Bristol’s Not So Best Restaurants

[Maesknoll Red]

As interesting and useful as the best restaurant thread is, is there a place for a thread that covers not so glowing reviews.

For probably 40 years I have occasionally been to the Raj in King St. and always found it OK, haven’t been for several years.  

Had a colleague down from London the last couple of days and we had a few beers in the Cornubia (great pub), then round to King St, Old Duke and we wanted to round off with a curry.  Went down the stairs to the Raj and should probably have realised, it’s quite looking quite tired now and could do with a bit of a refurb.  The menus were not plastic coated or in a folder, so they were a bit worn and didn’t present a great impression.

The food on offer was pretty bog standard Bangladeshi ‘Indian’ restaurant menu and whilst my mate thought his was OK, mine was just sharp with heat, rather than a nice spicing (and I like it pretty hot, but hot with flavour, not just heaped with chilli powder).  I won’t be rushing back.

No draught beer either, so bottled Kingfisher was the main option.  I will say, it was cheap, so maybe that’s it’s market now?

[Barrs Court Red]

9 hours ago, Maesknoll Red said:

As interesting and useful as the best restaurant thread is, is there a place for a thread that covers not so glowing reviews.

For probably 40 years I have occasionally been to the Raj in King St. and always found it OK, haven’t been for several years.  

Had a colleague down from London the last couple of days and we had a few beers in the Cornubia (great pub), then round to King St, Old Duke and we wanted to round off with a curry.  Went down the stairs to the Raj and should probably have realised, it’s quite looking quite tired now and could do with a bit of a refurb.  The menus were not plastic coated or in a folder, so they were a bit worn and didn’t present a great impression.

The food on offer was pretty bog standard Bangladeshi ‘Indian’ restaurant menu and whilst my mate thought his was OK, mine was just sharp with heat, rather than a nice spicing (and I like it pretty hot, but hot with flavour, not just heaped with chilli powder).  I won’t be rushing back.

No draught beer either, so bottled Kingfisher was the main option.  I will say, it was cheap, so maybe that’s it’s market now?

I think food quality has gone down across the board for sometime now, especially in chains, which having young kids are places in generally limited to. 

[CyderInACan]

10 hours ago, Maesknoll Red said:

As interesting and useful as the best restaurant thread is, is there a place for a thread that covers not so glowing reviews.

For probably 40 years I have occasionally been to the Raj in King St. and always found it OK, haven’t been for several years.  

Had a colleague down from London the last couple of days and we had a few beers in the Cornubia (great pub), then round to King St, Old Duke and we wanted to round off with a curry.  Went down the stairs to the Raj and should probably have realised, it’s quite looking quite tired now and could do with a bit of a refurb.  The menus were not plastic coated or in a folder, so they were a bit worn and didn’t present a great impression.

The food on offer was pretty bog standard Bangladeshi ‘Indian’ restaurant menu and whilst my mate thought his was OK, mine was just sharp with heat, rather than a nice spicing (and I like it pretty hot, but hot with flavour, not just heaped with chilli powder).  I won’t be rushing back.

No draught beer either, so bottled Kingfisher was the main option.  I will say, it was cheap, so maybe that’s it’s market now?

that's a shame as the Raj used to be excellent - but I am talking like mid-90's! 

[Red-Robbo]

I've noticed a decline in its offer as well. It has the advantage of being central and getting quick service, as an Indian restaurant? Meh.

[joe jordans teeth]

On 26/08/2022 at 07:45, Barrs Court Red said:

I think food quality has gone down across the board for sometime now, especially in chains, which having young kids are places in generally limited to. 

It’s all about where your restaurant is nowadays when it comes to making money and not the quality of food,salt and malt for example is owned by a Michelin star bloke and yet the food is bloody awful but being in a prime spot will continue to make money 

[CyderInACan]

1 hour ago, joe jordans teeth said:

It’s all about where your restaurant is nowadays when it comes to making money and not the quality of food,salt and malt for example is owned by a Michelin star bloke and yet the food is bloody awful but being in a prime spot will continue to make money 

Woooah. I wouldn’t say that Salt n’ Malt is awful? Which one did you go to?

[Slippin cider]

Salt n Malt at Cargo is very nice indeed.

[54-46]

Knew the Raj was going downhill when I went in there and Wael from the Gas was in there one evening. 

Good to see a gazillionaire keeping it real though I guess. 

[Bristol Rob]

Went to Pho on either Corn Street or Clare Street last night.

Absolute dog-shit.

Somehow they got the drinks wrong, then two or the three mains weren't what were ordered, and when they did manage to correct the order there was no more than about 3cms of chicken in my broth.

And to cap it, they then tried to charge us extra for them adding the missing parts of the ordered dishes, even though the printed receipt showed what we had originally requested.

Avoid.

[Slippin cider]

10 hours ago, Bristol Rob said:

Went to Pho on either Corn Street or Clare Street last night.

Absolute dog-shit.

Somehow they got the drinks wrong, then two or the three mains weren't what were ordered, and when they did manage to correct the order there was no more than about 3cms of chicken in my broth.

And to cap it, they then tried to charge us extra for them adding the missing parts of the ordered dishes, even though the printed receipt showed what we had originally requested.

Avoid.

Shocking! ….when are these places going to learn that people just won’t put up with shit food and service! …makes me so angry….the secret to huge success is to do things properly using great ingredients and having great customer service….simple really but places get it wrong time and time again . 

[Offside]

As an aside, one thing that drives me mad is when after a meal the waiters/waitresses seem to disappear and it often takes ages to get the bill. I understand that their priority is to sort out orders from people who are about to eat, but it really irks me. 

[Red DNA]

14 hours ago, Offside said:

As an aside, one thing that drives me mad is when after a meal the waiters/waitresses seem to disappear and it often takes ages to get the bill. I understand that their priority is to sort out orders from people who are about to eat, but it really irks me. 

Another thing many many eating places could do which would make me feel more welcome is, after taking full plates of food to a table - don’t just walk back empty handed!
Invariably there are usually empty glasses if not plates on other tables that need collecting and returning back for washing. Why walk back empty handed, it needs to be collected sometime?