La Porte des Indes

The best resturant i have been to...nothing to complain about... delicious food - at a high price..
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dina patel
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Having read the reviews here I'd have to say I'm more on the "it's good" side as I'm not sure why people don't like it.

For a start the decor is very impressive, it really is a nice place to have a meal. Very plush, great atmosphere and everything clean and stylish. The staff were all very attentive and helpful, smiles everywhere. The menu was wide ranging with loads to choose from, with posh popadoms etc.

So it was bacsically going for the up market Inian end, and basically succeeds. The food itself was good, but not amazing. My Tandoori chicken was tasty, naan a bit dull but not bad, rice pretty good and some nice cocktails too.

Value is pretty good too as it's nice food for a reasonable price. Overall, it won't blow your socks off but it's a nice place and I'd certainly consider coming back.
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Stephen H
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The decor here was lovely as all of the otehr reviews say. We went here for my partners birthday and I rang in advance to request a well placed table as it was a special occasion. However, we were told we had to sit right by the door as "there were no otehr seats for two people available." This was untrue, and we later realised this was because we were early and they wanted the place to appear full. Unfortunately the food was mediocre and I would not return as the cost outweighed the good things about this restaurant.
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Tamsin
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Porte des Indes is an indian restaurant on an epic scale, designed like a W G Griffiths film set - high ceilings, dozens of tables, lots of busy staff. Sadly, like a film set, it looks amazing but it's not a genuine culinary experience.

The dishes were presented attractively enough on gilded serving plates, but they were either quite bland or else covered in rich buttery sauce.

The menu is very long, which made us wonder whether the dishes are cooked to order, or assembled from partly cooked ingredients and vats of sauce.

To all those that say "my local curry is much better..." - hear hear!

Don't go. Really.
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macabstract
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 07, 2006

We were staying in a local hotel and askedif they could recommend an indian restaurant. The decor and menu were equally impressive. We could not find fault with anything and look forward to returning next month.
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Brenda Lyons
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, September 21, 2006

Decor was different - like sitting in a huge conservatory. Service was fine. Food was disappointing - small portions and incredibly bland. Go to your local curry house instead at a fraction of the price.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Friday, September 15, 2006

Well, I think reading some of the other reviews, it sounds as though we were in different restaurants.

The place itself was amazing - it was just like a Tardis - opening up as you entered the small shop front like entrance then going downstairs and up again. Incredible decor and totally not what I expected !

The food was served promptly and was very tasty. The service was excellent although I'm not keen on them constantly topping up the glasses - but that's prevalent in a lot of places.

I did think the portions looked rather small when they arrived, but I had the set menu and by the time I had finished, I was actually surprised at how full I was.

The noise level was fine when we went in, but as we were about to leave, a large group of men sat behind us and that just hastened our retreat !!!

All in all, a wonderful experience and anyone that wants a special occasion venue should really consider this place.
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Jo
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 5
Monday, September 04, 2006

upon arrival, you are at once struck by both the sheer size of the place, and the (faux)colonial grandeur. rather than being cheesy, the upstairs at least, is quite charming ... a pretend tiger skin rug down in the bar area must raise an eyebrow or two, though.

with regard to the food, it was a massive letdown. i've eaten indian food in many places and in a range of different price brackets and i struggle to remember a meal as instantly forgettable as this (yes, i am aware of the contradiction). i selected the £38 tasting menu. i had booked on the 50% off total food bill offer but it appears that this only applied to one menu (i think i failed to read the details properly).

there were four starters - sole with green masala steamed in a banana leaf (so over cooked that the fish had become a slurry - very similar in consistency to the masala); a scallop with coconut sauce (the scallop, while not the tastiest specimen i've had, was grilled perfectly but the coconut sauce was far too great in volume and being as tasteless as it was, completely ruined the scallop); a spinach and water chestnut fritter (the water chestnut had been minced so finely that its texture was lost and the fritter itself a little overcooked so the spinach had an unpleasant burnt taste); a single morsel of tandoor girlled chicken (the spicing was almost undetectable but it was nonetheless very succulent). a dahl soup followed (which i selected in preference to a sorbet - it was crying out for plenty of turmeric fried in lots of coconut oil (as it was a south indian dish and thus ghee not applicable) to finish it - lacking this it was bland and went unfinished ... a token effort of a few bits of red chilli, unfried / unroasted black mustard seed and lime leaves really wasn't enough.

the main courses were as follows - a large tandoor baked prawn (massively overcooked, the shell blackened and smelling unpleasantly acrid, this odour had fortunately not entered the flesh itself and was thus edible, if very dry and chewy) ; lamb roganjosh (the meat was relatively tender but had virtually no flavour - i suspect it was boiled - and the sauce itself had no real flavour, either - no seasoning as well as spicing); a creamy chicken curry (chicken very tender but tasteless, sauce even more anodyne than the lamb ... sauce was pleasntly creamy in consistency); naan bread (incredibly plain and lacking any elasticity - the kalonji seeds were worth picking off as they were the best bit of the meal); pilau rice (yellow from saffron, a peanut and two sultanas - didn't look or taste like genuine basmati, although i could be wrong); sag paneer (spinach with a cottage type cheese - spinach overcooked and minced, full of water, no detectable spicing, and what little paneer there was seemed to have acted as a sponge - absorbing as much water as it could).

dessert - bread and butter pudding (a small, flaccid, gelatinous little square which was easily the worst example of said sweet that i've come across); chocolate mousse (perfectly passable, but nothing mind blowing); a foule type yoghurt thing (i think) with fruit (very pleasant).

i also had a mango, chilli and basil mojito. this was positively vile - a tiny bit of rum was put with whole ice cubes and basil leaves, a slice of mango, half a red chilli and filled to the top with soda water. there may have been some lime juice in there but it was so watery that it was impossible to tell. had it been made with crushed ice and the lime, mango and basil leaves crushed into this with the rum and some sugar, and a little chilli added this could have been lovely. bartender of the year i don't think.

i did raise all these issues with the staff (aside from the cocktail) but the response was that i must be mistaking the masala for the fish - unhappily not - or that it was mildy spiced - there's a difference between mild spicing and a dish being practically devoid of any spices or other ingredients which might impart any taste whatsoever.

i don't think this is indian food with a french take on it, i just think it's heroically badly cooked indian food. i could only suggest that you visit this restaurant if you're trying to lose weight, as no matter how much food you order, you're likely to leave with an empty stomach.
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Owen Clipsham
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Visited this restaurant and was very excited as I had heard they are part of the blue elephant group. Decor was very very nice. Food wise I would have to say, was not the greatest. Although try the pork vindaloo (interesting). Service was good although our waiter seemed very keen to take things away etc. Value not that great. If you want a great INDIAN then I strongly reccomend PAPA J's In Harrow. (Best indian food ever!!)
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REENA GHELA
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, August 15, 2006

There is nothing opulant or splendid about the decor of this restaurant. It was like being transported back to the 1970s, and I'm not sure it has been decorated since then.

The service was terrible. First of all, the waitress had no idea how the a la carte menu worked and we had to ask the advice of another member of staff.

Then, having observed how rushed the service was, we asked that we could take over our meal. We were ignored as our starter arrived in minutes. Even when I said something as the food was being put on our table, I was ignored.

I had to send my main course back because it was luke warm. Rather than replacing the dish, they brought it back 2 minutes later and had obviously reheated it in the microwave.

The waiter leant across my face to top up my water - almost brushing my nose - while I was in conversation with my friend.

It was rushed, intrusive and the food was deeply mediocre and not even warm enough.

Don't go. My local curry house is better and half the price.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Thursday, August 03, 2006