Memsaab of Lavenham Indian Restaurant in Babergh

Lovely food and atmosphere!!! Food was tasty and great value for money. The young waitress maddie who bought over our drinks and popadoms was very polite and helpful. Jenny was very friendly and could and do not enough for us. Would definitely recommend.

Decided to go on a Monday eve as we had spent some time in Lavenham for a couple of days and were going home on the Tuesday. We were greeted by 2 very friendly people who asked where we would like to sit. Our drinks and popperdums were quickly served with 4 different chutneys and pickles, all of which were very tasty. For Mains we ordered Prawn Patia, Rices,Chicken Shashlak, Salad and Naan Breads. I can honestly say this meal especially the Patia was one of the best we have ever had. Some Curries in Restaurants are quite bland but these were delicious, with a depth of flavour. We were the only people in the restaurant but there were many people outside eating and enjoying the good weather. We would both recommend this place 100%

Disappointed with the visit, food was ok but the focus of the restaurant was on the takeaway side of the business, staff were very busy answering the phones etc would not recommend eating in.

The drink was flaat the curry I ordered was wrong it didn't explained in the menu enough. The boss was abruptly rude and forced us to pay. Didn't put any tips on card as waiter said they don't get them

Visited here , bank Holiday weekend. Staff very welcoming and attentive . Nice clean atmosphere . Very tasty Indian meal , had two different curries , onion rice , saag aloo and onion bargi , very reasonably priced. Would definitely recommend and we will be returning .

This was my second visit. It’s previously been worth the drive as they are open lunchtime. My great experience on my first visit gave me confidence to return. I ordered my meal this time, poppadoms, a mixed starter and a curry, rice etc. The popadoms were a little overdone which gave them a hint of burnt taste. The mixed starter was swimming in oil, the kofte as slimy undercooked, and tasteless. The lamb was tough and when cut into it was clear it was precooked plain lamb that had been quickly covered in tikka spice and heated/fried. The tandoori chicken was ok, as was the chicken tikka. Main course, generous curry portion(Madras), chicken was dry to the taste, special rice generous and ok. onion bhajee not cooked in the middle, keema naan soiling in grease/oil, not a hot chilli oil just cooking oil. The meat inside was the same greasy oily minced meat that the kofte was made from. I have never had a man bread that was soggy with oil. I’m disappointed as the first visit about three months ago was perfect. Unfortunately I will not make the drive to there again. Such a shame.

We come to Memsaab regularly, and have been doing so for a decade: we usually have a takeaway, but around twice a year we sit in the restaurant. We’ve always found the food to be tasty, cooked well, and service to be polite, efficient, and friendly. Indeed, having tried other Indian restaurants in the locality, we reckon Memsaab to be the best Indian restaurant in the area. In 2023 we were there eight times (two sit-ins, six takeaways), and each visit was pleasing. So it was a bit concerning to read a handful of disappointing reviews from other diners written during 2023. We booked a table for New Year’s Eve 2023 and, as well as having a very good meal, we kept a gentle eye and ear on the reaction of other customers, and also watched waiting times for those collecting. We saw none of the problems a handful of others have described, and we certainly had a very good evening with excellent food, promptly and politely served. The restaurant was, predictably, busy, with plenty of takeaways being collected, and tables in the restaurant well occupied. We were shown straight to our table: drinks and papadoms came immediately, with generous quantities of four relishes. For our meal we ordered eight dishes. Waiting time from order to service (around 25 minutes) was fine – anything less and you can be pretty sure your order is not being freshly cooked. The chicken dhansak was tasty, well spiced, medium hot, and as it comes with pilao rice, there’s no need to order more rice, but the pilao rice was tasty and freshly made. To go with our chicken we ordered a range of vegetable dishes: chana masala was gently spicy with a good balance of tomato and onion; the sag paneer was creamy and especially appreciated by our vegetarian; we bowled in a request for a vegetable dish not on the menu (that way you can be sure it isn’t pre-prepared) and the chef produced a brinjal bhaji for us (ideally Indian aubergine dishes need more cooking time than our 25 minute order-to-service time, but the chef made a decent effort). Onion bhajis came in generous portions and were cooked well (all too often these can be a tad dry – these bhajis were moist and clearly had been freshly cooked for our order). We also ordered a vegetable korma: its creamy sauce was generously laced with coconut, with a good variety of vegetables, all gently and subtly spiced. The peshwari naan also contained plenty of coconut and ground almonds. On arrival we had spotted that the regular manager wasn’t at his usual place front of house, but everything there and in the kitchen worked efficiently: later our man emerged from the kitchen, wearing chef’s whites, and explained that so many orders had come in at the same time that he’d gone into the kitchen for an hour to lend another pair of hands. Diners at the tables around us seemed to be very enthusiastic (the party behind us were particularly fulsome in their praise), and no-one seemed to be kept waiting. For takeaways, whilst at the peak time of 19:30 there were, unsurprisingly, a few people waiting, no-one seemed to wait unnecessarily long, and as the evening progressed, takeaway customers were coming in and going out with speed. So, whatever others may have experienced earlier in the year, from our eight visits during 2023 we can still warmly recommend Memsaab of Lavenham for food, surroundings and service. And finally, with the bill for four of us, including drinks and 10% service, working out at £25 per head, this restaurant not only offers great food, but also excellent value.

My husband and I felt that this was the worse Indian meal we have ever had. Apart from the papadums, which were very good, the rest of the meal was inedible. My Lamb Karahi had very little meat, and was mostly fat and gristle, floating in fat and with no flavour whatsoever, i.e not a hint of a fresh spice. The tarka dahl tasted like lentils boiled in water, revolting. I won't begin to describe my husbands meal, other than saying it was truly awful. Despite the restaurant being empty (on a friday night), four of us were seated at a cramped window table, presumably so that passers by might not notice that they had no customers. Having travelled in India and enjoying the wonderful flavours of their cuisine from everyday street food to the finest restaurants, this type of restaurant either thinks that the English do not have a clue or the chef does not understand how to combine the wonderful spices that should constitute even the simplest dish. A total waste of money at a cost of just over £90 per couple (albeit including 1 bottle of one of their cheaper wines per couple) but more importantly coming away feeling that we could have had a much nicer experience elsewhere was really disappointing.

We are from the home of Indian meals, Yorkshire. Have to say we weren’t looking forward to this eat out but have to say it was excellent. If you like mild Ann’s tasty it’s good. If you like hot spicy and tasty it’s good. 10 out of 10 from us

Having eaten in this restaurant a few times in the past whilst staying in The Swan Hotel and Spa we devote book again as the food was always very good . Sadly this was not the case on this occasion. There was just us and one other couple in there , although take seats seemed busy . The service wasn’t really great and all the waiters were just hovering around a few feet away from our table which made us feel very uncomfortable. The good was quite tasty but was the oiliest I had ever seen ! We eat Indian food on a weekly basis and never seen anything like it before ! I had Chicken Tikka which is normally a dry dish served with salad as a side dish , it was swimming in bright orange oil/ghee as was the mushroom Bhagwan . We sent the mushrooms back and they were replaced with pretty much the same . The Manager was called and he didn’t understand what the problem was !! Such a shame as we will not be returning.

I wish I had read the recent reviews rather than looking at the overall view of excellent. We had no issues at all with waiting as some others seem to have had, and we were a walk in. My husband asked how hot the paneer curry was and was told medium. When it came it was milder and sweeter than any korma I’ve ever tasted. I had the sheashka bhuna which it says is medium/hot but it just tasted like a plain tomato sauce on top, no heat at all to it. Pilau rice was good and peshwari nann was fine. Garlic nann didn’t have much flavour and was very plain. Poppadoms were fine but something seemed off with the chili and lime dip. There is a language barrier with the staff, they try their best but are clearly unsure a lot of the time of what you are asking. I also dislike places automatically adding a service charge - we always leave a tip but I don’t like it being pre set. We asked to remove it but the waiter couldn’t understand what I was asking. He got the manager who had no issue with removing it though. We wouldn’t go back, mainly because of the curries lacking any flavour.

Absolutely shocking experience, I tried to order online but the order wouldn’t go through so I called and placed the order. When arrived to pick it up the member of staff at the till told me I had 2 orders, I explained that the online order wouldn’t go through which is why I called in the order, he insisted that the order had gone through and refused to listen to me. When I eventually got home to eat - the prawn puri I had ordered was so hot it was inedible. I’ll never go there again and I’d tell anyone else to avoid it.

Absolutely awful service. Disappointing from the moment we arrived. Such a shame as we were recommended Memsaab by family who eat here regularly. Would certainly never go back (neither will they) or recommend. Having specifically requested a table for 8, when we arrived we were offered 2 tables of 4. After 20 minutes they pushed 2 together and got us seated. We had to ask repeatedly if we could order drinks. Eventually our order was taken…3 pints of cobra, 2 pints of coke and 2 pints of Diet Coke. No drinks came, the waiters were clearly confused as to what we’d ordered so we repeated it another 3 times. I can’t understand why that would be so difficult, I wasn’t asking for a complicated cocktail! Eventually we received the beer and the young waiter put a 1.5litre bottle of Coke on our table 🤷‍♀️ Another explanation as to what we’d ordered and we eventually received 2 cans of Diet Coke and 2 pints of coke 🤦‍♀️ The poppadoms were ok but the lime pickle was disgusting. It was off, without a doubt. We sent it back and received another dish of exactly the same. At this point we couldn’t be bothered to ask again. The main courses eventually arrived, lamb instead of chicken on one of them (which they did replace) and the waiters had to poke around in the dishes to determine what they were before handing it out. The food was very average to say the least. When it came to leaving, one of the waiters piled up all the dirty plates/bowls and cutlery in front of one of our party, scraping the food in front of him. We did speak to the manager, who explained that they were all trainees and that getting new staff was a big issue. But surely, you shouldn’t take bookings on a Saturday night when your waiters don’t know what they’re doing. The manager did offer us another round of drinks on the house, but we were ready to leave. It would have been nice for him to take something off our bill instead. It was like Fawlty Towers!

Oh dear what has happened to what was a good restaurant.I just wish I had read the previous reviews before trying to get a takeaway on a Saturday night. First of all we tried to call to place an order but gave up after 15mins so had to go to the restaurant to place the order. At least I found out why I couldn't get through on the phone - they were being totally ignored!! I placed my order at 1910 and was told to pick it up in 45 mins. I went back at 2000 to find total chaos with seven people still waiting for takeaways they had ordered over an hour before. The restaurant was also busy with one couple in the restaurant came up to the counter to complain they had been waiting over 40mins for their food. Despite a promise from the Manager that all the takeaways would be out in 10 mins at 2015 we were still waiting at 2045. Eventually I walked out at 2050 with rice we had to warm up, a byriani which was well below standard compared to previous ones we had purchased with a veg curry that looked and tasted like it was out of a tin. The final straw was the complete lack of customer service and poor attitude of staff to everyone who was waiting so long. At no point did anyone get an apology for the delay even when they finally got their order. I am writing this in the hope that someone at the Memsaab do something to improve things as it was a great asset to the village.

Booked for a takeaway. The website needs work (eg credit card payment button doesn’t work). On arrival, I presented my Amex card only to be told rather brusquely that amex isn’t accepted (yet the website says it is welcomed). As for the food, the Nan bread was stone cold (I arrived a little early than estimated to collect). The quality of the chicken was poor and the curry was far too hot (I’ve had thousands of curries so know what hot spice is!) The cooking was lacking imagination and care. Finally, for the prices, I was expecting much more.

I have not ordered a takeaway from Memsaab for about 3 years. The reason being that the two previous takeaways were missing items. I have since used VC in Bury sy Edmunds. Wanting to give Memsaab another chance I ordered another takeaway on line. I turned up at the allotted time only to have to Waite another 20 minutes for it to appear. Whilst waiting other people were morning that their meals had not arrived. When I eventually got my meal I took it home only to find out yet again one of my items that I had paid for was missing. Memsaab, you had your chance. Never again. If you are ordering a takeaway, be prepared to wait a lot longer and check your order before leaving the restaurant.

We have been here before and had a nice meal but...went here in Saturday 11.02.23...we booked so we weren't unexpected! Waited for table ...seated ...the just sat there ...waited 20 minutes for a menu or drink order...more people walked in..2 tables ...no booking ...asked for menu again ..2 walk-ins given menus now 30 minutes ...eventually a lively couple next to us gave us one of there menus as still not seen to even order a drink....took nearly 2 hours to get a meal and tbh didn't fancy it at 10 at night when booked for 8 ...found manager rude and ignored me many times appreciate short staffed but totally disorganised..then they added service charge of nearly 10 pounds for what !! Was appalling service and experience tbh lucky us and couple next to us had a sense of hour or would have just walked out ..go elsewhere!

We had a lovely meal here on Saturday night. Much improved food and the service was lovely! We had Tandoori Prawns and Bagar Gosht and both were really flavourful and tasty, lamb was very tender.

We had a beautiful meal here in March last year so decided that we would go for a New Year’s Eve meal. We arrived at our booked time of 7pm and our drinks and poppadums came within about 10 minutes and we were left with our menus. We were aware there was quite a queue of people waiting for takeaways but at this point we didn’t think much of it. We waited, and waited, and waited to be seen to place our order. The staff were extremely busy but all we could hear were unhappy customers who were also waiting. My husband approached the bar after around 45 minutes and asked if our order could be taken (we were starving and still wanted to eat there). The gentlemen said he’d be over in 5 minutes and as he approached our table to take our order, the phone rang and he turned around to answer the phone instead of coming to us. They really didn’t seem to be able to handle the influx of orders but we’re still taking more and more orders which caused chaos. By this point, we were really fed up so we went to the bar and said we’d like to leave in which the reply was ‘no please don’t leave, we will come and take your order in 10 minutes’ - by this point it has been an hour since we arrived. Unfortunately, they still charged us for our 4 poppadums and 2 drinks which I feel should have been waived and we left a huge queue of vocal, unhappy customers. As I said before, we loved the food on our first visit but unfortunately this will make us not want to return here again.

The last 2 visits have been horrendous.. rude staff that ignore you, hugely disorganised, lots of unhappy customers creating bad / awkward atmosphere and waiting hours for food… both takeaway and dining in. If collecting takeaway they will put you in ‘waiting room’ but you’ll end up sitting there for 1 hour. Disappointed as we use to love ordering from here but last 6 months it’s changed…

Ordered a takeaway on Christmas Eve and told to pick it up in 30 minutes. Son set alarm on his phone so we just had time for one in Number 10 and got back on the dot. Had to wait another 30 minutes without apologies...

Probably the worst Indian I have ever had,I had the lamb madras not only did it have little lamb in but there was no heat and no flavour,my wife had the tandoori chicken which turned out to be wrong and was chicken passanda and our...

The restaurant came highly recommended and I was really looking forward to the visit. The menu choice was excellent, the food was exceptional and couldn't be faulted. Sadly the staff on the other hand were unwelcoming and cold from the moment we arrived, not engaging...

food was okay but staff was very rude at every chance. When we booked a table we got a phone call back asking us to come earlier due to needed the table back asap. Once we arrived we was rushed the hole time with the...

This evening we had a lovely meal for our anniversary. Food was amazing as always, lovely friendly staff and quick service. We will be back again soon! Thank you so much.

We tasted the Memsaab menu at the food market in Lavenham and we had 4 different tasty treats and they were absolutely delicious. We will definitely be returning to go to their restaurant.

Amazing food. Good choice of vegetarian options and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The Nepalise dishes are a culinary experience.

Plenty of people have recommended this. It has a lovely character when you walk in. The poppadoms were good but not outstanding, I've eaten better at the Ballingdon Spice and Melford Tandoori. The starters were very good quality, but I think the mains were exceptional...

I have eaten at Memsaab restaurant and found the service very poor, waiting over an hour to be served the wrong dish. The servers are disinterested in customer service and take away customers seem to be more important than those that eat in. As take...

We were seated at a table that was 2 feet away from the bar where people came in to collect their takeaways - being Friday evening there was a constant stream of these. The dining area was cramped, scruffy and in dire need of redecorating....

Lovely ambience, staff very nice and provide very personal service, always great food and tastes very freshly cooked.

First visit to Lavenham and our first meal out here was fantastic, really can not find any negatives, mixed platter and onion Bhaji to start followed by chicken tikka jalfrezi and a chicken tikka rogan josh for the boss and we really enjoyed both. Staff...

Genuinely brilliant food from this curry house. Every time we go to Lavenham we eat here. We really can't praise the food enough!

So last minute we booked to eat at our local Indian on Valentines, been a few times always hit and miss don’t get me wrong I’ve had some lovely food, but not this time my partner ordered a lamb dish which he was unable to...

A great place for a good curry in Lavenham - excellent service and a menu that had a range of dishes from the region - so great to see Nepalese options too. A lovely evening

Had a really nice meal- very tasty & great quality. The other lovely thing was that our order was waiting - we have had so many experiences locally lately where it seems the meal is not cooked until you turn up to pay.

A great Indian restaurant. We are great fans of Indian food and this one the best restaurant of its kind that we have been to in a long time

This used to be our go to restaurant for a top class indian but on our last visit we left very disappointed Inedible starters - just not cooked! Then over an hour wait for our main course which was, at best ,mediocre . Such a shame as it used to be outstanding.

We recently moved to Lavenham and were hoping our local Indian food restaurant, in walking distance to where we live, would be somewhere we would go to more than once. It was fine but nothing special for the price charged. We have been to many Indian food restaurants over the years and this one is not a restaurant we would choose to go back to especially for a special occasion. My feedback is hopefully to encourage some improvements for future diner’s experience and value for money.The main dishes were served on cold plates and the food was warm and soon cooled to cold. Our dinner plates were heated but the food wasn’t hot to start with. The secret garden looked nice with the fairy lights and a water feature. Some low level Indian music could have improved the atmosphere. A couple of the tables had the usual white tablecloths which we come to expect in these type of restaurants but other diners such as ourselves had bare tables which felt undressed and a bit cheap. We had to ask if we could have napkins after the food was served, which were brought to us promptly. One table were handed loose napkins to them, by the most senior staff member, whereas other restaurants would attempt to lay them across the lap of the diners. I don’t think it was because of Covid, because no masks were worn by staff, etc. The restaurant lacked atmosphere and all the staff seemed to be inexperienced, although polite but we felt rushed when asked if we would like the bill after we had finished our main meal. We were not asked if we would like a hot drink or dessert, so we just agreed to our bill so we could finish the evening somewhere else. A little sweet or chocolate mint would have been a nice touch after the price we paid for the small portions of food that were not hot.For a restaurant with typical Indian food menu prices, this experience was disappointing. We had a pleasant evening as we wouldn’t let anything spoil it and staff were polite but we felt rushed (even though the restaurant was half empty on a Friday night at 8.30pm). Maybe there was no manager on shift to ensure standards were higher. It’s a shame because with a little more effort it could be a nice restaurant but we do not feel like chancing it again as it didn’t feel like particularly good value for money and there are plenty of other good restaurants in Lavenham that we would go back to.

Sat down at 7pm and was served our soft drinks instantly, although we asked for additional table water which never came so had to ask again when he took our food order, young waiter so wasn't too bothered.Food took 30 minutes or so to come, however they brought out the mains and nothing else for nearly 10 minutes which was odd, thankfully the mains was piping hot so it was still hot when the rest came. Food was okay but didn't really have any amazing flavours or spices, seemed quite plain and the bill wasn't exactly cheap.

Booked a table a week in advance to enjoy a Saturday night over the bank holiday with the family. Waited 30 minutes for a drink. After 2 hours of waiting for our main meal we decided we had past hunger and decided to call it a night. I have never been into a restaurant and left more hungry than I arrived. Disappointed is an understatement. Such a shame as went of an recommendation of being a great restaurant.

This used to be a great place to eat in Lavenham but I think there is a change of management or something as it has changed beyond recognition. The food is nowhere near as tasty as it was and the management are useless. Beside a couple of young waiters the staff are never to be seen but can be heard shouting from the kitchen as you wait (for up to 1 hour in our case) for your order to arrive - then when it does it comes in dribs and drabs. We did not get the rice until the end of the meal and a lot of it was cold. Before you used to get a warm greeting, coats taken and attentive service from the manager throughout but no longer. What a shame. we won't be going there again until we see an "under new management" sign in the window.

Outstanding service, was very busy, we had to wait two hours, but was well worth the wait. Back soon

Ordered a takeaway from here. Great selection on menu. Food was delicious and tasty. Arrived hot and fresh. Really enjoyed the food. My haryali chicken was lovely.

I had a giant butterflied prawn house special, great flavour but they hadn't removed the black vein/sack that goes down the spine. Although they do not need to socially distance the tables all the other restaurants we have eaten at do, however the restaurant is small.

A Friend told us how good this restaurant was, so as we were in Lavenham we decided to try it. I can honestly say this is the best Indian food we both have ever had. We had a prawn starter, enormous prawns, really tasty and among other dishes a chilli and garlic chicken dish which was superb. We sat outside in the covered garden area which was rustic but lovely, and the staff were just that perfect mix of friendly but professional.We live a fifty min drive away but will definately travel back to this restaurant because it is just so good.

My wife and I booked for lunch, arrived to find the restaurant closed! We checked our booking confirmation and sll was correct for date and time. Very annoyed having travelled some distance to come for lunch. Clearly says they do lunch on their site and even on trip advisor. Why take a booking if you're not open! Terrible mis-management. Don't bother, go elsewhere, there are plenty of great places in Lavenham.

We had the bhuna and the karahi between us and they were both delicious. Service was quick and friendly. Nice setting. Excellent meal.

Visited this place as fancied Indian for dinner and visiting Lavenham for weekend. Pre booked, walked in, no greeting and no one taking coats; very unusual in my experience of Indian cuisine. Drinks n popadoms ordered, arrived quick n were tasty. Ordered mains, after nearly an hr they arrived once we’d prompted them. It seemed like they were prioritising takeaways in my opinion. Apology from young waiter and waitress but nothing from management. Food all tasted salty and like a load of chilli powder had been chucked on it. Awful. Paid and left. Oh awful music too, no atmosphere. Don’t go here, there must be better places nearby. This experience spoilt an otherwise long awaited weekend away after lockdown.

We have been here before whilst staying in Lavenham. Good food. Reasonable service. Two of the tables were far too close in these COVID 19 days! People refused to sit there! Will we return? Yes.

Obviously this was a takeaway. Had looked at the reviews but decided the menu looked really nice. There were four of us and we had onion bhajis that were very bland, A chicken chaat puri that was very slim on the chicken. King prawn madras that had very small 'king prawns' and was swimming in oil. I can't go in to the rest of the main courses because it was similar. Everything had far too much oil. So disappointed. Will not use this restaurant again. Perhaps they were just having a bad day. Completely overpriced.

Absolutely atrocious. Typical long menu without any expertise in any of the dishes. All the dishes taste similar with varying levels of chilli powder. I thought indian cuisine had moved on from this.

We booked for dinner at 7.15pm and arrived at 7.10pm. One portion of samosas arrived within 10 minutes but only one part of one main course dish arrived at 7.55pm. We assumed the other main course plus the naan and niramish would arrive immediately. They didn’t! We asked the young server to take back the chicken dish to keep it warm.After a further 5 minutes, all the dishes arrived (8.10pm)We were served an extra plain naan that we didn’t order and my wife’s chicken dish plus the vegetable curry were both swimming in red oil.My chicken tikka had over sizzled and had burnt along with the onions. Having said that approx 80% of this dish was edible.We complained at the end of the meal but the owner/manager didn’t seem to grasp that an apology for the slow service and sub par food would be appropriate. His arrogance was palpable. Instead he raised his voice to us but after some ‘prodding’ he gave us a minimal 10% discount.We’re in no rush to go back and would not recommend it at all. Next time, have extra staff on hand or don’t open at all

We had a lovely meal here during our weekend away! We were greeted with a lovely warm welcome and the friendly service continued throughout the meal. The food was tasty and there was a good variety of meals on the menu that I hadn’t tried before. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend here when visiting Lavenham

Do not waste your time with a visit to the “Secret Garden”, get a takeaway or wait until they open inside and pray the service is better indoors! Really rude waiter who got my order wrong and then told me it was my fault. They turned off the heater at our table in favour of keeping everyone else’s on because too many heaters meant the lights tripped out in the kitchen. Painfully slow service, didn’t bring cutlery, no rush to clear away anything and our food all came out at different times. The food luckily was very very good, it would have just been nice to have it all at the same time, you want rice with your main dish not after! No apologies, nothing complimentary after it took us 2 and half hours to have our meal.

We have been here many times, so pleased they have managed to convert their outside space into a lovely eating area. Food always good, service excellent Loved the outside space. Well done!

Was a pleasure to enjoy the usual high standard of food in a great new outdoor setting. Well heated and weather proof. Have had great take aways throughout lockdown - fantastic to finally be able to enjoy dinning in again in a safe environment.

Always delicious food, the service can be a little slow for takeaways, but the restaurant business is struggling at the mo - let's give them a break. The shashlick masala is incredible, the king prawn tandoori masala is the best, and loads more fantastic dishes. Highly recommend it :)

Had a table for 4 booked early evening, we arrived and was seated promptly. That was as good as it got. Had to wait 20 minutes just to be given a menu and order a round of drinks. The waiter then proceeded to serve another couple who had come in after us although it was very evident by our closed menu's that we had made our choice. After another 20 minute wait the waiter came to take our order but could not tell us how long we would have to wait for our meal ( he estimated another 30 min + wait but could be longer ). Other people who were waiting for take aways said they had been waiting 30mins and they had phoned ahead. In the end we paid for our drinks and left without eating. We have eaten in this resturant a few time before without this problem the food is ok but not great. IF there was staff problems so service was going to be slow then they should tell people and maybe offer a round of drinks whilst waiting, but to say nothing is bad customer service. I feel as this is the only indian resturant in the village they have the monopole and don't care how they treat their customers. Another Indian in the village would be good to give healthy competion.

Shambolic! 1.45 minutes for a take away! Would never go back. Kept lying about when it was ready. Ridiculous place.

A Monday night without a reservation as our hotel could not fit us in to their dining arrangements co we came here and so glad we did. The food was tasty and delicious and not your typical menu by any means. Reasonably priced , friendly service and would probably choose to eat here rather than hotel on a future visit!

The service and food were superb, everywhere spotless and well recommended. I've only given 4 stars as the lighting ambience could be better. Would visit again. Clive.

Absolutely delicious Indian meal - highly recommend a visit to Memsaab! Really welcoming waiters, high quality ingredients and such tasty food. Definitely try the fish masala and chicken shaslick.

Stopped by for an evening meal with my partner. I'd lived five miles away for 16 yearsbefore relocating to West Sussex in April and regularly ate hereStandard of food just as I remembered EXCELLENT.....!! Good attentive service and good value. A shame Memsaab is nor 148 miles from home.Mike& Jane

My wife and I visited on Monday, the first day of the new requirements for Covid. I’ll start there. The arrangements were, frankly, poor. No contact details were asked for and the standard menus were still being used. Ok, they provided hand sanitiser on sitting down, and the staff were wearing masks, but disappointing they didn’t fully adhere to regulations. Turning to the food, it was disappointing, no king prawns were available so went for the sheek kebab starter which was ok, but a bit greasy. Mains were equally unexceptional. Service was friendly and efficient but all in all, not somewhere I’d rush back to if in Lavenham again

Tired from pushing my mother-in-law round Lavenham I was looking for an easy solution to dinner and found it at Memsaab. Unlike a few of the negative comments posted here my experience was perfect. I ordered the takeaway by phone and walked down to the restaurant at the appointed time. My order was ready within minutes of arriving at the restaurant and when I got it home (admittedly only a 7-8 minute walk away, but still) it was piping hot and delicious. Result? a happy, satisfied, well fed family.

Whilst staying in picturesque Lavenham we decided to visit the Memsaab Restaurant for an evening meal.We hadn’t booked - but we’re soon found a table. The service from the staff was swift and attentive throughout the evening. When the food arrived we weren’t disappointed - it was delicious and we’d both tried a Persian Dish for a change.Well worth a visit if your in the area.

We turned up as a group of 6 without a reservation, what fantastic service and quality of food, even to the point that I'm not keen on Indian food and they went out of there way to make me a meal. Would highly recommend

We visited in a Friday night and the food was fantastic. Lots of choice and extremely tasty. Very good service too with friendly polite staff. If you love Indian food then this place is a must visit!!!

Ordered a takeaway from here and unfortunately never got it. Turned up at my collection time to find 5 other people waiting to collect, customers in the restaurant complaining they had to wait an hour and a half for their meals. After waiting 45 minutes for our food to be ready we demanded our money back and left. The manager was hiding in the kitchen, refusing to speak to anyone. Kudos to the young man trying his best to look after customers, he was left by managers to deal with all complaints, and did his best in a tough situation.

Couldn’t tell you about the food - 50 minute order time (fine) + a 45 minute wait in the restaurant, we got a refund and left to get pizza from the Co-op. The constant moving of the goalposts from the staff member / manager was atrocious. It was poor management at its finest and clearly from the several other people in the queue that this wasn’t just a one off / bad luck kinda thing. The only shining light was the poor young man that was front of house who i thought handled himself so well in the face of such a terrible working environment. I’d implore him to look for a job anywhere else. He was left out to dry by the management!

We originally tried to go somewhere else that had stopped serving food, so on our way back we passed Memsaab and decided to try it... and boy am I happy we did. Really excellent Indian food. One of the starters we chose was unavailable, so I asked what the waiter recommended; what he brought was wonderful, a paneer starter fried with onions, garlic, chilli etc. We ordered a few mains to share, which were all delicious. The setting is lovely and quaint, and the service was good too. Will definitely return if I visit Lavenham again.

Had great indian food . Portions were huge. Excellent wine list with an amazing Malbec . Service was very good.

Recommended to us by the nearby Rectory Manor Hotel this was an excellent Indian meal. The menu was interestingly varied and the quality of fresh ingredients shone through - the Nan breads and rice for instance were really tasty and somehow a little different. Pleasant, airy, tasteful dining room in a lovely old Lavenham building, with good service. With thanks also to Chancellor Rishi Sunak for his contribution to a very enjoyable evening.

I ate here as several people had recommended it and the reviews looked good; however, I was disappointed. After being seated, I was not offered any poppadoms and pickles, (other customers were). I ordered a dry martini and lemonade, which had a small fly in it. The waiter was quick to see I was fishing it out and took it away to replace it. The replacement had three flies in it! He advised me to drink something else, which I did. I should have just taken that as an omen really. Although the food tasted ok, it was not freshly cooked. It arrived almost immediately and had obviously been microwaved as it had a skin on top and the chicken was dried out. Interestingly, the website advises customers that they may have a wait as all food is freshly cooked. This definitely was not the case when I went there! I had expected some kind of recompense for the fly situation, such as the eventual fly-free drink to be on the house, but this wasn’t the case. The food was over-priced and I was charged in full. I would never go back and regret staying for the meal.

This place just really hits the spot, the guys who run the place make each dish taste great, one of my all time fave places to eat / get a takeaway

We really enjoyed our meal here on a Saturday evening. The restaurant was busy, but well managed and we never waited long for service. Food wise, this was one of my favourite Indian meals I've had in a long while - starters and mains were both exceptionally tasty and well presented.Overall, highly recommended.

First post-lockdown curry - FANTASTIC! Only complaint is that the portions were so large that we couldn’t finish it all! Fabulous service and good value.

After some time of ordering takeaways during lockdown, me and my family decided to order from here, and we certainly weren’t disappointed. Our order was rather large, so we expected a long waiting time, however the wait was just as promised, and we were able to get our food piping hot. The bags are sturdy, so as to not break under the weight of the food, and the packaging manages to keep the food hot whilst not allowing for any spillages. When we finally sat down to eat, we were blown away by not only the generous portion sizes (7 pieces of meat in each curry) but how good it was as well! The chicken was tender and the sauces were all so unique, we’ve never had anything like it! If you’re looking for an affordable and quality takeaway, this is the perfect place.

It's safe to say that, throughout this entire lockdown period (and even beforehand), this has been my go-to for a takeaway. No matter what preferences you have, whether you're a vegan, vegetarian etc., there's always something for you in the menu. With my brother being a vegetarian, it's hard to find any other place that provides vegetarian options that are actually nice, but Memsaab always delivers.

Ordered a take a way for 7.15pm arrived at the restaurant on time to find a long queue of customers waiting for take a ways after a hour and a half waiting walked out,best avoided.A total waste of time.

Best I have ever had and I’ve eaten at a lot of Indian restaurants. This has never failed to bring out the best highest quality Indian food.

After going away for some time, me and my family decided best to come back to this wonderful curry house, and it was just as incredible as the last time. The staff, although most are different, are still just as warm in their welcomes, and as polite as ever. The night we went was busy, and yet the food was brought out in good time, and was such a delight. The flavours were so distinct from eachother, and the food wasn't even expensive for what you get (which is a lot!) We will definitely be coming back a lot more often now that we are in the area :)

Food was delicious although rice/ side dish portions were small. Waiter was a bit surly but we didn't have to sit with him!

We stayed at the Swan next door and thought the food was much better here!Very varied flavours. We had a lovely Bengali Fish Massala and King Prawn Balti with huge prawns. The Balti was peppery and rich, and the fish curry was delicate and spiced perfectly.Friendly staff and good wine too (we had a Malbec). Would come again!

Very nice experience of Saturday evening dinner in memsaab we completely surpassed very busy Indian many people waiting on the bar area but our table was ready and quickly one waiter came to us take drinks and papadums order and served as expected food was high quality it has pleasant of the staff and spotless of service provided us we were highly impressed I must say it was excellent experience and surprisingly reasonably priced. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for good food thanks to the chef and service staff for did nice job

I've just had a takeaway.I'm not a fussy eater, but I do cook a lot of Indian. I've visited India and have Indian friends: The main lamb curry looked like, and had the texture of, dog food. It also had what could only be passata with chilli powder poured on top. It also has the taste and fragrance of dish soap. It was vile and most went in the bin. The dry vegetable side was straight from a frozen packet mix, small diced veg, cheaply spiced and contained approx 3 large spoonfuls - at £3.50. Not worth a single pound coin.Bread stone cold, rice greasy and unpleasant. I stopped using the place 2 years ago before retrying and now remember why.Shame on these people.

Takeaway's seem to take the priority here. If you eat in the restaurant you will have to take what you can catch hold of. It took two hours from sitting down to get our main meal. Long waits for food, all the staff wanted to do was sell us more drinks.

Booked a week in advance of my birthday meal, we and another group of 3 who had booked told to come back in 30 minutes and they would try to find a table. No proper apology or reason given so we had to leave, they don't have a bar/reception are, you would have to stand amongst those dining! We left to find an establishment that has proper customer service!

Booked 7 days prior for 7.30 on my birthday, arrived in plenty of time, 3 people in front of of use were told their 7.15 table might be ready in 30 minutes. We were told after waiting a while, come back I 30 minutes and there might be a table! We left totally disappointed and went looking elsewhere!

Had a wonderful evening meal with a group of friends. Food lovely, excellent service, highly recommend

We were recommended to this Thai/Indian restaurant and were not disappointed by the cuisine. We did find the accommodation a little cramped, but soon settled in to enjoy the food.

A really delicious curry! Excellent service and food, would highly recommend. Lovely waiters, all round great evening!

Popped in on Boxing day for the time in year of passing the place. Just myself and the food was excellent and very good service. Quiet but probably down to the day I was visiting. Will be visiting again soon.

I had a lovely meal full of flaver. Very worm atnastfervand welkom will defo be dack maby be having a starf party hear as I enjoyed it so much good valy 4 money I recamend u go ther

Four of us visited Memsaab this weekend after reading great online reviews, and hearing local recommendations. Walking around Lavenham, we could actually smell the lovely aromas coming from the restaurant. We ate on a Saturday night and had the chicken tikka masala, mixed tandoori, and jalfrezi with a mix of rices, naan breads and vegetables. We all ended up sharing because the food was so good. Reasonably priced as well (£90 for 4 people, including mostly non-alcoholic drinks) and in a great location - just a few minutes walk from the Guildhall (a National Trust site), the 'Harry Potter house' (DeVere house) featured in Deathly Hallows, and lots of other historical buildings.

Another visit to this fabulous restaurant. The food is always amazing. Friendly staff, fantastic atmosphere. We have been to this restaurant so many times, can't recommend it enough. We will be back!

We regularly eat in Memsaab when in Lavenham or get their take away. It’s a firm family favourite. I love all the different veg in their veg curries Excellent portion sizes. Friendly staff. Recommend.

It was a quiet night when we visited the Memsaab and it was a typical Indian restaurant, the food and service were first class and we enjoyed everything that was served.

Visited this restaurant after some good comments and we was not disappointed. The food was excellent, the restaurant was delightful and the staff very helpful and pleasant. I would definitely recommend a visit.