Benares

DISAPOINTING! Service was terrible! Food was terrible! I would have paid £30 for the entire meal which actually cost £135! Nibbles were small packet poppadums with the worst home made sauces. To start, greasy fried soft shell crab which you cut into and fat oozes out along with the balck insides of the crab. A spring roll that tastes only of lemongrass, Main, Chicken Biriyani that was actually a chicken breast, hard boiled egg and some tastesless sauce. Surely they couldnt have got our non acoholic cocktail wrong! The mixed tropical fruit mocktail turned out to be carton mango juice with a passionfruit cut on top. DO NOT GO HERE. Awful!

Surprised at the reviews here. I visited in April 2012 on a Friday, bringing a Norwegian friend who really doesn't get this sort of thing back home and it was excellent. At least as good as the three times I have been in previous years. Clearly though, judging by the other comments on here, it is having good days and bad days at the moment.

truly ridculus, went with my family, about 8 of us, service was good however the food was very very very poor, for the price we paid, and for the bill we got it was extremely poor, drinks were diluted with ice filled to the brink, food was in the smallest of portions, to be honest the portions we recieved i doubt theyd even fill a hamster. would i ever go there again? NO. ive been to many restaurants in and around london, but Banares truly took the..

We were there in December 2011, but I got onto this website because I am looking for a good Indian restaurant, again. It will NOT be Benares, never again. The Time Out review is spot on except for the too generous star rating. Surely real Indian food lovers cannot take Benares seriously! The plywood walls are cheap and hideous, the Christmas decorations were shoddy and dried out, but those types of things one only criticizes if all else goes wrong. Which it did. The waiter did not know what dry sherry is and brought me half a pint of sickly looking dark stuff which I never touched. Our starter came almost immediately and the wine did not - in fact it arrived after the main course was served. During the death throes of a really inedible starter (I had vegetarian, my husband some unidentifyable dry meat) two glasses of champagne were put on the table as apology for the elusive bottle of wine. Pity that we did not feel like champage, we had ordered a bottle of full bodied red. I remember the main course had some nice bits in it, but by then the wrong bottle of wine had been served and my husband was mad and the atmosphere beyond hope. We tried to ask for the cheque but it took so long that we, as did the couple next to us, got up to leave to catch the attention. We then went back to our hotel nearby and told the concierge that we'd forgive him on the condition he remove Benares from his book. And made for the hotel bar where we had delicious Cumberland sausages with bubble and squeak.

Our experience of the Benares left us very disappointed. The food was bland, the service ok and the atmosphere stiff. And those toilets still need attention. I was also rather irked to find a charity donation had been put on the bill attracting 12.5% service charge and 20% VAT.

Warmly welcomed when we arrived and we went up to the bar for cocktails, friendly staff took us to our table and we had a fantastic meal, with paired wines chosen by a very pleasant and helpful sommelier. Lovely setting, in the restaurant. The food is not typical indian food, but there are so many reviews of this fantastic place that anyone booking MUST be aware that they are not booking a bog standard meal. The food is subtely flavoured , if you want heat, go to a local take away!!!!!

My husband and I booked a table at this restaurant on Friday and had looked forward to it as this would be the fourth time in as many years we have dined there. Travelling from Manchester means it usually is for a special occasion. So disappointed! What has happened to this place? The service dreadful, the food nothing like as good as it had been on our previous visits. It really isn't a michelin star standard restaurant anymore. We have eaten in some very good restaurants and Benares had been a favourite. Not any more. Even the ambience lacked the usual vibrancy, the toilet area also needed some attention, which is enough to put any diner off. We won't be going back there any time soon.

Heard alot about this restaurant so decided to book a table. On arriving, we were told by the lady at the receiption that our table had been cancelled "by someone in our party" - which was totally not the case. After sorting this out she asked us to follow her, and led us up stairs. She then left and walked off and didn't ask if we wanted to wait in the bar area - so we patiently stood at the top of the stairs...for 15mins! Awful service. Eventually we were taken to our table. The setting was ok but nothing special. We ordered the food and was completely disappointed. I've eaten at many indian restaurants and this has got to be the worst (this is no exaggeration!). There was simply no taste or flavour to the food - far from being called "indian". How this restaurant has a Michelin star is a real mystery. This may have been a good restaurant in the past, but certainly not now. Avoid this place if you want good indian food.