Shimla Pinks - Birmingham

Ashley (15 January 2007)

Having eaten at Glasgow's Shimla Pinks Indian Restaurant we thought it a fairly safe choice to guarantee a good Indian meal. (I've often thought the Indian Restaurants south of the border trailing behind in the quality and flavour stakes of those in Glasgow). The restaurant boasted a lovely reception lobby and the host was quick to take drinks orders and let us see the extensive but shabbily presented menu. The entrance lobby is concealing a tardis like restaurant with a buzzing atmosphere but unfortunately we were seated in one of the horrendous pink marshmallow booths. The high back of the booth meant that the waiters and waitresses, rather annoyingly, had to peer, on tip toes, over the back to see if we required drinks or if the courses were finished. The orientation of the booth also meant that every time the front door was opened a cold draught swept into our booth and not only chilled us but our food too.

The starters were a success, if a bit pricey but enticed by the exotic descriptions in the menu and looking forward to the types of fresh ingredients, flavour combinations and aromatic dishes we've had in Glasgow's Shimla Pinks we chose a different dish each.

Perhaps we should have stuck with the safe option of Chicken Tikka but both my husband and I were thoroughly disappointed with our meals. The smell of burnt butter overwhelmed me as the meals arrived and perhaps this is the reason this meal was so disappointing. Despite having chosen meals with completely different descriptions both tasted the same - bland, bitter and like a badly prepared supermarket bought sauce. On the up side, the naan bread was light and fluffy - perfect.

I notice the restaurants website for the restaurant boasts about its recent refurbishment. Whilst the wavy pink, ceiling detail is not to my taste and the marshmallow booths don't work in a restaurant environment (and certainly not the one I was sitting in) I think this restaurant could, in every category, take some tips from the Glasgow restaurant.

For the number of staff working there and the amount of peering over into our booth that was carried out throughout the course of the night, no-one asked how our meal was. I found this odd. Customer service was obviously not top of the agenda either - or perhaps they knew about the food. Whatever the reason, I suspect topping off the expensive meal with a 10% service charge precludes the need to ask!

People coming to the self proclaimed curry city, especially from Glasgow expect better frankly!

John (18 February 2004)

Once upon a time, this was a restaurant worth a trip, never mind a visit. Sadly, on recent evidence, those days are gone. Last time, our group waited interminably for food which could best be described as mundane. The decor is attractive, as are most of the waitresses and waiters. However, it is unlikely you will be eating one of them. Instead, it is the uninspiring food dished up by the over-stretched kitchen. Perhaps the place has become too big because, if you like the personal touch, this is not for you.