Lily's Indian Vegetarian Cuisine — Restaurant in Tameside

This pains me as I love the food at Lily's, but the service we received during our last visit has put me off ever going back. I am 100% sure that my girlfriend will never step foot through the doors again

I would like to say that the younger staff at Lily's are bubbly, attentive & seem to enjoy their jobs whereas some of the older members of staff really don't seem to be that interested in good customer service.

We were visiting Ikea so decided to nip over the road to see if we could get a table at Lily's. We approached the staff member on the front desk to enquire, & after a bit of umming & ahhing she said that she did have a table but would need it back at 18:00.

We were shown to our table, ordered some drinks & started looking through the menu @17:00. The lady from the front desk came over & asked us if we were ready to order - my girlfriend said "for my starter I would like" & the lady tutted at her & said she didn't realise we would be ordering starters as well & that she would have to bring everything together - not "is it ok if I bring it all together?", or "do you mind if I bring it all together?" - she was telling us. We let it slide as we were both hungry.

The food arrived & we started to eat. We didn't hang about & I had one eye on my watch the whole time which certainly made the meal feel rushed & less enjoyable - the food was delicious as always. At 17:50 we still had some food left, but i caught the lady from the front desk's eye, & when she came over I asked her for the bill & also if we could get our food boxed up - she told me she would get me the bill but I would have to box the food up myself...

No explanation was given as to why, but I have never in all my years been told if I wanted to take my food away I would have to box it up myself??? We were trying to be helpful by vacating the table before the 18:00 deadline we had been given, but the lady from the front desk made us feel so unwelcome & like we were lucky to have been let through the front door let alone expect to enjoy the food we had paid for.

Reading other reviews, it appears that this lack of service isn't uncommon from certain staff members. As much as I have enjoyed eating at Lily's over the years, & have recommended it to everyone who asks me for somewhere to get tasty veggie food, I fear this will have been...

The starters we shared at @lilysvegi First up is the Crispy Bhajia, thin slices of potato in a spiced batter. These little guys were an absolute delight, the dip they were served with was full of flavour and spice. Think I ate more than my share of these

Next is the Samosa Chaat, a dish recommend to me which did not disappoint. Chaat is a tangy Indian snack with a crispy and crunchy the texture, this version contained chopped vegetable samosas, chick peas, potatoes and onions in mint yoghurt and topped with sev. The Chaat was seriously good, very more-ish flavours

The final starter we enjoyed was the vegetable sizzler which was absolutely fantastic. A smoking hot plate covered in sizzling masal vegetables, paneer , peppers and parsnips. Words can't describe how good this dish was, you just have to try it .

---On to the mains ---

The dishes at Lily's all had so much depth, each with its own personality and unique profile. We were very fortunate to be given advise on choosing from an extensive menu, our server picked some of her favourites to help us choose. This was the best Indian I've had, and not one sign of any meat

First up a paneer curry which was an absolute delight, very rich in flavour, a nice level of spice and my favourite of the night. Paneer is just a wonderful ingredient and one that I need to use more

Next up we have Lily's signature Dhosa which is too long to fit in a picture on Instagram with the other horizontal pictures! A dosa is a cooked flat thin layered rice batter, and somewhat similar to a crepe. Filled with masala, spring onion, cheese and garlic chutney the signature Dhosa was a great addition to our feast. Although my least favourite food of the night it was still delicious, I think I was already full when I tried it

The third main course you'll see has already been half eaten, by the time the Aloo gobi made it to me everyone else had taken a share. It was incredible, my dad had never tried Aloo Gobi before and he was wolfing it down like nobody's business. This was a seriously good curry Overall out trip to Lily's was worth the traveling to Ashton. Treat yourself and head there

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Get yourself some true, vegetarian Indian options at Lily’s

Created after their beloved Grandmother, Lily’s is a family-owned and run restaurant providing you with the true Indian vibrant cooking. When you walk in, you walk in right to the sweets galore and Gujarati junction that captivates your eyes and makes your mouth drool. Follow the room round and you get to the bangles wall making you in the mood for a little bit of Bollywood dancing and then sit yourself in the restaurant making yourself hungrier as you read the menu. Some may be put off by the fact that it’s fully Vegetarian but we’ll tell you now, it has something for everyone and you’ve got to try it out.

We’d turned up for a snack and instead enjoyed a full meal consisting of; Pani Puri - These were really nice, and has an explosion of flavours right there in your mouth. The imli sauce that came with it was pure yum and gave it the sweet kick that works really well for this Crispy Okra - Crunchy, but a bit dry for our liking and would be better provided with a sauce to complement Masala Dhosa - We demolished this Indian classic in no time, with the flat crepe filled with a mushy potatoes and chutney & Dhaal for toppings. This was pure perfection and am drooling thinking about it now…*off in memories of a trip to India Cheesy Chips Sizzler - Now this isn’t actually Indian, but it gives you a nice twist on your chips by being topped with cheese, chilis and garnish Chana Palak - Chickpeas and spinach, what a good combination this was and being big fans of both of them items, this went down nicely

And on that note, we’re making a trip back here soon!

Recommendation Rating: High Service: High Price: ££ Halal: Full Vegetarian Menu, so everything...