The Gatehouse | Ale & Aloo — Restaurant in Wigan

Friendly service and excellent food.

The idea of an Indian gastropub is unique to the area and one that I absolutely love. It appears to have an excellent balance of pub regulars and people just wanting a few drinks, as well as those out for a meal with friends and family. It creates a nice lively atmosphere.

This venue also appears to have no issue dealing with parties/larger groups of people. Doing so with a smile. I have not noticed any delay in our foods arrival or quality as a result of larger groups dining at the same time. Which is something that I often find in other places.

The food is excellent and provides a unique offering of Indian fusion foods such has a madras buttermilk chicken burger and a naan-za (essentially a pizza using naan bread) as well as your traditional curry house offerings such as my favourite, a vindaloo. The food is also fairly priced and the portion sizes are generous.

This venue also offers some very nice unique cocktails especially when made by the lovely lady with glasses, who I assume is one of the owners (sorry for not knowing your name).

I always put something to improve in my reviews. In this case, elements of the decor that have remained the same since the takeover, especially the bathrooms, need a revamp. It's a minor criticism but worth noting.

Given that this is also our local, we will most certainly be visiting again.

PS: regardless of why you're there, get the masala chips....

I had a terrible experience at Ale and Aloo recently when dining with family and felt compelled to leave a review.

Myself and my wife ordered a jalfrezi and butter chicken for our mains which were very disappointing and tasteless. I informed the head chef that the butter chicken tasted exactly like the jalfrezi we ordered and that it was too spicy for my wife, to which he responded in an extremely unprofessional manner.

His inability to accept any criticism was shocking; instead of addressing our concerns, he became confrontational. I simply asked for a refund since we hadn’t touched the butter chicken, but he flatly refused, insisting that if I knew curry so well, I should recite the ingredients of a jalfrezi in front of the entire restaurant for a reward of £100. It felt like a scene out of a reality cooking show, but not in a good way.

Following this I was told to leave the resteraunt numerous times in front of other customer's, which was just embarrassing. It’s safe to say I won't be returning, and I suggest others think twice before dining here. Save your money for a place that values its customers and handles feedback...

Well after reading the reviews we went with friends last night. On entering there were 3 female staff behind the bar who appeared clueless. We explained that we had booked a table and they directed us to a table facing the bar and up a couple of steps. The table itself was very tacky, we asked that it needed cleaning and as the young female cleaned it she did say it's always been tacky due to the cleaning solvents removing the varnish. We then went to order the meal at the bar and after giving the order was told that there was an hour waiting time for food. They delivered the poppadoms and onions quickly but they tasted like they had been stood for ages. I ordered the regular sharing platter. £16.95. You got 2 small pieces of chicken tikka, 2 sheek kebabs , 2 chicken wings and 2 small pieces of battered fish on a bed of raw onion. (Not worth the money). We had to ask a waiter to remove our plates from the starters and bring clean plates and cuttlery for the main course. The mains were even worse. Would not recommend this place to anyone. I have eaten in better organised...