The Exotic Dining in Kettering

I visited yesterday with a party of 9 to celebrate my 50th. There were possibly 4 other people in the restaurant. Staff were courteous and polite as always and took the drinks order quickly. We had quite a long wait for starters as the kitchen's priorities appeared to be getting food out for the takeaway orders. I chose The Exotic Dining due to its wide variety of specials, which I viewed as its USP. Unfortunately though most of these, although on our menus, were not available! Time to choose a standard dish which was very tasty; no complaints about the food. The same can't be said for the desserts as there were none! Worse still, none of this was mentioned on booking or arrival. Very disappointed the restaurant has lost its magic and can no longer claim to offer anything above its plentiful competition.

AVOID…19/01/2024 ordered a takeaway. It took 1 hour and 30 minutes to arrive. The food was cold except for one dish. The Nan Bread was RAW! The Chicken Shashlik tasted awful, cold and the meat was extremely tough. Honestly it was inedible and went in our bin. I phoned the restaurant and they basically refused to do anything, and were rude. My advice is to AVOID this place and save your money.

AVOID…19/01/2024 ordered a takeaway. It took 1 hour and 30 minutes to arrive. The food was cold except for one dish. The Nan Bread was RAW! The Chicken Shashlik tasted awful, cold and the meat was extremely tough. Honestly it was inedible and went in our bin. I phoned the restaurant and they basically refused to do anything, and were rude. My advice is to AVOID this place and save your money.

Avoid. Missing items, food was cold, tasted strange. They give you cheap aldi version when you purchase coca cola or Fanta

Was very cold in the restaurant. Took over 30 mins to take our order and over 30 mins for starters to come. We were the onlys ones in the restaurant at the time. Very disappointed.

Second time having a takeaway from here and second time they have messed up our order. First time was someone else’s takeaway order and second time we had one wrong meal and a whole meal missing even though we made sure to go through the order with them to make sure it was correct over the phone before collecting. Not going to order from here ever again. Food was nothing special either, would expect better for the prices they charge.

Good service and good food. Shame no lassi or masala chai.

After having a poor meal from here a while ago we decided we would give the Exotic Diner another try. We ordered a takeaway online through their website for delivery. After the order had been placed we were advised it would be delivered in 1 hour. 1 and a half hours later I called the restaurant to be told it was with the delivery driver and would be with us very shortly. Another half an hour passed so 2 hours after placing the order I called the restaurant again to be told our food was with the delivery driver and would be with us soon but we were one of a few deliveries and they couldn’t give an exact time as they were very busy. It was at this point I said that we just wanted our money back as we had waited far too long and by the time it would get to us it would be stone cold. After some arguing they finally agreed to refund our money. It is a real shame as we used to use the restaurant for dine in and takeaways on a regular basis, in fact we, would have gone as far as to say the best Indian restaurant we had ever used but alas no more. We are not quite sure what has happened or how they have changed so drastically. We, will no longer use them and unfortunately would not recommend them. Customer service shocking.

Totally brilliant. Good service and a very extensive menu that is well laid out if you need special diets. Food arrived for everyone at the same time which is good for our large party. The meals were all fantastic and actually caused all conversation to stop. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their chosen and very tasty dish. The portions were spot on.

A lunchtime for a party of 12. We had a wide range of choices from the extensive menu. All our food arrived at the same time and was served quickly. This is when the conversation stopped. Everyone's meal was so wonderfully delicious and portions spot on. The value is just as good.

The seehk kebab starter was superb. Probably the best I have ever eaten. The Madras was a little bit hotter than I expected, resulting in me leaving a fair bit. But next time, I will ask it to be a little less spicy. No problem. I will definitely return.

My First visit this evening, delicious vegan starter and main. Definitely going back, staff were very attentive, I definitely would recommend this restaurant.

Sadly, the only thing Exotic was the temperature. Let’s say it was on the cool side, which resulted in coates being worn. Staff had deployed gas heaters, but you could smell the gas. Overall food was good, but a couple of dishes no so. Staff very friendly, but there were only a few tables occupied on a Saturday night. No atmosphere. Feels this restaurant has gone down hill, hence the two stars. There are definitely better Indian alternatives nearby.

I wouldn’t bother if you want to get your food before bed time. I can totally appreciate a busy restaurant, but when takeaway orders are going out thick and fast and you’re still waiting for food after 2 hours after paying for food as well as a service then there is a problem.

Went there for my anniversary over the weekend. I booked ahead of time because I wanted to have a table guaranteed. But upon arrival was told to wait few minutes and our table is not quite ready. Ended up waiting 20 minutes. Food is very average. It’s expensive compare to other Indians around Kettering. Very disappointed. One member of stuff who looked like he could be the manager came across very rude and arrogant. Overall not a good experience.

Lovely food and staff. Something very different for date night!

Booked over the phone. Great friendly service and greet. Lovely and clean. Prompt service and good menu. As per usual, the food was lovely and tasty. Recommended!

Best Indian in Kettering. Both dine-in and takeaway is incredible! Staff are super friendly and really helpful for recommendations. Foods incredible, never had a bad dish. Cobra on tap. Decent prices too. Highly recommend!

Often come here for family celebrations. Staff friendly and attentive great selection of food always good

My friends came up from Kent and we decided to have an Indian meal, I looked for somewhere to book a table and found The Exotic Dining, I was a bit apprehensive as I'd never been there and hoping my friends would like it.. well, I needn't of worried as soon as we stepped into the place we were greeting with a huge smile and shown to our table, the treatment we got was impeccable and then when the food arrived it looked and smelt delicious, I have to say my friends and I all said it was the tastiest we've had, it was fab! This was my first time but I can assure you it won't be the last, we'll definitely be back... thank you for a wonderful evening.

lovely dishes, polite staff, perfect aloo paratha

I had one of the best indian food ever. I just ask for recommendation and get really proper one, made how I wish to, in terms of spice, cos I love it. Very professional service. First time I tried goat meat, was awesome. But they also have many other meats, which I've never tried, so plan is come back for sure. Very very recommended.

The food is great, both from the take away and eating in. Staff are friendly and helpful. Also they serve local beers!

My second restaurant I visited whilst on business in Kettering. My honest review is that this Chef and their team enjoy what they cook for the diner and this is seen in the quality of the food produced. I had and would recommend the Chana Masala with green chilli, Tandoori Mix (exceptional), Tandoori Roti and Pilau rice. The Chana was flavoursome. The Mix Grill was amazing with the authentic charcoal taste. It was that good I had to bring some of it home for my sister to taste.

The place is beautiful absolutely stunning and the service is gentle and kind and the food was lovely super spicy but lovely. Thank you for experience

Very nice and warm welcome, excellent service and amazing food. Thank you so much! We will definitely come back!!

They have excellent service and food with a unique style

My favourite place to get a curry in Northamptonshire.

Poor quality, barely warm food to which the manger effectively refused to acknowledge my reasonable complaint! Staff tried to be courteous but appear to be “guided” by the manager’s unfortunate attitude!

Resided in Kettering since 1979 and lived through the progression of the curry experience over the decades. If you blink you will miss the doorway to the stairs leading upwards to the best restaurant in this town. The food is to die for and the taste experience is off the scale. Attention to detail and service is second to none. I won’t eat anywhere else and whenever we gather our close group of friends to arrange a night out and take a vote on where we will end up for food, it’s always Exotic Dining.

Very tasty food and good, friendly service.

Best Indian restaurant in town, great food and customer service.

Works meal and drinks! Usual great friendly service! Very busy but still attentative ! Food was excellent as always! Good to see that lots of people eat here so the business must be doing things that people like.

Always great food and good friendly service. You HAVE TO HAVE the chilli cinnamon fish for starters

The food is really good here. Freshly prepared & very tasty.

One star is probably too generous. We waited nearly an hour for our food. We were asked 45 mins into the hour wait if we wanted another drink. I said yes if it’s on the house as 45 mins to wait for food is too long. The waiter said no and he’s reply was “if you can’t afford it don’t order it” not sure what he meant by that but not it’s not what you expect to hear. I asked to speak to the manager who offered a £10 discount which I accepted. The food arrived and it was bland and plain when compared to the Raj or Kushboo. I wouldn’t recommend or return. Disappointing food and poor customer service. Avoid.

One star is probably too generous. We waited nearly an hour for our food. We were asked 45 mins into the hour wait if we wanted another drink. I said yes if it’s on the house as 45 mins to wait for food is too long. The waiter said no and he’s reply was “if you can’t afford it don’t order it” not sure what he meant by that but not it’s not what you expect to hear. I asked to speak to the manager who offered a £10 discount which I accepted. The food arrived and it was bland and plain when compared to the Raj or Kushboo. I wouldn’t recommend or return. Disappointing food and poor customer service. Avoid.

Super value, super friendly service, super upstairs setting and super food. What more could you ask from an Indian restaurant?!

It took over an hour and a half for our meal to arrive. And the man on the phone was so rude

Booked up over the phone. Staff very friendly, courteous and always pleased to see us! Is there a better lager than Cobra on a night out? Opted for Tandoori chicken and a king prawn curry dish. Absolutely delicious!

I just love this place! Seriously, the food is just so 'good'. Everything i have just tastes so good. My fav is chicken pathia, exotic rice and cheese n onion naan! Omg this is really my heaven! Thank you 'all at exotic' for always doing such a great job n being so pleasant to interact with. Best restaurant this side of london!

Absolutely delicious food never ever cold it always delivered pot very flavoursome food yum yum

An enjoyable meal out for the two of us. Plates Hot and everything cooked to perfection,will be back.

This is my favourite Indian place, it has delicious food, amazing service, the staff are always so kind, lots of selection of dishes, but also a great range in prices so if you go out with friends you can choose to splurge or go for an affordable option and either way you’ll leave having had a wonderful meal. I’ve actually been to this place multiple times and ordered from it many times as well but kept forgetting to review it. Cannot rate it higher a must go if your in the east mids

We had a lovely return trip here. We had not been in the area for a few years but remembered how good this restaurant was and I am pleased to say it has not declined. They have an interesting menu with some really unusual dishes as well as a great selection of more traditional dishes (golden oldies). Service and food were excellent. I would not hesitate to return. The street view of this restaurant looks a little odd but once you get up the stairs to the entrance you cannot fail to be impressed.

Great tasty food delivery promt

Really disappointing Took some visitors as always loved it here, however, we had the worse experience resulting in us walking out. The customer service was dreadful and apparently it was all our fault that the Somosas were frozen and the main course, when it finally arrived after an hour, was luke warm and dried up. It was just us though as everyone else was happy according to the manager😊. I wont be recommendimg it to anyone

This is by far the best Indian restaurant I’ve been too. Thanks a lot Esa and team. We have been visiting this place for a few years now and they have never let us down. See you again soon 😀

Fantastic as as always lovely food service out of this world we recommend them to everyone

Good food. Good prices. Great staff.

Great food ansolutely great staff! Worth every penny?

Pre booked for six people. Very good friendly service. Lovely and clean. Great menu with a set menu at £14 + each which included a small drink. Some of us opted for that and the portions were still large! Food very, very tasty.

Very dated and toilets not very clean apart from that it was ok ish

A truly brilliant dining experience, brilliant staff and atmosphere, Excellent quality and choice of food and very competitive prices. It is a little out of the way and easy to miss from the street but well worth the search. They proudly display all of thier awards in the dining area and they deserve every one.

First time visit. Fantastic food, large portion size. Will definitley visit again.

We always get a takeaway from this place and every time the food is exceptional. Hot, delicious and the perfect portion. Would definitely recommend.

First time we’ve visited. Excellent service, really lovely staff & food. In terms of food, all the usual suspects, plus some really new & tasty dishes. A nice vegetarian & seafood selection of dishes too. Would highly recommend

First time at Exotic Dining, the staff are welcoming and the food is delicious 😊

We've been coming here since it opened, and have always had a great experience. Although our group of friends have largely moved away from Kettering over the years, we still love to come back here when we can. We'd never go anywhere else - only wish we had the opportunity to come more often!

Normally a great place.... Recent visit was terrible. Phoned ahead to book a table arrived on time was shown to a waiting area we then watched person after person come in and be seated of which no one booked... We can hear the conversation. We finally got seated by the window... A great view of Joe's newspaper shop. Great view. 18 minutes later having not had a drinks order taken and after watching many people that come in after us having not booked getting drinks starters and some on now there mains course we thought screw this and went to leave... To only be confronted by a member of staff asking why we are leaving so I explained that this is not good enough to treat customers like this, I was told that this was because we had the romantic table by the window... I never asked for that table I don't care of your interpretation of what is romantic clearly this man is single if that's his idea of romance. Terrible experience will not return

First time visiting The Exotic Dining and was not disappointed. The food and service were incredible. Many dishes to choose from and everything we had was excellent. Will return to try out the other dishes on the menu.

We went as a family for a Christmas day meal and what can I say other than what fantastic food, service and atmosphere. Would thoroughly recommend to anybody!!

All I can say is, the service, food and ambience were excellent! Will be coming back!! So good!! Will recommend this is a place to come and joy a great meal!!

Hadn't been for a while. Booked and arrived and was met with the same friendly greeting as usual from the staff. We were the only ones there initially but more diners arrived through the evening. Service was brilliant as was the choice of food, which...

I had a worst meal of my life yesterday from Exotic.i ordered a chicken tikka masala and it was like sweet juice instead of being spicy...i have dined from many north indian restaurants, and their chicken tikka masala is spicy..but here its sugar juice

Superb food, so tasty, not expensive either, my misses even got a beautiful rose. Would definitely go back I can see how it's managed to win so many awards.

Best Indian Restaurant I have been to Food fantastic little Gem vist it again staff very friendly

1st time and will not be the last!! Fantastic well spiced food exactly as the order went in for a take away no errors, cooked to perfection and wow what a great price, 4 adults for under £60 with starters sides and mains, Great job...

Great service every time! Fantastic food and great service for both eating in and takeaway

Fantastic experience! Great food, great service and a very friendly atmosphere! In other words: the same as usual! Always a great evening out! 👍

Very poor food and service very aggresive attitude towards customer after complaining took 20 minutes to get a coffee after the meal

I had a chicken jalfarizi it was full of salt, was changed but second portion still salty.My partner had a king prawn tikka massala that contained just 3 prawns and also very salty. The worst curry i have ever tasted Will not be returning! Wouldn't award any stars..

The food was amazing here, first Indian I have ever seen a Chocolate Nan on the menu, whilst I didnt order it this time I will 100% be back to try it, also the ladies got a rose each when paying which is such a lovely touch, service was also great. Thank You

Ordered through the Just eat app tonight 14/8/21. Starters were good, pity not crispy but nice all the same. Mains were nice too, coconut rice is awesome. We normally order a naan but decided on the puri as the thought of fluffy deep fried crispy bread sounded nice, pity that's not what we received. 2 floppy uncooked doughy mess. If you are not going to do what the menu says, don't have it on the menu. Defo won't order them again.

Great food and service Thank you

Fantastic food at fantastic prices. Great service as always. Highly recommend

Excellent meal and a great variety to choose from will definitely be back

5 minutes drive away from Wicksteed Park. After an exhaustive day at the park, fancied a nice curry. Was not disappointed at all. Staff were attentive and friendly. Was not disappointed, each dish was vibrant and had a different uniqe flavor. My kid had the...

Hadn't been for a while but still the same friendly staff and new menu. Excellent service and food.

Hadn't been here for a couple of years due to Covid etc but decided to visit on a whim. Still the same friendly courteous greeting from the owner and staff. Lovely and clean! Decided on the jingha puree for starters and I had the Mango...

Visited restaurant 7th of June and it was great to be back sat at a table here. We visit Kettering about six times a year and even during various stages of lockdowns we have eaten from here managing a couple of sit downs and the...

Great meal and staff highly recommended

Travelled from London to stay at Rushton Hall Hotel and Spa, found this restaurant by chance on google and it was the best Indian meal we’ve ever had. So much choice and all so fresh and delicious. Really reasonably priced and the staff are all...

Amazing staff, really friendly was my birthday treat out before Xmas, one of the best curries I've had in a long time.

Our favourite Indian restaurant, always tasty and fresh food and perfect customer service! Thanks

Dident tast nice I would recommend anyone going there but the gentlemen who worked there was great

Visited here on Friday 2nd October 2020. Warm welcome from staff and food was delicious, spiced just to our desired tastes, all washed down with Cobra beer. Definitely will go back and I would highly recommend. Restaurant has a very relaxing ambience.

Lovely serving and food. Enjoyed the dinner last night

Ok so I had a lovely exquisite king prawn dish made specially with lots of flavour and thick sauce. It was good. However a wait of hour and half is not acceptable no matter what the dish! That being said it was my first visit...

The best Mango Chutney ever tasted. Absolutely the most enjoyable dishes we have ever had in any Indian Restaurant. First time we have visited here and will definitely be returning soon.

Food, staff and service great, wouldn't expect anything different from this wonderful restaurant

Pleased to see they had a vegan menu. The food was great and staff were lovely.

The best Indian food in Kettering….Simple as!!

The food was fantastic and the service was great! Would definitely recommend you go and check it out!

An easy 5/5 review. Delicious food and excellent service, we will be returning soon!

Great service and food, terrific value thanks to 'eat out to help out' and good to see things so busy

Lovely meal tonight and particularly good to see a vegan section on the menu too. I think it could have been a little hotter (spicy) for my taste but still really enjoyed it. Staff all very friendly and helpful. Pricing not too bad and especially good value with the current eat out to help out campaign. Great place. Will be back again 😊

I got delivery today from these using the JustEat app, I ordered £20 worth of food including delivery and had : chicken tikka starter, 2 chapati, pilau rice and what was supposed to be chicken Balti. I have eaten in some of the best Balti houses in the north of England and this 'curry' bore no resemblance to anything I have been served before. It reminds me of a chinese curry, it was thin brown gravy with boiled onions and pieces of cooked chicken. It was abysmal and had I been in the restaurant I would have thrown it back in their faces!

I'd actually give them 3.5 stars. Visited with friends a few weeks ago. Warm welcome and social distancing in place. It took quite a while until our food arrived. Food was good to be fair. The potato skins, tikka, rice and chhole were excellent. The chicken curry and naan was average. They didn't have dessert options. In the end, when we wanted to split the bill amongst us 6 we were asked if we could split it among 3 since otherwise the restaurant would have to pay for the transaction. I have never had this issue before. P.S we did the calculations and calculated to the nearest decimal only to be rudely reminded we paid 10 pence less!!! It wasn't our job to sort the bill in the first place. So I'd say 3.5 stars for food, 1.5 stars for service

I'd actually give them 3.5 stars. Visited with friends a few weeks ago. Warm welcome and social distancing in place. It took quite a while until our food arrived. Food was good to be fair. The potato skins, tikka, rice and chhole were excellent. The...