Duchessofdelhi Reviews 3

Hugely over priced average food. Staff have a real attitude which seems to stem from the female owner who is very rude and abrupt.
will not be going there again.

Absolutely loved the food at Duchess Of Delhi. Staff are really friendly and the restaurant has a calm atmosphere. I was really pleased also to see hand gel, and screens in place. Will be back soon!

A totally unpleasant and unruly place purportedly run by a woman of the meanest demeanour and cruellest attitude to even children- Duchess of Delhi happens to be the most dreaded memory haunting my family today. It was just out of our luck and God's blessing that our girl child narrowly escaped from a possible collapse due to an episode took place in this restaurant yesterday.
My 9 member family, comprising 5 adults (including our 75 year old mom) and 4 children (5-13 years old), were hungry at around 3 pm after a long day of Cardiff visit yesterday (31 August 2020). After walking around the Millennium Centre, we just happened to see the signage of "Duchess of Delhi" restaurant bragging to be a five star Indian restaurant. It was one of the family members' birthday too so we decided to eat from a good Indian restaurant.
While waiting outside (on the roadside) to be called in, we saw a menu exhibited outside just below their "EAT OUT; HELP OUT" poster, so prepared a list of what we wanted to order. After around 15 minutes of waiting, they called us in saying they had arranged a table for us
Another 15 minutes was spent at the table for someone to come and take our order. Later a woman (who looked totally unprofessional in her looks and manners, with no dress code for a restaurant staff and wearing no PPE) walked up to my sister and asked her in a very impolite and loud voice about what we wanted to eat. My sister showed her the list, which we had already prepared by looking at the menu exhibited at their gate, and looking at the list the woman started arguing with us. She asked, " Oho! You already have come with a list of items you wanted us to serve to you?! We are not running this restaurant to cater to what you ask us to serve. We have our own menu". This she said even before realising that the items we wished to eat were simply being copied from their own menu!!!
Then, when she realised her mistake she started telling us that if we wanted them to serve any food, every adult in our group must order a main course. We were 5 adults, so at least five main courses! In fact our plan was to eat sumptuously esp the day being the birthday of my brother and it was also "Onam", a harvest festival of India.
But unfortunately the woman was quite impatient and hurried us to place the main course order for five immediately. We were all felt very bad about this woman's impatience and rude behaviour.
My niece had already taken a dose of Insulin expecting to eat food within a few minutes. I had mentioned about this and its consequences to the staff member who talked to us in the first place, even before ordering any meal
The empathetic owner's arguments went on for a few minutes. Being a qualified Food Inspector and experienced Government official, I sat there quiet until the owner told my sister that if we didn't want to order five main courses quickly, we must get out from her restaurant immediately. Thinking about the seriousness of my niece's situation and on a very polite and decent tone I asked her what they meant by their exclusive rule of taking orders only with main courses. Instead of clarifying my question, she became angry and showed me way out. We said we would leave the premises without getting their clarification in this matter. Then she started shouting at us, and our children became panicked. The owner of the restaurant threatened us and pretended to be calling police on phone. Considering other customer's convenience, we waited outside the restaurant as we were expecting the police. No police came for 15 minutes. By that time my niece started symptoms of fainting because of lack of glucose in her blood (due to insulin activation from the pump) and we gave her glucoside and ice-cream immediately to save her life. The 13 year old child had a narrow escape from the shock. All this because of the restaurant owner's merciless behaviour and greed to make money even by putting her customers in trouble.
Later, one local gentleman told us that this restaurant was already infamous for its dealings with its clients. There were many health and safety incidents reported by customers. Tourists do not waste their time registering complaints against every restaurant they eat on the way. They are not going to eat from there frequently. Local residents do not eat from here. The restaurant has served food with dead flies and there are many instances the staff have thrown the dishes on the table while serving.