Spice Cottage - Dublin

Never again over priced for tiny portions and food wasnt even nice gone downhill rapid wont be ordering again

I have ordered from spice cottage before and have been reasonably satisfied, largely because I would stick to the same basic reliable dishes I knew i could depend on. However on this occasion I decided to branch out, take a risk, and try something different. So I decided to try there BUTTER MURGH with the hopes that it would be nice, but before I ordered this dish, I specifically asked the girl taking the order, if the sauce in this dish was different from the rest, or was it more or less the same as the chicken tikka masala sauce with a few things added, and she assured me that it wasn't, it was a completely separate dish, so I said apprehensively alright ill order that then. (Side Note) its not that I don't like Chicken Tikka Masala, but I would usually only order it when I know its expertly prepared, in most cases it isn't, so I generally avoid it, otherwise its just like eating cream of tomato soup out of a can with some chicken thrown in. also chicken tikka masala isn't even an authentic Indian dish, its a BIR dish developed for the western pallet. leaving that aside my order was ready, I brought it home and to my disappointment the dish was disgusting as feared it looked and tasted just like the tomato soup with a sprinkle of methi leaves thrown in, no nuances no subtleties just a horrible twangy taste. needles to say it ended up in the bin! never again.

I would like to leave a note to say that the signature dish chicken tikka masala with coriander nanbread and traditional Indian pilaue rice was Incredible!!! The best I have ever had... And i must say , All the Staff doing their best in this Challenging time and Following covid protocols in place with such grace... And they are succeeding.

I have ordered from Spice Cottage many times before. While their food is good, my recent experiences with them have been so poor that I am compelled to write this review. The last couple of times I have ordered, I have found them highly inflexible but still had continued to support them due to their local presence. However, the final straw occurred when ordering a €55+ take-away on Sat, 1-Aug-2020. I wanted to substitute a plain naan with a garlic naan and pay the difference between these 2 items. I was told that it couldn 't be done because the plain naan was the only option that came with the meal. In the end, they said they would substitute it as a good will offer for a separate extra charge that was over and above price difference. I queried the unfairness of the practice with the manager who said he was not allowed to deviate due to strict instructions. I could not understand their lack of flexibility, their arrogance and disinterest in making a simple swap, despite not being out of pocket, and above all, thinking it was good will to charge an unfair price. The manager sounded like he was not allowed the authority to accept any changes and as he described was under very strict instructions from the owner(s). In fact, he seemed relieved that we didn 't place the order for fear of repercussions, if there was a change. This, to me, reflects very poorly on the owner(s) of the business and the ethos of how Irish-owned small businesses operate throughout the country in engaging with customers and being conscious of customer experiences. While the quality of their food may be good, my 1-star rating is due to their lack of flexibility and disinterest in providing a decent customer experience. Lots for the management to learn from other restaurants and take-aways from a service and customer service perspective.

I got a takeaway from this company.. As a vegetarian I ordered one main, 3 sides, rice chips for 3 of us. Sambhar veg- awful no flavour at all- none of us ate it Chana masala- no flavour Aloo ghobhi- not the worst but again no major flavour Sag Aloo- nice enough Everything apart from the Sag Aloo had flavour. Nothing had a spice kick to it. Very disappointed, raised in Birmingham so ate my fair share of decent curries. Ate my fair share of decent curries in Dublin in the last 12 yrs also. I’ve never left a negative review because sometimes I think it’s circumstances and personal taste but this was a genuine no for us.