Imli

I must admit that I was quite impressed with the idea of eating Indian food in a tapas style with plenty of different dishes to try and share - and to be honest I still think it is a good idea!

However, the food despite being varied in type and form was without exception uniformly bland, and in some case unpleasant to eat. Each dish had its own problem - overcooked prawns, dry chicken, chewy bread and so on. The simplicity of each dish required each to be cooked well and it would seem that Imli in its ambition to create a menu with numerous options has forgotton the basic principle in cooking them well.

Service was ok.

NOT recommended.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Friday, February 05, 2010

Awful. Food was terrible. Questionable chicken, soggy pakoras, hard naan and the cheek to charge 95p for what was clearly a refilled bottle of tap water!!! Avoid.
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Ells Bells - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Sunday, January 31, 2010

Amazing food. Went for the tasting menu. Everything was delicious, but I particularly loved the chennai fish, the bhel puri and the prawns.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, December 19, 2009

Very nice restaurant. Great indian food and friendly staff.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

On Sunday we went to Imli and the very nice staff allowed us to have the 2 for 1 for the three of us. It was a very good experience -- lots of different dishes and they were willing to substitute some other dishes for a few items that we preferred not to eat.

Excellent!
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curryman
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, October 05, 2009

It was a quick pre theatre dinner. This will be a quick review.

The service: Average.

The food: both my friend and i are vegetarian and could only eat one thing on the pre theatre menu. My friend is allergic to cheese so she could not have anything. The management would not allow her to substitute one single course from the menu even though it was priced the same. She had to have two tiny starters. What a great way to lose repeat business! The food itself was shy in quantity and average in flavour.

I'll be opting for masala zone next time.
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JJ - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, August 17, 2009

I went to this restaurant after a recommendation from a friend, and I was curious in trying out ‘Tapas’ style Indian food. I love Indian food, but was unpleasantly surprised with the way the food is cooked and served.

The menu was a little confusing to understand and even after the waiter explained it to me, I was left even more confused. I was shocked when the food arrived, as I felt the portions were miniature in comparison to the price they were charging for it. The curries we had all looked different, but the taste was very similar which was disappointing. I left the restaurant feeling hungrier than I came in.

We paid the 12.5% service charge on a bill of £24.05 for two people, which I couldn’t see what extra services they did apart from bringing the food out from the food lift 50cm’s away!!
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Denis Charlette - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Horrible experience - cant recommend this restaurant on any parameter.

Food: we opted for the 2 for 1 deal on the tasting menu. My husband is vegetarian while I'm not. We called in advance to confirm we would be allowed to order 2 different tasting menus (since they were both the same price). However, once at the restaurant, we were both forced to order the vegetarian menu. And I soon realized why. The portions are exceptionally meagre - I'm pretty certain the restaurant is passing off a single portion as one that's now meant to suffice for 2 people (they serve "2 portions" in the same dish!) The food didnt taste fresh. All the curry dishes tasted very similar- there was no difference in the spices used. Also, the taste leads me to believe these guys have a Bangladeshi cook, and should not be trying to pass themselves off as an Indian restaurant. We had asked for our food to be made a little spicy - all that resulted in was a layer of green chillies on top!

Service: no concept of service with a smile. 3 waiters in the restaurant, mostly absent, when only 3 tables were occupied for lunch on Sunday, all the time we were there. We did pay the 12.5% service charge, but im not sure for what. Will never go there again.
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Suruchi
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Sunday, April 26, 2009

Service: Very poor, unenthusiastic. the guy mentioned how he wished he was at home and not serving us! Service gets a 1 because the food arrived on our table eventually. Drinks took 30+ minutes to arrive and not all at once.

Side shelves/decor very dusty and dirty, I wondered about the hygene of the place.

Atmosphere: average, casual, but the layout of the place was abit dingy.

food: poor, very small portions even for tapas. Not much taste, the cocktails were supposed to be a highpoint but I had to return 2 for being undrinkably disgusting (ingredients had gone off or something).

Value for money: Very poor, 2 meal deal/taster menus, a few additional dishes and 2 rounds of drinks £95. I was disgusted about being charged for the optional 12.5% service charge as I make it a policy not to visit restaurants that charge this. I'm a generous tipper without being condescended into it.
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richard
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Sunday, April 05, 2009

Decent food but super-stingy portions. Certainly not value for money if you're after a meat/seafood dish. The meat & seafood dishes lacked character; the textures and sauces were fine, the taste was what suffered - I got the feeling the chef couldn't decide whether to do 'Anglicised tandoori' or 'authentic Indian' and made a hotchpotch between the two. Thankfully the vegetarian dishes stayed authentic. Service was the high point of this badly-disguised canteen place.
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Sajini
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Sunday, November 30, 2008