Vilasa Indian - Portishead

Wanted to love it. Food was really nice, warm lager, not very welcoming. Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: £30–40 Food: 4 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 2

1st time visit while on a stopover. Very impressed. Food was very well cooked and flavoursome. Meal type: Dinner Price per person: £20–30 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Recommended dishes: Poppadom, Tandoori Chicken, Chutney Tray, Naan

Seemed a bit poorly organised as we came in, our table wasn’t ready but we ate early so not sure why it wasn’t ready. Was impressed with the look of the menu, lots of allergen signage etc so you would know what’s in each meal (always important for us as one of us is vegan). We ordered our meals, I noticed the waiter hadn’t heard one of our party say her dish was to be vegan, so I made sure to say vegan when ordering the rice. We were then thoroughly scorned for not making it clear immediately when ordering that one of us was vegan (which we had but it was missed). The dish first ordered (which was marked vegan on the menu) had to be altered on the tablet which seemed a huge inconvenience, the atmosphere was awful I couldn’t believe we were told off in such a manner. Scorning us for not stating immediately that one of us is vegan seemed a complete juxtaposition to what then happened as they made two huge errors. First, the vegan special rice (marked vegan on the menu and requested and marked as vegan when ordering) was served with egg in. The vegan nearly said “don’t worry I won’t have any” and rather than insist on correcting anything the waiter seemed chuffed at not having to fuss about us and said “so all okay then?”, but I wasn’t happy after being scorned earlier so I insisted it was swapped. So they swapped it out, very quickly, but for an entirely different rice altogether that we didn’t really want. More worryingly, the vegan dish was cooked in ghee which has only become apparent later this evening after leaving the restaurant due to the vegan throwing up their entire meal. Note to the restaurant, ghee is a dairy product and not vegan! And while we’re here, egg also isn’t vegan. Why is the menu marked so well (with the exception of one of the chicken starters being marked vegan) but the dishes aren’t executed correctly? We were also served the wrong bottle of wine, which wasn’t an accident because the one we ordered was out of stock so they just served us something else without asking or telling us. When we noticed and asked for the wine menu, they then told us what happened, after we had poured it. Didn’t pour the wine either just left it unopened on the table for us to do, probably done on purpose to try and hide the fact it was the wrong bottle. Then on the bill charged us for the wine they’d run out of as well as the one we were given. Easy mistake to forget to remove it, but in front of the whole restaurant the waiters had a squabble at the bar about who got our bill wrong and another telling off. At least it wasn’t aimed at us that time. Pretty poor all around.

Visiting the area for a few days my husband and I decided to try this restaurant as we both enjoy Indian food. We were not disappointed. Staff were friendly and welcoming, we were seated quickly with drinks, poppadoms and chutney tray arriving soon after. Hub ordered a chicken karahi, me a chicken tikka sagwala and we shared a pilau rice and peshwari naan. The food arrived piping hot and was absolutely delicious. We both agreed our mains were perfectly cooked, rich in flavour and just the right amount of heat from the spices. The naan soft and squidgy. Portions were generous, I couldn't finish mine. We just had a soft drink each and the bill was very reasonable at just under £32. We will definitely be back to this restaurant next time we are in the area.

Great food and lots of vegan options. Ordered a takeaway with a range of curries and paratha. The food was delicious and delivery was quick. 5* Dietary restrictions: Great vegan options Service: Take out Meal type: Dinner Price per person: £20–30 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5