Helmsley Spice in Ryedale

Great guys, ordered the night before closing and popped over the road for a dink whilst waiting for my take away. Turned up after their official closing time which was my fault and the restaurant and kitchen was closed which I knew was my fault not being there in time if I read the opening hours etc. correctly. Made a phone call the following night and the establishment honoured my previous order considering it was was my mistake. Thank you To confirm I had the rogan josh with a plain rice and it was fantastic, real lamb, not like the "mutten dressed as lamb" from other establishments visted previously. Thank you, will be looking to dine in the restaurant in the future from the takeaway experience. Keep up the good work. Thank you Andrew

Ignore the olde worlde decor, and enjoy the food. The service is very gracious and helpful. The naan breads were freshly made and outstanding. The main courses were superb and very plentiful - go when you are hungry, or ask for a takeout of what you can't eat, which is what we did. On the downside, it does take a while to prepare the food but, if that means it is freshly made, it is worth the wait.

Really nice food, they did miss something from the order bit quickly rectified. Had the tandoori mixed grill with naan bread. Will be going back again

Great service and lovely food. First time in a long time I have seated rather than takeaway. Not their fault but not a fan of fan heaters

Great food. One of the best Indian restaurants I've had the pleasure of dining in. Great choice of food to satisfy everyone spicy pallet.Service was really good without being too imposing. All four of us had something different and all said how fresh the food was and how you could taste the spices rather than the usual overbearing of heat. Will definitely be back when next in the area.

We ordered a Takeaway as been recomended. Phoned in and we collected 30 mins later. Subllime Vegatable Rice big chunks of Potato, Onion, Green Beans. Chicken Tikka Rogan Josh tender & huge portion. Mustard Chicken again lots of Chicken & lots of mustard other half loved his dish

Great little Indian Wide choice of different dishes They appear all freshly cooked with big portions Service is a bit slow, but that’s coz they were busy Well worth going to We just walked in but we took one of the last tables, so booking may be advised Beware- cash only. It nearly caught us out!

The food here is wonderful and there are a long list of vegetarian options as well. The service is very relaxed and the restaurant always popular. I wish there was a branch in Malton!

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal as the service was great and the food was delicious. The portions are very large so don’t order too many side dishes - you will struggle to finish it. Chef’s special sauce is a welcome addition to the pickle tray.

Lovely food, friendly staff. Cash only !

The food was beautiful here. So filling! We got a table straight away and we're served quickly. My meal were spot on!

Ordered takeaway food tonight from this little gem, absolutely mind blown, food was 1000% on point! staff friendly and very courteous..... I'm a foody and have travelled the UK... and been just about everywhere, and this Indian by far beats any of the rest I've been to hands down! I suggest you ignore the pompus rats leaving any less than 5 star reviews and also those little rats moaning about cash only...I support any business that takes cash... as for the ones moaning and also the tax man, stop being jealous NON$ES! There is nothing worse than a rat supporting a cashless society! Spot on food, we both loved every bite, and next time I'm down this way, I'm going for round 2! Thank you 👍👍

I am very picky with Indian food but the meal I had at Helmsley Spice was absolutely gorgeous from the pickle tray to the main. I had the pickle tray, then the Onion Bahji and finished with Butterchicken and Special Fried Rice, cannot knock anything at all, everything was so so tasty, and service was excellent, polite and did not pester. Thank you to all for a lovely meal and evening. Will definitely be back.

Excellent service, friendly staff, authentic food, what else you need?

The food was the BEST curry i have ever had. My mate also agreed,amazing flavours and friendly service.....Definitely worth a visit when in Helmsley.....top notch!!

Our food was all delicious, they made an effort to cook one meal without garlic for someone with an allergy and the service was great.

Delicious food, very friendly service

Delicious! Lots of variety and some dishes I’d never tried before. Lamb was perfect, melt in the mouth. Huge kudos to them for being the only place serving food until late - a real saviour at the end of a long day. As others have pointed out, they only take cash. I’d also suggest that they get some jugs for tap water for the table - having to ask for a glass of tap water every few minutes felt a bit embarrassing (turns out I can’t handle my spice as well as I thought haha!). But otherwise great!

One of the best Indian meals we have ever had! Very attentive service and lovely traditional interior. We can’t wait to go back. Thanks guys 😊

Very good menu and food but be careful, it's cash only!

Food is consistently great, I did collect an order on this particular evening early on, so I can't comment on atmosphere. On this visit the colleague working seemed to wake past my daughter and a few times to talk to what looked like another colleague eating on a break??? Anyway, awesome curry

Excellent food and service. Definitely we'd go back.

Warm welcome, great service from the waiter. Pickle tray was lovely & all of our mains were delicious. We will definitely be back… fully recommend Child friendly as well

Faultless. Thank you Helmsley Spice. We ordered a huge order for a works function and Helmsley Spice were more than equipped to fulfill it. I collected the order and the gents were super helpful loading my car, they were more worried about Spillages than I was (not my car!) The food was all tasty & the meat was very good quality (no grizzly bits). I tend to find rice quite boring but this was wonderfully flavoursome. Around 150 people all gave praise to the food and many said they would now use Helmsley Spice as their take away at home.

They did not mention it was cash only when I ordered. Other reviewers have posted this as "odd". It isn't odd: we all know why businesses only accept cash. Not paying tax isn't a cheeky win, it's theft and it's theft from those least able to afford it.

Proper nice curry as good as curry gets excellent service lovely polite waiter what more can you say 👍

Great tasting food and staff are friendly, CASH ONLY.

Food was good, with a very broad menu, but dining in was a little disappointing, with fairly run -down decor and cash-only payments.

Wide range available with some interesting dishes I haven't come across before. Generally the food is good but not exceptional. The interior is dated and they seem to only take cash for payment.

Coming from Malaysia, we are very familiar with food from various cultures. And that sometimes makes us very selective about what we like and love. There was an apprehension when we saw the only Indian restaurant in Helmsley, a quaint little town in Yorkshire. By this time of the trip, we wanted an Asian meal desperately and hence the visit to Helmsley Spice. And what an experience it turned out to be. The food is cooked from scratch by an award winning chef from what we heard and he proved it very well. All the dishes were spot on. From the biriyani, to the tandoori and the various vegetable curries, each one was delectable. And to top it off, we had asked him to spice it up. The key secret word for that was 'Madras'! . They have been around for 11 years. I hope they continue for many more! Well done.!

Friendly and attentive service in cosy friendly atmosphere, traditional surroundings and clean dining area. Low beams in this old building give some character and set it apart from other Indian restaurants. Busy Friday night at 2030 with many takeaways flying out, some of which I heard had been mixed up and orders were coming back. No such problems in the restaurant as all meals came out in good time. Food is excellent. Just really nice, fresh, non too spicy (curry, peshwari nan, onion bhaji, pilau) with cold cobra in large 660ml bottles. About average on price. £40 for two curries, 2 rice, 1 nan bread, onion bhaji, 4 poppadoms and pickle tray. £20 for 2 bottles of large and 2 bottles of small cobra.

Dual menu pricing which is confusing. Given takeaway menus to order from when sat in, asked for printed menu and was told is none so ordered off the takeaway menu. Bill was heavily inflated and was told as it was sit in prices. Fair enough, can understand but when asked for a sit in menu to see and look at prices, again it was not available so the prices were just made up! Lamb surcharge was also cited for another reason of bill and menu prices not updated. £118 for 7 bottles of beer, 4 curries, 2 puppodams and pickle tray, 1 rice, 1 bread and 1 side a little steep! I have enjoyed many a good meal there in the past over years and the food is REALLY good but working in the trade myself this put me off going again as i dont like been ripped off! Cash only as the business model says it all aswell... Just print some new menus and this issue is resolved?!

My family of 5 and I thoroughly enjoyed our night. We were very well looked after and the food was excellent. They only take cash which is a little disappointing though. Highly recommended.

Only a 4 from me .. excellent food but they forgot my naan bread s !! 😜

Lots to say ... some good ... some just curious and you make your own mind up ... Staying in Helmsley and dinigs options were limited as hD done fish'n'chip thing, and other places were booked up, or serious price, or just 'Don't want to go there' by various family members... so Spice it was ... This place only takes 💸 💰 ... but there remains an ATM 30m up the road... so that's OK ... apparently no card payment is a 'temporary problem' , which local advice indicates is a permanent temporary problem ... Also menus are 'out of date' / show 'take out' and not dine in pricing ... and no priced drinks tariff made evident ... Those are the curiosities and were pre-identified through perusal of TripAdvisor reviews ( which are the usual mix of 'Brilliant!' and 'Avoid at all costs!' ... that's TA for you 🤔)... The good bits Pitched up at 19:15 and asked for table for 4 with no booking Not a problem Staff were attentive, polite, friendly and prompt with menu and taking drinks order Drinks as ordered, poppadoms provided and fresh from fryer ... crisp and tasty 😋... usual pickle mix ... 4 mains provided, with rice and nan within 15 mins ... All food well cooked and presented, and served to table with minimal fuss ... as ever, table never large enough to accommodate all dishes and drinks ... part of the joy of 'all out for a Balti'.. All food correct, very tasty and all plates cleared 😋 Towards end of meal front of house staff (3) were struggling with volume of in-house and take-out patronage ... .. but remained polite and respectfully apologetic for delay in providing bill ... Ticket was £72 for popps, 4 mains, 2 rice, nan and 4 drinks ... £18 a head which was v reasonable so happy to add 10% and round up to 4score... Ignore the iffy reviews on TA ...well worth a visit ... if we are ever back this way, we'll go again😀

My wife and I went for dinner at Helmsley Spice, very friendly staff, very helpful and the food was amazing. We were visiting Helmsley from Scotland for a few days and regularly go out for Indian food in Scotland and this was by far the freshest tastiest food we have had, fantastic. Thank you.

Take a way meal. Brilliant, freshly cooked and not expensive. Highly recommended. Stayed locally in Motorhome so ideal for takeaway.

Booked for early sitting 6-30 meal was brilliant staff so friendly Definitely recommend. Can't wait to go back

Nice Food but Be Aware! At the time of writing, the restaurant only accepts cash, although I did see someone negotiating to pay by bank transfer. Only accepts cash? How odd! Also, at the time of writing there is a lamb surcharge. This isn’t shown on menus but pointed out when ordering. Menus not reflecting the actual price? Just as odd as cash only! Food was nice though, and the portions generous, even for me, as I eat like a JCB apparently. Nice pickle tray with the Poppadoms, and the Poppadoms themselves weren’t greasy. Nor were the onion Bhajis, which unlike the other dishes ordered had a nice kick of heat. The Chana Palak (a Chef’s recommendation, I chose chicken, so no call needed to the IMF) was served together with the rice, adorned with a tomato and was very tasty. The dish was described as being medium hot, however it was on the mild side of medium in case you fancy giving it a go. Denise decided upon a chicken Balti, again, on the very mild side of medium but yummy, nevertheless. We shared a side of Aloo Gobi, which didn’t disappoint either. To sum up: Generous portions of fairly priced appetizing food the heat (chilli heat) of which is dialled down. The loss of stars is due to the unfathomable business model, cash only in the new contactless world, and the menus not being adjusted to reflect the price of lamb, makes no sense to me at least. I’d visit again though; I really enjoyed the food and service.

Excellent food excellent choice excellent service

Extremely friendly service good menu really tasty food and value for money

Be warned they only take cash. I drove 20mins to get this after putting in a phone order and didn’t take my atm card. Would be helpful if they mentioned it when you call to place the order! Food smelled lovely though.

Been here a few times and always a good curry. Everyone in our party commented on the quality of the food. It misses out of the five star as its cash only and although the staff were really helpful, they were overstretched when we were in resulting in slower than average service.

Overall, it is worth a visit, but there was a few not so good points for us. We had to wait an hour to actually start eating. Starting from 10 minutes when they forgot to give us a menu. Ordering food we were said that the recent Putin's business means their suppliers raised prices and lamb is sold at king prawn's values. The place is surrounded with the fields of lamb but ok. My husband used it as opportunity to choose king prawns, but I like the taste of lamb, so chose that. And judging how hard it was, it was born well before Putin. Don't order lamb. Order more poppadoms, because they are served with a _lot of tasty sauce. Except of the truly horrible Captain's Choice with lamb, the rest of the food was delicious. See the video I attached with sizzling plates! The first waiter, who forgot to give us the menu, quietly moved. The other guy was very smiley and served us really well, so got good tip :) Great management. We came in just before 7pm and got a table without booking. In 20minutes the restaurant was packed. I saw a few people waiting for takeaways, sitting on chairs in main hall among the eaters. They mentioned 15 people pre-booked this rather small place (by the way -mind the wooden beams!). Do book your table early. And, probably, look elsewhere if you are concerned about Covid.

Excellent meal. Good sized portion. Very Tasty

Really good for value. Huge portions and very tasty!

New years eve, fabulous food and great service.

Excellent food and service. Consistently authentic, well prepared, fresh dishes at reasonable prices. Attentive service, clean and comfortable restaurant.

Up in Hawnby for a birthday celebration. Looked around for reviews and thought we would try Helmsley Spice. We were NOT disappointed. A large group so sampled a lot if the menu. The chicken and lamb melted in the mouth. One of our party is Muslim so wonderful to find a halal restaurant so far from a big city. Fabulous !

Poor service , cash only. Tasty food, large portions but bulked out with onions and peppers.

Excellent food and great friendly service.

We had an absolutely marvellous takeaway from here tonight. The menu is wide and varied with an adventurous mix of flavours and the portions are large. This is probably the best takeaway meal we have ever had. Strongly recommended

Really very nice, well worth a visit

A more varied menu than your standard indian and food very well spiced and cooked. Pleasant ambiance . Good service. Good value

Amazing service and food! When we ordered the phaal (meant to be the hottest curry on the menu) , we were constantly checked on by all the staff to see if we were okay and they brought us water, rice and raita to cool the curry down. All of the food was amazing, everything was absolutely top notch, and I would highly recommend going. Loads of options for vegitarians and vegans also.

Great food, helpful and friendly staff clean and cheerful place, well reccomended.

Our take away (which we picked up ourselves) was delicious and excellent value - portions were very generous and the spice level was quite restrained. The lamb done in honey and cinnamon was especially tasty. Recommended.

Brilliant atmosphere and even better food. Would highly recommend to anyone!

This is great place to eat . The food was amazing so full of flavour . The portion sizes were more than generous. 2 off us ate there and there was enough food for 3 or 4 . Would highly recommend. Great price aswell. Staff were friendly. 5 star

Delicious food and lovely friendly service!

Great meal, fresh and well prepared food. Menu selection seems too big, but all our food was quite distinct in it's taste and representative of the description. Good service and real value for money.

Very different menu, did include the usual suspects, was so hard to choose from such a wide selection. Everything we chose was absolutely delicious! Really tasty and well presented. Would definitely recommend. Great service and very popular.

Delicious tasting generous portions of food.

Best Indian restaurant by a country mile

Called in tonight without having made a booking, very welcoming, food really good & decent price, would def recommend 👍

Had a takeaway while on holiday this week. The food was absolutely amazing - I would 100% both recommend and also come back !

Food was good just disappointing that the menu given at the table doesn’t have updated prices so the bill was more expensive than we thought it was going to be. Not sure if this is legally correct?

We where staying at golden square caravan park and hoped we would be able to order a take away it was absolutely fantastic many thanks Paul and Sarah

Friendly staff with beautiful, tasty food! Had a take away as we were camping over with the dog. Highly recommended

We were visiting and this evening we went for a few drinks followed by a meal. Unfortunately, although the food was amazing the service was tainted by one waiter who was just rude from entry to leaving. Shame, as we said the food was yum.

Really Enjoy eating from this place. It is my fathers local and I can't find a curry house anywhere else which tastes as good!

Really enjoyed our take away when spending a week in the area on holiday. Better than some of the local options we have in Leicester. Didn't deliver on s Thursday but I understand they do sometimes so excited worth giving them a call. Friendly service and average in terms of cost.

What a surprise - This is one of the best Indian meals we have ever had. Delicious! Kind and efficient service

My wife and I stayed in Helmsley for six nights in July 2021 and decided to eat at the Helmsley Spice one evening. We had only booked online a couple of hours before we wanted to go but this worked perfectly and we were welcomed by the very friendly and helpful owner. Even though it was busy, the service was good and we really enjoyed the food. We would definitely eat here again.

Thought the starter was a main course! One of the best curries I have had outside of Bradford. The restaurant was clean. Food and Hospitality amazing.

I booked a table for 2 back in May to ensure we had a table booked for our holiday in June. Very disappointed in the attitude of the waiter who came to door on our arrival practically accussing me of not having a valid booking even though I had an online confirmation! He said I should have rung to ensure it was booked!! Why would anyone do that?? He kept us standing outside the restaurant for 10mins before allowing us in with no apology for his attitude. I have to say though our meal was very nice and the other waiter who served us was very polite.

Takeaway: generous portions; excellent food - not too fiery, and all flavours distinc. Staff really polite + quick service. Recommended!

Lovely place in the centre of Helmsley. We ordered takeaway from the manager. Lovely bloke. The timings were spot on. And when we got the food back to our holiday cottage we found extras accompaniments and generous portions. The food itself was gorgeous and if we were staying longer we would definitely go again. Well recommended. 5 stars.

Fantastic menu, top class food and great service. Would highly recommend especially for a taste of something a little different 👍

Wow! This was the best Indian takeaway I’ve ever had. Lamb melted in my mouth, flavours were amazing. Staff very professional and polite. Will definitely be back if in the area

BEST curry ever, flavour so fresh and delicious. Amazing service too.

On holiday in nearby Hawsby and ordered takeaway to collect . 20 minutes drive and when we got back poppadoms and pickles missing. Rang them and they said they realised and to come back they would give us extra or money off at next order . Explained we are on holiday 20 minutes away and he Said call tomorrow for refund. That we did to be given £5 of over £10 missing order. Disappointed . Food was only average too!

Consistently good. The best in the area . I don’t know what they do to make it have the regular stamp of approval.

The food is out of this world and staff are friendly and helpful

Great food, especially the Helmsley Spice and Chicken Tikka Masala is Special. Quick and free delivery too which is handy. The red & Mint Sauce is always a winner.

The best Indian in the area and one of the best I've ever been to. Excellent food and friendly staff.

Beautiful food and great welcome!! Will definitely be back soon 😊

As a couple we visited helmsley spice tonight, lovely fresh tasty food, great service, could not fault it at all. It was quiet because of Boris, when we are back in the area we'll defo' be back for a revisit. Thank You.

Didnt go in just walked past looked ok from the outside.

They were running a discount (extended eat out to help out). It was a nice curry all around and made a change from all the pub grub we'd been having. Only a couple other tables in the restaurant and everything felt safe.

A nice Indian restaurant. The food was great, especially the Pasanda, it was delicious! Just remember to bring cash as it is cash only!

Lovely meal, we all had something different from the menu, and everyone's meal was spot on. Would easily recommend Helmsley Spice for a meal.

Very good food . A few unusual dishes on the menu . The aubergine delight starter was top class . Service was great too . Definately one to return to .

Helmsley Spice has been recommended by numerous friends and family so we went with already high expectations. However it completely exceeded these expectations. The waiters were fantastic, food was exceptional and general visit amazing. In these times we felt safe and yet well taken care of by the waiters. Will absolutely be returning.

Food good. Only drawback was they didn't take credit or debit cards. So make sure you have cash..

Poor COVID 19 arrangements. Only takes cash. No QR facility. I Asked to sign in - the last entry in the visitors book was 3 months ago. Waiter wore mask below his chin all the time during our visit. Very average main courses. Enjoyed poppadoms and pickles. Burnt nan.

Simple little Indian restaurant in Helmsley. Good service and value. Food was a solid 7/10 with very generous portions.

I ordered a takeaway from this restaurant we were given a biriani with no sauce and a madras that was bland and we paid £40 on this we overpayed for something we didn’t enjoy wouldn’t recommend.

Lovely wait staff, generous portions and great food. Couldn't ask for more when having a curry with the family. Inside was quite small but didnt bother us in the slightest. Superb and cant recommend enough.

Great food, especially the Helmsley Spice Special. Quick and free delivery too which is handy, free poppadoms are always welcome! The red chutney is always a winner.