INDIAN MEAL IN LOS MONTESIMOS????????

Anyone had the same problem as us at the Punjabi Palace in Los Montesimos lately? Family has been there probably 20 or so times. I, personally, about 5 due to only visiting. But thats 5 times within the last 12 months. Always had good meals and service until yesterday (Tuesday).

• The starter was Punjabi Special Pakora (May be spelled wrongly). Nothing tandoori about it. There was plenty there but just battered meats, fish etc, no indian taste whatsoever. The other starter was onion bhaji and whilst nice did not have a lot of taste.
• The main was Tandoori mixed grill that comes with a seperate tandoori sauce. Last time I was here I ordered an extra portion of sauce. NOT this time. In fact I left 2 thirds of it.
• Chicken Karahi! Described as tender pieces of chicken. WHAT!!!!! You could hardly get your fork in. When you did try to cut it you did it with a struggle. the problem was that the chicken was bone dry.
• Portion of chips was inedible. Never touched one of them. They had obviously been reheated and I'm sure were going to be again for the next unsuspecting customer.

Now whilst we always praise good service, I feel that we have the right to say when things are not right. When the waiter asked the question I told him about the tandoori sauce being more like a thick soup. He assured me that it was a medium tandoori and when I asked him to taste it he just went on to contradict me. It did not even have the taste of curry.

His attitude was such that we did not complain about the starter or the Chicken Karahi as it would have made no difference. The meal cost 72 Euro. We left, didn't leave a tip and complained using our feet. We may try again one day hoping that the usual chef may have been having a night off. HOWEVER, when you make a VALID POLITE complaint the waiter should NOT wave it off as though you are somewhat crazy. He should take your complaint seriously. One final note: The table opposite had the same Tandoori mixed grill. He put a spoon full on his chicken only the once and left the rest, Having said that the mixed grill itself was excellent.

I would be interested if anyone else has had this type of problem and hope that the management takes note, as their reputation was built on word of mouth and can be easily lost just the same way.

I would have asked to speak with the manager. How can 'the management' take note if you don't advise them directly? I certainly would not have waited till the bill arrived before telling them. This place is great, it is the one recognised consistantly excellent  Indian restaurant in many miles.

Morerosado,

EXACTLY! That's why we have been so many times before, however unfortunately, not on this occasion.

As I explained, if it's alright to praise then it's also ok to critisise. I am glad that you personally have had good experiences when you have visited. So had we, however, this was OUR experience on this occasion and I appreciate your input but I will bring you to task, if I may, on one point you make: I too would not wait until I received the bill. I don't understand why you seem to think this is what I did, as I clearly stated that my complaint was in response to the waiter asking if everything was alright. This was whilst we were still eating the meal as I had asked him to taste it.

As for not complaining straight to the Manager so that he can take note, I am led to believe that the person in question was to do with the Management. That aside, my complaint was made to the first point of contact (The waiter/ possibly Manager). If he wasn't part of the Management, then instead of him contradicting me saying it was tandoori curry when, if it was, was clearly not to standard, he should have passed the complaint to the Management on my behalf. The Manager should have then approached us, he didn't! I am more disappointed with the lack of customer service than the standard of the meal. I accept that there's going to be times when meals are not 100% but there is no excuse for poor customer relations.

If the Manager had had a quiet word and apologised to us for our concern, and showed some regret for our experience  then I would not have posted this on the forum.

In my view, a waiter is not there to tell me I'm wrong, but is there to pass my complaint on. After all it was him who asked me if every thing was fine. If he didn't pass it on then there is a training issue. If he did the the Management is sadly lacking.

I really don't want to get into a long blogg and again will say that this was our experience on this occasion and will still  try  them again at some stage.

 We had a terrible indian meal in the copper pot (or something similar) in villa martin recently - the curry was like soup from a tin and disgusting - there was hardly any meat at all and the pieces were tiny. To make things worse - we had to wait for a hour to receive the food.

I told the owner how bad it was and told him it was the worst curry i have had in the last ten years (probably longer) but he didnt care - the attitude in spain is not like in the UK - there is no or little consumer protection so shopkeepers/restuarant owners etc dont care about your complaints.

best thing to do is tell everyone you know when you find a bad place and that might hurt their business.

Niceboy,

Sounds like the same curry they dished up for me, and you are right. However, with restaurants going to the wall they should all strive to give good customer service even without consumer protection.

 ** EDITED - Against forum rules **

I recently visited the Punjab Palace in Los Montesinos. Quite frankly the food was rubbish. I certainly wont be going there again.

I've just got back from the Punjabi Palace, and we had a fantastic meal. My husband's a stick in the mud, and he always has the Tandoori mixed grill. He said it was the best he'd tasted. There were eight of us and we were all more than satisfied with the food. We also had the onion bhajees for starters, and thoroughly enjoyed them.

We've only been a few times, but the friends we went with have been going there regularly for years, and have never had a complaint. Sounds like you may have caught them on the regular chef's day off, because they've won several awards in the Coastrider food and drink awards.