STAR ANISE in Derbyshire Dales

Difficult review to leave because the food might have been okay if it had been received in reasonable time and whilst still warm. To add insult to injury we were repeatedly lied to about the progress of our delivery when we first phoned to chase it. We were told it was on the way and would be with us in a few minutes. When we phoned again half an hour later we had the same response. A man who called himself Tony then called us back to apologise just as the food was arriving. When I called him back he grandiosely offered that if I called in to see him he would "look after me". I declined his offer and said we would speak again after we could see how the meal had gone. Regrettably the damage was already done as the meal was for myself and a group of friends, 10 in total, who had travelled to the area to hold a special version of a monthly club meeting. The whole focus of the weekend was the Saturday night meeting and the meal was to be eaten during the interval of the meeting. The late delivery of the food completely ruined the plan for the evening and hence the weekend. I tried to call "Tony" a couple of times afterwards with no joy so I wrote to him explaining the above and have not heard from him. Needless to say we would not use Star Anise again and I would not recommend them to anyone else.

Amazing place . You feel welcome 🙏 and doesn't matter if you there a first time or a regular customer.Beautiful food ! And prices are amazing 👏 you can bring your own alcohol that's a winner . We will be back on regular basis.

The young waiter was very nice and brought food quick

Best in town and surrounding area. Lovely staff, great food and will always sort ya out.

Was passing this Ashbourne town ,and seen sign star anise , so straight away though yes some Indian food for today, went upstairs place was very busy staff running around like crazy , obviously trying to please everyone, after couple minutes they took my order, I stated very clear what I wanted , but the staff members was seemed very distracted while taking my order. After waiting around 40 min for my order I finally got it. (The bag smelled really nice ) so I left back to my hotel.( which is bout 20 min away from this restaurant) when we arrived set up for dinner etc I noticed that my order was missing a portion, we ordered 3 different portion , lamb bhuna - lamb saag - lamb biryani - one fried rice - 3 plain naan . We received lamb bhuna - lamb saag , rice and naan . Because I was to tired to drive back I just left at this , and I couldn’t ring them coz the place where we were staying was absolutely no reception. And we left fallowing morning. Food indeed was very nice , but I’m absolutely disappointed of the staff making this kind of mistakes, as I was charged for the air in the restaurant.

Took my son home from Uni. Embarrassing. Tired appearance and the young guy running the place was aweful. Left half an hour to take the order. Not asked if we wanted a jug of water left with nothing. Then another half hour for food when empty. The presentation was like a nursing home. Crossed my fingers didn,t get poisoned. Then didnt really want it no appetite after so my son said he,d take it home then the guy brought silver food boxes to the table and scooped it off the plates infront of us! Unreal in a restaurant. It gave Ashbourne a bad . Wont go again and my stomach hurt in the morning. Dirty place and aweful service.

I can highly recommend Star Anise! The customer service is amazing - not many restaurants go the extra mile like this, especially for an out of town traveller. The food is high quality and the portions are large. The guy who runs this place is a star! Thank you thank you thank you!

my experience was quite disappointing. The chicken tikka masala was overly pink, suggesting an excessive use of food coloring. The desi lamb was half-cooked and lacked flavor, and the dish was overly oily. Additionally, the garlic naan was half-cooked. Given these issues, I cannot recommend this restaurant to others.

The food was really nice and the service from Hassan was outstanding, will be surely come back again 😊

Distinctly average food, not a lot of flavour. Service was good enough for a tip.

Popped into star anise while we were holidaying in ashbourne with 3 of our young grandsons food was delicious, service was great , will definitely return.

A great little place! Lovely food and a really nice atmosphere!

Great food and super friendly. Talk nicely to the owners and you’ll be offered the most amazing Paneer dishes that aren’t on the menu! It’s become a regular for us.

We have our Christmas party here every year 😀food is always amazing and we have such a great time. Service is excellent! Merry Christmas guys and thankyou for an awesome time 🧑‍🎄from the team at The Tunnel Café xxx

We ordered a takeaway as we were staying nearby. It arrived on time and right to our lodge at Sandybrook. The food was excellent and the best we have ever had. The food was delivered still hot and the food tasted so fresh and very authentic. Would definitely recommend Star Anise to others.

I haven’t seen here for ten years so my expectations were mediocre however they were quickly surpassed, everything was great including the price. We will definitely return to this little gem ! Well done to the team you do a really great job!

First visit, really enjoyed the evening and will be going back. Nice atmosphere & very tasty food.

Tony, the owner, is a fantastic host, and always makes us feel welcome. And the food is great too!!

Obviously a bad night at the Star Anise. Ordered 2 meals at 18:51, app said delivery by 20:07, arrived 20:45. Lamb Rogan Josh was bland and tasteless, more like a lamb stew. The King Prawn Byriani was very dry with a reasonable taste, however the prawns tasted unfresh and we're very rubbery, didn't eat any after the first. The onion bhaji was the only positive on the order. Tried calling them but the phone was engaged constantly. Gave up after 4 attempts. Won't be using them again.

The food never fails to amaze me, always super tasty and good quality. Very friendly staff to!

I’ve had 3 deliveries to date and all have been really good. I will say the consistency varies from each delivery, some were better than others but all tasted absolutely delicious. It’s perplexing the terrible reviews as the dishes I’ve ordered have been wonderful. Deliveries are quick and the dishes arrive warm. The Peshwari Nan is to die for, although second and third deliveries were missing the currants. The first delivery was the best I’ve ever have. Love the sauces. The kormas are yummy and enough for 2 servings.

Only 2 management and 2 staff for a full restaurant, even then they had time to speak to you and make you welcome, food and service first class, they are so proud of there food and customers. Highly recommended and we shall be returning many times.

My new favourite curry house, beautiful and flavourful curry’s with excellent service. Will definitely be back. I would recommend to anyone who wants a fantastic curry at a very reasonable price. They went above and beyond especially with the kids

Tony the owner is a great bloke he looks after his customers and staff in equal measure. The food they serve is top quality, probably the best in the UK.

I think there are a lot of factory-made ingredients being used here. I should have guessed from the menu offering garlic-coriander naan but not just garlic, and indeed it looked and tasted like the supermarket ones. The curry sauce also had that factory-made taste and the poppadom pickles were beyond awful. I can see from other reviews that this is what people around here think Indian food is supposed to taste like, and I pity them.

One of the worst curry meal I had....... Had a takeaway last night. We ordered tandoori chicken, tikka chicken, onion bhaji, poppadum and pickles trays. Rice, nan, chicken nuggets and chips. Pickle trays all tasted very chemical-y, neon green for yoghurt sauce? Dark red sauce vaguely tasted like mango chutney....my kids usually love poppadums....they hated the sauce so much that most of the popadums left untouched. I don't blame them. If my kids enjoyed the bland sauce infused with so much food colouring, I would be more worried. My chicken...it tasted fresh and tender but without the colouring, I wouldn't have known it is supposed to be tandoori chicken.. My husband's tikka chicken is overly sweet and not balance spiced."the sauce is of industrial gunkiness" said my husband. Onion bhaji too doughy... Nan bought from the shelves instead of freshly baked. Rice....I can tell from opening the lid that the rice cooked from a very very old batch of poor quality rice. Tasted it just to confirm it! Most of the dinner, which cost 50 pound went straight into the bin and we ended up stuffing our frustrated semi- empty stomach with chocolate....sooo disappointed!

!!! What a let down !!!! King prawn buna. Strong taste of garlic. King prawns taste off and was cut up to make it look like more prawns. Chicken Korma like soup. Spent 43 pounds both mains went in bin. Starters was nice . Shame as food in ashbourne as been really nice until now. Save your money.

Meal basically fine. Would have been a four star but for the fact that one of our (3) meals was chicken something when a methi ghost (lamb) was what was ordered. Disappointing.

We had a very delicious meal at Star Anise - and a charming owner, who really does know about delicious food. Courteous and friendly staff. The popularity of the restaurant is clear to see. We will definitely come back.

Great curries, and multiple real Indian breads like roti and chapatis. When they say hot, they mean it! And their jalfrezi is awesome. Do bring your own alcohol(off-licence across the street) helps keep the price down as they don’t sell alcohol

had a lovely meal with girlfriends on a sunday evening. all was delicious. i had the tandoori mixed grill, my friend had the chicken shashlick(too many onions but meat was lovely) staff very friendly

Hidden gem, good quality and value for money

Food was lovely and tasty …good quality…worth recommending Only downside was the wait time… about an hour later than the web booking stated for delivery If u are not in a rush it’s a very nice food delivery service….worth the wait

Amazing food, friendly staff. A must try!

Rubbish, based 15 minute drive away, collected food, got back to where we was staying and half the food missing! Rung up, guy didn't seem bothered, no offer of refund, poor service as it was their fault. Naan bread not much bigger than a small plate, wouldn't recommend wasting your time/money here.

Best curry in Ashbourne. Never had a bad meal, staff are great aswell really can't knock the place.

كانت تجربة جميلة في مدينة أشبورني إذا خلصتوا من ملاهي ألتون تاور تعالوا تعشوا هنا أنصحكم وبقوة كل الطلبات عندهم جميلة وصاحب المطعم "محمد زمان" جداً لطيف ويلبي كل الطلبات بكل حب وتقدير…

Good food, staff friendly. Only thing that let's it down., waiting for food to arrive nearly 45 minutes.

Great food and service happy to help when not sure what to try when wanting something new.

Great tasty food. Excellent friendly service. Good prices. Take your own alcohol or shop across the road. Would definitely recommend

Really disappointed with our meal. Asked for a mild Dopiaza which was so spicy I couldn't eat it. The nan bread was so thin, small and sweet never had one like that before. Chicken rogan josh was cold had to be reheated. The rice was nice.

Great food, great prices, really friendly service

Nice meal and friendly service.

Simple but good value for money. A large group of us ate (over 10) and we still got a lot of change from 200 quid.

Extremely pleasant staff and lovely food highly recommend.

Fabulous food, well priced. Owner so welcoming. Didn't bother us that they didn't have an alcohol licence.

Great food at the end of service. Thank you.

Just had takeaway from here ours was beautiful, could taste all the spices even in the bhuna. Tony and staff were very welcoming and Friendly

The Chicken tikka curry that I used to eat is not the same as before,The Chicken tikka curry I got now is much worse than before 😫😓 I wouldn't recommend this.

Had a lovely curry here, staff were friendly and food was tasty. Great price. Definitely worth a visit

Average food and quite slow service. Friendly and cosy.

Absolutely lovely, highly recommended 👌 👍 xxx

The food was terrible. We waited about 45 minutes for the main dishes to arrive. All the dishes lacked the flavour and salt. We needed to gobbled up food really quickly as we were also asked to clear up the table by specific time. Disappointed. We knew that it was a last minute booking on Saturday. We knew we needed to clear the table by specific time, which was absolutely fine. But it doesn't justify that we should wait that long for the food to arrive? There was only about 30 minutes left by the time we got main dishes: then we also needed to pay the bill while some of us were still earing and leave in rush🤷🏻

Staying at Landal Sandybrook and ordered a delivery online. Felt sorry for delivery driver who was trying to find our lodge in the dark. Might be worthwhile keeping an eye open for some lost soul with a box wandering around. Food lovely. Particularly enjoyed the chicken korma and the vegetable rice.

Nice atmosphere and lovely food. We really enjoyed our evening out there !

Best curry had in years absolutely amazing

Best food in town. Staff are brilliant always friendly and welcoming. This place is awesome!!!

A most enjoyable and delightful experience, food was hot and quick. The make over was nice and clean and room was just warm enough.

This place is great - so much improved ofter when it used to be the Bednall Cottage, years ago. New owners, of course. The food is fabulous, with many dishes you won't see at other restaurants. The staff are attentive, and if the proprietor (Tony) is in, he's really enthusiastic and a real hoot. And of course is unlicensed, so you take you're own booze which really keeps the cost down. Thoroughly recommended.

Came to Star Anise on Saturday night as we were staying locally. So glad we booked because it was really busy. The menu was a decent size and had a great selection of dishes as well as chefs specials. The food was absolutely beautiful. We had Sheek Kebab and Chicken Pakora for starters. The Sheekh Kebab was so fresh and tasty and the chicken pakora were soft and tender with a nice crispy batter. Mains were also delicious, we got the Tandoori Garlic Chilli Chicken and Chicken Tikka Korma, both sauces were the perfect consistency, plenty of meat and most importantly full of flavour. Side dishes also very good, Keema naan had plenty of Keema. Overall I couldn't fault it. Much better than some Indian restaurants we have been to in our local area and that's Birmingham which is the "curry capital"! At the end of the night we struggled to get a taxi back to the place we were staying, we were trying for 40 minutes and had no luck. The restaurant kept trying the local taxi companies on our behalf which was kind and one of the waiters also offered to take us back himself which was so lovely and not expected whatsoever! In the end we managed to get an uber but the staff at this restaurant were so friendly and helpful and the food was amazing. Definitely recommend and if we are in Ashbourne again we will be coming here 😋

Excellent customer service ,really Nice food with reasonable prices 👌 enjoyed it.

Fantastic! The staff were lovely, attentive and helpful. The food was fresh and delicious. My only criticisms is that I felt it needed more of a kick with a hint of chili but maybe that was my poor choosing. Maybe some chilli's on the menu to help decide. Would 100% go again!!

Abosutely fantastic restaurant. Beautifully cooked curry which arrived promptly aswell as an incredibly friendly owner who made sure all our needs were accounted for. I would highly recommend.

Food and service excellent. Really tasty and good portions. Would recommend.

Delicious curry (great rice and naan too) in generous portions. Friendly staff. Clearly a popular spot. Only feedback to improve was that when we asked for recommendations for a medium lamb curry dish (slightly flummoxed by all the options) the response wasn't particularly helpful - would be good to be able to make recommendations for dishes for those of us who don't eat curries regularly!

After visiting Star Anise the food is second to none shish kebab to die for we were visiting the area from Birmingham known as curry capitol the place is very nicely decorated nice seating friendly staff well worth a visit

Great food and service. I came with friends and family, and kids and adults enjoyed it all. Stuff and owner very friendly. I will definitely come back again.

Excellent food, pleasant service and nice decor. Accommodated menu tweaks t too. Open later than other options which suited us. Highly recommend Star Anise.

Fantastic food, good prices, BYOB & friendly staff in a lovely family-run restaurant. What's not to like.

Came for a visit from America, one of the best Indian takeaway I’ve ever tried.!

Best Indian takeaway I’ve tried in years ! Amazing , Thankyou x

went to the peak district and stopped here for a bite to eat. I must say the service and food quality was very impressive. Tam served us and looked after me and wife. just a shame it's not local to me.

First time of having their food. Ordered on line and collected. Order ready on time with a free side order enclosed which was a nice touch. Very enjoyable dishes, great light poppadoms. Would recommend and will use again. Thanks 👍

Amazing food and speedy delivery! Highly recommend!

Best takeaway in Ashbourne & that I've ever had in my life! Definitely have from you again, thank you so much! Speedy delivery! 5 star!

Just had our third delivery from here - the food is always amazing but the delivery time of over 2 hours let’s it down a little. If you’re prepared to wait, it’s worth it! Would be a 5* is the delivery time was met.

Lovely food and beautifully presented. Excellent service and very reasonably priced

Placed the order online. They specified an delivery time a bit like Dominoes pizza do. The time arrives but the food isn't here. I call up to query and their response is ' it will be another 20 minutes as we don't normally deliver to there. Well why take the order and say it will arrive at a specific time. The food was half an hour late making the total wait time 90mins!

Ordered tonight, chicken tikka biryanis in a medium heat with out peas and sultanas with some other bits. The order came in good time, however there were peas. We rang them Back and another one was made for us, with out the peas :) They were really quick with the order and gave us an extra portion of onion Bhaji to apologise:) we were very impressed and will definitely be ordering again. The heat was definitely apparent and the taste was beautiful.

Loved this, a little gem well worth a visit, wish it was on my doorstep 👌

What a truly authentic Asian restaurant. Good atmosphere and attentive service. Food was tasty, well cooked and nicely presented. The owner and his wife were very friendly and obviously proud of their restaurant. We were staying in Ashbourne for a few nights and next time we return in our motorhome we will call in again. Thank you Alan and Carol

I am very fussy on my Currys trust me, worked in Midlands for years searching out the best. Here Fab-u-lus!!! What a meal we had, and...bring your own choice of wine. A local guy eating there said "you'll not be disappointed" We came back following night!! Can't rate this higher than five, nice people, great food!😁

Food was 100%, Best Lamb curry I've ever had! Tender and tasty. Minty lamb and potato, totally recommend. My hubby had his favourite Chicken Tikka Masala which was also excellent. This was our first visit as we are visiting the area for a few days.

By far the best curry house iv ever had the pleasure to dine in all the staff are lovely and helpful nothing is to much trouble, the food is first class quality this little gem of a restaurant will take some beating , you will not be disappointed after you have dined here.

Excellent service, fabulous food, Tony and his team are very hospitable and friendly. Recent refurbishment is amazing. Highly recommend.

Worst curry ever since when has a chicken tika been made with coconut my kids eat tikka all the time thi was a grainy coconut flavoured tikka which isn't in the discription good job non of my kids are allergic to coconut and only dislike it absolute joke of a curry takeaway will not be ordering form there again 53quid wasted

Absolute joke of a curry house. Rude staff and waited for 20mins to not even be given a menu, offered a drink or even acknowledged. Place was stinking dirty so walked out and lucky for us - judging by the slop the table by the side of us was served. Do your selves a favour and avoid!

Yes, yes, yes. So friendly and the food was brilliant. Almost full because of eat out to help out. A lot of character and atmosphere

Great meal and fantastic service.

I ordered a takeaway which was delicious, I had a lamb samba, rice and a naan. It was a pleasant surprise, when I arrived, to be greeted by Tony. So glad to see he is back at the helm. The ordering process was simple and easy to use. I will definitely use them again and will be dining in as well.

The food was absolutely beautiful but we did have to wait 1.5 hours for it even though there was only 8 other customers in there. The waiter was abrupt and not very well mannered at all.

Superb food that never disappoints, we order from here on a regular basis and the food is constantly amazing!

Fanatic food, was worth the trip. The decor looks amazing! Will definitely be visiting again 👍🏽

Was a little nervous going out for a meal in a place we didnt know, as havent been out since lock down. OMG what a little gem we found. Wonderful food, fantastic staff everything in place that should be. We had a beautiful evening. Thank you

Fantastic food and great service. Will highly recommend. We will be back very soon.

1st visit to star anise to see the new owner Tony and was well impressed with the new decor. The food was excellent especially the custom made lamb dish made nice and hot for me and a new fish dish for my daughter that will be up and coming on there new menu. Can't wait to come back and sample the new menu soon. Thanks again tony 5 star from me.

Spot on curry I had jalfrazi and I was very impressed. usually order annayas but thought I would try somewhere else, lamb sagg bahar both very nice. Nan bread good and portions were big. will be back !!

As usual, great service, great food cooked to perfection. Can't fault it.

In Ashbourne for a couple of days and had a takeaway from the spice garden tonight. Excellent food, very reasonable prices and nice pleasant staff. ***** We'll definitely go back again the next time we're in the area.

Absolutely stunning food with reasonable prices. Must be visited