppadoms and condiments, took our drinks order and all arrived within 5 mins. We were left to chat and the waitress was still attentive when she could see were were ready to order. She also asked if we had any questions about the menu. She really was very good - professional and welcoming.

Drinks: great variety, nice wines, beer on draught.

Our food arrived in good time - the right mix of not worryingly quick and not too slow.

The food... Poppadoms: were great, crisp, not greasy, good quality, spicy ones on request. Nice condiments which felt home made and fresh - NOT out of a bottle!

Lamb Biryani: generous pieces of lamb, lean meat, well spiced, the rice was fluffy. Nice and hot (temperature) - felt freshly made and not mass-produced.

Dal Makhni: delicious, good portion, quality ingredients, tasted homemade.

Pilee Daal Tadka: beautifully braised, creamy and light, great flavour, again, clearly homemade.

All rice was fresh with separated grains. None of this food was greasy, all like it was made by someone who enjoyed their job.

These days, good attentive service is rare. Here it was abundant. The traditional 'English' style Indian is a bit outdated, Sanjha has moved on from this and is firmly in 2023 - in the right way - no more grease - no more sauce from cash and carry - this is Indian food made right.

The toilets were accessible, clean and well maintained.

Last note: the staff kindly gave everyone a fresh rose upon leaving!...

Great decor, weak food.

Everything tasted watered down (dips, rice, curry), hardly any spices used and nothing was adequately seasoned. Really nothing special here and there's way better across town (though it doesn't look as nice inside, food is so much better). When airing my thoughts about our meal (when asked!) I was told that everyone else usually thinks the opposite and that it's normally said to be too spicey. Forgoing the fact that spicey and spices are different beasts I don't feel it was professional to essentially be told there's something wrong with my opinion, when I've been asked for my opinion. I wasn't aggressive and didn't push for money off. She assertively, borderline vehemently defended the food that she hadn't eaten. Why do this?

Lastly, we had made a reservation and arrived 5 mins early. Just before we arrived the hostess gave someone a seat at our table to wait for their takeaway. There were at least 5 other tables she could have used for her / she could have sat us at a different table but instead we waited at the desk for 10 minutes until the takeaway was ready. Then, as happy hour was technically over/ending we we rushed into ordering drinks before some of us were settled/seated (albeit some were phaffing).

Otherwise, for it being barely half full at 7:30pm onwards it was So loud we could barely hear each other. Maybe something to do with the acoustics?

*Visited early Feb22 with...

Been here numerous times over the years and used to be our go-to place for dinner out. But the recent price hikes coupled with decreasing portion sizes mean you are paying approx £14 per main that is genuinely the equivalent of a side elsewhere. The service in the restaurant has always been OK, a bit hectic and often need to chase the staff for things but the food has generally made up for it in the past. My parents' recent takeaway experience has totally spoiled it for us - firstly extortionate at £78 for two people ( 2x starters, 2x main, naan, rice & poppadoms), but worst of all the vegetable dhansak had actually gone off. Called the restaurant to tell them which went like this.. Restaurant: We'll send another Us: No thanks, the rest of the food will go cold by then and it's put us off now, can we just have a refund for this one dish please? Restaurant: I can't process the refund until 5pm tomorrow because I'm busy with customers now Us: Are we not customers...? Restaurant: If you bring the dish back here now I can give you a refund Us: ...Can we speak to the manager please? Finally spoke to the manager who accepted we were long standing customers who weren't trying to pull a fast one to get a free dish and processed the £13 refund. Camberley needs another similar Indian to open and give them some competition for value and service as they've certainly...