Castle Balti — Restaurant in Warwick

I visited Castle Balti on 7 November 2024 and, unfortunately, had one of the worst customer service experiences I've ever encountered.

Throughout the evening, our service was cold and dismissive, particularly from one grey-bearded, bald-headed waiter.

When it came time to settle our £53 bill, he slyly added a £7 'service charge' without any mention, inputting £60 on the card machine in what I can only describe as an attempt to deceive us, clearly hoping we wouldn’t catch the extra charge. Service charges are, of course, entirely discretionary, and especially since it wasn’t itemised on our bill, the decision to tip is entirely ours alone. Given the rude and dismissive service, a tip was entirely undeserved.

When we questioned the charge, the waiter insisted it was justified, claiming that his providing takeaway containers (worth approximately 2p per unit!) warranted a tip.

After we declined, an argument broke out, and things escalated when a nearby diner - who hadn’t understood the full context - confronted us, pointing his finger in my face and even threatening to fight and glass me. While his small stature meant I didn’t feel genuinely intimidated, it was an unpleasant and entirely unnecessary end to our evening.

Overall, it was a disappointing experience that could have been easily avoided with better service from the start. For a proper curry in the area, I’d recommend The Bombay in Leamington Spa, where the staff treat you with respect and kindness - making it a place I’m always happy to...

Full dislosure: I Do Not Like Indian Food AND This Restaurant is Amazing! I would eat here again without hesitation. However, this variation, called "Balti" is a fusion of influences from Northern India and Birmingham, England. We found it by parking nearby & following our noses. The server got us seated right away & brought out papadams, three different sauces, and an onion & cucumber salad for starters. It was astonishingly difficult to stop eating so we could save room for dinner. Our party of five ate butter chicken (amazing depth of flavor, mango malai (sweet, creamy dish with chicken), chef's nutty special with tandoori chicken, biryainyi tandoori chicken (a lovely rice dish), and lamb meatballs. On the side, we enjoyed garlic nan and peshwari (sweet) nan. The price point was entirely reasonable. You should know that they do not serve tea or alchohol, but you can bring in your own alcohol for them to serve for a...

Went there not long ago with a friend, it's quite a small restaurant but could see it was busy and popular. Don't know why. The table cloth was not clean and I hesitated about using the napkin. The glasses they've provided was quite dusty, you would have thought they could spend just a few moments of their time de-dusting the glasses that they've left sitting on the table. It's good value if you bring your own drinks, but that's the one and only pro. I ordered a chicken korma with pilau rice. The chicken pieces was not that big but the sauce was rich though you could see alot of oil has been used. The service was not that great, perhaps it was because it was busy. If we had not brought our own drinks it wouldn't have been value for money. I don't think I will be coming back here again, I'd reccommend bracing a few more steps up onto Smith Street to find...