Trishna

I visited Trishna's approximately 6 months ago and was really impressed with the service and food so I decided to take my sister there one Monday lunchtime (31st October) however I was sadly disappointed with my visit this time, as was my sister. We had ordered the Koliwada 2 course plus wine flight and upon finishing our meal both of us still had a glass of wine to finish however the waiter did not take any of the plates and dishes etc away from our table so we were left to drink our wine with a messy and cluttered table. The plates were finally cleared away approximately 30 minutes after finishing our meal, but our table remained dirty.

The worst part however of our visit came when we were presented with the bill which included an £8.19 discretionary service charge (12.5%) as we both felt that we would prefer to leave cash as a gratuity as well as thinking in the backs of our minds that the service was not actually that deserving of an automatic 12.5% tip. When the waiter came back to collect our payment I asked him if we could take off the discretionary service charge as we'd like to leave a cash gratuity but we were told that he couldn't take it off and that we had to pay it. HM Revenue and Customs state that a discretionary service charge (which was clearly stated on the receipt) is purely discretionary and there is no obligation to pay. Where this is not the case, the payment is a mandatory service charge. However on the receipt we received it clearly states "Discretionary 12.5% service included". And despite us begrudgingly paying this discretionary service charge, when my sister paid by card, she was asked if she wanted to leave another tip!

I sent these details to Trishna's restaurant on 1st November 2011 and have no had any acknowledgement from them. Very poor service!
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 5
Sunday, November 20, 2011

Excellent! Attentive service and food was very very accomplished. We had the 5 course tasting menu. Excellent portion size and everything was beautifully done. I was very impressed! Wasn't sure what to expect after reading very mixed reviews. I would definitely come back here again. Recommended

With the toptable offer it was extremely good value.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, June 25, 2011

We have been here a couple of times and have really enjoyed it both times . great food, attentive service and well priced . will keep going
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Aidan
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Friday, May 20, 2011

This is, by any measure, a fantastic restaurant. Innovative, unconventional and exceptionally tasty food. Excellent seafood. A strong wine list. Solid service.

We very much enjoyed an excellent night at Trishna and will return. Recommended.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 14, 2011

We had a fantastic evening at Trishna. From the moment we were warmly greeted at the door, to the moment we left we loved it! We had the 5 course tasting menu which was absolutely amazing. Each of the dishes was perfectly cooked and very exciting. The wine that was recommended to us perfectly complimented the food and we were very well looked after by our lovely waiter. All in all the perfect evening!
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Anna Shields
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I felt compelled to write to relate the most awful of restaurant experiences that I have ever encountered in my twenty plus years of dining out! However, I cannot call it a dining experience, as there was not much dining. To cut to the chase the experience was so bad that we had to leave.

It began with a booking for 7 pm made through Toptable online, whether this is relevant I can only guess. We received a telephone call at 5.45pm to let us know that we would have to vacate the table by 8.15pm. We did the maths and accepted the offer of an earlier table at 6.30pm.

We arrived at the restaurant to find a crowd outside obviously leaving. On announcing our arrival to the maître ‘d we were asked to come back in ten minutes as a wedding party had only just left. We pointed out that it was they that had requested us to come earlier and that they needed the table back at 8.15pm. They realised their error and showed us to a table. To be clear, although a little awkward, there was nothing unpleasant about this interaction. There was some minor confusion about having to lay a table although there was one already set.

On being seated we received the menu and opted for the 5 course tasting menu. From this point the experience degenerated markedly.

Our waiter, in sommeliers attire, had an attitude of a disgruntled school boy who was doing us a favour by serving us in his off hand and frankly rude way. This waiter later claimed to be a manager.

Said waiter told us that he would bring some papads for the table. To which, we politely replied that we did not want papads. The papads arrived and we were told rudely, by him that he did not order the papads but the chef had sent them any way. We were also told that we could eat them or not, in a quite off hand way. Before we had a chance to reply he had left them on the table and walked off.

Next we were choosing a wine we asked about a particular wine to be told rudely ‘what do you want to know about it?’ His whole attitude was rude and off hand. This was very perturbing and unpleasant. I had not been served like this in McDonald’s let alone a mid-high range restaurant. We chose to ignore this and ordered. The wine arrived and said waiter gruffly presented the wine to my partner – making no eye contact with her and in fact looking at me. He then roughly poured the wine into my glass presumably to taste, made no sign or sound. There was no ‘service ‘ from this waiter. The idea of customer service was completely off the menu. I felt like I was being served gruel in a Siberian prison by a guard. Not a £30 bottle of wine in a meal that was likely to be the best part of £100.

This was a step too far. We had ignored this man’s rudeness and lack of service thus far in the vague hope that it would pass or settle down to a tolerable level. But no it was simply becoming intolerable.

I took him to task and pointed out that he was severely lacking in any kind of service that I would expect in a restaurant such as this or indeed one many levels below it. You would think this might bring some sense to the man. Instead, he continued as he started. He simply argued that he was right, criticised my use of language. He continued to insult me and told me that I should leave my problems and not take them out on him. I felt it was rather the other way around.

We asked to speak to the manager, to which he replied, unconvincingly that he was the manager. He told me that he would not be spoken to by me, the customer, and if I didn’t like it I could leave. I really did not need this kind of behaviour. We had come out for a nice meal, not to be dealt with rudely and in an off hand manner.

That was enough, I put down my napkin and got up to leave. The maître ‘d tried to placate us and asked us to stay. But we had had too much, the waiter had been so off hand with us that we had to leave. I pointed out to the maître ‘d that this waiter had really let his restaurant down and created such a bad impression that we had to walk out of a restaurant for the first time in our lives.

I cannot emphasise what an unpalatable experience this was. This waiter really made every effort to make us unwelcome and unserved. It is a shame as we were looking forward to trying out the restaurant. We never made it as far as the main course. The papads were not bad though.

Please do not patronise bad restaurants such as this one. There are many good restaurants that you should try instead with impeccable service.
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Tito Kabir
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Monday, March 07, 2011

Wow, to hear that this resturaunt has even 1 good review is amazing !!!

This place is possibly the worst resturaunt that I have ever been to, I say this as an indian and a food lover!

The waiters are fine but the food is absolutely terrible.

For the people who comment on the "duck sekh kebab"- let me put this in plain english - It doesnt exist in our cusine!.

This resturaunt is a poor excuse for a fusion resturaunt.
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Kw
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Thursday, February 03, 2011

Simply superb. Every time I leave I can't wait to go back.
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Pottedmeat - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 16, 2010

Went to Trishna for the first time and in short: good food. bad service.

We went for the 5 course tasting menu and the food and portion sizes were excellent. The chilli squid was outstanding and prawns were also good. Sea bass and lamb curry for mains were very good as were the selection of naan's. The pulao rice was excellent and almost as good as my mum's (I'm indian and that's high praise!). Carrot dessert was the only letdown, it tasted as if it needed to be cooked longer. Oh and the drinks were also great.

The bad point has to be the service, we were served by a young chap whose manner could be best described as short. A smile wouldn't go amiss and it took 30 minutes for our drinks to arrive and 50 minutes for the 1st course.

Overall I would go back to Trishna's as the food is excellent and they have some unusual dishes on the menu which I'd like to try. It's a shame that their service let's them down, if this was better and the dishes came out in a more timely fashion then this really could be a great restaurant
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Mr Bear
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 19, 2010

I've been to Trishna a few times this year and on each occasion have come away thinking that I must write a glowing review; so here it is.

The food really is quite stunning, often using an inventive combination of spices and ingredients in what might seem familiar dishes. I particularly like the fact that they use game such as partridge and pheasant as well as many varieties of fish rather than relying on chicken or lamb.

The food is remarkably good value - there's not much difference to the prices in a common or garden tandoori restaurant despite the food being in an altogether different league in terms of quality.

Service is reliably fast, friendly and efficient.

Highly recommended
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city luncher - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, October 22, 2010