Akmal's Tandoori Bistro in Leeds

Really great Indian, very friendly staff and the food is amazing. What's not to like.

good spot and we have and will come back again!! rice portion sizes are lacking slightly, not really enough to share between two people we ordered 2 naans (one garlic one plain) but it was unfortunalty missed and we just got 2 plains which was a shame. it also took us an hour from arriving to get our food but lovely atmostoherr not many pieces of potato in the potato and spinach vindaloo, :(

The food was so good! We were sick of bland British food and the food here tasted like elixir! It was flavorful but not hot. The host is kind and warm, and the music is better than we hear even in India!

Brilliant curry, lamb madras was great

great curry for a reasonable price - can’t go wrong

Extremely difficult to find. I was dropping somebody off . After ringing the the restaurant for directions I was told to turn left at the bus stop after the Library pub. I ended up driving along a footpath. It was a Saturday evening the students were all out doing the Otley run. Won’t drive again to reach the place .

Tasty food in a friendly atmosphere with a welcoming team. Great evening had, we'll be back.

The Don himself, Mr Akmal, has been entertaining me and my friends in Hyde Park for over 6 years! We always go here for a good time, good food and his characterful and unique approach to customer service.... Akmals says it how it is, and we love him for it Shout out to the Hot Makani - always a great dish, and the dips with the poppadoms and the naan breads are great! Also its BYOB with a very reasonable corkage charge - so great for large groups We love you Akmal, thanks for the memories

Great service and amazing food, good luck if you order the hottest curry.....

Akmal is the goat and his curries are fireeee. Best lamb Bhuna I've had in years. 10/10 spot.

Probably hands down the best place in Leeds if you're craving Indian, even though the tastes differ from the actual Indian food you get, but the speed at which they give you food is amazing!

Fantastic visit to this most authentic restaurant. The garlic naans were the best I've tasted for a long time. Try the chicken makhani, wow. Will definitely be back, the staff were very helpful in getting the desired order to our satisfaction. Thank you guys.

We often come to Akmals for birthday parties and social gatherings. We came on Saturday night for a birthday celebration as a group of 12 people. When we arrived there was a very large and noisy group already in the restaurant. After being seated, the staff made an announcement to the large group to stop banging, shouting and singing loudly so that they could serve their food, no notice was taken. The staff started serving but no one was able to determine what they had ordered as most of them were drunk, the staff kept walking around with the orders but this seemed useless. The staff continued to ask the group to sit down and behave but again this was wasted on them. We noticed that eventually the staff approached some people from the group to control their members as they could not accept the drunken aggressive attitude. This group then assisted the staff in distributing the orders as much as was possible given the deteriorating condition of their colleagues. The more the group drank the worse the situation became, at one point some of the louts when walking past our table resulted in one of them collapsing on a member of our group. As the situation worsened members of the group began to spill alcohol and food onto the floor and tables. The toilets had become unusable due to the vomiting. Eventually the group left. Leaving behind a disgraceful and disgusting mess. Once outside they began to brawl amongst themselves, and more vomiting. We have never witnessed such loutish and abusive behaviour, the staff and management under such circumstances deserve to be commended in the calmness which they showed throughout the evening. The review written by one of the louts is an absolute disgrace, we understood from one of them that they were a mixed group of 70+ students who had come to Leeds for a drunken weekend, we rest our case. If we had not been at the restaurant at the same time as these louts then we suppose anyone reading the review would conclude that it was factual. Utter trash. Akmals, again you have as always done, passed the test of great service and great food. Don’t let louts spoil the reputation. Top guys.

Visited a few weekends ago, the place was fully booked. We assumed that we would get a table for seven - thought wrong. It was my 12 year old's birthday. The staff realising this, approached some other customers, and asked if they could perhaps move to a smaller table to accommodate our party on their table, they obliged thankfully. To round off a brilliant meal, the staff brought out a birthday cake for my 12 year old and got the whole restaurant to sing happy birthday, he loved it. Thanks everyone at Akmals.

Horrible experience !! Do not go here if you expect even bare minimum service and respect. We booked out the restaurant for a party of 80 people. They almost doubled our deposit last minute because we added 10 people. Harassed and would call me if i didn’t reply fast enough, which is ridiculously inappropriate. They were rude, refused to help set up the tables in groups for us, we had to go 30 mins early to do it all ourselves! Refused to SERVE PEOPLE. We were made to hand out all 80 plates OURSELVES because they wouldn’t do it themselves, even though we had sent them everyone + their orders. There is no restaurant where the customer should act as the wait staff - We are PAYING for a service. Kicked out with near to no notice, disrespected us and yelled and SWORE AT US and made the two young girl organisers CRY!! Genuinely i am APPALLED by what happened. Hopefully they realise they ruined our night, they didn’t even have the grace to apologise. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone

Horrible experience !! Do not go here if you expect even bare minimum service and respect. We booked out the restaurant for a party of 80 people. They almost doubled our deposit last minute because we added 10 people. Harassed and would call me if i didn’t reply fast enough, which is ridiculously inappropriate. They were rude, refused to help set up the tables in groups for us, we had to go 30 mins early to do it all ourselves! Refused to SERVE PEOPLE. We were made to hand out all 80 plates OURSELVES because they wouldn’t do it themselves, even though we had sent them everyone + their orders. There is no restaurant where the customer should act as the wait staff - We are PAYING for a service. Kicked out with near to no notice, disrespected us and yelled and SWORE AT US and made the two young girl organisers CRY!! Genuinely i am APPALLED by what happened. Hopefully they realise they ruined our night, they didn’t even have the grace to apologise. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone

Nice original Indian food surely to give it a try. First of all the owner (or the boss I don’t know) was a bit rude at the beginning because it was only three of us and we were waiting for the rest and he came to us asking very not nicely where the rest was and insisting in that we should find out and hurry them up, which is something I’ve never seen doing anywhere anytime in my life. So not a great start. But then after we ordered and food came he turned actually very nice and friendly so probably was just not a good moment of his. Food is very tasty and there are very rich sauces. I didn’t have very high expectations but to be honest I’ve been surprised so it’s worth giving it a try. The reason why I’m also not giving a 4th star is that no matter the group size you shall pay in cash and as a whole, which is of course extremely inconvenient for groups of friends or similar. This is quite a discomfort , especially given that nowadays cash is less and less used. And it may also be likely that this fact would turn off people from coming here and look for another Indian place, which would be a pity because the food I believe is worth trying.

The best curry experience iv had in Leeds.

3rd visit and the host has been brilliant every time! Food is great, byob what more could you want!

Great place and funny people working there! Unfortunately you can mainly pay with cash!

Great food, even better company from the staff, you couldn't ask for a better host!

Honestly have a look at all the reviews under Terrible, Poor and Average as they sum up how bad this place is. I honestly don’t believe the other reviews as this place is terrible. Best to go to other, much better Indian Restaurants in Leeds.

First time visited with family, absolutely delighted with the care and attention provided by the staff. The food was amazing, the starters presented on the sizzlers were fabulous, would really recommend the karahi main courses, the garlic naans best ever tasted. BYO option was available which makes it even more superior. Without doubt best in Leeds. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Food was great but damn it took a while! Saturday evening, restaurant was only half full and it took more than an hour to get our food. Plus it's extremely loud in there, terrible isolation and that was when it was only half full...

Yet again a great meal at this quirky restaurant in Hyde Park. I had a fish tikka which was sooo tasty and delicious. Other party members had Kofta masala and Tarka daal and we were all very happy with our food. The service was really good and the staff were attentive when we wanted them. Highly recommend!

Popped in whilst on the Otley Run, large airy restaurant lots of natural light. Ok selection of beers, food excellent. We had starters, mains and a few beers, cannot fault the food or service, (staff shared a laugh). Used by families and groups. Give it a go.

great veggie options, great portions and lovely bit of scran. the owner is well nice too

Used to come here regularly as a student 15 years ago. Returned more recently, and was a little nervous beforehand. Was it actually that good? Or just that everything with any sort of flavour seemed amazing as a student? Luckily, it really IS an amazing place - had a range of curries, all delicious, and sides and bhajis all great too. Plus the service very friendly. Highly recommended and can't wait to go back again, the best curry in Leeds IMO.

The rudest waiter I've ever seen in my life.

A Leeds institution: top-quality food, great value, and good service. Best curries in Leeds!

Good food but do not really expecting a warm welcome ... but need to try the mango lassi and sweet lassi its good

Friendly staff, good food and fast service

Delicious food and polite staff

Beautiful food and helpful staff

If you're Indian you've got to try their Chicken Tikka Masala. Got my takeaway order in just 5-10 mins. Very hospitable and friendly. Cash only!

I was in Leeds for business but stayed in Headingly This restaurant is on the way back into the top of Leeds and a bit hidden in the trees on the Park. I needed to park down a side road and walk over to the restaurant. I chose a chef special after a tandoori starter. All the food was beautiful. I was very satisfied and will definitely be going back. Kingfisher on tap as well

The staff were really great and attentive but there wasn't really an atmosphere. The food was ok I would've preferred it to be a bit spicier (but I should've asked) our drinks didn't arrive til our food did and the coke was flat. The price is really affordable compared to other Indian restaurants and in a good location for students.

BYOB always a bonus. Lovely spicy curry

We have been here many times and when we return to Leeds it is always on our list of must go dinners. Consistently good food at great prices.

Absolutely fantastic customer service Food is unreal at great prices Bring your own ale as well can’t ask for much more Shoutout to chowdhurry what a man

Excellent food and great rapport with their customers, I think this is the best curry in Leeds! the meal was also excellent value for money!

Doesn't take card, so a non-starter. What restaurant doesn't take card in 1982, let alone 2022?

Great food great service Value for money Definitely return Worthwhile visit from Sheffield.

We've been going to Akmal's for about 8 years, whenever we're in Leeds for work, and have always had a fantastic experience. Last night was our first time there since the first lock-down and it did not disappoint. The maitre d' is very friendly and professional and the food is great. The restaurant is light and airy and the tables are well-spaced. Would thoroughly recommend if you want a tasty, informal meal

Absolutely amazing, the rubbish represented in the last review. We don't usually do reviews, but for once on this occasion from an honesty point of view it was necessary. We were actually sitting at the next table when this 'woman' and her companion came to sit down. Before being seated at this table for 2, she demanded the waiter - who she refers to as 'whatever' to be seated at a bigger table which was for 6 people. The waiter explained that it was reserved for a larger group. At this point this 'woman' began to belittle and verbally abuse the waiter with the most disgusting behavior we have have witnessed in public. The waiter even with all this completely unacceptable abuse remained calm. Finally the two people sat down and ordered. Whilst they were ordering a larger group came and sat at the reserved table which the the 'woman' was wanting. I rest my case wow! What 'racism and rice' Take a look in the mirror and wipe the rice from your face, you might see that it's international basmati rice and not Indian rice. Please see that it's not about Indian or whatever but, just about being human. THANK YOU THE WAITER FOR A GREAT EVENING.

Uncle was nice. But really should be ashamed to call it a tandoori place. the frozen chicken was fried in name of tandoori. In curry chunks of frozen meat. sauce was nice but pleeese don't order any meat from here If u do want meat take your own frozen bag from Iceland that will be better.

Great food. Prompt service. And a manager/owner/whatever (Mr.Choudry) who makes a great example of what it's like to be a total racist. The irony being, the place serving Indian food and being biased towards Indians hahah! What a buzzkill! With my experience of such warm and welcoming gestures from people of foreign lands, it was honestly shameful if not shocking to have encountered such a shallow interaction with someone sharing roots of the same country that I come from. Coming from an Advertising student "Serving Indian Rice and Racism Towards Indians." would make an apt tagline for your not so Akmal Akmal's! What a joke to run a business in hospitality with no signs of being hospitable lol! P.S: Cheers to the chef for getting the flavours on point though!

Friendly and authentic and great location in the park :-)

Absolutely beautiful food and amazing service. Gorgeous surroundings a place I will visit again if I’m in the area. Thank you A*****

Absolutely delicious meal, tasty fresh ingredients, a friendly, warm welcoming manager and staff and the restaurant is a perfect setting in the park!

Akmals is a hidden gem of the Hyde Park area, perched alongside Woodhouse Lane, it sits mysteriously. Those who endeavour beyond those white walls are sure to find a warm, homely setting. The main man, allegedly Akmal himself, is likely to greet you with a kind smile and will always attempt to make his "is that all just for you mate?" When one person orders for a group. The service is fairly quick, especially when the place is not packed. The food is very authentic and will not disappoint the avid curry connoisseur. A range of spice accompanied by any kind of side one might desire. Just make sure you bring cash! -Dave Fantastic scran accompanied with great humour ! -Moz and Mary They said it. -Pepe I I've recommended many people to go there. Its an amazing place with delicious food! Worth yer money! -Krisimir Dabev

Nice food, especially lovely and polite waiters!

Lovely atmosphere, great price, gorgeous setting and most importantly really good food. The staff are so warm and friendly. Would highly recommend to everyone!

Great memories, even when gaz went a bit mad

Excellent quality and excellent location

As usual good food, great price. Very friendly owner ad chef :)

Without doubt the best restaurant I have ever had the pleasure of attending, my memories here will last for a lifetime. Time after time this restaurant delivers with not only delightful currys but service that will change your view of how much your day can be brightened by staff. With great food and laughs galore I can't wait to return, as should everyone!!!

27 of us arrived works night out the service and accuracy was spot on , every single meal was to great standards the set menu was value for money and plenty there , thanks for having us all and letting us enjoy our drinks ,😉 👍

Had heard good reviews but was incredibly disappointed. Akmal is the most disrespectful person I've ever met, truly despicable. He tried scamming us into a higher bill and when we challenged him about it he got very aggresive and threatened to "take things outside". Never expected to be treated like that as a paying customer, 0/10 definitely avoid. Curry was average too - overcooked chicken.

Expensive, each people needs to order a main or pay an extra £5 per person

Akmal what a hero. Cracking curry. Great atmosphere and the great man himself is a smashing host to a fantastic night of scrumptious Indian cuisine. Bring your own booze is a incredible policy so you can enjoy whichever beverage you desire while you experience the life-changing wonder of a tikka masala from Leeds’ finest tandoori bistro

Lovely waiting staff and the food was amazing!

Me and my cousin often visit this curry house regular as we live within a close proximity. It's fair to say it has never let us down as of yet. Outstanding selection on the menu and staff are always happy to recommend certain dishes/ whatever tickles your fancy on that particular day. I normally go for the Madras which is perfect heat for my personal preference. I normally get this with peshwari naan which is outstanding with some form of Keema Pilau (compliments it really well). Will continue to visit - cheers Akmal's!

Decent curry. Friendly staff and bring your own alcohol made the night fun and enjoyable. Would say it is not the best value for money curry I’ve ever had.

Visited this restaurant yesterday. Quite expensive for what you spend and relatively good service, but had a good evening overall. Spice levels seemed to generally indicate flavour of food for us.

I have tremendous affection for this place and have enjoyed many a good time here but I've come to realise a number of things that occur *every time* which means I won't go here again off my own steam. 1) The waiter (usually the proprietor himself) just DOESN'T LISTEN. You say you'd like a main sized portion of a starter dish, or just mango chutney instead of a pickle tray, or you'd prefer not to have onions in your biryani - no chance. Requests are not listened to although the smile you get when ordering seems to assure you it'll be right. I have a feeling it's "this is the menu and you'll get what we serve you". 2) I don't believe the prices are correct on either the menu or on the bill, things don't seem to tally at the end but the bill is handwritten so it's hard to decipher. 3) The poppadoms are soft which is so disappointing as they're one of the joys of an Indian meal. I used to really enjoy Akmals but it's getting a bit tiring now sadly. Such a pity.

To be totally honest, i havent even had my food yet but a very nice gentlemen has already exceeded my expectations in the level of customer service he has provided us. Im on my holiday in Leeds and he has very much made it oh so great! You dont often get a man go the extra mile for you like this man did, Its lovely to see and it has put me in a very good mood. An absolute credit to the company :)

Outstanding food and top quality service!

So after reading terrible reviews on google I made the mistake of giving this restaurant a chance. The food tasted terrible and bland, I found a hair in my food!! I complained to the manager who then refused to replace my food when the hair was in front of his own eyes. Manager was rude. Would never come here again.

Went with nine friends and we both had individual dishes and shared plates. Waiter was helpful and knowledgeable. Among us, we ordered food from hot to mild and all dishes were properly presented.

Mi experiencia fue una que ni siquiera desearía en mi peor enemigo, digamos, ser amable. El gerente fue grosero, me trataron con la actitud más hostil, asquerosa e irrespetuosa del gerente, quien pensó que no estaba allí para comprar comida, por lo que fue demasiado rápido para no escucharme y me dijo que me gustaría pedir algo al Menú, o cualquier cosa que tuviera que decir, ¡rápidamente y con fuerza me hizo salir de la puerta con su brazo detrás de mi espalda! Estoy asqueado y horrorizado. Me enferma que incluso se les permita tratar así a los clientes o incluso a cualquier ser humano. indignante. La distribución interna del restaurante no es profesional, parece una especie de niño que acaba de colocar las mesas donde él quiere, todo aplastado muy cerca de la mitad de la sala grande. No muy bueno para salidas sociales.

Definitivamente se quedaría lejos de este establecimiento. Todo, desde la comida hasta el servicio al cliente fue espantoso.Después de tener que esperar lo que parecía una eternidad estar sentado en un restaurante medio vacío, el tiempo necesario para que llegara la comida era extremadamente irrazonable. Todo el personal, incluido el gerente, sorprendentemente, fue muy grosero y nos hizo sentir muy incómodos. Después de hacer preguntas muy simples, como la ubicación del baño o el tiempo que duraría la comida, los miembros del personal me recibieron con arrogancia y resistencia, como si no tuviera valor como ser humano. La comida en sí era atroz y después de tener que esperar una eternidad a que llegara, parecía haber perdido su frescura. No estoy seguro de si eso fue el resultado de dejarlo tanto tiempo antes de servirlo o de que la comida no se haya recalentado correctamente. De cualquier manera, la calidad fue espantosa y espero que no me levante con problemas estomacales por la mañana.Mi consejo es mantenerse bien lejos de este establecimiento!

We made a booking 4 days beforehand for a table for 2, and we were assured that the place would be OPEN. However, all the shutters were closed when we arrived and they never responded to our phone calls. We encourage people to reconsider booking with Akmals so that you will be be disappointed when you show up and do not receive any service

I came here for my birthday after managing to book the wrong place, they were so understanding and managed to get us a table regardless. The food and service was amazing and In particular the legend that is Akmal. Thank you so much!!

as a solo diner was met with a negative dismissive attitude apparently they were fully booked at 7pm despite all the empty tables

The food is delicious, the meat was cooked perfectly and was tender and melted in your mouth. The staff were very friendly and seated us quickly and made us feel at ease when in the restaurant. I would definitely recommend this place!

Delicious chicken tikka masala😋

Amazing food, madras was on point, really good service, the waiter was very attentive! Also its great value for your money! Also can bring your own drinks which is always a bonus, cheers, will be back soon!!

Really tasty food, my favourite Indian spot for takeaway. 🙂

Excellent food and hospitality.

Amazing food, really tasty. But owner loves himself and is very rude, made quite a few of us feel quite uncomfortable - shame.

Excellent food but a wait time of over 2 hours is completely unacceptable

A friend always wanted to dine at this restaurant so 3 of us thought we'd go and check it out for ourselves. There is no actual pathway or lighting indicating the way to the restaurant and the entrance is at the back so walking through the pitch black park was a little scary!On entry to the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised because it looked nice and clean inside, however the toilets need major refurb!The 3 of us ordered some poppadoms and a pickle tray. The poppadoms arrived on top of a paper on a plate and they looked absolutely horrendous because they were flat as the paper and did not look freshly fried at all, they certainly tasted like it was from the night before and so did the pickle tray accompaniments. But because it was cheap neither of us cared enough to complain. We all ordered a starter and though mine wasn't what I expected from the name, it tasted nice and fresh. You can't go wrong with potatoes because you can't freeze them. I had a taste of my friends chicken pakora and the chicken tasted like rubber, the chicken was old and it tasted exactly that. It just had a bad taste to it and my friend said the same!I ordered a lamb curry, my friend a chicken curry and my other friend a vegetarian dish. My lamb was not the freshest and neither was the chicken again. But my nan was nicely made. One thing I have to say though is that, the chef’s need credit where it’s due. They have to work with poor ingredient’s provided by the owner (despite the menu stating they use the freshest ingredients available). The flavours and their method of cooking is good and if given the correct ingredients, I think the food prepared would be great! And our waiter took care of us all really well – thank you!

Simply delicious curry. Won’t me disappointed. Great value for money. Worth a visit. BYOB. Don’t miss out.

Great Currys great prices. Don't take card and takes a bit of time for service but bring your own booze and the staff are nice

Absolutely fantastic food. One if the best Currys I have tasted!

Absolutely fantastic service, great cuisine, awesome location, can't recommend highly enough,, 👌

Fantastic Indian food. Well worthy of a visit

It's a pretty nice place if you are looking to have Indian food out here, Great Ambience, and quality of food is really nice as well along with the location.

Tried a new curry last night and can say i enjoyed it throughly

Just what was needed after a long days drive to Leeds. Good food, friendly staff, nice location. Small frustration that needed cash but local cash machine easily solved that.

Mi amigo y yo visitamos aquí la última noche y estuvimos muy contentos con el servicio, la comida y el precio. Después de leer algunas críticas, estábamos un poco dudosos, pero los camareros eran muy amables, la comida se servía rápidamente. La comida era muy sabrosa y el precio era realmente bueno. Definitivamente encontré mi nuevo restaurante indio favorito.

Parada en boxes en Otley para el ciervo de Baresi. Tenía el cordero caliente muy caliente de Akmal con una raitha de naan y pepino - espectacular y un gran impulso para llevarme al Dry Dock.

Always friendly good food and take your beer. Happy days.

Really fun evening with a delicious starter and curry. Brought our own booze.

Good place. Doesn't look the best from the outside, don't less this fool you though

Been here on several occasions now, and not a single time have I been disappointed. The manager and staff are very friendly and welcoming, and the list of dishes on offer is rather extensive. I personally recommend the Garlic Chicken.

Ate here with a friend and we had an extremely unpleasant experience. The staff added extra food on our bill and refused to change it, we were forced to pay extra for food we didn't eat because they said they didn't understand. They were aggressive, pushy and had fowl use of language. The food was terrible, cold and tasteless. There was an extremely unnerving atmosphere and it felt dangerous and unsafe, we couldn't wait to leave. Never visit akmals.

This was a poor experience all round. Slow service, poor quality food and offensive and aggressive staff. I checked the bill and and was being over charged for food we hadn't had. When I complained to the manager he was very abrasive and to top it all they only except cash. How can a restaurant get so it so wrong. There are so many great Indians in Leeds so why bother

Good place good food and you can take your own booze