Alams Lounge in Barnsley

ALAMS LOUNGE Authentic Indian and Kashmiri Cuisine. 3 Hermit Lane, Higham. Barnsley S75 1PL Tel:01226 385252 Date of Visit 30th September 2024 On what must have been the wettest day of the year so far, I ventured Eastwardly to the interesting town of Barnsley south Yorkshire. Where town Planners have managed to weave their modern shopping centre with the old Sandstone architecture very successfully! Not many boarded up shops or derelict buildings. My mission on this occasion was to sample the delights of Alams Lounge on Hermit Lane. You will find this large sandstone building on the edge of a roundabout in Higham. Just outside the centre of Barnsley. Inside is a comfortable 50-seater restaurant on the ground floor, with Indian art adorning the walls and subtle lighting with a fish tank to keep you amused, makes a very comfortable experience. Its not licenced, BYOB! Here I first encountered one of the most proficient front of house managers I have ever come across in the form of Annie, a young (21 next month) Lass full of confidence and very professional Who was on the phone when I walked in, dealing with the ins and outs of a large party booking! Next the Chef Patron/Owner, of Alams Abbey, came out and introduced himself, as it was early and quiet we had a chance to converse at length about his restaurant and here was a man who was passionate about his customers and knew how to get the best out of his spice box. “Fresh is the answer” he explained, “Yes Fresh “And as an ex-chef, I could not agree more! I order from my Benchmark, Popadom’s with pickle tray. To be honest nothing out of the ordinary here. But crispy and very fresh Pop’s. Next out was the obligatory Sheekh Kebabs, two tubes of perfectly spiced rolls of minced lamb and herbs that melted in the mouth, sat on a bed of fresh crispy salad. Then the Mains of Chicken Madras with Pilau rice and a peshwari naan. This is where the word FRESH comes in, as I say this is a man who knows what his spice box is all about! Large chunks of fresh succulent chicken in a thickish spicy tomato and onion curry sauce, Here the use of fruity Fresh chillies make all the difference, the spices had been roasted to bring out their unique Flavours and believe me it was perfect. Next let’s turn to the Pilau rice, A long grain variety of Basmati rice with the addition of Cumin powder and seeds made a tasty and better Pilau rice! Now then let’s talk about the Peshwari naan, Fresh and light with a sweet filling of coconut and a drizzle of Golden Syrup on its surface. This just cuts through the heat of the madras. It’s not to everyone’s tase I admit, its sticky and a bit messy, but the efficient Annie sorted that out by producing a lemon wet wipe to clean up my fingers. Annie is embarking on a career as Cabin crew with an airline in the near future, Abbey will miss one of his best assets, but all the very best to Annie, I’m sure you will succeed! So, was it worth the long drive through a day of continuous heavy rain? And still the same on the return journey! Hell yes, there is a reason that this restaurant is number one on Trip advisors’ Indian restaurants in Barnsley. I’m not too sure about that as I have not tried any of the others! There is a small car park right opposite the restaurant. Pricing a bit heavy at £39.70 but for the quality here, is more than acceptable. I was going to give 9/10 for this establishment due to the fact they don’t do Alcohol, but No, I think it’s worth 10/10

Love this place! Food is delicious, staff are friendly and attentive and the chef makes everything to your liking - he even made us a dish that wasn’t on the menu. Best curry we’ve ever had.

FOOD WAS GREAT AND CUSTOMERS SERVICE WAS GREAT, CHICKEN KARAHI WAS REALLY GOOD AND WILL GO THERE AGAIN AND WILL TAKE MY FAMILY

Amazing food, very tasty. Great staff brilliant service.. A great dinning experience, food not over spicy, just the right blend of spices that tempt the palate for more... will definately come again.

The service at Alams Lounge Top-Notch.Staffs are very attentive friendly and goes above and Beyond To ensure a Comfortable memorable experience. My partner had Chicken Tikka masala and I had chef special Chicken village special. Very fruity saucy and medium dish. Egg rice and chapati out of this world. Whilst we were enntering the restaurant it was quite busy and they served us free papadom and pickle Tray we have ordered mix vegetables Tawa as starter it came with fish pakora which is absolutely amazing and big surprise (not like other places) . All of them were very big portion so we had a option to takeout which is great. It was our first visit but not the last.

normally brilliant. but the last few ordered have been terrible. don't think I'll order again after ordering for years. sorry to say but it's gone downhill big time.

Eight of our friends get together each month and order Indian from Alams. Delivery in under and hour and the food was still piping hot. A great selection of dishes to meet meat lovers and vegetarians. I had the chicken balti which was yummy. Everyone enjoyed their meals will definitely be ordering again.

I will say, the food is absolutely delicious. Their Paratha is the best we’ve ever had. However, it can be a bit chaotic when ordering for delivery. On this particular occasion we ordered our food just before 7pm and were originally told it would take an hour. This crept up a couple of times, and at around 8:20pm we had the notification to say the food was out for delivery, which turned out to be false. It finally arrived at 9pm. It’s a shame, because the food was delicious as usual.

Arrived over 2 hours after ordering, food was cold when arrived, after contacting the restaurant with promises it would be cold and also in a way I was blamed for ordering through just eat. I came to Alan’s as I enjoy it, the other half prefers another restaurant, can’t see this being enjoyed tonight after being run through the microwave to warm it back up

Gorgeous food as ever. Onion bhaji’s the absolute best around.

Good food, good service which was great but quite overpriced. Nearly £10 for 4 poppadoms and a pickle tray is pretty pricey!! Maybe reduce the price by £5/8 pounds then this would be a much more appealing venue

After a small mishap with the original order, the owner very kindly offered to send us the same order the next day free of charge and it was 10/10. Will definitely be ordering again

Have had many meals here over the years and have always enjoyed them immensely, however tonight was something else. Asked for variations to main courses chosen (nothing is too much trouble). All dishes were outstanding, full of flavour and beautifully spiced, never had better garlic chapatis! Thank you again for a lovely evening and for going the extra mile when you were so busy to make it such a very special evening.

Taste was good but was very cold we normally order and have no issues so was poor this time

Food took over two hours for a 45 min estimated time, and at least 30mins later than when the Justeat app said it had been delivered. Called the restaurant and they cut me off, did redial and was told it wasn’t them I spoke to. At no point got an apology. Chicken Korma was sauce with 6 small pieces of chicken for best part of a tenner.

The best Indian about. I've ordered here for years and it's never disappointed. My partner didn't even like Indian until trying Alam's Lounge, now she asks for it!

We usually have a takeaway from here but ate at the restaurant. The staff were very attentive and polite. The food was cooked fresh and hot. The food was amazing and didn’t disappoint. Great curry. The bhajis were stunning. Will definitely be back

First visit to the Alum Lounge and certainly won't be the last. Friendly welcome and straight to table. Big choice of starters including an excellent lime pickle that was worth the extra. Chicken chana puree was one of the best I've had, and my friends mixed starter was also excellent. Plenty of mains to choose from with a nice mix of specials and traditional. Really nice rice good sized naan and service that was attentive but not pushy. (Thanks for the moist towel to clean the self inflicted mess off my shirt) Soft drinks a bit pricey but chilled tap water available. Poppadoms,Starters, mains and drinks for about £35 each which seemed good value. Will certainly be visiting again and using the takeaway service.

Exceptional delivery the food was delicious couldn’t recommend this place more Thankyou.

Excellent food, perfect service. Really enjoyed the quality of everything.

The best Indian in Barnsley hands down - won’t go anywhere else!

Excellent- always enjoy an Alams!

Food was excellent, fast delivery.

Really happy with the food and early delivery - bonus!

Best food in barnsley take away

Really nice!! Ordered a few times now and it's always been really tasty and online or early.

Food. Little later than expected but absolutely delicious

As visitors to the area, we asked a local friend what Indian Restaurant they would recommend. They recommended here (which we would not have discovered without their help), and we were certainly not disappointed! Our dining experience was truly excellent from start to finish. The staff were so friendly and welcoming and our server (Sam) could not have been more helpful. The food itself was WONDERFUL! The main dishes were flavourful and well spiced without being over seasoned (we chose Chicken Paneer and Garlic Chilli Chicken) and the garlic coriander nan was to die for. Everything we ordered was very good value and we were pleasantly surprised when the final bill arrived. Even the rather loud group we dined adjacent to (hardly the venue’s fault) did not distract from our excellent evening. Thank you Alams Lounge for a lovely dining experience!!

Food was so good here and very well priced. Pickle tray was amazing to start. The starters huge and the curry's so well made. Service from all was good and a nice family atmosphere. We got a peshwari naan and honestly we would drive back from Leeds again for it

I went with a group of friends. There also was another large group in the place with some tables empty. The service was very good, no complaints there. There is a huge selection of dishes to choose from. I ordered Chicken Makhani and a Keema Nan. The nan was quite pleasant. The Chicken Makhani is described as medium strength. It came in a good sized bowl full of a fairly bland gloopy sauce with a few pieces of chicken lurking in the bottom. The chicken tasted as if it was precooked and reheated so was not pleasant at all. It did not add any flavour to the sauce. Despite there not being much chicken I left some because it was not good to eat. Maybe a more spicy sauce may have disguised the unpleasant flavour. A loud smoke alarm type noise kept going off frequently but it seemed to be very close to our table, not from the kitchen. I had heard good reviews about the restaurant but I have no desire to return.

Good honest home cooking. Loved the food and so nicely cooked. Mutton tender, samosas amazing. Excellent service by Reeve and bring your own a bonus. Booked again

A really lovely Indian restaurant, I mean the best one in Barnsley! From the stater to the main everything taste terrific a proper quality homemade cuisine. We will be back for sure.

Great great food and lovely warm service. Thank you for having us, we'll be sure to visit next time we're passing for more delicious food.

Very nice but a tad on the cook side

Oh my gosh! The best Indian I’ve ever had and gluten free too! I’ve now found my favourite gluten free Indian and it’s worth the 20 minute drive there and back :)

Visit with my family & all the courses we had were delicious, nice sized portions & came out hot. Staff were all very friendly & providing good service. Thanks for lovely meal, will return & recommend

Arrived cold chicken was processed and bland curry was thin and weak

This was our first order and we were very impressed with the quality of the food. Everything was perfectly cooked and we will definitely be ordering again!

excellent food, highly recommend!!

Lovely atmosphere, very cosy and warm place. Staff very helpful, portions were just right. The food was very good, authentic and flavoursome. The vegetarian options were really nice. Definitely worth a visit.

Great food and lovely service. It was obviously important to them that we were satisfied. We will definitely be going back.

Fantastic food and service, lovely staff and atmosphere, we’ve had different meals each time and all been lovely, had the special his time for a change and really enjoyed it. Would highly recommend.

Horrendous service from the restraunt. It is NYE so we completely understood there would be a delay but they told us different stories everytime that I was still being cooked or it was with the delivery driver. I rung up the final time and was told it was in the kitchen but then the delivery guy had delivered it as she said this. HORRIBLE PEOPLE

My partner is a regular here and brought us for two course dinner. The staff were lovely from phoning to book, welcome and service. The food is always high quality, served hot and fresh and the menu has a great range. Mango Lasi to begin was delicious, we all had prawn puree, which is offered as spicy or creamy, not something I've seen before. The environment here is comfortable, relaxed and friendly. You can bring your own alcohol drinks therefore all budget can go towards the tasty food. I would definitely recommend.

Excellent food, excellent service, excellent chefs! Love ordering food from Alams, whether it’s takeaway or sit down service it’s always amazing food! Had the tastiest chicken tikka masala ever tonight! Lisa provided excellent service along with the others tonight. Thank you and see you again soon!

Best korma I’ve ever had. Delivered quickly, very nice food. Definitely recommend

Korma was cold upon arrival even though it was on time, could barely eat the chicken as it tasted cold

Ordered previously and enjoyed it but this time we weren't impressed. Soggy poppadoms, miserly pickle tray. Barely any mince in the keema naan. Can understand that ingredients are expensive but that wasn't a good quality meal.

The food was very tasty and the hospitality was really special. We had a memorable meal and the staff made the experience extra enjoyable.

Thoroughly enjoyed our visit with friends. Excellent food which draws us back, as well as welcoming people and efficient service.

I order the Matter Paneer dish because it is quite mild bit tasty. This was unbearably hot for my palate. It’s a real shame because I always order this dish and haven’t been able to eat it.

What a great idea to serve a thali . You pick your main curry. The chef gives you 3 sides of vegetables of his choice a nann bread and a salad. I was blown away with the tastes. Loved it thank you. We will gor sure be coming back

We found Alam’s a couple of months ago and have been almost every week since. We eat out for curry quite a bit and I can honestly say it’s the nicest curry we’ve ever had. Have tried many things on the menu and never been disappointed. Cannot believe a previous review that states no taste, it’s completely the opposite in our opinion. All of the staff are lovely and welcoming, nothing is too much bother. Our only complaint is that they don’t open 7 days a week :-)

Nice food, great service with really friendly staff. The atmosphere is good although just a tad on the bright side

Once again pickle tray missing , food not as good

Food was absolutely beautiful the bhuna really nice naan was perfect. The Popadoms weren’t the best slightly soggy and really skimpy on the mango chutney, although the curry was beautiful the portion was tiny I thought after spending £30 there would be enough for 2 people but unfortunately there weren’t and we were left with a lot of dry rice. I would order again but would have to purchase 2 curry’s which isn’t great considering the price but overall food was really nice just portion sizes not g

Ordered takeaway which took an absolute age to come meaning everything was cold when we got it. Liked the onion bhajis but there was in no way enough raita for two bhajis (and no it hadn't leaked!)

Tasteless. Never had a curry with zero flavour before, didn’t know it was possible. Can’t believe this is the best rated in barnsley. No spice shouldn’t mean no flavour. Pilau rice zero flavour too. Stick to Akbars Rotherham

Was told it would be delayed but it came on time. The food was hot on arrival. Beautiful food, will use again. Thank you

Lovely meal, great choice, presentation and taste. Relaxing atmosphere and excellent customer service. One of the team heard me wish my 81 year mum a happy birthday, at the end of meal they appeared with a lovely ice cream for her. She was made up

Great quality. great flavour and I will get again.

Lovely food delivered on time. Thank you.

Asked for delivery at a certain time and it was delivered almost to the minute at the time I requested. The food never fails to disappoint. I am a long standing customer for a reason.

Food was poor. Most of it was cold when it arrived

No complaints. Great food . Hot on delivery. 👍

A tall and handsome chef came to serve the most delicious cuisine I have ever tasted before! I would highly recommend - love from Barbados

Amazing food! Best onion bhaji ever and a peshwari nan marvellous. Brilliant staff can't do enough to please you.

They delivered the wrong food initially so I refused it. Then it came half an hour later after it been delivered to another home first, which I refused because it was opened by the other home. Then it was delivered again an hour later and it was cold!!!! So I am very unhappy with tonight’s service. I order from Alams every time I have an Indian takeaway and I had guests tonight so I insisted that we ordered from Alams. But obviously it all went wrong.

Most inconsistent take away restaurant ever this place. Never know what you’re going to get. When it’s nice its fantastic, but let’s itself down too many times to the point I think this is my last one Soggy onion bhaji, with dry chicken tikka starter. Pickle tray which consisted of half a small pot of rhaita, and 3 small tubs of red onion chutney! No mango, no onions! The most bland ‘ roghan Josh’ I’ve ever had, which consisted of zero tomatoes, and sauce like water! Chicken tikka massala was ok but you’d be hard pushed to get that wrong, surely !

Came to Barnsley for the weekend found this little gem food was absolutely delicious staff really friendly and helpful definitely recommend 5* quality

Awesome food, with warm and friendly service by Lisa. Chicken taxi was lush. Super fresh, super tasty food that was such a surprise to find 2 minutes off the M1. Our 8 y/o was thoroughly entertained and Sonyas village chicken was one of the best dishes she has ever had. Just like Arnie said, We will be back!

Lovely food served piping hot and delivered a lot earlier than stated. Always great service, thank you!

The food was lovely however we didn’t get the chicken pakora that was ordered, We recieved onion bhaji . We have ordered from here many times and no mistakes previously and the food has always been lovely so wouldn’t stop us from ordering again.

Hosting a birthday celebration at home for friends we decided to order in from Alams and we could not have been happier with our order. Delivery was quick and the food was hot on arrival. All our dishes were well cooked with good amounts of chicken. Really tasty food would most certainly order from here again.

Always top class food from Alams Lounge thanks

First order. We will definitely be ordering again. It was great.

In chicken korma you expect to get more than 4 tiny pieces of chicken. The pilau rice is like fried brown rice. Ctm was ok. Will not use again

Excellent food, fast delivery (about 30 minutes, I asked for asap and was initially given an hour). Never had a bad meal from Alams Lounge.

Went with my husband, Son, Daughter and her boyfriend, for my birthday. The food was beautifully cooked, but was a little confused over receiving tandoori chicken tikka starter in the form of a seek kebab. Our 12 year old loves king prawns, but found them way too spicy to eat. The two 16 year olds thought the food was nice. The chicken tikka main was beautiful and the mutton Balti, the pathia was lovely, but tasted more like a masala to me, Overall would recommend, Our kids are very fussy and light eaters. The service was very attentive and polite. Just make sure you only order what you can actually eat!.. as we brought a lot of ours home, which was not a problem. The young gentleman serving us was fabulous, nothing too much trouble. Drinks turned out quite expensive for us having kids who down them like they are free! But we we’re able to take our own alcoholic beverages, which I feel is a blessing cost wise.

Stumbled across Alams Lounge on our 1 night in Barnsley and loved it. The food was delicious and the onion bhajis were truly a specialty.

Food was quite nice but they put a freezing cold can of Coke sandwiched between the curry and naan bread, so by the time I got it home it was stone Cold!!

Thank you so much to you all for an absolutely amazing night! You all did a fantastic job, it ran like clockwork (well for us, not sure how the kitchen was) food was exceptional as always, staff could not have done anymore for everyone, and as always it was a pleasure to have Abbey and Lisa as our hosts! I was inundated with messages from my family and friends last night saying how gorgeous their food was and how fabulous the whole evening was. So, please from us all, give yourselves a huge pat on the back, you exceeded yourselves yet again! See you all again soon! Sorry the birthday boy and his friends weren’t in the photo but he was itching to get to town for his 1st legal pint, though he’s not feeling too clever about it today.

Recently visited as a group outing after work. Our coworker is a local to the area and brought us there. The service was amazing, the owner and staff kept us entertained and explained every dish for us. All of the food was amazing, I loved...

This is an outstanding Kashmiri restaurant in an unlikely position. There are so many indifferent 'Indian' restaurants and the menu here did not look that special. But everything here was cooked with care, the flavours were spot on and no two dishes tasted alike. The...

Used to go to ALAMS Lounge regularly before we moved to the topside of Doncaster in 2019. Since then we have been back several times to eat in with family but this time we collected a takeaway as the restaurant was reserved for a party. Very happy to say the food is still of a very high standard and we hope to eat in there again in the near future. We have not found an Indian restaurant in Doncaster to match it !

Wanted to eat in as we were visiting family in the area but it was booked out for a party. So we ordered a takeaway to bring all the way back to the top side of Doncaster. We moved away from the Barnsley area in...

The customer service was excellent! Best curry I’ve had in a long time! Perfect blend of heat and flavor!

Alams food is always top shelf, Arabian mutton is out of this world

Tonight, I took a party of 15 guys from my golf club to this restaurant. The food and the service were nothing short of excellent. Every member of my party enjoyed their food. I would not hesitate to return to this lovely restaurant. A big...

Food was poor quality very oily & lacked flavour Chicken was tough Would not order again

Wasn’t expecting the curry to be cold, rice burnt and the salad to have wilted. After a 2 hour delivery on a Thursday night not sure we will be back. Such a shame after reading previous good reviews.

1st time ordering and both the food and service were excellent. Will definitely order again. Thank you

Please, please, please don't ever stop or change your butterfly king prawn. The best!

Usually great food but disappointing tonight. Two missing items, dry chicken and fatty mutton.

Fantastic restaurant, best Balti we’ve ever tasted, very wide and varied menu marvellous service and excellent value for money thank you

We popped in for dinner on 18th May. The food was excellent. Well worth a visit. We were served by Sumaia & Annie they were very good and chatty and we spoke about the area in general. They don’t have a drinks license which is...

Always top notch food from Alams lounge,thankyou

We had a delightful time. We were with our son who has autism with a number of his brilliant staff. There were 9 of us in all. Service was excellent given the size of our group. The food high quality. Our son had a lovely...

Madras sauce watery. Salad with bhaji was only lettuce no cucumber or tomato

Lovely food as always! Best Indian takeaway around 👍