Haweli Egham - Runnymede

We were sadly disappointed with our dining experience here . The service was slow and items ordered were not delivered. Unfortunately the sauces on both our main dishes were incredibly sweet rendering them inedible. I had to pick the chicken out , wipe the sauce off before eating. The vegetable sides were better . There are no deserts . On a positive note, the naan bread was tasty, and the tarka Dahl was delicious.

Had arranged with some friends to go out for a curry and after reading reviews on various curry houses in the area we decided to try out the Haweli. Reviews didn’t look bad and we thought let’s give it a go. We are all curry lovers and enjoy a good authentic Indian curry. On arrival we were greeted and seated straight away. On first impression the tables were dressed lovely and then the waiter came to take our orders. Our orders were taken and our starters and mains all arrived in a timely manner too. The presentation of the food was good and the food itself was ok. I wouldn’t say it was the the best curry I’ve ever had, it didn’t have that wow factor for me! The waiter that was serving us didn’t appear that friendly and was a bit slap dash. On visiting the toilets which were located off the restaurant, I found that the floors in the restaurant itself appeared dirty and sticky. The windows were dirty and the mirrors in the restaurant were all smeared. The toilets itself were in a poor state. The bins were overflowing with toilet roll and the floors in the toilet itself were also filthy. After visiting the toilets and from the whole experience there, I will not be returning to this restaurant, which is a shame as Egham is lacking a good authentic Indian restaurant and I thought the Haweli could have been the one!! But unfortunately it’s not for me! The sad fact is that this restaurant has been newly refurbished, but you would not think so, as it’s been let down by the cleanliness. You would have thought that they would taken pride in it’s appearance. It’s the small things like, clean toilets, mirrors should be shining not with steaks all over them. Even the cutlery itself was dirty. My cutlery was all sticky!! In my view if the restaurant itself is dirty then the kitchen must be in a poor state too. This was a very disappointing experience!!!

Its a shame because the actual food has always been really good but theres just always something that ruins the meal. 1st visit was back in December and at first it was quiet and the waitress was great and we ordered quickly. There were a good 7 waiters that night and by 8:30 they were nowhere to be seen as they all disappear into the shisha room at the back. All 3 tables on our side of the restaurant had to go an find someone for the bill after waiting for a good 20 mins until giving up. When we got the bill we have been charged twice for a starter and instead of being given the house wine at 15£ we had been given a 22£ bottle. I went to find someone to complain but again nobody was to be found and we had to leave so had to pay the whole bill which was unbelievable. Called the next day to complain and nobody answered on multiple attempts so we are still owed 12 pounds but theres no proof as to what happened now so will never see the money. Avoided since as was annoyed but tried again for a takeaway tonight. Asked for 2 pots of raita as they are usually small but when i got home saw there were 2 huge pots so thought oo result...only to open them to find it was just plain yoghurt, no cucumber or onion or anything (as described on menu). Its just a joke just say you dont have any raita instead of pretending you do and still charging customers for it. Sort out your management and staff!

My first visit was yesterday evening, the place was (surprisingly) not as busy as I had expected. The service was very good for almost all of the evening. Food was great, some dishes I'd not seen before which was nice, The veg curry with the biryani was a little too hot for me but I could see the staff being highly accommodating with other customers so next time I'll ask them to tone it down for me. Very nice linens, cutlery and crockery. It was a great dining experience. Sorry to end the run of 5* but a restaurant needs to be VERY special for me to use all five.

The food...my God the food was exquisite. A celebration of taste. Certainly the best Indian I have had in years. The staff were engaging and courteous. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates fine dining.