Henley Spice Merchant in South Oxfordshire

As previous customers of the Spice Merchant (when it was located riverside) we were excited to visit them on their new premise in the High St, we were a little disappointed to find a much smaller restaurant, over priced food, £19 pp for a seafood starter, £15 for a glass of wine, and customers crammed into a small space, very uncomfortable. The new restaurant lacks atmosphere and authenticity.

Very nice food and service . We will back.

Absolutely stunning and unique afternoon tea . A delicious selection of savoury bites , mango lassi , scones , cake and macarons with tea or choice . Incredibly tasty and fabulous alternative to a normal afternoon tea . Highly recommended

Pricey but tasty. Bhaji is the size of a house!!

Issue 1. By far the main was that went with our son who has nut allergies. We asked our server if any of the dishes we wanted had nuts in them, and we were told 'no'. It was by chance that the manager saw that we were talking to the waiter, and he asked if we were OK. We said that we were confirming nuts (or not) and he double checked with the chef, and there were nuts in the dish our son had chosen. Ones that could have killed him. 2. We were also with my elderly father who had a walking frame. He couldn't get to the loo because staff had used the corridor to store space chairs. He couldn't make it in time and his night was ruined. 3. We also left a cell phone behind. We came back the next morning to collect it. There were staff there, and they initially didn't want to come to the door. When we persisted, they did come to door, and we asked them if there was a phone found they said 'no'. They didn't look or check and sent us away. But the phone was there and we had to return later

A true orchestra of spices, herbs and culinary skill. I started with the pakora, light, crispy, beautifully prepared and presented to the table, the drizzle of tamarind sauce that lifts the delicate balances of spices to a perfect starter. With a glass of Malbec I was introduced to the lamb raghisthan, a salivating Bouquet of Kashmir chilli and mixed herbs and spices with a depth of flavour that meets the Indian Ocean. The lamb is as soft as your grandmothers kiss and when mixed with cardamom pilau rice a symphony takes place on your tongue that in emulated by the gentle background of music. Making you feel you are transported to precolonial India. All the service was warm hearted and professional, yet I felt I was eating with friends who want to see you truly enjoy the magic they have created for you to eat. My only regret is not having a bigger stomach and wallet to try everything they have to offer. I ate alone but I can only recommend bringing all the friends and family for a truly wonderful night.

We had an early dinner menu. So ordered the spiced duck starter from tandoor and rajasthan lamb curry and Malawi monk fish curry The menu was very interesting trying not to be just a typical Indian restaurant. Duck can be very badly done by Indian cooking. The duck was soft and perfectly cooked. With a light spicing. We had similar from Benares with pigeon. Which was just as memorable. The lamb curry was excellent in flavour and spicy. I do think you need be aware that you need to make sure it’s mild. Even if it C doesn’t say it is spicy. For me it was perfectly spicy. The Malawi curry with non fish was great. The monkfish was tasty. We had a reasonable priced Pilau rice and Kema nan. Which is more more a roti. Not a nan. Service was charged. All in all the choice was excellent to be different. I read the other poor reviews and didn’t make sense to me. Taste being boring and portion sizes. The portion of the fish and lamb curry was at least 7 pieces. Not small pieces. So portions were large enough for the price. The curry was more authentic to regions they have mentioned. Rajasthan tends to be deeper flavours and spicy. The fish curry was heavy with fish sauce flavour with curry leaves. I’d personally try the Chettinad curry next time as that should be strong with curry leaves and tomato. Service charge is included. If you didn’t like the service. Don’t pay it. We had a real good experience and the 3.9 stars does not accurately reflect I feel this restaurant trying to offer a better regional choice of curries. I do think the lamb was overcooked. But that was my main criticism of a good curry house. Recommend a try.

Food was not as I expected compared to the one in beacinsfield my lamb chops were tough

Lovely food well presented and full of flavour. Can't wait to go back for more!

We ate here on the Friday of Regatta week. A party of three older women. A sign on the door said that tables are for 90 mins. That seemed fair given that this is one of the busiest weeks of the year. After 35 mins, the bill was put on our table. We were still eating and drinking. When we said we hadn't finished, we were told that "There are no deserts" and hot towels and chocolates were put on the table. The manager then told us he needed us gone. We said "The sign says 90 mins" but he insisted we pay and leave. The food was OK - nothing special - but it was nice enough. We had 2 of their "football-sized" onion bhaji as they had been recommended. We had to leave one of these as we were hassled out of the restaurant. And they had the cheek to add a 10% service charge! So, I wouldn't go back unless I was starving.

very smart inside and lovely location. Food is average at best, service not particularly good. Also quite expensive with small portions

This new location for the Spice Merchant is beautifully fitted out and an intimate space with peaceful ambiance and taste of India. Exquisite, absolutely delicious dishes served by friendly, welcoming staff on white starched tablecloths. A delightful experience for our family birthday celebration.

Food was too spicy, overcooked and looked awful. Poppadoms with chutneys were very tasty, starters decent but mains (what we ordered) was close to inedible.

The Spice Merchant never disappoints. Friendly servers, original dishes, quick service. A little quiet on a Tuesday in terms of ambience but a lovely meal nonetheless.

The quality of the food and service has improved significantly since it moved to new premises in Hart Street.

We always love to visit the Spice Merchant when we come to Henley in our opinion this is one of the best Indian restaurants in the UK!

Take away service is absolutely awful. 2 hour plus wait when confirmation said 50 minutes. Very poor response from staff. Would not recommend!

Hi had a lovely time food always good

We haven't been to every restaurant locally but probably most. Our meal at Henley Spice Merchant was the best. The dishes were unusual and delicious (a few more vegetarian/vegan ones would be good) We even had some cooking tips thrown in. Thank you. We will be back!

Not the best taste compared to prices charged. Before you pay, please check your bill as they will charge you extra for things which other Indian restaurants give free like chutneys. And worst part is they charge you per person on your table for same chutney. Even though you didn’t order that chutney. They say it’s with pappadoms but then they charge you for pappadoms and chutney both per person. Prices in menu are outrageous compare to portion given. When ordered tandoori platter I was charged twice saying it can only be ordered for two people and there were only 8 pieces worth £34.00. Out of which two were not even cooked properly. Avoid this place and try better Indian restaurant with fair prices and good taste of food.

food and service good. do not like sitting in what feels like a takeaway restaurant to me with posh seats. Needs must in today's climate.

We really enjoyed our curry. Good, friendly service.

The restaurant was full, but the kitchen was spot on. Delicious tandooris and curries and great service.

The individual dishes were all delicious and far, far away from a ‘standard’ Indian restaurant where it can sometimes be hard to distinguish one from the other! The new, smaller layout of the restaurant in its new location makes the dining experience much more cosy.

The main Indian meal was fantastic, but when we had the sticky toffee pudding it was disgusting it was hard as a rock like it was not properly unfrozen awful we had upset stomachs

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Lunchtime choice on recommendation, good location, welcoming service, excellent menu and superb food. Not cheap but value for money

As an Indian I was worried it might not be spicy enough but it didn’t disappoint! The punjabi lamb was delicious!! A little snug for seating but excellent service.

Excellent top class restaurant, food and service. Will be back.

Enjoyed a nice meal in here with my family escaping the heat in pleasant, air-conditioned restaurant. Everything was fine but we won’t be back, as the price (roughly double what we’d pay for equivalent elsewhere) simply can not be justified. They’re clearly just taking liberties because of the affluent environs.

So Professional as Always such a great team run by Hassan i can’t recommend Spice Merchant enough ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Had lamb chops very nice had buttered chicken mushroom rice found parts of a metel cleaning product in rice won't be retuning sorry spoilt my night

The service is diabolical and rude. The restaurant is totally cramped. Don't bother trying to book they don't take any notice of your reservation. Food hygiene rating is 2 out of 5 - needs improvement. Probably the worst restaurant in Henley. There are so many better restaurants to eat at in Henley. Not worth going there.

Our party of 5 where all feeling a bit sick after eating there. Our tummys had problems.

First visit since it moved. Food as good as every. More cosy than before. All that is missing is the river view.

This restaurant has the best views in Henley. The staff are very attentive and helpful. But the food is definitely on the expensive side for an Indian restaurant. As an Indian I needed to ask for extra green chillies.

Afternoon tea was absolutely delicious and so unique. Will be coming again!

EDIT: AVOID : £83 FOR FOOD POISONING Overpriced and bland. 3 meals and a single starter for £83, including delivery. Delivery man wouldn't even cross the road to pass it to the front door. (Not £5 worth of delivery). Also turned up late. Tandoori didn't come with any salad or lemon. All came shrink wrapped like a takeaway meal from Tesco. More flavour in the Tesco meal. Bhajii was oversized and bland. Temperature was warm. Meat portions were larger than usual. EDIT: Downgraded to 1 star as the morning after eating the food I was sick and had a bad stomach. Avoid.

Ate here last time we stayed ..loved it .. just tried to order a delivery.. got told i couldn't do the order on the phone and i need to use the app.. Spent ages trying.. gave up and had toast get a grip !!! Try speaking to customers !!!

Would be very surprised if anywhere could rival the Spice merchant for their fantastic dishes and their restaurant in general. The owner always seems to be on hand when you walk in and is really very nice and welcoming. Can't recommend this place enough!! One of Henleys treasures

Food was amazing friendly staff

A must for every South African visiting the UK

Absolutely appalling. A picture speaks a thousand words, so here is ours of a £61 curry for two (yes) where it belongs. Although, frankly, the food bin is starting to gag too. Where do I start? Probably first order of the evening, but it turned up cold? A salad that was a two-year old slicing inch thick slices of red onion, cucumber and tomato? A £6.50 mushroom rice? Food that had clearly been recycled from a quiet lunch? Simply the most shocking food that I have ever been served.

Must have been a quiet night and not many people in. Food and service amazing.

The food was good but not outstanding as you expect for the price you pay. Had better for less money.

Good service, lovely location by the river. Good selection of dishes and high quality

Worst and most expensive takeaway for two ever. Had good food before now, this was totally flavourless and extremely disappointing for the price

As stated this Indian restaurant is henleys best..... ♥ And there not lying.. The only complaint I've had with curry houses is that they can't cook prawns..... What ever shape or form.....always over cooked... But apart from that... The meal was sublime and the onion bhagee was to die for.... Never judge a restaurant by one visit..... I'll be back to try something different from your extensive menu...... 7/10 great ambiance and service...

Good food, would be amazing with a riverside table.

Expensive but tasty but not outstanding food. Very nice selection of food and drink and excellent service. Probably the best curry in Henely but not as good as the Mowchak in Stokenchurch.

Awful curry smelt and tasted like tomato soup was meant to be butter chicken. Chicken was tough. Aloo go I very bland no taste. Staff more concerned with their takeaway orders

Very Tasty food. We tried Tarka Dal and Vegitable naitara. Their Garlic Naan was the best i have ever eaten. Highly recommended 👌

Excellent curry. Had both takeout and dine in at different times. While service was sometimes a little bit slow, it generally exceeded expectations in terms of food.

My favourite Indian restaurant!! The king prawn tikka masala is amazing and the staff are so friendly!

Not a good experience, poor service, upleasantly spiced food, overpriced, I don't like being negative but in the world of Indian cuisine, this is not good.

No service at all, intact awful! We booked for a special Saturday night celebration and was treated terribly...so much so, regulars were serverd even before they took our order! We had a bill for £366 (1 bottle wine) for a table of 6 people! For average food! Really disappointing,! shame really as our close friend is a high profile client! We will leave to his discretion whether he visits again!

Food was really delicious well earth s visit.

Best Indian in Henley. Also the most expensive - but you get what you pay for.

Very good dishes but we were a bit rushed as the staff wanted to finish by 2pm.

One of the starters we ordered was extremely spicy...almost inedible. We asked them to make it less spicy but the serving staff was in such hurry that inspite of listening to us properly and patiently, they made it sweet. Then we asked them again to balance out the sweet and spicy and not an extreme of either flavours...which they did. Eventually we ate what we finally got but their attitude was very off putting and it felt as if they were blaming us for it. Therefore not the best of places in terms of hospitality.

Awful food, awful customer service, Manager named Hassan Ali became aggressive when we asked to resolve an issue and was very rude. Avoid at all costs. If you want an Indian in Henley on Thames then go to Cafe de Raj !! Avoid Spice merchant at all costs

Had a disappointing takeaway from here, arrived cold and well before time requested. Raised a complaint but took a week to get absolutely nowhere! The price of food is disproportionate to its quality so I have let my feet do the talking and have since found a fabulous replacement Vaasu by Atul Kochhar (Marlow) just as expensive but without doubt the best Indian food I have ever had !

Have enjoyed this restaurant previously but the take-away meal I received on Friday was really terrible. All the dishes were cold, the rice was wet and the nan was cold & wet. Very disappointing and it spoiled our evening.

Lovely food... great service ...

Booked for afternoon tea and it was delicious. A really fantastic range of food and teas and quick friendly service. Highly recommended!

Afternoon tea was excellent, a great selection on both the meat and veggie options. A really nice twist on a classic and a nice view of the Thames to top it all off.

As always, wonderful cuisine and friendly service.

Fantastic take out tonight. Excellent food, great service. Food arrived 30 mins earlier than expected. 10 out of 10.

Very good food. Great atmosphere and decor. Very attentive staff.

Ordered for home delivery. Food arrived on time but was cold. Very disappointing. Emailed to complain and received an automated response then nothing. Food was ok once re-heated. Nothing special.

Excellent lunch which was very well presented and tasty. Good service in a pleasant setting by the river. Recommended.

Great location. Very clean and Covid aware, took out temperature as we entered. We went for their Indian jasmine afternoon tea which was lovely . Everyone was delicious and nothing overly spicy so would suit everyone. The chocolate ginger tea was gorgeous.

This restaurant is my favourite Indian restaurant it has been for 15 years sadly I can not go as often as I would like Food service 100% special mention to Hasan He’s part of the furniture always seems to be there offering fantastic service with a smile 😁😁😁

Very covid aware. Excellent menu with good service in a friendly manner. Recommended.

Good food and environment, recommend Daal Makhni, Chicken Lollypops and Tokri Chaat recommended. Left one star out as the main dishes have too much spice masala which paralyses your taste buds.

The food was terrible and incredibly overpriced. The same sauce used in curries and it wasn’t even nice! Rude staff too!!! Any positive reviews about this place are clearly fake!

Absolutely stunning food amazing flavours. Highly recommended ❤

Phoned to book a table and so rude on the phone as they didn’t have a table won’t be bothering in future

Well nice location no doubt, staff were friendly on arrival but so what that's normal right ? We were taken to a table in the back of the resturant which was like a clinic with total contemporary star trek spaceship feel . It felt soulless and cold ! The popodoms were not very tasty and the 3 dips were dribbled down the side on a dirty plate . The orange juice was with sedemented filth at the bottom and tasted like off pineapple with a dark colour. The clueless waiter asked if my lady partner would like a glass of wine to soften her up! I really dont need to soften girls with booze. Such a shame considering they charge most main courses at 20 .I decided to leave immediately .they didnt charge for the drinks which was a kind gesture. Finally they need to step up and give the place some soul and refurb !

We went in with high expectations that were sadly not met. The service felt cold and quick... portions were small but very rich (maybe too rich?), the tadoori meat was well marinated but overpriced. It’s unlikely I will return!

Great menu. Always love eating here.

This is without doubt the best Indian food in Henley. It is pricier than some but should be considered more of a special occasion Indian restaurant than a day-to-day one - the food is really worth the premium. It also has a take away menu. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

We all like to say our local Indian restaurant is a bit special. This one is. You can see, and sense and taste almost every ingredient. Spacious, room to enjoy. Staff always alert and helpful. The best location, for a walk before or after. The building had been a legendary riverside pub, where I spent my final night of relative freedom, with my relatives, a good while back.

Friendly staff, good location, nice ambience. Slightly smaller portions than you’d expect. For a main course of Tandoori tiger prawns at £21.95 you’d expect more than 5 on a plate! However the butter murgh was the best I’ve ever had. Deep, rich and complex.

We felt this to be a rather unwelcoming restaurant. The food was not the best I have experienced...and we eat a lot of curry! Not somewhere we would return to.

Thoroughly enjoyed the busy vibe, food and friendly service.

Very disappointed, overrated restaurant. Food okay but very over priced with ridiculously high gratuity automatically added to bill. Unfriendly staff, no Indian tea or garlic cheese naan on menu which was very disappointing. Cannot recommend this place on any level sadly

Great food! Came here for Indian style afternoon tea. Lovely and a nice change from the usual cakes and sandwiches.

Probably one of the best restaurants in Henley. If I could give it 10 stars I would. Superb hosts. Nothing is too much trouble. The vegetarian options are sensational. Highly recommended of you like your food tontast great!

Easily the worst Indian food we’ve eaten in years. Anywhere else around is better. The food is bland and it’s massively overpriced, the service was terrible.

Love there food have never come away disapointed.

Very delicious quality Indian food, good selection of wine, polite service.

Fantastic Indian Meals. I personally never tasted an Indian so delicious. It is not an ordinary type of Indian Restaurant AT ALL. it is a Bangladeshi contemporary restaurant. The presentation of the food is very very good - the crockery is first class as well. Friendliness of the staff was outstanding too. The serving personal is extremely knowledgeable - Palash and Unjjal couldn’t be helpful enough. I had a few special requests - all my expectations were met by the chef - his cooking is extraordinaire!!! I highly recommend Spice Merchant of Henley!!

Very authentic food, not speedy service for a business lunch but very good food

Never went I was parked in the space outside, why is Google doing this

You cannot fail to be impressed with their product offering.. class is timeless.

take away food was greasy cold and they forgot 3 items Called and the manager offerd a £20 refund on a £90 takeaway which was about £4 less than the 3 items they forgot

Real spicy Indian curry. Recommend vindaloo.

Had such terrible time. Not only the food was pathetic but also the service was too bad. When we tried to. Speak to the owner/manager he came with an attitude that I am not going to listen to you whatever you want to say and was not Even ready to listen to Us. Never had such bad experience anywhere. Even local small take aways are better in taste and service.

Went with group of 8 friends ...Very poor service .. extremely rude manager .food very poor too .. seems like not ready to take a feedback too .