Aroma Indian Restaurant Shaftesbury in North Dorset

Gave 2 stars overall not because the food is not nice... it was as was the service, but the price, is the issue as the portions were absolutely miniscule...Bombay Aloo came on a small saucer, and the main consisted of 4 tiny pieces of lamb (all sauce !) in a tiny dish ! I understand now that when you ask for a couple of poppadoms between 2 people they give you four just to fill you..oh and by the way they charged us for four too !

Excellent restaurant, friendly staff great food

The food and the service was brilliant. Very quick to serve and the meals were brought out very efficiently. So many dishes that they could barely fit on our table of four. I had a Mango Lassi, Mugri Achari with Keema Rice, which was delicious. For those concerned with finding the restaurant, Or anyone who has accessibility issues the infrastructure in the area near the restaurant makes very accessible with a big car park. I enjoyed my meal greatly.

I have ordered a few take aways from them and ate there for the first time Wednesday. I have always found the food great and the customer service exceptional. I would highly recommend this restaurant.

Lovely food and great service. Not over priced either

Ordered a takeaway from here as our local restaurant was closed. Told me 20mins from order to collection. Bang on, reception was friendly and the food was to die for. Discount for collected orders aswell which makes it very good value 👍. Will be visiting for an evening out soon.

Horrible food I got food poisoning and when I went in to tell them they were so rude about it didn't care at all. They have rats and probably use them in the curry!

Just passing through but I eat a lot of curries. Great meal, well prepared, great service, clean efficient and friendly. Highly recommend.

We have been in the restaurant for a curry and had a takeaway last night. It is the best curry place around shaftesbury dorset. We highly recommend it and the butter chicken is to die for thanku

First visit to Aroma and we were pleasantly surprised as it’s a little gem. Very tasty vegetarian food with lots of attention to detail from friendly attentive staff , hot towels to freshen our hands after main course and drinks that complimented north Indian food. Deserts are not memorable as I don’t think they are home made. Quiet on Monday evening but that was not an issue

Another wonderful takeaway then food here is sensational. On a par and uneven better than other more expensive restaurants around the area. my recommendation in the shaslik so much flavour. Thank you all much

The food was absolutely delicious! Service was quick and everyone was very polite. We can’t wait to go back!

Ordered a chicken biryani last night, and went to pick up at the time given, but had to wait another 25mins as they were very busy. When I eventually got my dinner home it was very nice, but it's meant to come with vegetable curry, now I'm not sure what it was, but it sure as he'll wasn't a vegetable curry. The container had "T dall" written on it, what ever that is. Over all it was very nice, but not what I ordered.

First time trying Aroma and will definitely be back! Spotlessly clean and very friendly attentive staff. The food was piping hot ,flavoursome and delicious. Drinks were good, service fantastic Really enjoyed our meal.

Had a meal out with friends. The service and food were all beyond expectations in this immaculate restaurant.

Had a couple of meals here with friends. We liked it so much the first night that we came back the following night. The staff are very attentive, nice clean environment and the food was delicious.

The restaurant was very quiet so was reluctant to try it, but vey glad we did, all the food was excellent, our waiter was very friendly and service was great. Maybe it was just a quiet night

I Just felt I had to write a review because if I was in the area and read the reviews on Tripadvisor I would certainly not go here. On the contrary We use this Restaurant all the time when eating out and really do not recognise it from some of the Reviews. The only reason I Googled it was that I wanted to book online and was astonished to see one of the Links saying "Inedible Food" and thought there must be a mistake. In fact We think it is one of the Best in the area without going to Blandford Forum which has a small Nepalese Population. My personal Favourite is The Naga Delight btw I've put December 2023 on the Review but as I say It is based on many visits

Probably one of the best curry’s I’ve had

Tried to order delivery - failed 5 times and charged 5 times. Ordered elsewhere and won’t be back just hope my card is refunded as soon as possible

Service was quite slow (food to arrive at the table) but staff were polite and friendly. Zero issues with the food when it arrived though, it was very good. Good town centre location with parking (Pay & Display) right outside.

1.30 minutes for a delivery...but when I asked for pickup 25 minutes..cold and bread soggy..go chukney much better ..1 🌟

Lovely meal the green chilli chicken was delicious also the chicken Ceylons beautiful cooked . Staff was very friendly. Lovely clean restaurant

Not really sure that they wanted our custom - it certainly felt as if we were in the way (and others too: we weren’t alone !) Overpriced, tasteless at best, slow to serve and without a smile.

Delicious food and great service! We found Aroma while travelling in the area and it did not disappoint! The menu is expansive and authentic. The quality of the food is wonderful and the portions generous! The staff were very attentive as well. Definitely recommend!

We were really looking forward to trying out this restaurant with our friends as most of the reviews on here are great, however we will never be returning to this restaurant. The food was awful so we let the staff know and said sorry but we cannot eat the curry as it was way too sweet and had no other flavour or spice in it. The staff member started accusing us of ordering the wrong thing on the menu and not reading it properly and got very defensive instead of saying sorry and offering to fix the problem. He was saying we should have told them how we wanted it first before ordering, but we always order the same curry at every restaurant we go to and have never had one as terrible as this. The staff member continued to argue with us in front of the other diners in the restaurant, which was embarrassing and the worst customer service I have ever experienced. If we had an apology and offered an alternative straight away it wouldn't have been a problem and we may have returned but as the customer service was awful I will never be returning. WARNING to anyone going to this restaurant if you have a problem with your food get ready for a loud abusive argument in the restaurant in front of everyone!!! It was a traumatising experience and the staff member who was yelling at us should be ashamed of himself! They did take my curry off the bill in the end, but that was only after a huge argument and was too little too late!

Awesome food and great service recomend

My wife and I popped in here on the off chance, and got the last table available. The restaurant was crowded, and the atmosphere was good. They were able to cater for dairy, egg, and gluten free diets, and the food was delicious. Good service, good food, and good time thank you!

Early opening useful when going to Shaftesbury Arts centre. Had a first class meal served by an attentive waiter. Will certainly visit again.

This was the first Indian restaurant we’ve ever eaten in that we have left still feeling hungry after 3 popadoms, 2 mains, rice & a veg side dish. The portions were minuscule making this restaurant possibly the most expensive Indian we’ve ever had. With one bottle of water & a small beer the total was over £50.00, which is insane. Never again.

The food is very nice but the main portions are way too small, which makes this restaurant extremely expensive. My wife & I left still feeling hungry after 3 poppadums, 2 mains & a side. One small beer & bottle of water, The whole meal cost about £50 which is appalling value & why I give it 2 Stars.

I visited Aroma for having our dinner with couple of my friends tonight and we were completely disappointed with their service quality and hygiene. Before we taking our seats, they started to ask us to have papadams, didn't give us taking a single breath to look at menu, and within a minute the boy come as second time and ask for orderings drinks. Most importantly, when they provided chutney tray, it was used by someone else. Look like They used it before us to another customers and then wiped its around and top up and giving it again to others tables. Where is their hygiene? Even after finishing the meal, one came and asked 'have u finished'? Then another guy come for taking all the plates and other stuff back and then again another boy come to wipe surface and finally last guy came out with hot towels and dessert menu. What kinda drama is that? We went there for spending some quality time and we were completely disturbed and bored although food was good Moreover, one of their staff were also using mobile phone in front of us when we needed to order some drinks they were busy using mobile phones. It seems to us the owner was quite rude to his staff and misbehaved them. I recommend to all not to visit this restaurant ever rather try some other restaurants nearby.

Excellent food and great service from all the team 😁😁😁

Ordered takeout to collect. We ordinarily use these guys. However tonight was an absolute disappointment for a birthday treat. Everything we normally order tasted different. Expensive waste. Quite upset to be honest🥺

It was absolutely amazing! The good, the attention, everything!!! We enjoyed it, and we highly recommend it!

Delicious food, fast and professional service. Their lamb tikka masala is tasty and tender, but I guess the highest point is their cheese naan, it's easily the best, cheesiest bread in the UK! Plus, the fish in the tank was so happy to see us, can't beat that!

Very friendly staff, great service and food. Very nice decor. Recommended.

Had food to take away so I don't know what the restaurant is like, but the food is so good! Absolutely delicious, well cooked, good veriety.

Excellent meal, nicely decorated and furnished location in the centre of Shaftesbury, friendly staff

Food was very nice, staff were very good, but for me out with my famlie, people constantly in and out past you while you were eating with deliverys, also people in and out collecting food orders, then you have people stood around waitng for delivery & pick up orders more less next to you was to much tbh!! Made it have no atmosphere at all tbh, and far to busy to be nice. Spent £90.00 on meal with tip, not good for me. They really need all that above to be out of the main bar and restaurant area?

Friendly central curry house serving tasty though not particularly spicy curries. Our standard veggie vindaloo, lamb pathia and chicken tikka masala with Bombay aloo were lapped up washed down with a couple of glasses of wine, a lemonade and large Cobra, starting with pappadoms and chutneys, coming to £70 for the 3 of us.

Friendly curry house serving tasty though not particularly spicy curries. Our standard veggie vindaloo, lamb pathia and chicken tikka masala with Bombay aloo were lapped up washed down with a couple of glasses of wine, a lemonade and large Cobra, starting with pappadoms and chutneys, coming to £70 for the 3 of us. Car park just outside.

Foods gone down hill always get chicken tikka masala the sauce is usually thick and creamy but this time it was thin and watery very dissatisfied as aroma us my go to place.

1st time ordering from here and i can say i will be my last. Food arrived stone cold, everything was bland and tasteless i have had more flqvour in a microwave meal. Very dissapointing

Pretty good Indian restaurant. Lots of parking outside. Good food and service, only difficulty is that it's difficult to hear each other in a 'boxy' where sound reflect around. Otherwise can recommend. Try the Dave Special!

Good food and good service, only downside is the portion sizes served in the restaurant seem quite a bit smaller than those they provide on takeaway yet the same price.

Lovely food & brilliant service.

We used to get our deliveries from Chutneys until the chef changed and the curries were no longer to my partners taste. Being equidistant from Blandford and Shaftesbury we then used the Simla. They never got an order right. Our first delivery from Aroma was a delight. Good website, on time delivery, superb food. More expensive than their rivals, but the quantity and quality makes up for that. Highly recommended.

These guys never fail to let us down. We have been coming here for years and the service and food are impeccable. Hats off to all those at Aroma.

Food was amazing. Ordered takeaways from here many times and the food has always been good. On this occasion we decided to eat in. We were offered Poppadoms the moment we sat down which were on our bill at the charge of £1 each, totalling £4. The service was ok, but felt very rushed, like they couldn't wait to get us out. Always hovering checking our plates and taking them away the moment we finished anything. Not a place you can relax in unfortunately, without being checked on continuously or watched.

Takeaway - it was OK but would order differently if we tried it again. The onion bajjis were good, the rice was fine, as we're the poppadoms. The mint sauce was warm and the cucumber raita was huge and didn't look very appealing as it had separated (see the white sauce in the picture). The chicken tikka masala was unlike any I've had elsewhere - very very bright red (see picture) and tasted mainly of tomato. I would try something different next time. It was good to be able to order online, have it delivered (we are 10 miles away and it cost £7.50 for delivery) and use PayPal but it could have been better overall.

We had a takeaway away this evening (Sat 21st May) it was delivered early which we didn't mind. The food was hot when it arrived and tasted really good, highly recommend.

We ordered a takeaway this evening and it was delivered earlier than our time slot which we didn't mind. The food arrived hot and tasted great, Thankyou.

I have family that lives in the area and has ordered from here before and said the food was reasonable. We just ordered a delivery for four people, I am visiting from outside of the country and was extremely excited to have an excellent curry whilst here. Imagine my dismay upon opening the curry to discover a bright pink watery offering with zero flavor, not even basic curry flavor, no spice in whatsoever, it was extremely sweet and sickly and appeared to be tomato purée with sugar and coconut in as the sauce. The chicken in my chicken tikka masala appeared to have just been cooked and thrown into the sauce not marinated and beautifully cooked as expected. The chicken Korma was also watery and flavorless with no spicing at all. We had specifically requested that all the dishes be spiced up a little more to make them medium spice, but either way I would expect the basic flavors to be there which did not exist. I have to say the Naan breads and Popadoms with accompaniments were very good, as was the rice, which was just as well, because that is all I ate. Had I been dining in the restaurant, I would have without a doubt returned the food to the kitchen, as it was inedible and ended up in the bin, I am so disappointed, what a waste of money. I have read other reviews that have been glowing reports of excellent food but also the occasional review such as mine If management is reading this please, please rectify this problem, I have eaten at hundreds of Indian restaurants and this was the worst I have ever had. Completed the review form on the website, said I would be contacted, heard nothing.

Wow the food is amazing and great value. I still have some left over for tomorrow. The staff are very friendly including kerin who opened the door for me.

Meal for one , absolutely delicious, great value, varied menui. Lovely delivery girl. Five star service and quality. Thank you.

Innocuously positioned on the edge of the Bell car park, we were delighted to find it open for business on a Monday night (many other pubs and restaurants, not so). A genuinely friendly welcome and with a spotless modern interior, the extensive menu impressed. So did the food. The Anar Kali was the best Indian food I've eaten in years! Service was quick and efficient. A very nice restaurant indeed.

Took way longer than the 45 mins they promised. Can't complain about food though. Won't be going back though as I don't like waiting 90 mins for my food.

Excellent customer service with first class food - restaurant is very clean & whilst small it has a cozy atmosphere Definitely worth a visit, we will be returning

We had a wonderful dinner on Saturday evening with you last weekend. The food absolutely delicious, a very warm welcome, extremely efficient staff and outstanding service. I am in hospitality myself and was so impressed. Great to see the buzz of the restaurant back post-lockdown,...

We have a takeaway delivered and have to say the food was top drawer. Also the food was delivered right in the window they said. Will definitely be using again. Thank you

Great take away - tasty and well balanced flavours

Fantastic service fabulous food. Met with a lot of friends for first time since pandemic. Such a great evening thank you.

Great place to visit with your family 👪

That was one of the best currys i have had for years people i am not joking u this place is unreal the taste and the meat is10/10 £76 well spent just moved to gillingham from london and wow this is now our place thanks giys and chef well done hats aff to ya

Nice ambience, overall good experience. Tried Panir Shashlik and it was the best item. Parking is available in the front (pay and display in day time and free post 6PM). Indian food was good and service was efficient as well. Their opening times has changed and now they offer till 10:30.

Sadly, I have to say that the evening meal I had was bland, very little spice and served tepid. The restaurant is comfortable and staff are pleasant. I would unfortunately not recommend.

Typical British curry with very salty Sheek Kebab and sons Dupizia ridiculousy hot like a Vindaloo

We attended this restaurant on the 19th August 2021, and I was absolutely shocked and appalled to see how staff were treated there. One of the so called Managers actively bullied and belittled one of his younger members of staff in front of paying customer's and other staff. I had to bite my tongue as myself and my other guests were disgusted at the young man's treatment. As a manager of a restaurant if you cannot handle pressure you should not be a manager...........you should be ashamed of yourself.

Absolutely amazing the service was amazing really polite and perfect really Well the food wow me and my otherhalf have eaten out in alot of places and had some amazing food but this place was outstanding if I could of rated more than 5 I would I had the chicken pasanda and plain rice it was amazing the chicken was cooked to perfection and it was so tasty although I'm not a sweet curry person I would definitely recommend this and I would also order again And he had the mixed grill pilau rice and a naan bread The meat was again cooked to perfection the flavour was all the way through to the bone and I can tell You this thats not as easy as people think and it was so fresh it was served infront of us off of a hot plate sizzling and both meals were satisfying and filling We are so impressed we were joking about not telling anyone we knew so we could keep it to ourselves lol Thank you so much for our wonderful meal And again all the staff were wonderful too

Absolutely amazing the service was amazing really polite and perfect really Well the food wow me and my otherhalf have eaten out in alot of places and had some amazing food but this place was outstanding if I could of rated more than 5 I...

Had a really nice meal here recently, i dont often venture outside my comfort zone in regard to food but the food was so nice here that i tried numerous new dishes. The young waiter Kieran gave excellent table service, he came across as mature and very efficient. Great work Aroma staff.....and please pass on my compliments to the chef.

Arrived in Shafesbury 8.30pm Sunday evening without booking. Parked in the car park and walked in on spec. This restaurant is perhaps a good example of don't judge a book by its cover.... From the unsupposing exterior, we enjoyed a warm, friendly welcome and good...

Booked a table here when staying overnight in Shaftesbury. The staff were very polite and helpful. The menu is extensive & has a good range of vegetarian dishes. The tarka dhal & saag paneer were particularly tasty. I was very impressed with all the food...

Easy to find, parking no problem, excellent service, not too fussy…… stunning food. We were there for about a hour. Highly recommended.

Poppadums stale. Soft as 12 month old digestives left in an open tin. Main: I deliberated over ordering either a chicken or lamb Jalfrezi - so I awaited it’s arrival to check - and I was still none the wiser as I ate it! I...

Brilliant. Just Brilliant. The food was excellent. The lamb was cooked perfectly, moist, easy to cut, not fatty. Generous balanced portions. Extremely polite staff, very clean and Covid compliant. Sensible bar selection Will be going back. :-)

Just arrived in Shaftesbury looking to find somewhere to eat ,found this restaurant just behind the kings head ,very good service excellent food friendly staff I’d recommend this place ,had a very nice meal here

Just had a takeaway from here. My 9yo son pushed away his (empty) plate and said "Indians are good cooks aren't they" I muttered something about some of it maybe Bangladeshi and some might be anglicised (which is no more than good market awareness) but the fact remains. He was absolutely right, this was a great meal.

Too much oil in food . Splattered everywhere leaving marks on table and plates. Taste was good but dangerous to eat this much oil

Excellent Indian cuisine whether you fancy something a bit different, or the usual favourites. Fabulous meal as expected it was just divine. Highly recommended!.....

Wow! Delicious food, after long time. One of the best meal we have ever had in year. What a flavor, highly recommended specially naga delight.

Best food I had in a long time, very tasty special naan, will be visiting again

Food is inconsistent. Sometimes extremely good sometimes its incredibly poor. Last time potatoes for Bombay also were rock hard and inedible. If you are lucky and can get a good meal everyone then this place is worth it.

Great food! We'd like to see less plastic for takeaways New to the Shaftesbury Area, we went on a mission to try every Indian Takeaway we could find. Aroma came top for variety and flavour. We now eat there every week. Very happy to support a great local business, but please use less plastic. Hopefully it is just a pandemic thing.

I love their food and they deliver quickly. Their coconut rice is on another level!!

Got delivery from here when staying in area with work, not much in the way of options. Nothing really had any flavour, sheesh kebab was meat and fried onions, main was watery and chicken was questionable, didnt taste great, and I shouldnt be talking about...

We ordered take away for a family of four and at the time though the prices quite high compared with a good Chinese takeaway we'd had recently. * It arrived an hour later than promised. * The food was completely flavourless and one really felt...

Best takeaway I've had for ages. Tasty food and really nice people.

Really attentive service and delicious food. If we were local we would definitely be return customers here.

We've had many take-aways from Aroma, but I won't be rushing back in a hurry after my latest experience. We ordered a delivered take-away to enjoy with some friends and it arrived more than 30 minutes before our elected time, and of course before our guests arrived. On calling Aroma, I spoke to the manager and he was so rude. No apology and told me put each dish in the microwave for 1min 20 seconds. Try doing that with 13 dishes and keeping them all warm. He said they have over 100 orders and that it was tough. I wonder how they manage to cook all of these 100 orders fresh for their pick up and delivery.....

Great food, lovely staff, would definitely go back if in the area

Very polite and friendly staff. Delicious food. Good portions

Ordered food for takeaway. Ready on time, discount for collection. Very tasty food and good value. Recommended!

We visited last Saturday for family party. Ordered chicken tikka naga for me. It was so watery and test less. Service was awful. I’d never come back again. People should have avoid this place.

I had a chicken tikka naga last Saturday night . The was extremely delicious. Highly recommend cause I was really glad to have such a great dish

Went in early evening with my grandson, everything seemed covid compliant! Attentive service, good food and a pint, what more could you want.

I have previously rated Aroma highly and said that in my opinion it was the best indian food in the area, I feel the need to update that based on my last experience. I appreciate that in the current situation there may be an issue with availability of ingredients, however if you can't make a decent attempt at a dish you should strike it from the menu. From undercooked breads to flavourless (I don't mean not hot I mean lacking basic flavours) dishes it was wholly unimpressive. I have a friend visiting from Italy where Indian food is difficult to come by, who had specifically requested and was looking forward to an Aroma meal. We spent £50 on food, threw about £20 worth away and were underwhelmed with the rest. Most of the dishes were "sloppy" with a high liquid content, pouring the vegetable curry over my Biryani was like pouring french onion soup with a spoon full of curry powder in it. I had 3 dishes and all of them had far more onions in them than you would expect. Maybe it's about ingredient availability, maybe the good chef has moved on but the standards are now too low and almost as bad as the India Cottage. Sorry Aroma but you really need to up your game again, until I see consistent good reviews again I will be taking my custom elsewhere.

I have previously rated Aroma highly and said that in my opinion it was the best indian food in the area, I feel the need to update that based on my last experience.I appreciate that in the current situation there may be an issue with availability of ingredients, however if you can't make a decent attempt at a dish you should strike it from the menu.From undercooked breads to flavourless (I don't mean not hot I mean lacking basic flavours) dishes it was wholly unimpressive.I have a friend visiting from Italy where Indian food is difficult to come by, who had specifically requested and was looking forward to an Aroma meal. We spent £50 on food, threw about £20 worth away and were underwhelmed with the rest. Most of the dishes were "sloppy" with a high liquid content, pouring the vegetable curry over my Biryani was like pouring french onion soup with a spoon full of curry powder in it. I had 3 dishes and all of them had far more onions in them than you would expect.Maybe it's about ingredient availability, maybe the good chef has moved on (we overheard arguments in the kitchen and takaway orders were returned by the delivery driver because they were incomplete), but the standards are now too low and almost as bad as the India Cottage.Sorry Aroma but you really need to up your game again, until I see consistent good reviews again I will be taking my custom elsewhere.

Me and my partner are regulars. Best Indian around. Absolutely perfect and cannot fault one thing. Amazing 🤪🤪