Cafe India in Highland

At the risk of sounding pompous,, my family and I have spent thousands upon thousands in this restaurant over the years. We've been going for over 25+ years. Ordered a takeaway tonight and got my usual, Tandoori king prawn for the princely sum of £22.40. What does one get for that? 3 prawns. Yes, THREE prawns. T-H-R-E-E. It used to be 10-12. The other food was just alright. Not bad at all but not what we used to expect under the previous owner. Very oily. It's very disappointing to spend this much at a restaurant we have so many good memories of.

Another excellent experience at Cafe India. Delicious food, and cheerful service in this popular restaurant.

AVOID THIS PLACE‼️‼️‼️ Extremely disappointing experience. The staff were rude and unwelcoming from the moment we arrived. The food was overly oily, making it almost inedible – definitely not what you’d expect from a place claiming to serve quality Indian cuisine. What’s worse, they insisted we order a main course, even though it’s called “Cafe India” – you’d expect a casual, flexible dining experience, not forced orders. The name is misleading, and the atmosphere is far from friendly. There are plenty of better options around – save your time and money and avoid this place at all costs.

I left this restaurant feeling ripped off. The portions were ridiculously small for the high prices. I ordered pulao rice and what I got looked more like a sample than a meal, leaving me still hungry after finishing. For what they charge, I expected a lot more food. Definitely not worth it—won’t be coming back.

Just enjoyed a meal with our work team in Cafe India tonight and want to show my appreciation for what Mo and Rachel did for me tonight. Being diabetic is hard enough but Mo went out of his way to make the most amazing tikka chicken salad for me and also threw in some steamed spiced vegetables. I appreciate the extent they went to to make my night special...Thank you so mich guys.

Having grown up locally, we have always used cafe India. I hadn’t been for a while and had heard a few mixed reviews recently so decided to give it a go. Was not disappointed. We ordered for delivery. Website said delivery would take an hour which was fine (pick up was 40 mins) and we were happy to wait. Food came when it said it would. Food was of an excellent quality. We had a variety of different chicken dishes, rice, naan and poppadoms. My only slight fault was the poppadoms were slightly more oily tasting than I’d expect but nothing major (we still ate them all!)

Food was unreal! But delivery time was shocking, ordered my food at 7pm and didn’t receive until 9:15 after being told both times that i phoned that my food was only 10 minutes away.

The food is always full of flavour every time . The quality is perfect. Never fails to impress the taste buds .

Definitely my go-to in town!!!! From the curry, to the naan, the popadoms, everything is absolutely delicious. On top of that, all the staff I've interacted with are friendly and happy to be there. I am a big curry lover so to find a place with authentic, tasty curry for such a good price is a blessing.

Always great food good value for money

I live in central London, about 2 minutes off of Brick Lane which is famous for its really good curry houses. When I say this, there is no exaggeration… this curry house beats all of the ones I have dined in at Brick Lane. The quality / taste of food is honestly unreal. The service is quick. Also the chutney they serve with the poppadoms is genuinely so tasty which I don’t usually opt for. How a curry house this good has found itself in Dingwall is beyond me but genuinely compliments to the chef, the staff, the manager and the owner and even the landlord.

The food was delicious so worth the wait but it’s not the first time the delivery time has been misquoted

was not delivered and the hung the phone up on me. happy New Year 😅

Lamb Karai highly recommended lightly spiced is perfect with pilau rice and garlic naan

Most authentic Indian food we had so far in UK.

the curry was very oily , couldn't eat it , shame cause normally very good, onion bhaji cold

Everything about the place was perfect Great service Staff very attentive Food was wonderful Will definitely be back

Food arrived not very warm. Poppadums were badly broken and no chutney with poppadums. A bit disappointing.

We stayed near Dingwall and visited twice. Fabulous food and very friendly service.

We're from the Midlands and eat out at Indian restaurants very regularly. We struggle to find Indian restaurants serving food that we enjoy when we're away from home. Tonight was not the case. We ended up at Cafe India unexpectedly as the restaurant we were going to was full. We were so glad it was! From the minute we entered the service and attention was exceptional. Everything was served quickly, and the food was surprisingly delicious. I would go as far as to say equally as good (and maybe better) than restaurants back home. Hubby and I both had lamb dishes. It absolutely melted in your mouth, was so full of flavour and the portion sizes were very good. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone in a heartbeat. Thanks for a lovely experience.

This is about the best place to eat in Dingwall, and one of the nicest Indian restaurants anywhere.

Excellent from starters to dessert. Everything in their menu is well done - not much to add except if you don't have this as an Indian in Inverness, you're missing out. Expect to spend £25 pp.

Delicious meal, service was great and always a friendly smile, it was a busy Saturday evening and the atmosphere was brilliant, 5 stars from us.

Great night at Cafe India. Lovely food and really great service. It was very busy this evening but we still felt looked after. Did have a little wait for food but understandable with how busy it. Would definitely recommend a visit.

lost it's atmosphere to many lights on and lost the friendlyness. shame because the food is very good.

Been here a few times over the years and the food has been good, this time I feel it may have changed hands the food was horrible. It’s all taste the same no matter what we ordered. There was 9 of us it all just taste of coconut and the place itself smells dirty. The place mats stuck to the table, and had to wait for the rice when all the food was going cold. £250 plus they didn’t ask how it was either.

Surprised .. Authentic Indian taste .. ginger, garlic, coriander what not.. loved it .. Can't believe such tasty Indian restaurant deep inside Scotland.. You don't find it quite often in the all UK.. never expected it in a small Scottish town ..

Great wee Indian and even better as there is one in alness now

Delicious, hot and good value for money. Will order again.

The food was pretty nice whereas the host(male) at the restaurant was weirdly rude to us. He seemed to be quite sweet to other guests. When situations like this arise, it seems nothing short of disguised racism. Ironically, the said person also seemed to be of the Indian subcontinent origin. The other host at the restaurant was not only sweet but also welcoming.

Great highly recommended many thanks

Very tasty food, delivery driver was friendly. Bit more expensive than other cuisine’s but as a treat absolutely perfect.

Arrived late on a sat night..however chef agreed to make us what we requested. All staff we met were polite, friendly and accommodating. Take out order... King prawn dansak...hot..excellent flavours! Chapattis, Veg side dish ..loads of various veg..great flavour. In fact all the food ordered was excellent ...also gave us a few extras too. Couldn't fault the service or the food!

The food is good but one can easily see racism the way the person was behaving I don’t know if he was indian or not but as the name goes i think he was. The way he was behaving was very rude and ignorant. There are other reviews also stating the same issue so think before you go. There another place just some meters far know as red chilies go there.

Racist Worst service from the waiters

The name of the café is café India, but unfortunately, it's not for Indians. If you are a person of color, they might not treat you properly. The Indian lady who works there won't even talk to you with respect. Although the food was good, the way they treated us ruined our evening.

First of all food was really good. We travelled from so far looking for an Indian restaurant it was really disappointing. Service was not provided properly. Staffs ignoring and are rude. Not asking for second serving. We really felt ignored and can see racism. I will not recommend any INDIANS to cafe India.

Just simply the Best Indian restaurant in the Highlands!

Awful service from start to finish, we got plonked in a corner and forgotten about, nearly 40 minutes went by before anybody took a food order from us & no apology when they did. My partners food was good but my tikka masalla was below average, won't be back, very disappointed.

One of my favourite places to eat locally. It's our 'go to'....went for the buffet lunch today, lovely selection of dishes and great to see the buffet back on the menu, have missed it. Great value and food delicious as always....

Not the most authentic Indian, kind of fushion, but still tasty. Genuinely priced and good service. Will visit again

Super friendly and helpful staff. The food was delicious and well priced.

Food is beyond good. I got jaipuri chicken and oh boy... its even better than I thought. The cheese nan was spot on too! 👌

Todo muy bueno y el servicio estupendo.

Arrived just before end of service, travelled 350+ miles, so tired and hungry. Got slotted in quickly. Food was very excellent and staff were brilliant at a busy time. Thank you all, will definitely visit again when in Scotland. Craig and Ash.

Waited 2 hr for our food to be deliver we received it cold we complained and got a free bottle of wine Wich was piss take as it was a minituer there are 3 other Indian restaurants in dingwall don't use this one

The food was superb and there was no problem for me to eat gluten free! And everyone was so friendly! It was so delicious we decided to go back the second evening we stayed here. I wish we could take this restaurant back home to Belgium!

Excellent food. Catered well for Gluten Free and special dietary needs. Friendly service with quality banter. Highly reccomended.

We visited here on our holiday. After we drove 6 hours to reach this destination, 2 hungry travellers used google maps to see what was open for food and this little gem was only a few mins walk from our hotel. Once we arrived, our host took us to our seat and provided menus, he was warm and welcoming and involved us in little chitchat which was amusing and delightful. We ordered our food and a short wait brought our food to us on a little trolley. Food was hot, tasty and filling. So glad we found this and we would come here to eat again.

Thoroughly enjoyed our meal here recently. Staff excellent and good quality food. 👌

Delicious and thoughtfully prepared meal. Lovely atmosphere, decor and excellent service.

Stunningly brilliant, best Indian I have in years.

Amazing food,,very friendly, and atmosphere excellent,,Tarka dal the best ive ever had,,10 stars 🌟

Went here last night and I must admit it's one of the best Indians I've had in a while.Food and service was superb.

Hubby ate here last night and loved it best curry he has had in ages really good value for money will be back

Un accueil professionnel et chaleureux. Un conseil avisé Un dîner réussi ! Merci.

Was attracted by this little Indian restaurant when we’re travelling down the street looking for dinner, had an amazing experience with this little gem of a place! Everything was fantastic, from the food to the service to the owner’s hospitality. Went back on day 2 for takeaway, told him i was in a rush, surprisingly enough, he said he can told the chef to spin up a few quick ones, and still delicious! And he included 2 pappadoms for free as well to seal the beginning of a promising relationship. If I’m a resident here, will surely visit this nice restaurant every other day! Cheers

Drove 2 hours after checking with the owner if they would be open by the time we reach. And we reached exactly 3 mins late and owner argued at the door that we are late and wouldn’t let us in saying we are closed. Very disrespectful of the fact that we called them twice to check if they would let us in coz we were driving so far and the person didn’t tell us the kitchen closing time. We had 2 kids with us and the owner wouldn’t even let us do take away. Never coming back again.

Great place for indian curries, friendly staff, pocket friendly prices, tasty food that leaves you happy and content.

What a fantastic meal we had in here while on holiday in cromarty, staff were so friendly and cheerful 😊 onions were finely cut with the poppadoms, chicken chaat was shredded and amazing 👏 chicken korma dish was delicious the chicken just melted in your mouth , an absolute 10/10 to this place 😋

Fantastic! My favourite place to eat out in Dingwall. The menu is really extensive, the food is delicious and piping hot, the staff are friendly, and the ambience in the restaurant is lovely too.

Male staff member had his back to us as we walked in....Eventually acknowledged us...Went for a female waitress to attend to us.. We were the only ones in bar a couple leaving. The restaurant filled up and every one was ordering AFTER our order. Most had finished and we were still waiting 1 hour later. They dumped down a hot plate and it had cooled, yet no food. Our drinks were flat and had no ice. I Eventually walked to the bar and said we are leaving. Angry.

This experience was perfect. The poppadoms with generous and tasty dips and chutney. The perfectly cooked Naan breads. The incredible curries and rice, with fresh coriander and fried Jeera. The desserts also, the wine menu priced almost at cost. Wow. Just wow. Great service too. Best Indian I've had in many a long year. Thoroughly thoroughly recommended.

I have thought over this for a little while, as I normally only write positive reviews, but I am not happy with our experiences at this restraunt. First time food tasty enough but not hot, more warm we were the only diners in at that moment so felt this was not brilliant, but tasted nice. My partner and I returned for.the buffet lunch on a week day, Thursday, we again only diners in, now we do appreciate why the full buffet wasn't available, the choices were to be off the menu, that's fine as we have dined like that before, but normally you select and smaller portions are made and brought direct from the kitchen. Choices being tje word here. No, not in this case we were brought the standard selection of pakora and bahji and samosa, no explanation, nothing, food again Warm not hot. The proprietor then sat at front desk and began making phone calls, bills etc, once finished came and cleared plates and asked if mild medium or hot curry, we selected medium, that was the only choice, which diminishes the ethos of a buffet where you can select type and ingredients of what you want. We were brought 2 curries, both chicken and our rice, and additional nan bread that we had asked for, 1 of the dishes relatively pleasant, again Warm, the other inedible due to chicken meat texture nan was wrong one , again we were ignored as there were phone calls to be made, when he did come back to the table the nan was not eaten as wrong, oh I thought you wanted plain, but wrote garlic, when mentioned about the tough fibrous chicken was basically told that was the chickens fault, suppliers issue not theirs. I was mystified by this responce, wasn't offered other dish selections, nothing as you would again expect from a buffet, on leaving presented with the full bill even though only 1 dish eaten, we should have brought this up at the time, but I feel we would not have been responded to in a sympathetic manner, given what we had been told at the table. Poor quality of food and customer service. We won't be returning I'm afraid. Really disappointed 😞 I have just noted the owners response and am going to take the right to reply. On the first visit we were a table of 5, we had 5 starters, 5 mains, 5 rice and 3 side dishes. Not once did we request a change of table or anything close to that. 2nd visit it was myself and my husband. It was the buffet, as written above, we ordered 2 people for.the buffet, and again at no point t was there a mention of changing tables or sharing A meal , we were never a table.if 4 either. The proprietor is sadly mistaken amd misleading in their responce. Such a shame that a review whether positive or negative cannot be met in an acceptable and truthful manner. It would have been a different review if we had been offered even a small recompense for the 2nd occasion, but we were not. And the written responce just goes to clarify what I suggested would have happened if we had entered a discussion at the time. A further disappointment really.

Pathetic attitude. Mannerless staff. Worst hospitality ever recieved. Not recommending to anyone. We sat down and started ordering but the waiter was rude and try to sell food forcefully and told us to leave if we are not gonna order the particular amount order. Worst.

Amazing food, great staff and a lovely evening out x

Really great food, best Chicken Patia ever, great staff always happy to help

I visited Cafe India for take away only when passing through Dingwall. I was really impressed by the tasty chilli garlic chicken and sag aloo that I got, especially for a rural Indian restaurant. Generous portions, good flavours with fresh ginger and garlic, and nice crispy parathas. The only threw in an extra paratha when I ordered two as he thought it wouldn’t be enough. They also gave us a papadum with no charge. I would return in a heart beat to try something else off this menu.

Brilliant food, friendly staff good service

Super restaurant tout était délicieux nous nous sommes régalés et le personnel était très sympathique. Merci !

This is my chicken pakora I ordered missed delivery by 4 minutes a phoned and thy said driver had clocked of depitie saying in Google that they deliver till 11pm time I missed delivery was 9:23pm stupit spastics

Not too bad...four different curries ordered..much alike despite descriptions...not cheap.

My family get food from here frequently but I was especially pleased with the service today! We ordered a large takeaway order for my birthday lunch. I forgot how lovely the inside of the restaurant is. When we collected our food the man was so friendly, and they even gave us a free bottle of wine and free poppadoms/dips with our order. The food was tremendous and every family member was so happy with their meal! I can’t wait to sit in for a meal soon. Would 100% recommend 😊

Lovely meal and staff. They were happy to cater to a couple of food intolerances I have. Will return!

Great for both dine in and take away, happy to cater your dish to your own taste (hold/add the spice). I’ld rate hit higher than nearly all the routine dinning options in nearby Inverness

Best Indian Restaurant in Highlands.

Nipped in here while on holiday for the buffet lunch. Buffet was served at the table, equivalent to a curry per person. Curry is close to being some of the best restaurant food we have ever had. Delicious!

Had a great meal here on Friday 1st October with family Had a vindaloo which was the best Vindaloo I've ever had..... Tried nearly everyone's curries and they were all so good. Service was great and well done to the chef!!!!!

Excellent food and staff have a great sense of humour

I've never had such quick service in a restaurant before! Admittedly it was Sunday night and not exactly overrun, but the main meal arrived before I'd even done with the poppadoms! The staff were great, front of house chap and the young lady on the bar/table waiting, were both a credit to the restaurant. They deserve a share in it not just run it! Chef skills were clearly authentic, best byriani in a good long while. Recommended to me by my accomodation at Garfield Guest House. Well done all round and thanks. Paul L.

Amazing food great choice and great value. Wonderful service. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Three (two adults and one child) of us decided to try out the buffet for lunch at this restaurant for the first time. The buffet was £10.95 per person, even for my daughter. When the main course arrived at the table, the curries were full of oil and only got two naan breads. We were NOT given a choice of curries to pick from. We were given 3 hot curries and mild curry. There were only 4 small pieces of chicken in each dish. My partner and daughter were not able to eat the 3 curries and the waitress was asked for extra naan bread so my daughter could dip it in the sauce but were told we had to pay extra. Surely, we should have got three naan breads for each one of us rather than two. The waitress was also asked for another dish earlier but were told that the kitchen was closed and the time was just before closing time. We thrown the bill and we couldn’t wait to get out of there. My partner and daughter were ill for days after eating at this place. Unpleasant and rude waitress and no welcome from the manager. This could have been our local place to eat at! Would never recommend this place to anyone. They don't even deserve the one star they have been given.

Thinking of moving from Perth to Dingwall I live to far away from this cracking wee place 🤔

Nice food. Pleasant staff good price

Food was really good especially the chicken biriyani and curry's..was spicy also..staff was nice and friendly..only issue is steak we tried was not that good..also there is no card payment..only apple pay or cash..if you want to try indian food it's a good suggestion. Drinks also available.

I went here with my wife and we were quite impressed with the decorations of the restaurant and looked forward to our meals. As for the food I was very sick after eating there, my wife also suffered the same. I don't think that the hygiene of this restaurant is up to standard and would never eat there again. I have reported the restaurant to the FSA and I am waiting to hear from them.

Horrible food even more horrible prices horrible service and the staff arrogant avoid this restaurant like the plague

Finally had catch up with friends for first time this year. Staff were very helpful and we enjoyed a good laugh with waiting staff. Lovely evening, lovely food what more needs to be said apart from worth a visit

Great food and very good service.

The best Indian in town, amazing 👍👍👍

Lovely venue, friendly staff & amazing food at a reasonable price too. Good sized portions, too much for me but I took the rest & finished at home. The little heated individual towel & chocolate covered strawberry after our meal was a perfect end to a great meal. Well worth a visit. I highly recommend

Before I commence my review this is not about the food as I believe its an excellent restaurant if you can get past the uninviting, brusque, surly waitress. I have considered the content of this review before writing it as it is with disbelief at the way a visitor to Dingwall & to this restaurant was was treated! On arrival & the manner in which we were greeted you would think we had offended this young lady by having the audacity to enter the building. After a series of unfortunate interactions she then proceeded to add insult by ignoring us & chatting to someone. When we eventually dared to ask if she could take our order her reply was "in a minute"! After finishing her conversation with her friend & answering the phone she then threw a few more withering looks. Enough is enough we decided to leave, asked for the drinks bill & were immediately dsmissed from the restaurant. I suppose this review is advice for the owners, if you want to makea success of your business consider strongly your front of house. Regardless of where you come from everyone should be treated with respect! To the owner, I'm sure that would have been an interesting conversation!

Friendly atmosphere and great food.

Had a beautiful meal last night. Portions and presentation were perfect and the staff were lovely. Relaxed atmosphere and a great choice of dishes.

Great quality service, The portions are very generous, everything taste's so much better than I've had before. Thank you!

Polite OWNER unlike competitors in dingwall xx -jonny

Been here several times, my all time favourite Indian Restaurant, friendly staff and great food...

Having tried other highland outlets serving Indian food, this will always be #1 as far as we are concerned. Beautifully prepared and cooked courses, not to mention their impeccable standards and super friendly restaurant staff. A real highland gem 💎

After finishing a long cycle, this meal was exactly what we needed. The service was excellent as we were always stocked up with whatever we wanted. The food came out quickly and tasted amazing. Would definitely recommend.

Absolutely delicious food, good service, friendly informal environment and, a plus, they adhered to the "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme! I absolutely recommend Cafe India :)