Shirin's in Gwynedd

It’s one of those places that you hate to give a poor review to as they were very sweet but totally incompetent. Please don’t turn over a dirty paper table cloth, bin it and give us a new one. The restaurant was dirty and the food can be described as vile at best. It seems to be crying out for a visit from Gordon Ramsey. On leaving they when I wanted to pay with a card they asked if I had any cash at all. On the plus side I felt that I was in somewhere between the league of gentlemen and Mrs overall in Victoria wood.

My wife and I have been here before and loved it. Revisited this evening and we were treated to great food again. There is room for improvement on the upkeep of the building, and a bit of background music wouldn’t go amiss, but all in all it was a very enjoyable visit. Being ‘cash only’ is a bit of a nuisance these days, but that is won over by the fact you can take your own wine… if you need either cash or wine there is a convenience store a few yards away!

Happily took our booking for 10 people and didn’t bother opening the restaurant. Had my number yet didn’t bother ringing me to tell me. Messaged them on FB 45 minutes after our booking to which they replied saying the owners car broke down. Absolutely bizarre. Avoid.

This was without doubt the worst curry I have ever tasted. In fact my chicken Rasila tasted like a weak, gelatinous, chicken soup with absolutely no flavours that you would traditionally associate with Indian food (cumin, garam masala, tumeric, chilli, for example). The chicken breast, thankfully was cooked through, but that was it. This cost me £14. The pilau rice has some flavour of cardamom, but was clumpy and overly seasoned. This feels like it was cooked by someone who has no idea how to cook food, at all, let alone Indian cuisine. The sauce must have been made using gravy granules and a handful of mixed, dried, herbs, plus a tablespoon of salt. Honestly awful. The only positive was the lime pickle with a crispy poppadom, but I assume that came out of a jar that the restaurant had purchased from the Londis shop down the road. Avoid at all costs, please.

Please, please, please read the bad reviews, they're accurate.. having read them to the rest of the group, I was overruled and so we ordered a takeaway from here. I've never seen Indian food like it. We ordered 5 curries, 4 rice, a starter a naan and some poppadoms. The mango chutney was thin and insipid, closer to 1 part mango chutney, 5 parts water.. the chilli paneer starter tasted like the cheese had gone off and was gelatinous beyond belief. The lamb Khaliya turned out to be chicken (who knew?) but, in spite of this was probably the best dish of the lot. It was edible. The chicken Rasila was like a gelatinous chicken stock with no real taste to it. The restaurant very kindly made a chicken korma for us which we mistook for frogspawn when we opened it. The biriani was dry and the Welsh Lamb Sizzler was salty, and as tough as the boots the farmer was wearing when he dispatched it at the end of the last century.. Having checked their food hygiene rating online, they don't seem to have one registered, so where they got the 5-star one in the window from is anyone's guess. I thought we'd had the worst curry possible from the curry house next door, but Sitar, all is forgiven. If we could rate it lower than one star, we would.

Its the only indian i go to, great food and good service a+++ Even my 12 yr old loves the food, food is always hot and fresh

Food was ok but service was pretty bad. Having climbed Snowdon earlier in the day we were looking for somewhere for a nice meal close to where we were staying. We were looking forward to nice cold beers with our curries but the restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol, ordered cokes instead which took nearly an hour, we were nearly finished our food when we got them. The menus were left on the table after we’d ordered so we had to move them onto another table to make room. There was only the 4 of us in there but service was extremely slow. They don’t take card payments either so make sure you take cash. The best thing about the whole experience was the naan bread, probably one of the nicest I’ve ever tasted but they really need to work on the service

Very nice meal which was very good value, we BYO’d our wine. Friendly staff and efficient service. We hadn’t booked but we’re easily accommodated.

Bizarrely, we were warned against visiting this establishment before we attended (by a local). Recklessly and in desperate search of firm sustenance after a long hike in bog horrible weather; we bit the bullet. In all of my existence I’ve never seen such colourful food taste of nothing. To plagiarise the same comment from a previous reviewer; the Chicken Chilli Masala was just a frozen Tikka Masala with some chillis slung on top. Absolute tripe. Starters tasted of nothing and the place had no heating so clung onto coats and had to apply extra layers. The worst thing is that I’m having to share a bed in an AirBnB with my pal who has also dined here this evening. He’s looking pale and complaining of his agitated bowels and tumbling stomach. Future best wishes for those that make an error in judgment and walk through the doors and take seat.

Fantastic service, food and price. We celebrated a birthday here with 13 guests including 2 children. Everyone was well catered for and happy, we will definitely be returning soon.

Well first things first, this is not a curry house. It is not even worthy of even being called a restaurant. 7 of us were passing through the town looking for somewhere to eat so we asked if we could have a table, we were told we could and this was about 8:30pm. There was no mention that the restaurant was going to close early or that the order had to be placed quickly. We sat down and were told we needed to place our order straight away as the restaurant was closing. We all ordered our own curries and separate nans. When the dishes arrived, 5 of them looked the same, same colour and taste. 2 were veg and all were bland, they had no taste. They served no alcohol so we just ordered soft drinks which were cans of coke or we had glasses of water. The lady who took our ordered appeared to be either the owner or owners wife or someone in charge. She was rude, appeared not to be happy to see us there or serve us. I don't know how anyone can give this place a high rating. The food is tasteless, bland, chicken is plain, sauce stains your fingers due to too much food colouring in the curry. The nan was too chewy. This place is stuck in a timewarp, it needs updating. And to top it off, we were not allowed to keep our receipt. The food was not worth the money we paid for, it is a rip off. Eat somewhere else!! Better still, go to the Tesco up the road, you will be able to put together a meal that will be tasty and at a fraction of the cost.

The whole place was filthy, I even had to ask for a new plate as it hadn’t been washed properly. The cutlery was also dirty. We were contemplating whether we should eat here but our options were few and far between as the public house was fully booked and we had hungry children with us. The food wasn’t very nice and the king prawn dishes contained tiny shrimps. Many of the dishes left a strange taste in your mouth. The toilets and stairwell where even more dirty than the restaurant, absolutely pure filth. Being run down and dated is one thing but poor hygiene in a restaurant is another. Anyway we ended up paying the price for eating there as 3 out of 5 adults had really bad stomachs the next day and my 14 year old daughter actually had food poisoning and was vomiting for over 12 hours. She said she wasn’t sure if her chicken was cooked. I have read another review on here which mentions raw uncooked meat being served in dishes. AVOID THIS PLACE. DREADFUL!!!!!

Tasteless food that, that substitutes flavour with food colouring. This is standard curry house takeaway food. Chicken tikka and mixed Grill were rubbery with a garnishing of soggy onions. . Naan had the texture and rigidity of leather. Avoid.

Lovely Indian restaurant with some delicious food.

Love this place. The owner & staff are very attentive & always aim to please. The food is amazing and very reasonably priced so although they do lots of take aways, why bother. Grab a table & enjoy being pampered. As they are not licensed you can take your own alcohol which is a bonus price wise.

We arrived late Saturday evening and there were only a few people eating in. The young man was very polite and made up a table for us as we went in. It took a while for him to come and take our order but it seem like he was the only person working out front. Our orders came fairly quickly but was missing a whole meal. The young man sorted this out quickly. The food had very mixed opinions. The masala was very sweet and couldn’t be eaten however, the nans were very good. Probably wouldn’t return any time soon!

We went there while we were on holiday. It was a cold Wednesday night, we were the only people there with one person on duty. He was excellent. As far as we could see he did everything, waiting, cooking, bottle washing, the lot. We had an lovely meal with great service. We had a lovely night and the food was top notch. There was so much we needed a doggy bag!. We would throughly recommend and we will definitely be going back next time we're in the area.

Staff were very friendly and attentive even though we came in late and they were probably looking forward to going home. Food tasted good and we enjoyed the large portions. Would return if back in the area. BYOB & Cash only

Really good food. Doesn’t have alcohol or take card so stock up at the surprisingly good selection at the local Londis, when you get cash out. Friendly, quick service, would go again.

Ordered for 4. 2 of the meals were completely wrong, unable to get through on the phone to ask for this to be corrected. The dishes that we shared as 2 were not anything we would eat were very bland, lacked spice and the rice wasn't very good either. Naans were good but we were very disappointed with the meals we had overall and wouldn't eat from here again unfortunately.

Party of 12 staying nearby, shame no delivery but couldn’t be happier with the food, extremely tasty and staff were very friendly

We visited on a Sunday night - the food was amazing! Lovely staff! We brought our own bottle of wine and were given glasses and a bottle opener! Would highly recommend. Bring cash!

Came here for tea and the food and service was faultless!!! Suuuper tasty curry’s (some of the best I’ve ever tried) and the staff were friendly and attentive. If you are in the area it is definitely worth trying.

the food was absolutely fabulous and the staff are so lovely and friendly in here. We came here whilst on holiday and would 100% recommend. The mushroom rice was definitely top tier and the chicken tikka bhuna was beautiful. Everyone else in my party enjoyed the food and would definitely come back.

Absolutely no atmosphere, no card payment, doesn't serve alcohol, and the chicken was tough. Would not return.

Visited whilst on holiday; excellent food (bhajis, main courses and mushroom rice all excellent) Friendly service Would recommend

Super lovely and friendly staff and very tasty food. I would highly recommend. A hidden gem in Bethesda.

Me and my mate decided we fancied a takeaway, and was passing through Bethesda on an errand, so we stopped here to get a takeaway, and was very impressed. I like to think I eat quite a lot of curries, and can tell a decent curry, and this certainly didn't disappoint. Excellent value, the service by the young lady on the counter was great, and the value, well, I was sure they'd made a mistake, but upon checking, I came to realise it was just somewhere that is very reasonably priced. All in all a very good experience, and we shall certainly return. 15 out of 10, yes, it really was that good!!!!

Beautiful food thank you mel and dave

Stayed at Pant Teg BnB, about 1.5 miles away. The owner recommended Shirins. Glad he did. My brother had a Madras, which he said was excellent. I had a chicken Naga. It was full of flavour and hot but not crazy hot. I had it with Garlic rice, which I reckon is the best I've ever had. The garlic Naans were great too. They don't have a licence, so bring your own drink. There's a Tesco and Londis nearby. Guy who served us was very friendly and helpful.

Came to Tregarth for the Zip wire and discovered this restaurant in Bethesda. Very helpful staff and food was excellent. I had the chicken madras which was very tasty and nice and spicy with a good kick.The garlic nan was fresh and cooked to perfection. Can't rate this place highly enough. I just hope they can keep the standard up. It's a bring your own beer or wine place but no corkage fee.

Arrived at Bethesda, after checking the reviews online of the available restaurants open in the area. We were surprised at so few places open or able to provide a mixed menu of vegetarian and meat dishes. We walked down the high street and stumbled upon Shirrins, who made us feel most welcome. A largish party were already seated. The restaurant is bright and spacious. It's a BYO, with no corkage charge. The waiter was most helpful and friendly. The meal was tasty, didn't leave us feeling hungry. We chose a starter and main course, approx price per person £14. We'll return on our next visit.

Don’t like to give bad reviews but, I made the mistake of going here instead of next door, it was good value but the Dahl was inedible, like it had been burnt and scraped of a pan, naan was not fresh, but the veg rice was ok. Need to up your game, sorry.

I have eaten here a few times and also had a couple of takeaways the food is consistently good and for me slightly better than the takeaway next door

Goid was late and cold. Chicken chilli massala was litteraly chicken tikka massala with chilli's on top. Not impressed

Okay looking place, conveniently placed around five mins away from our hotel, service was very good, food didn’t taste great, but then again, I’ve never been a fan of Indian food. Liked the chicken and the very friendly waiter. Didn’t really enjoy the wait, the hot Coca Cola, the special rice, or that it was cash only. If you like Indian food and curry, this would probably be a joyful experience for you.

Food wasn't great and service slow, but it was the only place that served food and was open

Good value restaurant, not busy, friendly waitress. No alcohol but you can bring your own. Also note cash only no cards. Will go back there when next in town.

Food and service on point. Price was very reasonable too

Eaten here twice and never seen another customer. Last visit the waitress kept her coat on. Nice Indian music and really tasty food.

We had such a tasty meal and the service was great. The waiter was super polite. It is unlicenced so you can take your own alcohol - we took a bottle of wine but you can buy soft drinks at the restaurant. It isn't plush, it isnt posh or showy but the food is excellent and inexpensive.

Very friendly environment & best delicious foods in Welsh...

You need to be aware that there's no alcohol license (but you can bring your own), and that it looks a bit on the ropey side. But the food was good; six of us ordered different dishes and none were disappointed. The naan bread was a surprising highlight; huge and puffy and flavourful.

Not much to say here really .. myself and my wife popped in here looking for a sit down meal. We walked in to find a completely empty restaurant and asked for a table for 2.We were shown to a table, we picked up the menus which were held together by sellotape, looked at each other, made our excuses and left.Can't say I would recommend this place purely based on the run down look inside and no diners being present ... if the locals are not using a place, there's usually a reason !

Without question the worst Indian I've ever eaten, chicken was tough and first time ever I had to put salt on a curry for flavour, the table cloth was also filthy dirty and torn I had to clear old rice off myself

Had chicken tikka pathia (a favourite of ours) far to spicy. Mrs Marv couldn't eat it and I struggled. I've had Madras in the past with no problems so I wouldn't expect a pathia to be a challenge. Needs a good refurbishment or a deep clean. Staff were pleasant.

Reasonably priced and a good meal, staff friendly. Curry was particularly spicy - more so than at home however, very nice. Took own wine as not licensed.

Ordered 3 different chicken dishes but none of us could tell the difference. They all were blunt. Flavourless and literally no salt. Not recommended.

The restaurant is NOT licensed for alcohol so take your own. Service was prompt and the food was ok. Not great, just ok. Not a bad night out and£90 for six of us was less than expected.

Had a veggie jalfrezi with mushroom rice. Really tasty and the best mushy rice I've ever had!The place was desserted when we got there on a baking hot Saturday night. They don't have an alcohol license but you can take your own. We had soft drinks.the back door was open onto a balcony - normally reserved for the after food smokers, but we asked if we could eat out on it. Yes we were told, no problem and they promptly set up the table for us.the view was quite nice, mountains and trees with the sound of running water from the stream through the trees.the staff were brilliant and very attentive.If I'm ever back there I will def eat there again with no hesitation whatsoever.

Delicious food and great service. We had a lovely evening here.

Traditional and delicious with delicious vegetables. We took away and ate with great taste.

it was quiet when we went in butthe food was excellent. Everything was lovely and to a really high standard. The server was polite and friendly. If only this place also offered take away delivery i think they would do better in the area as there is no decent take away delivery in bethesda. Anyway massive thumbs up from me shall be returning for sure! :)

We last visited Shirin’s a couple of years ago when staying in the area, and it was as good this time as it was back then. We had lamb rogan josh and chicken tikka korma with rice, poppadums and a naan for £17 - good value for such delicious food.

Dined here on a very quiet Monday night (only two in there, and no music, so somewhat lacking in atmosphere). To be honest we weren't expecting much, but the food was good and okay priced (other option was cook up or take out in bunkhouse). Standard fayre and menu choices. One young lady front of house/serving, who was delightful. Yes I'd eat there again. If you want Indian food, Bethesda isn't exactly awash with choices, but this wasn't bad at all.

After researching current restaurants in Bangor accepting Tastecard we went to this restaurant last night. We had exactly the same experience of Fiona S so won't bother repeating here. The place was shabby and stuck in a time warp. It was completely empty and the staff gave the impression they didn't want any customers and we felt we were an inconvenience. We had travelled miles in a motorhome which was very difficult to park nearby so after a long walk in the freezing cold they wouldn't accept the card. You'd have thought they would welcome any business, even if it was 241. They were hostile and didn't over any discount at all as a gesture of goodwill. Scored '0' for customer relations. Very poor :-(

we found Shirin's via the Tastecard and phoned ahead from Caernarfon to check that they were still accepting it, as it may have changed hands.

I've been to this restaurant several times over the years both to eat in and take away. The food is OK, but I've had much better curries elsewhere. Having recently tried the Sitar next door which is MUCH better, I will not be returning here again.

Five of us ate here on a Friday night a few weeks ago. Nine people in total eating in there of which only two were local. Service shocking and food too hot spice wise for any of us to eat. Two hour wait from ordering to eating our main course, never again and we all agreed it's probably the worst curry and service any of us have experienced. Very overpriced as well and needless to say we did not leave a tip and the few of us who had the misfortune to visit the loo's said they were disgusting.

Food was awful not even cooked properly & we were told its tradition. Waited an hour just for raw food waste of time & money.

Been here quite a few times. Food always great, always enjoy myself. Staff are always very welcoming and happy

The food was okay, however we were rushed through the meal. The waitress kept coming over and taking plates before we were even close to being finished. Literally mid mouthful on occasions. Even the plate we were going to use to tip was taken before we’d put anything down.

Everybody here is always kind and happy. I’ve been there now about 5-10 times and always been satisfied. Decent portion sizes and amazing food. My favourite indian restaurant in north wales. Will be returning soon for sure.

Sit down meal. Very good food, decent portions, fresh and tasty. Attentive service and food came out in decent time. Don't normally come to this part of the world but would recommend and I would return if I come back.

FANTASTIC FOOD, so welcoming. Is cash only and it's bring your own bottle. Lovely polite people, and it was full for a Saturday night!

Good quality food as usual.Large portions. Reasonably priced. Tonight's choice Chicken Korma with Pilau Rice, yum, yum. All menu selections are of quality.

Great food and very nice people

Great food, great customer service and all this at a really good price.

We went to Shirins on a Thursday night and we're the only 2 dining. The waitress was very friendly and accommodating.

We got a take away and it was delicious! The restaurant is lovely inside, just a little too quiet for our liking and a take away ended up suiting us better after a busy day out.

Friendly staff, great service! Not licenced but can take own alcohol for no extra corkage charge. Recommended!

Found this place completely by chance, so glad we did!

It seemed okay at first but the food was very sub-par, I regret not going elsewhere. Overall mediocre, I recommend going to a pub.

Okay, I'd recommend going to a pub.

Friendly, helpful service and excellent, freshly prepared dishes. I can't comment on the meat dishes as I'm vegetarian but if the food I ordered is anything to go by, the meat and seafood will also be very tasty. Bear in mind they are not licensed but you can take your own booze and they don't charge corkage. Highly recommended!!

The food was amazing and very affordable. I found the curry's were of great quality and the service was great. Will be visiting again!

We enjoyed a lovely birthday meal at Shirins. The waitress suggested a couple of dishes which were a great success. Portions were very generous! Would not hesitate to return.

We ate here on Saturdaye Feb 4th. The staff are amazingly friendly and interested in feedback - this is not your 'run of the mill' Indian restuarant (though it is a proper 'Indian' and not a bangladesh/pakistani hybrid!) The chutneys and sauces are made on site (gorgeous) the 2 curry's we had were perfect, on the down side there is no drinks license..but londis is a 1 min walk away so it's no issue. The people that run this place deserve a lot of credit!

We came to this Indian restaurant based on the excellent trip advisor reviews and it certainly lived up it's reputation. The food was excellent, the girl who served us was very friendly and the food came out fairly quickly. Will be back again.

Considering I'm very fussy with my meals this place is by far the best Indian takeaway I've had & the prices are reasonable. I won't have Indian from anywhere but here now! It's well worth a try!

Went there for a meal on new year's eve would recomend this to all my friends a lovely meal great staff and very warm and welcoming atmosphere!!!

I had a Chicken Naga. It was a nice enough flavour but I reckon the chicken started life as a chicken tikka (it had the hole through the middle as if it was on a skewer originally) and then the sauce was added later. This meant that the chicken didn't take on the flavour of the sauce as it hadn't been marinaded. It wasn't a travesty. The sauce was nice and the chicken tikka was nice, but... the dish didn't come together as a result. I'd still go back despite saying all this. If I was you I'd go and make your own judgement and see if the same happened to you.

Given we live locally, we decided to give it a try a few months back and to say that we were pleasantly surprised was an understatement and we've actually been back numerous times since without ever having a complaint.

Nice atmosphere, good service, good food.nicely decorated calm atmosphere. Reasonable priced. Very relaxing place to have a meal . I will definitely go there again and recomend it to my friends.

All the food was freshly prepared to a high standard. The naan bread was delicious and the prawns in the curry (shell on) were huge and very very tasty. It was reasonably priced and excellent value for money.

Store portioner. Hurtigt og korrekt service. Portionerne er meget store. Maden var veltilberedt og varm.

Delicious food and lovely people. I had a lamb karai and it was really tasty. The saag alloo was also top notch.

Had a lovely meal again this evening . First time for my partner to visit but was very impressed by the delicious food and advice about the different dishes. " Best onion Bajis he has ever tasted"! Very impressed by the way the lads have made an effort to learn welsh and be part of our community too! Well worth a visit.

Well, I didn't expect a curry house here. Glad it is though. Simple menu. Meal was hot, fresh n tasty. Service friendly and quick. All in a good meal out.

Very strange to find a restaurant without an alcohol license but not a problem if you want to bring your own.

The staff was friendly, the food was very good. It was pity that they did not serve any alcohol but we were allowed to drink own drank without any extra charge. Luckily we had some cider and beer in our car. All Indidan restaurants in Wales that we visited (4) are run by people from Bangladesh, which is fine, but it would be nice to proof something from Bangladesh as well!

I'd heard various reports about Shirin's and found it to be pretty average. A huge wall mounted TV was showing football - OK if you are a football fan of course.......

Had a family birthday meal here. Service was excellent made to feel welcome from the minute we arrived. Food was very tasty . Would highly recommend.

After language confusion over the telephone, I dreaded what we would end up with. I need not have worried. We got exactly what we wanted - a good, freshly prepared Indian dinner. Four of us chose different meals, and were content. Various goodies like chutneys and poppadoms were thrown in unexpectedly.

Took my mum and son for a treat on Friday. Lovely food, all enjoyed. Staff really friendly. Food was fresh, hot and quickly served. Mum is not really an Indian fan but really enjoyed her meal. Please be aware that they only take cash. Highly recommended.

A bit off put by the loo facilities which I went to before ordering food. Waiter was good. Food average. It's bring your own drink so nipped to the supermarket

Ate here with friends before a gig in Neuadd Ogwen. We brought our own wine which made it a cheap meal out, we didn't want heavy curries with rice so I had the tandoori mixed grill and shared chips and nan with my hubby who had the chicken tikka. All nice and tasty, restaurant is basic but clean and staff are friendly. The sitar Indian take away is next door but one and sets a very high standard, I will continue to get take away from sitar as I do feel it's a bit nicer, but we will certainly go back to Shirins for a sit in as it was lovely

Curry was lovely. Setting is basic and informal but the food is really good and good value for money. Restaurant isn't licensed so you can take your own alcohol

Four of us had takeaway from Shirin's yesterday evening & we all agreed it was fantastic - the menu is varied, food was ready in half an hour, everything was delicious, and there was enough to feed us all for tonight's dinner too! The staff were very friendly when we picked the food up. Highly recommended.

This is probably the only eat-in eaterie that's open in Bethesda during the evenings. The restaurant is modest enough but both the food and service are very good. It's without a license and so you're welcome to take with you your own drinks, for which there's no charge. Beware that the restaurant does not accept card payment. Would recommend for either eat-in or take-away.