Indian Essence in Bromley

Excellent food and very accommodating staff with food allergies.

Absolutely LOVED our take away today. We have a poorly daughter and needed something to cheer us up, and this certainly did the job! Best Indian we have EVER had. Thank you!

Had four of the tasting menus. We upgraded to lobster for £18 and would highly recommend it. Chicken and lamb was fantastic courses too. Staff were slightly slow with the courses, refilling drinks/water. And also we think we were missing 3 bowls of rice that came with the main course as we had a one small bowl to share between four. On the plus side we wanted to try a Dahl which they provided complimentary for us.

Great quality food at a reasonable price with the lunch meal deal.

Innovatively presented and well spiced food. Portion sizes for the main course were 'scroogy'. Decor and setting were pleasant. Service attempts to be high-end but feels disjointed, I presume because it's new and things haven't quite coordinated yet. Might be tempted to revisit one more time but needs to improve. Booking was confused and felt taken advantage of by not being offered plain water rather than assuming I'd wanted a £5 bottle of mineral water. This sneaky ethos works against retaining custom. Not a bad experience but actually enjoyed a £7 curry canteen in Maidstone slightly more.

The Mother’s Day set menu was very good and great value for the price. But the exhaust fumes from the kitchen was very unpleasant, we were told the extract system was not working and hence the cooking fumes were filling the restaurant, we were unfortunate enough to be located next to the kitchen. The service was very slow ( as was the last time we attended this restaurant) although the staff were very friendly and helpful. I don’t think I will be in a hurry for a revisit anytime soon.

Impeccable service and the chicken tikka pie is a must!

Been eating here since they opened. Superb restaurant. Sets a standard that other local restaurants can't match. Had the set menu for two on a Sunday evening. No difference in the standard of food, service etc

My wife and I took an early dinner reservation, and glad we did. Before we even had starters, the restaurant was bustling for a Saturday night. As always, we were donned with some popadoms to start, while we made decisions on our upcoming meal. We received our cocktails, admittedly I had a beautiful pineapple and ginger virgin version. These were bloody stunning. Our starters then arrived. We ordered a trio of tandoor chicken, which each were beautifully juicy. We also ordered prawns which were very tasty, but the prawns were only just over cooked. It didn’t detract from how flavoursome they actually were. We ordered our mains at the start, which the waiter weighed in with some advice. The advice was welcomed as my wife ordered a beautiful lamb dish, and I ordered a melt in the mouth goat dish. The advice the waiter gave, was to not order a rice each, but to maybe try a vegetable dish also. We shared a lemon rice and a potato and chickpea dish. It was great advice considering the portion sizes. We also ordered a bread each, my wife having a plain naan, and myself going for the keema version. Every part of the main was awesomely delicious, with the potato and chick pea side dish being our least favourite. Now by saying that, it was hard for any dish to contend with the lamb and goat dishes. It was nice, just lost within the awesomeness of the mains. We ordered some more drinks and pondered over the dessert menu. I went with a chocolate fondant with orange curd ice cream. My wife had an apple and plum crumble with cinnamon ice cream. For the first time in our relationship, I had food envy of what my wife had ordered. It was the best crumble I think I’ve ever had, which is hard thing to say. The chocolate fondant was slightly overcooked, but my goodness was amazing paired with the orange curd ice cream. I just wished I’d ordered that bloody crumble. Overall, every part of our experience there, including the service staff, was simply exceptional. Given this place has been around for a decade, there isn’t much I could say that probably hasn’t been said already, but just want to highlight that this place is worth the value of the pound notes spent.

Food was great and restaurant is pleasant. However what does let this place down is the incredible hard sell on expensive wine suggestions and pushing the al a carte menu. They only give you the lunch time set menu to look at if you ask to see it which can be a little intimidating. Overall a nice place but their customer service approach could be a little warmer. I have eaten in many celebrity restaurants more welcoming and less intimidating than this.

Our staffs enjoyed the food , thank you

One of the best afternoon dining experience and despite the unforeseen challenges with their gas supply, everything tasted perfectly and the service was top class. From the poppadums to starters to mains, everything tasted perfectly. They also looked after my mother’s special dietary requirements. Five star restaurant and must recommended.

We were really excited to try this restaurant… and weren’t disappointed. We had the tasting menu which was excellent - especially the lamb course. Prajwal - our waiter - was very friendly and knowledgeable. This is definitely a place we would come back to for a special occasion.

Always a real pleasure to eat at our favourite restaurant, great service super staff and just the best food . Well done guys you are the best , plus they have a new restaurant in Tunbridge Wells !!!

Hi, Lovely food and good service as usual. Unfortunately I found a piece of thin wire approximately 50mm long in my prawn starter. Possibly used to tie up bunches of herbs? They asked if I wanted another starter, but I’d practically already finished. I a reduction in the cost of the meal would have been nice but this wasn’t offered.

Very friendly welcome on arrival and through out the evening. The staff were very attentive and could not have been better. Meal was excellent and the Chef "tweaked" a dish for me with no problem. All round, a very nice experience.

Went there for a midweek lunch to celebrate our anniversary and the food was exquisite. They even gave us a complimentary treat of fudge and ice cream to celebrate our anniversary. Generous tasty food portions. Ordered 9 different items and all of them were excellent plus the complimentary stuff. Great service.

This is the first time that we have dined here, and we really enjoyed the set lunch menu, which was delicious. Staff were friendly and attentive and we had a great lunch. Looking forward to coming back soon.

Visited from both surgeries with perfect feedback from staffs

Outstanding flavours and unusual courses to chose from. However this all comes at a high cost.

Fantastic tasting menu and the right amount of staff/customer interaction.

We had the 3 course set lunch and it was fantastic. Good choices per course and the food was incredible.

Wonderful food and service. The most amazing desserts as well

As ever an excellent meal, 3 of us had the Railway Lamb. A delight of tasty and tender lamb in a superb sauce, not too hot but with spices to give it a kick. We had a glass of house wine. a Sauvignon Blanc from an Indian vineyard, it was an absolute delight to so we ordered a bottle. Give it a try you will not be disappointed. The service was friendly, polite and attentive, which matched with the food made our visit very memorable.

Decent all round thank you very good. Had a lovely time.

Fab food as always and the cocktail was to die for. The perfect Valentines lunch.

Stunning Valentines menu with exceptional dishes including Duck Pepper pie starter and 48 hour marinated leg of lamb main. Other starter Chilli prawns also superb as was the tandoori mixed platter. Finished off with a delightful chocolate based dessert. Rose centrepiece and a heart balloon on the table and a red rose for each lady diner were also nice touches. Couldn’t fault it.

Wonderful food. For a nice lunch or that special occasion evening.

Super as usual pudding dish had two large chips missing hope I have eaten them!

Another fabulous meal at this gem of a restaurant - food and service excellent as always!

Just Wow best Indiana meal I have ever had, very different but great different would hilly recommend and definitely get back 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Lovely place to eat. Very friendly welcome and the food and service was first class.

Prise is too high that not compared to food too too expensive overcharging

Great service - very nice food and wine - will return soon

Excellent service. Excellent food. A definite place to return.

Would highly recommend as food is absolutely delicious and the service was excellent. We did go at lunch time which is quiet

We enjoyed a good lunch on a Sunday. The starters were lovely, and the chilli prawns had a real kick. The sauce on my main course of prawn, sea bass, and squid was too rich and sweet. But apart from that very good. Recommended.

Really great food, Indian fine dining! The tasting menu was great. The only downside was the time between courses but the food was so good it was worth it.

Really nice but monkfish was so salty that’s it really I like salt but far to salty spoilt it but everything else was good

Authentic food with exceptional ingredients. Way above any other Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to.

A return visit for a celebration. Have introduced friends to the restaurant and will certainly revisit. Staff friendly and attentive.

Really nice post cinema meal Very good value on Sunday evening Good service and food to match

The food, as always was excellent, service very good. Prices has gone up somewhat but am happy to pay for the excellence of the food. Since going to Indian Essence (way before lockdown) have never been to a different Indian restaurant, this to my mind is the best in the area!

This is my Fav Indian restaurant! The food is outstanding & their set menus are absolutely worth it.

Ωραίο φαί. Υπάρχει το μενού που συμφέρει να το διαλέξετε. Πρώτο πιάτο κυρίως και γλυκό. Είμαστε 3 άτομα και πήραμε 3 διαφορετικά πρώτα 3 διαφορετικά κυρίως και 3 γλυκά τα οποία μοιράστηκαμε. Ήταν υπέρ αρκετά.

Good set price lunch- seafood was great- good wine menu

Fantastic as always - food, service and atmosphere

Great food and service ………………………………………………………………….

Thoroughly enjoyable food and drink, we had the tasting menu which was anazing. Attentive and friendly service. A lovely evening thank you.

Excellent food and service. Ambience was fine, the main restaurant is very good, we were sat out in the new front extension which was a bit draughty in the cold weather when the main door was opened. Maybe something to look at but overall very good and really enjoyable. We look forward to coming back!

Great food best onion bargee I have had great value and a chocolate brownie and ice cream with candle As it was my birthday

Loved every bit of the evening. Live music, awesome food, great service. We will be back. The only thing to mention was that the table that we were given has clear vision of the kitchen and it not a good look when you can see plastic contained and blue rolls. Hopefully something can be done However, that didn't effect the evening and we will be back.

Meal for 2 late lunch on a Thursday. Poppadoms and chutneys. Prawn starter, three chicken starter, crispy chicken, mains of lamb and chicken, naan ,one mocktail, sparkling water about £70/head. A bit pricey but a cut above the average high street Indian. I thought some of the chicken was a bit over cooked and dry. High quality modern gastronomic Indian. I will return.

Superb food - great menu choices. The standard here remains excellent. Service is attentive.

Lovely food, interesting dishes and ingredients, good sized portions, great service

Really enjoyed the food as did my friends. Liked the fact we did not feel rushed and service was attentive. Seating area near the main door was not ideal as a very cold evening, I am sure it works well in the warmer months but not in January. I have been here a few times now and will go back as the menu choice and quality of food is first rate.

Such fantastic food, great flavours and superb service. This is no ordinary Indian restaurant, it is refined and the quality of the meals were outstanding, not cheap but of the highest quality. Not our first visit and definitely won’t be our last. Thank you to all of the staff for making it such a great evening.

Simply outstanding as always. Many thanks for the warm welcome and look forward to the opening of your new restaurant in Tunbridge Wells.

An amazing meal as usual. Best curry around even compared to top London restaurants.

Food excellent as usual and staff are polite and efficient although there is a churn and so the excellent 'manager' last time who had come over from India was nowhere to be seen. Sometimes it's good to be greeted professionally at the door. All small things, but it remains one of our favourites.

We had a weekday set lunch menu which was excellent value for money and the same excellence of food . Highly recommend and will go again.

Excellent food, staff helpful, knowledgeable about menu.

Nice food with variety of authentic dishes, staff are attentive. Good service overall.

Good New Year dinner ! Loved upto expectations.

We had a lovely meal and were attended to by a very friendly staff which made for a great evening.

Great NYE menu, great service and great atmosphere.

Nowhere near the Michelin standard food in AK's flagship and say old 'home' Benares. Too many dishes not easily distinguishable apart on spicing side and not the chilli heat we were expecting in some dishes. All seemed very muted. Perhaps that's a choice to appeal and attract the wider 'provincial' audience but it would have been nice to see just a couple of well spiced dishes (doesn't necessarily mean hot!) 'from London'. Excellent quality of ingredients and v good value for that alone. And nice service.

Lovely evening, staff were very friendly and attentive, food was amazing.

We have eaten at Indian Essence many times and always had a great experience. This time however the service was not up to standard. We had to keep asking for our drinks to be topped up, orders for beer kept failing to arrive and our main courses arrived almost two hours after the order was placed. The lovely waitress did her best to apologise but there was no real effort made to improve our experience. I don’t think we will return.

Excellent food. Best in UK so far. I would have liked the quantity of the food to be more compared to the price that is charged. We have been regulars here and love the hospitality and the food curated to our taste buds!!

A lovely meal at Indian essence great service great way to spend boxing day

Food was great, but not enough of it! Set menu for Boxing Day, not the usual a la cart menu. Much smaller “share” portions (ie one portion of rice to share between two, one tiny vegetable dish to share between two, one small naan bread to share etc etc). One waiter criticised how we pronounced something when ordering (he also came across as though he didn’t know the menu) correcting us in a patronising way. Rest of the staff were very kind and attentive. We did have to wait longer in between courses than usual. This wouldn’t stop us returning again, but we wouldn’t pay a premium for a set menu at Christmas time (or another set menu festivity) again, we would return for the normal menu as the portions are bigger and more value for money.

Excellent. Staff lovely. So BAU really! Our 7th Xmas eve lunch.

Best Indian food in the country. Dal makhni is something to die for.

We go to Atul’s restaurants on the P&O cruise ships so tried this one. By far the best!! Took my husband for his birthday. We were both so impressed. The food is the best we have eaten we could not fault it. The staff were attentive and friendly. They even surprised us with a dessert with a candle on for my husband he was very impressed as he thought I arranged it but I just happened to mention it in my special request space online so nice to know they read that. The cocktails were amazing too! A perfect night Thankyou !!.

Love this restaurant. The food is amazing and the service excellent. Would thoroughly recommend. Can't wait to go again!

Exceptional food, great service and lovely ambience! As usual! Thanks

We were here for the first time and the food was exceptional. We asked to move table as we were sat next to an open wall space which compromised our privacy. Staff were accommodating. We enjoyed the tasting menu which was some of the best Indian dishes we’ve had anywhere in the world! Looking forward to our next visit :)

Did our Xmas party with friends - was busy but service was good and efficient - food was good and flavoursome - the ambience was nice. Would recommend- price was as expected, not overly expensive nor cheap but good value.

Great evening with family and was made very welcome and the guy who was serving us at the table was great with my little 9 year old nephew which was nice, very lovely experience and will be coming back for sure in the new year All the best Steve

Food was fantastic, fast service and incredibly nice and professional staff. The Railway Lamb and Masala Chai are a must to try.

The food and service was just first class .. Highly recommended 👌 👍. Will definitely be returning again and again.

Our dining experience was a bit of a mixed review. My food choices were good - I enjoyed the tandoori king prawns, however my dining partners did not enjoy their food at all - both went for chicken options. The service was good and the wait staff were attentive. Despite there being empty tables we were unfortunately seated next to a large table of men who became quite loud. Our feeling at the end was that it was overpriced.

Been goung there years now still the best Indian Restaurant in kent.fantastic food and staff.

incredible restaurant. the food was impeccable - the best steak I have ever had in my life. everything was extremely delicious and the service was lovely. I didn’t even specifically request a birthday surprise, but they did one for my mum nonetheless - so thank you so much for this!!! 5/5, I recommend this place to everyone.

Excellent, great food and service and reasonable wine list.

As ever fantastic food - great service and lovely ambiance

Our favourite restaurant in London super food and service never fails to amaze us how consistent the food and service is.

The food at Indian Essence is outstanding, exactly as you would expect from Atul Kocchar, and service levels to match. This was my third visit in the last couple of months, and it never disappoints.

We went for the tasting menu (with meat and fish - there's also a vegetarian one). Fantastic flavours, all beautifully presented, very different from the usual Indian dining. Good-sized portions. It's quite expensive, but well worth it for a special occasion.

It was a very underwhelming birthday celebration. I have been to other AK restaurants in Central London, none of them are this poor. - Aircon was set at 31 degrees - Waiting staff kept rushing our table to order (granted there was a time limit to the table, but now and then we were only given a couple of minutes to make choices) - The Raj kachori starter we had was not at all good. The kachori was not crispy and seemed like it was made quite a while ago. - Stuffed chilli pakodas were very good - The cocktails were a mixed bag, some were good and others weren't - There was only 1 piece of paneer that had to be shared by 4 of us - The aloo gobi lacked any flavour, very bland - Malai kofta was runny (koftas were good) - Bread basket was the worst of the lot. The paratha quarters were not at all cooked and tasted like raw dough in bits (goes back to the rushed experience I mentioned earlier) - Desserts were good - Wine recommendation was good - Staff were courteous and pleasant On the whole it felt very rushed, the food was not at all up to expectation. Sadly, will not be visiting again or recommending to others.

Absolutely delight staff. Unfortunately I asked for a mild vegetarian dish and got bland tofu/paneer. The main was just the “table vegetable “ ie potatoes. Indian food is built on spices so leaving out chilli leaves plenty of other options. I had warned in advance. However everyone else in our party loved the food and it was good value. Pudding was heavenly.

One of the diners were served undercooked chicken. I’m not very happy and she was given lamb curry which she wasn’t happy about neither. Bill was paid but her meal wasn’t taken off the bill. We were celebrating her big birthday and the meal was spoilt. I’ve come here a few times now and have recommended to my friends but after this experience I’m not quite sure now. Happy to discuss this further.

Michelin-quality food, impeccable service. weekday lunch menu great value

One Restaurant love going to for taste presentation good service good value Lunch time menu.

Visited on a Sunday for their set weekend lunch menu. The food is always delicious, but having been previously for their a la carte menu, the set menu is just unbelievable value for the quality and amount of food you receive.

Always delicious food! Always great service! The best Indian restaurant for me.

All good don’t get seated in the front of the restaurant when it is cold ruins the experience

We were out celebrating my sons 50 birthday. It was a good evening our waiter was friendly and helpful. It was quiet when we arrived at 5.30 but in no time it was full. We were allocated 2.5 hrs and this was getting exceeded and were moved to another group of tables for 4 as they needed a group of tables for six thus allowing my son to finish his drink. The staff were friendly only disappointed that I wanted just a chicken for my grandson and had to have a full meal which he did not touch and was expensive but they put in a doggy back for us. Nit sure I would choose to go again on a Saturday Have been before a few times.

Really nice ambience and great food. Tandoori Jhinga prawns and railway lamb superb!