Bombay Spice in Exeter

Beyond phenomenally bad. Meal turned up missing all of our rice. When I called, there was zero apology, zero acceptance of any wrong doing and they put the phone down on me and would not pick up again. Refused to send the missing items. Definitely going to visit them - not going to let this go. Sick of being ripped off because nobody bothers to hold poor service to account. Very very angry. Can't wait to visit them in person.

I ordered last week for the first time in years, as I had a couple bad experiences. However I have deleted my old review as they have really improved massively. I have since ordered a further 2 times. The food is fantastic, the service amazing. I can't make a single complaint and good for them. I hope they can keep up with the good work and win their customers back.

We ordered last night and had it friends very tasty we all enjoyed it.My husband, son and l ordered food here again tonight .

Lovely food , great service. Little gem in Exeter. Give it a go! Nice place x

I ordered from their special a week prior and they gave me one item rather than 2 from their buy 1 get 1. A week later ordered karahi and they said it would come with pilau rice, the pilau rice never came with it. Called the restaurant to ask and was yelled at and the phone was put down on me 3 times.

Great curry, best in town, love Ryne menu. Loads of choice & dishes I’d never heard of. Super friendly welcome & service. Worth a visit.

This was among the worst Indian food I've eaten in my life. The lamb saag was tasteless but the prawn puree was just about inedible. Who's ever heard of Indian food doused in soy sauce ?

Booked a table for 15 people on a Friday evening. Despite some negative reviews recently, none of us had any complaints. Food was well cooked, tasty and served on proper plates. Service was faultless, the staff helpful and friendly. Dunno what the negative reviews are about, I'll happily return.

Had the Chicken Nawabi, quiet night, we drove around Cornwall, and on the way out stopped a night in Exeter. The food was great and the staff excellent, we had a good night and too be honest the food is up there with some of the best subcontinent food I've had in the Uk. No problems, recommended.

Got laughed at by the waitress when I ordered tap water after she had told me the extortionate price of a beer. The LGBT rice was disappointing curry was alr. Highlight of the night was a 10 year old it singing us a Christmas song, but I quite frankly cld have sang better myself. We were also requested to bring 2 tomatoes on arrival (supposedly for the chef to use) but were kindly reimbursed for this. Got to meet ‘the best chef in Exeter’ who had been hired part time for Christmas to attract more customers, which clearly has been working considering 98% of the restaurant (if you can call it a restaurant) was empty. Would highly recommend though - great cultural experience.

they cancelled my order and never refunded my money. ignoring phone calls too

We visited Exeter in Jan and came here for the first time for dinner and really enjoyed the experience. We came back in Nov and the food was yet again delicious, and the staff were friendly and attentive. The cost was reasonable compared to other restaurants, and we would be happy to come back again.

Worst Indian food… it’s almost a scam 😅😅😅 I ordered chilli chicken and got something which I never knew existed 😅😅 Anyways, the place needs to eat at other Indian places as well. I hope they read this and work on food. Best of luck !! Checkout the food pics for context of review.

I'm new to the Exeter region and thought I'd set about finding my favourite Indian restaurants, as I regularly order a takeaway. I suppose that starting at the bottom of the heap also is constructive, if I had set out on an exercise of eliminating the 'never agains'. I ordered some staple favourites - a surefire way of comparing good cooking - being a Prawn Puree, a Saag Bhajee, A Lamb Achari and a Coconut Rice. The best that can be said is that the food was delivered promptly and that the lamb was tender. The saag was so dry and so salty, I couldn't eat it. The rice was so sweet and soggy, it would have shone as rice pudding, the achari lacked even a trace of taste or aroma of lime and the prawn puree ... oh my word! Never in all my days have I ingested this quantity of soy sauce. Seriously, what nationality is your chef? Indian or Japanese? Not fit for purpose.

I went with my family to this place. It was my birthday. The food is really delicious. I don't know why some people are giving bad reviews of this restaurant. The area and music is really good . We enjoy it. Thank you, Bombay spice for making my day.!

This has to be the worst curry I have ever had! Dirty plates, cutlery and water jugs. We were even moved onto a table that hadn't been cleaned from the previous guests. Once the food arrived, it didn't look like it normally would but that might just be the way its been prepared. After a couple of bites, it was evident that the chicken wasn't cooked through properly and raw in some places. To add to this the peshwari naan bread that we ordered was completely inedible due to the amount of salt on it. To round it all off, the owner wanted me to pay him £20 for the meal as the kitchen staff had been working on the meal, I said no, I'll pay for what I've eaten to which he said, ok, pay me £15! This whet on until he finally got the message that I was going to pay £9 and no more. He then stated that he'd never had a customer like me before who would haggle over £1, I informed him that it's the precibal of it and he was still standing because I was out with my Mrs. I paid for my beer and popidoms and happily left. To say that I have been in cleaner places in Afghanistan is an understatement.

Without doubt the worst curry I have ever had. The food was served in takeaway boxes. When asked why the manager said "it was to save on the washing up". Despite having pre-ordered our meals, they took over an hour to turn up, were cold and disgusting. Then the restaurant ran out of beer. On top of all this the seating area and toilets were filthy, the food unidentifiable and certainly not what was ordered. Having put all this to the manager, we told him what we thought, paid for what had turned up and was edible and left. Don't make the same mistake as us.

Our club booked for 35 people two weeks in advance. Each person sent their food choices in advance. On the night the restaurant had sold out of some of our starters and they were replaced automatically with very dry onion bhaji and an insipid salad. After one hour 30 minutes our mains arrived. They were in plastic take away containers and were put on our plates in front of us with their lids on. The rice served on platters for us all to dig into had clearly been sitting around a while and was dry and a bit hard but tasty enough. I had ordered a chicken madras. It was pretty tasteless and the chicken pieces were dry, stringy and really overcooked. The nahn bread was wet and floppy Before we could start our meal,we had to call for knives and forks and serving Spoons. This was the worst restaurant experience I've had in a very long time. I was relieved to pay at the end just to get out of the place.

Pre booked and pre ordered as a large group. Starters were a shambles, some did not arrive, some we asked for again. Mains - all arrived in plastic tubs ?!? Some smelt off, some tasted off, some too salty, some never arrived. Not enough rice nor naan. Cutlery taken away, never replaced. Toilets awful state. Worst meal out ever.

Very poor service and many of the dishes we ordered were inedible. They also ran out of cobra at 9pm on a Saturday night. Go elsewhere

Poor cleanliness. Menus and plates poorly cleaned and tablecloths stained. Mains were obviously batch cooked and later reheated as they were served in takeaway containers at various temperatures. Dishes didn't match the menu and they ran out of beer after one round. Very disappointed as booking was made far in advance with dishes pre-ordered. Simple forward planning should have foreseen these problems.

I went to the “Bombay Spice” last night for a meal with friends. I have been eating and enjoying Indian meals for over 50 years and I can say without fear of contradiction that this was the worst that I have ever had. The food was dreadful, the service was terrible, the beer ran out after one bottle each and the toilets were dirty, smelly and definitely hadn’t been cleaned recently. An awful experience and I strongly recommend that this restaurant is avoided !!

Restaurant filthy, plates filthy, cutlery filthy, toilets utterly disgustingly filthy. Food utterly disgusting and smelling rancid. I was unable to eat the meal which was unrecognisable as a chicken jalfrezi and came served in a plastic container. I have never experienced anything like this and would rather eat from a bin than dine at this revolting establishment.

Went with a large group of friends; given numbers, we had prebooked and preordered our meals from the menu. We arrived at the arranged time of 19h30 and waited some time for the starters. Beers ordered all round. When the starters came, there were a number of substitutions, which was odd given that we had given our orders weeks in advance. The cutlery and plates were cleared away, and cutlery was never redistributed unless specifically requersted. Time passed. Attempts were made for a second round of beers, but they had sold out by 21h. Again, we had booked this evening well ahead of time. By 21h, the mains had still not arrived, though warm plates had been handed out that were by now cool. Odd, I thought: why pass out warm, empty plates, as the food would surely be served on yet another plate? My confusion was partially resolved shortly thereafter as our orders were served in plastic takeaway tubs. Something was mumbled about saving on the washing up, but this didn't really clarify the issue. Presentation was far from the only problem: sides that had been ordered never appeared, and instead of the specific rice dishes ordered, we were served communal plates of plain rice. The food was the real disappointment. Several others declared theirs inedible, and my rogan josh was pretty poor. We were in fact on our way by 21h30/21h45, as no one really wanted to finish their food. To be fair, they took £50 off the total bill, but our individual splits of the bill still came out to £23 for one bottle of beer, an onion bhaji (alright), a lamb rojan josh (not very nice, unfinished), and a garlic rice (never delivered), which strikes me as a reasonable cost for a nice curry night out; this was not it. Admittedly, we were a large group, but the fact that it was prebooked and preordered weeks beforehand made this pretty inexcusable.

A booked for in advance party of 30 people endured the worst dining experience ever at this place. Bad food, drinks ran out, dirty tableware and facilities. I’d rather sit on a park bench and eat out of a bin before I visit the Bombay palace again.

Chicken pathia with plain Nan was delicious. Customer service was excellent.

Have been coming here for over 15 years, no where else would I go for an Indian in Exeter, popped in for tea tonight, food was delicious as always, owner always welcoming and the staff Fabulous! Thank you so much x

Been coming to this restaurant with my family for years, food is always gorgeous and so filling, I always have to take some home for next day, yum! The owner and staff are wonderful! Great to see such a lovely restaurant thriving after the last few years, we will keep coming back x

I went with my family to this place. It was my birthday. The food is really delicious. I don't know why some people are giving bad reviews of this restaurant. The area and music is really good . We enjoy it. Thank you, Bombay spice for making my day.!

Walked past this restaurant last night and decided to give it a go. I'm glad we did. Staff were welcoming and friendly, the food was delicious and the beer was nice and cold. Good value for money too. Would have given 5 stars but the place does look like it could do with a good clean.

If you are Indian and visited Exeter, Uk for vacation and wanted to have Indian Dishes with pocket friendly price. Then this place is for you.

Lovely food. Owner is v.nice man, maha, great food 👍🏼

It's kind of amazing to find a curry this bad in 2023. All the dishes we had were tomatoey and bland and all the same. The floor was oddly greasy. The best thing was the price - £48 for two starters, two mains, two sides and two drinks. Still wouldn't do it again though.

Steer Clear!. I ordered a take away for delivery. It came cold and missing a main dish! The owner was rude and said it was “Our” problem. He didn’t try to even apologise or offer to fix the problem. Avoid this place unless you want to be ripped off!

I have eaten in many restaurants in Exeter but I have not found any restaurant like this taste. Indian food should be like this. Very delicious. I am eating with great pleasure. The staff here are also very friendly. The hotel is also being maintained very neatly. Anyone who wants to eat Indian food I refer here. Try it once and you will come back again and again.Try it Exeter People's Indian Food is like this. I strongly recommended.

This is my first time writing a review because I’ve never needed to before Jesus Christ pickle tray was a shocking horrible flavours. the main ordered a chicken bhuna what I got was definitely not that. Didn’t help every time he past me a plate it was dirty 🤮 only good thing was the after eight

I Don't know where to start. First impression was it looks shabby but most Indian restaurants don't look the best but thought we would give it ago. Waiter was friendly but as soon as the food came out (on a wooden trolley with food all over the wheels) it looked watery and the rice was like bullets. Keema naan had minimal meat. Whilst sat trying to eat the cook came out the kitchen and walked through the restaurant, who looked like he was a mechanic, his hands were black and wearing an apron which looked like it had been socked in engine oil. That was when we decided that was enough and decided to leave but needed to spend a penny first. But after walking into the toilet I thought I would be cleaner to wet myself on the way home as the toilets are as disgusting as the chef. Will not be returning and don't see how this place can even open.

Absolutely delicious!! Curry’s in Exeter can be hit and miss but this one seems like a real gem. Being pregnant craving a good curry and this hit the spot!! Absolutely perfect! Thankyou so much

Worst food I have ever eaten.... Overcooked, burnt and cold. Nothing positive to say unfortunately. All I can be grateful for is that we were charged a reduced price due to the poor quality.

Disgusting curry worst ever thought curry king was bad but this one is worst ever the rice was in the curry 🍛 and full of grease no wonder there phones line's are dead as they would be inundated with calls about the food go to spice magic down fore Street best curry down spice magic any day.

Order delivered wrong: one of the masala chips we ordered was swapped for a rice. The food was poor, one of the curries didn't taste of anything (a strange achievement indeed for Indian cuisine), and the other tasted like a sweet and sour Chinese. I've lived in Exeter for 13 years and eaten in/ordered from many local Indian restaurants; this was by far the worst. There are others much more deserving of your time and money.

Excellent curry! By far the best in Exeter. The staff are really friendly, and the curry is superb. A real hidden gem here. If you’re after an Indian in Exeter, this is the place for you!

Absolutely dreadful food, I could have cooked either of the dishes I had better myself.

There were nine of us in our party. Not one of us thought the food was good except the popadoms over spiced, watery curry one massive portion of rice to share between us instead of individual portions. The gents toilets were a disgrace. I won’t...

Arrived here, to staff seemingly ignoring me. After asking if anyone was available to help with my order was told it’s not ready at the stated time. Decided to use the toilet, it was very dirty, walls and floor obviously haven’t been cleaned in months. Returned and and rudely asked to move my bag from the freezer in the front of the restaurant. At this point I left, without collecting my order. Will never ever return to this restaurant and will advice everyone I know of how poor the hygiene and service is here.

We would absolutely NOT recommend eating here. Firstly, there was glass all over the floor where they sat us and a rubbish bag lying around (which they did kindly remove). Secondly, our friend had a huge chunk of plastic found in their rice. They said...

Visited Bombay spice with my friend on a rainy Tuesday night. The staff were very friendly and recognised us from our previous visit. The food was the star. Correctly spiced to my liking and well presented. Fantastic

Great food at great price, best Indian food you can have in Exeter.

Quite possibly the worst Indian restaurant I've been to in a while. All plates were dirty. Waiter was so rude he didn't serve our naan bread until food was finished. When I tried to tell him to give me the naan he told me to be patient and if I didnt like It I could leave. All starters has the same masala on it. Not horrible just didn't fancy the same flavour throughout. The makhni was even worse tasted like custurd and chicken. When questioned myself being Pakistani was told the chicken was cooked for white people lol

I have been to many Indian restaurants in exeter but this one I found most closest to original and authentic Indian taste. Service, ambience, staff, food quantity and taste - everything was perfect. Surely recommend to others.

Avoid totally Not worth trying even Worst experience ever Bad cold tasteless food Rude and ill mannered behaviour We asked for onion slices with food and the person starting screaming

What a little hidden gem, the food was really very good, I don’t get why it wasn’t jam packed. I had a chicken tikka masala (extra hot) with a keema naan. And some poppadoms with lime pickle 😍. Service was very friendly, service with a smile, no rushing just relax. The price was very reasonable, I really enjoyed it lovely traditional place, come and check it out, I’m sure you will not be disappointed 😊

The best Indian in Exeter. Will never go anywhere else. So fresh and delicious with a really vast menu with lots of new curry's to try. Good value foe money too!

What a little hidden gem, the food was really very good, I don’t get why it wasn’t jam packed. I had a chicken tikka masala (extra hot) with a keema naan. And some poppadoms with lime pickle 😍. Service was very friendly, service with a...

Excellent food and service, recommend anyone to visit Bombay spice Exeter. You will definitely enjoy if you like Indian style food.

Great communication from staff very friendly made me feel very welcome. The food was very nice cooked to my liking and delivered to the table hot great Indian in Exeter, exceptional value for money.

Hot.tasty and nice flavour. Highly recommend..we enjoy all food : especially tk masala and Garlic Nan . As well as service

Absolutely outstanding and quality food and service definitely go back .I recommend my friend and family to go and visit this place

Doesn't even deserve 1 star, said it was delivered bit it wasn't, staff member kept hanging up the phone refusing to do anything about it then stopped answering

We ordered 3 mildly spiced Tikka Masala and one Butter chicken with rice and naan. Well, all three Tikka Masala was served with undercooked chicken. Sauce was not spicy and has not seen Indian spices, except on photos. Felt like we were eating sand in...

Avoid at all cost, They have an offer Saying starter with chicken curry with rice, The starter was x2 stone cold broken poppadoms, the chicken curry was stone cold then the rice came, again cold BUT also it was a childs size portion, £14.95 RIP OFF PLEASE DONT GO

Was really looking forward to my birthday meal which in the end took 2hrs.The driver thought it was funny that he couldn't find my house.when food arrived it wasn't very hot and not all of my order was delivered.

Popped in on an overnight stay in Exeter. The food is just fantastic, freshly prepared and super tasty! The service is exceptional. Probably the best Peshwari Naan I've ever had! Don't be put off by its appearance, just take the stairs!

Ordered a curry from here, direct from their website, it never arrived and they never answered the phone. They phoned back 2 days later and asked if I still wanted the curry. I said no thanks as it’s bit late and requested they refund me asap. I never received my refund despite chasing it numerous times. Avoid at all costs.

Lovely staff, accommodated a large group of us near closing time. Great food and a great atmosphere. Highly recommend

Ordered on Deliveroo and we were so impressed firstly with how quickly it arrived. The food was incredible will definitely order again!! :)

We walked around Exeter trying to find a good Indian place to eat and we stumbled across this place. It may seem quiet but the experience was far from that. We were pleasantly greeted by one of the waiters there and sat us down at...

Nice food, friendly staff, great service, good music!

A warm welcome and some wonderfully flavoured dishes. The Bombay Spice is definitely worth a visit if you’re looking for classic Indian curries and some interesting chef’s choices. Easy vegetarian options too. Don’t be put off by the restaurant being upstairs.

Good food but bad service. I don't expect to go to a restaurant and have to argue with the staff over what I ordered. Two party members were not hungry and just ordered a side in place of a main meal, Bombay spice tried to charge us extra saying 'it was company policy that all diners had mains' despite this information being nowhere to be seen on menu, wall or website. They unprofessionally blamed other staff members instead of just apologising to us.

This is the worst Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to. Food very bland toilets are disgusting god knows what’s on the blind in the toilet. It’s worrying if the toilets are that dirty what’s the kitchen like. Avoid this place please

Saturday night meal was delicious. Beautifully spiced and well-cooked in big portions. Friendly service with a smile 😃! Perfect end to our day visiting our son, who doesn't particularly like curry but left his plate clean.

Excellent value for money, especially use of deals offered. Less than £10 for a Main and Rice for dine-in is very rare these days! Ambience isn’t the best but for the price you cannot complain. The food is tasty and arrives quickly. Make sure to...

Brilliant food with quick service, really good to go with friends or family. Extremely good value too, will definitely be coming here again!

Amazing atmosphere and great food! Absolutely bloody incredible, vindaloo is deffo recommend. Yum and thank you!!

The food that arrived was cold, half my order was missing, what did arrive did not taste nice, the driver overcharged me more than £3 over the price stated on Just Eat. I called them, they fobbed me off saying they will refund the naan bread and hung up despite not taking my details. I called again and he has said I will have a refund after I refused to have a replacement. The food really does have a funny taste to it. The onion bhajis were swimming in oil and I couldn't even hazard a guess at what the sauce was. The man on the phone also stated today was the day they cook the rice fresh. It is absolutely disgusting 😤

We visited the restaurant on a Monday evening. We were the only people in there but lots of deliveroo coming and going. The ambience needs some work - the lights are bright and the indian techno weird. The food however was excellent and we couldn't...

Really tasty curry helpful with vegetarian options but meat eaters happy too. The best garlic naan I’ve had for a while. Friendly staff. Lights are a bit bright and music could be a bit more chilled but only been open 2months so I’m sure they...

Food was brilliant and authentic Indian flavour. Best Indian food . we will come again very soon. We love tandoori king prawns and Masala.. nan bread is awesome

Dropped in unplanned after an offer caught our eye on an advertising board posted outside. Freally friendly staff, food was hot and tasted excellent with rich flavours. A hidden gem in Exeter's Fore Street. I can recommend Bombay Spice for a sit-down meal.

Same as other reviews, shouldn’t have ignored them. After 2 hours waiting for takeaway we rang and were told on 3 different occasions it would be in 10 minutes. After 2.5/3 hours we cancelled the order, they barely confirmed we would get our money back....

Absolutely terrible service. I ordered dinner online for the whole family and the order was late to be delivered so I called and was told the driver was on his way. We waited a further 20 mins, called again and we’re told they weren’t actually going to deliver our food as it was too far. They weren’t even going to tell us and lied about being on their way. 2 hours from ordering to find out we weren’t going to get our dinner late at night with hungry children. I will never bother with this restaurant again

Absolutely terrible service. I ordered dinner online for the whole family and the order was late to be delivered so I called and was told the driver was on his way. We waited a further 20 mins, called again and we’re told they weren’t actually...

I thought I'd share my experience of the Bombay Spice (formerly the Red Rose), hidden away on North St upstairs. Only a few people in when we arrived but service was excellent in the extreme, Poppadoms came very quickly with a good selection of pickles. Main orders promptly came too, Saag Gosht was fabulous. Cobra and Kingfisher on draught! Decor still needs a proper refresh but I'm sure this will be done when they get more footfall but don't be put off.

My favourite curry house in Exeter. Great food. Helpful staff. And the food is fresh., really fresh and that was on a quiet night. I love this place and will be back soon.

Popped into this cracking place on a Sunday night and honestly couldn’t fault it! Would 100% recommend and can’t wait to return! Best Naaans in the world and I’d have one every day for the rest of my life if I could!!

We really really loved our visit! Great food, friendly staff and a lovely atmosphere!! Thanks so much!

Amazing customer service and excellent food, all the food is so fresh. Absolutely loved it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Through me and a mate would try while walking past, loverly food, great service, would definitely use again

Ate he was fantastic food Highly recommend this restaurant the mixed kebab starter is out of this world new oweners only 3weeks here get yourself down there

Although this restaurant doesn’t look like much. It has recently changed hands and the food is delightful and portions are large. I usually eat a lot but was unable to finish this meal

Excellent service whilst eating in here. Friendly customer service and a warm welcome. Very tasty food and brought to the table with not much of a wait. Recommend this Indian if you’re visiting Exeter or even if you’re a local.

Very great restaurant, lovely people, friendly and with a great taste of food. We loved the place and we will be coming back again.

Food was tasty and staff was also very nice

Lovely restaurant and food.Great service! Came for my mums birthday complimentary drinks! Defiantly recommend and and will be back. great little restaurant no booking required

Lovely people! served by a man called maha and he was very helpful and polite! Would definitely recommend ❤️

We had a really lovely welcome on arrival and the food did not disappoint. Everything was absolutely tasty and filling. My hubby had the jinga prawn and I had the lamb balti saag. The lamb was succulent and tasty. The service was amazing, so friendly...

Absolutely brilliant. Food was amazing. Service first class I have eaten lots of Indian food but this is by far the best. Don’t miss this place. Restaurant is clean and fresh

The best Indian food I’ve had in ages, great tasting, large portions and top tier service from the staff and management, we will definitely be back. Thanks Bombay spice

The staff Maha was amazing and the food was also amazing I would recommend Very nice and clean place to chill and unwind as a couple