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Reviews for Symonds Indian Restaurant & Takeaways

by Steve W.
22nd May 2013

Me and my partner went to use our deal voucher there and were worried that we wouldn’t be treated well because we were using a voucher… OMG, I couldn’t believe it, that was probably the best service I have ever had in Auckland.. and the food? OMG, the food was beyond amazing.
Next time I’m in the city, that’s my dinner planned.
LUV IT

by Deborah
5th May 2013

A group of four, we tried Symonds Indian for the first time last night using “all you can eat” vouchers. From the moment we walked in we were warmly welcomed, met with a smile and offered our choice of table. We were very impressed with the vegetarian range (3 of us ‘vegies’) and thoroughly enjoyed the dishes we ordered-all very tasty with lots of flavour. The other member of our party had the Prawn Masala which was excellent also. We loved the cheese and garlic naan and the rice was divine. Our hosts were very friendly and helpful and the restaurant was clean and fresh (the toilet facilities were of a high standard also). We had a 10/10 dining experience-we will be back to enjoy again and highly recommend to all. Thank you for your hospitality, excellent service and delicious food!

by Courtenay W.
26th April 2013

It’s hard to fault Symonds Indian. They’re always incredibly polite and efficient and the food is always fresh and delicious. Definitely a new favourite!

by Amy H.
11th April 2013

Symonds Indian is our absolute favourite, we regularly drive into the city to savour the amazing dishes made by Arun and his team. The dishes have a real difference to them, even the rice is like no other we have tried. This is our favourite Indian Restaurant by far and we highly recommend their food and friendly service. Thanks for another amazing meal we look forward to our next.

by Jaime Y.
15th March 2013

I went to Symonds Indian for dinner on Saturday 9 March 2013 with a friend, and we used a voucher for all you can eat curries for two people with rice and a naan bread each. Between the two of us we tried the butter prawns, chicken kholapuri and a huge portion of mixed seafood curry with rice (I forget the name). The naans were fresh and hot, and the curries were delicious. The waiter was most helpful with his suggestions and all other staff were friendly and smiley. We had a lovely leisurely dinner and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. I would definitely recommend this place to others.

by Sharleen
15th February 2013

Being Indian myself, I was not a fan of eating out at Indian Restaurants (we eat it at home!). I had tried a certain franchise that shall not be named before and it was not great at all. I gave Symond’s Indian a shot and I’m glad I did! Their curries are delicious and full of flavour, with my personal favourites being the Lamb Nawabi and Palak Aloo. Along with friendly and helpful staff, this place is definitely my favourite hands down! Highly recommended

by Adam E.
14th February 2013

My first meal from Symonds Indian was not fantastic unfortunately. I decided to go get dinner there as a number of staff I work with had done so and it looked & smelt delicious while they were eating it in the lunch room. I phoned my order in (butter chicken & naan) and requested it to be medium to hot as butter chicken is usually very mild however when I got back to my office I discovered that the Butter Chicken was as mild as the curry from the local shopping mall. I called back to give my feedback and was advised that as a first time customer they don’t know how hot I like it which defeats the purpose of me asking it to me medium to hot, he also disputed the fact that it tasted like it was from a mall (in terms of spice). I was also told that they usually offer chilli packets when customers want it spicy but this wasn’t offered to me. Lastly, when I got back to my office which is literally 2 minutes away from Symonds Indian the curry was stone cold.
Not the best first impression, I recommend ensuring that they understand you would like your food spicy if you do!

Comment from Arun K. of Symonds Indian Restaurant & Takeaways 15/02/2013    Hide »

Adam, obviously you are a connoisseur of curry where your taste…    More »

Adam, obviously you are a connoisseur of curry where your taste buds have surpassed normal people who request for spice. When stating you want a curry Medium to Hot it contradicts if you want it medium…or….hot. Any restaurant would prefer to safeguard its self. If it was too hot it would be unbearable to eat. Safe option would be to make it Medium so at least if you wanted it hotter after understanding the spice levels of a restaurant you could move up in spice. By your comment, you also know Butter Chicken is a very mild curry and no matter how much chili you put in a creamy curry, the creamy texture will always prevail otherwise too much chili would only be a chili taste instead of flavour. Also mentioned was that the curry tasted like it was from a mall; off course that would be disputed when your curry was cooked freshly and waited for your arrival as you placed a phone order as you were at work. Your colleagues have possibly ordered from the restaurant in the past however we have not received complaints from them about being stone cold; as you would have travelled the same distance. We respect your review and honesty. For our restaurant’s reputation as this is our bread and butter there will always two side of any story and i hope you take in consideration our reply. We value our customers and also when you mentioned your colleagues name specifically we gave you a discount over the original price so you know for a fact we were willing to take care of your needs. We cant hold your opinions against you however we feel this is a fair response to your review.

by bonsai
26th December 2012

Perhaps it was a bad day, but my first meal at Symonds Indian did not make me want to try again. We ordered takeaways – two vegetarian curries – and both were almost tasteless. For the first time in my life I have had to add chilli to Indian food to give it something – ANYTHING – resembling flavour. Disappointing.

Edited to add: Thanks Arun for responding. We always order Medium or Hot, so it wasn’t the lack of heat that was a problem, rather the lack of flavour. But we have had several friends recommend your restaurant so we will try again and I would be more than happy to update the review.

Comment from Arun K. of Symonds Indian Restaurant & Takeaways 27/12/2012    Hide »

Our apologies that you found that our curries were mild. However,…    More »

Our apologies that you found that our curries were mild. However, 80 percent of our curries get prepared mild unless specified by a customer who wants the spice to be medium, hot or extra hot. A Korma will never be prepared as a hot curry as it’s known to be a a mild curry and a vindaloo will not be mild curry as its known to be prepared as spicy curry. As every customer has different taste buds its easily solved by requesting any staff member at any restaurant what may suit their pallet. Probably a miss communication as the one’s who request a spicy curry usually gets given our hot chilly sauce if they wanted to spice it up more (Free of charge). Apologies that you had to leave a negative review online instead of contacting us directly. We’re just a usual Family (Owned and operated) business that tries to satisfy their customer’s the traditional way since 1998 (Same recipes same flavours different pallets can also be catered for).

by Jonjon
17th December 2012

I talked with the manager, and he was a very nice guy and took his time to explain to me his life and cuisine.

I was told that he takes cooking quite seriously and doesn’t do mediocre curry and he was right,

The curries here you can actually see the difference spices used and vegetables in the sauce, rather than it being just a plain sauce like all other curry places

The rice is also done just right so it was fluffy and light.

Yeah it’s a very nice place to visit, I came with a voucher and ordered vegetarian stuffs

by Kim
26th October 2012

So glad to have found the famous ARUN again, we had many a beautiful meal when he was in Orewa – and the food and service was as great as it always was! Fantastic curries, naans, and the friendliest service you could want.

by Ajay V.
19th October 2012

This is the BEST little Indian restaurants in town. The food is extremely tasty and always reliably so. The service and friendliness of the owners makes you fell so at home and relaxed.
You can get all your normal Indian regular curry’s, but the thing that sets this place apart from others is that they have these oddball left field dishes that other places don’t have – Ginger Paneer(or chicken) is my favourite – so much flavour. But essentially everything is good here!
Support these good people, and they;ll reward you with the best Indian you have ever tasted! Honest injun!
try it….

by Andy K.
3rd October 2012

Without a doubt the best Indian food I have ever found. It is always consistent, the service is outstanding and it is priced very fairly.

I would highly recommend to anyone who loves Indian food!!!

by Daniel P.
16th September 2012

As always it was an amazing meal,had butter chicken and the special curry with the cheese and garlic naans which are the best!!definately the place to enjoy a great curry.Thanks Arun

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