Dalcheeni Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Hà Nội

My partner and I came here for the first time a month ago, and were absolutely blown away by the food, care and the attention shown to us. For this reason, we decided to come here again tonight for an early Valentine's Day meal.

However, tonight's meal experience was incredibly disappointing (enough for me to write a review as a note to management). First, we arrived and were vaguely acknowledged with a gesture towards a table. It was unclear which table we were meant to sit at so we stayed standing, something which went unnoticed for a further couple of minutes despite the manager and waitress being directly next to us. It seemed like there was some form of commotion tonight that completely distracted the previously attentive manager.

When seated, we were given menus and were left to our own devices for 20-25 minutes without being asked for drinks or even offered a drinks menu. Eventually, we asked for a drinks menu, and we also had to call someone over to take our order. During this time, there was a big fuss in the kitchen which sounded like the manager yelling at someone. I fully understand that things go wrong in hospitality and people can get frustrated, but doing this in full earshot of your paying customers whilst ignoring them for 20 minutes probably isn't the best way to keep people coming back to your restaurant.

Our food arrived and was absolutely delicious, as it was the last time we visited. It is for this reason that I have given three stars. The food is incredible, and I cannot fault it. However, we weren't even given plates to dish our food onto, and when we asked for plates the manager made a comment blaming his staff. I did not think this was a fair comment to make, and personally I feel the failings of our experience tonight were due to the management, not the floor staff who were (for the most part) trying their best. The manager had been standing right beside us for most of the evening, completely distracted due to whatever issue had occurred. He was in the best position to oversee our meal (and from our incredibly positive experience last time we visited, we know how polite, helpful and charismatic the manager could be).

Overall, the food was delicious and I would still recommend visiting Dalcheeni purely for this reason. However, we were extremely disappointed with the negative change in customer service. I'm sorry that something bad had clearly happened tonight to distract them, but unfortunately by being so neglectful to the paying customers in the room with you (and having them listen to the manager shouting, making phone calls and - at times - talking patronisingly with staff) you'll then lose future business too.

To management: please consider taking phone calls outside the dining area and closing the dining area door to limit how much we can hear going on outside. This was supposed to be a Valentine's Day meal for us, but our main talking point all evening was the lack of attention. We had such an incredible experience last time we visited that we were telling all of our friends and family about it, and I hate that our experience tonight tarnished that. Incredible food, but neglectful...

My recent visit to Dalcheena was already destined to be a supreme dining experience right at the moment of our arrival. No sooner did the the manager and staff welcomed us to a table than they noticed we were being uncertain how we could arrange the best seating positions to attend to our 1.5 year old child as we embark on much-awaited dining with friends. There was a sequence of incrementally generous offers of space and seats, eventually ending up putting us at a table double the size of our company, half of which was a long sofa convenient for restless children. Luxuriously perched, we asked for order suggestions. A non-Vietnamese staff member, presumably Indian, eloquently started proposing a set of orders with a strikingly appropriate amount of confidence and pride in their own restaurant’s service quality only to be witnessed in minutes, but he was even quicker to recognise that we were not quite familiar enough with Indian foods to appreciate his perspectives on the rational behind his order suggestions. He momentarily switched with a Vietnamese staff member who then explained suggestions from a Vietnamese perspective, which we found ourselves ready to grasp. We felt as if the whole process of seeking suggestions was one of working with a team of perfect mastery of their trade. Tandoori chicken and fried cauliflower were helped by staff to individual plates in decent portions. This practice, although not one that I would usually expect nor appreciate from restaurant waiters, felt perfectly suitable in the context of this restaurant, and I think it gave a significant boost to the taste of food itself. Butter chicken masala and veggie dry curry, in contrast, were left to our own scooping, and again I appreciated this arrangement as I was deeply glad they knew the right boundary. Such subtle but important differentiation of serving styles represented the restaurant’s solid common sense, not excessive provision of unwanted services, in which they grounded their highest standard of hospitality. The taste of food itself was overall more than satisfactory. Having been to several Indian restaurants in Hanoi, Dalcheeni has become by far the first choice...

This is an excellent Indian restaurant in Vietnam, with two branches - Hanoi and HCM City. We ate from both outlets - through food delivery from HCM City and in-restaurant dining at Hanoi. In short, its definitely one of the best places to try Indian food in Vietnam. I rate it highest in every respect so far as Indian food is concerned. Hospitality was excellent. Decor was nice. Ambience was amazing.

Since we aren't too experimental with South East Asian cuisine and because I am vegetarian, we were very keen on trying Indian food while in Vietnam and this was the best place we could find. We visited the restaurant on the penultimate day of our trip, quite exhausted and after a really long drive in peak traffic, and coming into this space, all of that exhaustion dissipated. I had made a reservation via Google Maps, and the manager was extremely responsive and courteous. When I informed him we got stuck in a traffic jam, he agreed to take our order over the chat so we could come in and eat away without wasting time ordering. He greeted us with a smile when we finally made it. The manager is from India and the chefs as well, but even the wait staff who are locals were knowledgeable in Indian cuisine and extremely polite and warm.

The restaurant is centrally located near the big lake and has comfortable seating and appealing interiors and ambience. All the kebabs and samosas were really tasty. For main course we had nan, dal, curries, pulao and raita - all of these were very good. We were so full from the sumptuous meal that we decided not to go for dessert, but as per Indian tradition the manager wanted to make sure we had something sweet so he gave each of us a manageable serving of the house special phirni, which was also very good.

The experience of Dalcheeni in Vietnam was really excellent. We have really enjoyed their hospitality and...