La Porte des Indes

I have just been to La Porte des Indes and was bitterly disappointed by the food. We ate there about two years ago and it was quite good. Indeed at that time this site rated it at about a 7. However, things have changed. The service is still quite good and the decor, being the reason we invited our friend there, is still impressive. However, the food is lacking any substance. I had a thali which comprised of five small dishes (4 meat, 1 veg) which would give me a chance to taste various dishes. However, there was very little meat in any of the dishes. In fact the pieces were menial. Essentially, I was served three portions of sauce and two vegetarian portions. Also, these were no match for most other Indian restaurants that I have eaten in . It didn’t get any better for my two friends who ordered the same thali as each other and received a double portion which again contained very little meat. I would have thought for the price (circa £25 per head for a main course) they would just put meat in these dishes and avoid reviews like this! As I have mentioned above the service and decor are good, just don’t go there for the food!
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Michael - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Saturday, January 12, 2008

please do not waste money and your time by going here - minuture proportions - buit good atmosphere - straving when we left - after spending £200!!
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Smita Patel
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 0
Friday, December 28, 2007

66cl bottle of Cobra (5% ABV): £7.90

66cl bottle of King Cobra (8% ABV): £15

House wine: £18

Starters: £6+++

Mains (excluding rice etc.): £13+++

Rice £4+++

Side dishes: £6+++

Also 12.5% Service Charge

Expect to pay £45-£50 per head as an absolute minimum

Food: mediocre

Decor / ambiance: tacky (but some idiots seem to be impressed by it)

Service: poor / indifferent which is staggering given the number of personnel milling around somewhat aimlessly
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Barry Man
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Saturday, November 10, 2007

Having read the previous reviews I was a little nervous about trying this place. A group of friends and I decided to give it a go as the "50% of food" seemed a reasonable offer. Having made th booking online, I was grateful for the usual courtesy email, confirming the booking. On the day I also got a phone call from the venue, confirming the booking. As our party grew in size I was able to speak to them to increase the number if guests for the booking, which they did without hesitation, and confirmed they would still be included in the 50% off deal. We arrived early than our expected time, but our table was already waiting for us. We stopped at the bar for a few drinks, and were met with friendly service. Moving on to the table, we found the set menu to be exquisite - excellant options for veg and non-veg alike. one of my party had a fish allergy, and staff took note of this. we were waited on very efficiently, allowed time to look through the menu and snack on poppadoms before the food arrived, which didn't take long. The thali style of the set menu meant that portions were small, but variety plentiful. I had excellant dhoklas and dahi puri in my starters, follwed by paneer makhani, saffron rice and aubergine curry to name a few. The food was without fault, and although portion sizes looked small, I struggled to finish. Desert was a gorgeous chocolate mousse, and presentation throughout was marvellous. Would thoroughly recommend to anyone wanting to try 5 star food at a reasonable price (with the 50% offer).
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Datta Ryan
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Well, what can i say, we dropped by here on Saturday night - quite late so it was very quiet, we were given the smallest table possible (me being 6ft 3 caused me some discomfort - despite all the other larger tables being free) we ordered a couple of cocktails some water and a coke which we recieved after 20 minutes, after sitting there for 45 minutes waiting to order i decided enough was enough and decided to leave (the staff had no presence, you couldnt catch the eye of any waiter as they all seemed to huddle and chat in one area) i agree the place itself looked wonderful inside but thats where it ends, the menu was different and expensive in my opinion. The bill for the 4 drinks came to £27.00 of which £3.00 was service charge - it goes without saying i knocked that off and left! Dont bother guys, if the service is so dire when the place is empty peak periods must be awful!
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Cookie
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, October 29, 2007

Disappointing. Food was sometimes cold. Imaginative but the taste mixtures just do not go.

PS the restaurant smells a bit of urine when you enter. Not good!
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David
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Saturday, September 15, 2007

I came with my accountat for a meal for your set menu.

I was absolutely disgusted at the children size potions given!

If you geniune about offers, make it sunday buffet whereby people can at least have enough food to eat!

When i complained that my bill was £80 instead of £40, i did not get any refund but a voucher of £20 posted. Rip off for set menu.
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miss karia
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Thursday, September 06, 2007

I am very dissapointed. The one good thing about this place is the interior, it is magnificent and definitely has the wow factor BUT the food is NOT worth the money.

The portions are very tiny and being Asian myself I did not think the samosa's were tasty! I have had better currys. Very average. I ordered a king prawn kerala curry and got two prawns. We were shocked. The beverages are rather expensive and would suggest you to have few drinks elsewehere before you go to this place.

Atomosphere is great however the food is very average.
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V.M
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 1
Sunday, September 02, 2007

This establishment is quite clearly a matter of style over substance. While the decor is impressive, I must admit that the service really cannot be faulted. Staff were efficient, friendly and made up for the dissapointing meal.

A group of four of us began with cocktails - a certain chilli mango mojito. It was the beginning of a slippery slope for the meal - with the drinks lacking punch and really did not taste fresh at all.

Don't even consider coming here on an empty stomach - as you will be truly underwhelmed by the portions! At £6 for some samosas, you would be expecting something impressive, particularly in flavour - but this was most definitely lacking. Mains were not too bad - with the vegetable biryani presented well. A jumbo king prawn dish turned out to be a major dissapointment - at £22 - we expected something special - imagine our faces when just two prawns arrive in the bowl!

La Porte des Indes trades off its name and elaborate interior. However, no amount of dressing up can mask the standard fare it serves. We went to entertain two friends from abroad who only get to eat Indian food rarely - and we are thankful they didn't cotton on.

Good for a special occassion - particularly to savour the atmosphere - but if you want to sample authentically cooked fare that it purports to offer, there are far better establishements that deserve your money than here.

We will not be visiting again.
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Harsha
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Thursday, August 30, 2007

I went here for my birthday with my parents. We love Indian food and wanted to go somewhere special so I really hoped this would be good.

The place was lovely, the service was excellent and the food was good. My Dad loves seafood and had some giant prawns that he's never tried before, menawhile my Mum and I had a set menu that gave us a good selection to try out.

On the downside the beer was £8 a bottle. Why? It was only the same stuff they sell in the corner shop for £1.50. Unreasonable.

At the end the bill came to just over £160 including that old chestnut of the 12.5% 'discretionary' service charge. My Dad has a thing about paying cash so put down £180 in twenties. we were owed about £18 in change. The man that took it was clealry senior to our waiter, but had absolutely nothing to do with serving us. He did not return with the change and I had to go and ask for it. Not impressed. I won't go back.

There are plenty of other gorgeous places to eat in a city this big. Quite frankly this was a bit brassy, I don't need to listen to Spongebobsquarepants being played to a toddler on a portable DVD at the next table either.
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Kat - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Thursday, August 23, 2007