The Shalimar in Derbyshire Dales

Lovely food, great staff and very welcoming, will definitely be back again!!!

This place is beyond fantastic, what else can I say? Food, Service, Friendly, it's all better than fantastic.

Highly recommend. Have had very friendly service every time I've visited. Food was spot on. Ordered the Lamb Karahi, which was very tasty.

fab dinner here the service was very good and the food was unreal, recommend 100%

Warming accommodating staff. Great food. Would certainly recommend.

Went for a birthday meal. Staff really friendly. Food excellent.

Fancied a curry, just moved to the area - absolutely spot on. Service was very good and friendly. Loads of parking and more coconut in the peshwari naan than i’ve ever experienced! It was great! Thank you guys, we’ll be back!

Amazing food, kind staff, wide menu, and an overall lovely experience! I’d highly recommend the paneer shaslik!

Perfect as usual! Been coming here since it first opened and it's better than ever!

Lovely restaurant. Very welcoming and friendly staff and great atmosphere. Food was excellent. Will definitely visit again. Highly recommended.

Me and Ellen went to the shalimar for the first time tonight and can't rate the food and service enough , we can't wait to go back again

5* rating all round. Fantastic staff and food.

Travelled all the way from Grimsby and was one of the best Indians I’ve had.

What a restaurant! One of the best in terms of service. Host was exceptional and really friendly. Good quality food! Would recommend to anyone!

Lovely food and lovely staff, will be back :)

I regret to say that our recent visit to Shalimar was far from satisfactory. From start to finish, there were issues that left us feeling frustrated and unimpressed. To begin with, the table behind us voiced a concerning complaint about their chicken being raw—something that immediately raised doubts about the quality and safety of the food being served. Our own dishes were bland and lacked the rich flavors we had hoped for, failing to deliver the authentic Indian cuisine experience we were expecting. On top of that, the billing process was confusing and felt unprofessional. Our total bill came to £133.70, and when we requested to split the cost, we were both charged **different amounts**, both exceeding half of the bill, despite the server using a calculator. This left us feeling overcharged and bewildered. Adding to the discomfort, just as we finished our meal, a staff member waved an NFC card to solicit reviews—a move that felt forced and insincere. This practice might explain the abundance of glowing reviews the restaurant appears to have online, but in our experience, these reviews seem misleading and far from reality. Overall, Shalimar fell short in both quality and professionalism. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this restaurant based on our experience.

Seemed a good place to go as the reviews looked good online but….. The food was very bland and the keema naan had a really funny smell, the lamb chop starter was tougher than ghandis flip flop 🩴 , and to top it all off the table next to ours chicken was raw! 😣 After the experience we already had we went up to split the bill and the gentleman behind the bar over charged us £2 on one bill and £1 on the other! And only realised once walking out.

food was so good!!! service was quicker then expected with a large table and the waiters were so friendly and talkative which is nice to have, especially the gentlemen who gave us all vouchers

A great birthday with friends, staff were excellent and the food was bang on

Great service great food thank will back soon

We had such a warm welcome and lovely cosy table. The food was delicious and lots of it! I think the star of the show was the Gulab Jamon dessert! Had never had anything like it and loved every mouthful!! Yum!! Thankyou for a lovely evening!!

Lovely atmosphere and great food

I've been coming here since it opened, I also worked here as a delivery driver not long after it opened so I've seen behind the scenes and know the care and attention that goes into delivering the quality and service. The food is what I judge other places by and TBH nowhere else comes close. If you've never been come along and try it, you won't be disappointed. Here's to another 20 years of The Shalimar

Great food great service !! Thanks

All ways very good food and excellent service they treat you like a customer should be treated

Our first visit and we are really impressed. Fantastic customer focused service from all staff. The food was very flavoursome and highly recommended as an superb dining experience. Thank you

Warm, friendly, attentive service and good food. The peshwari naan and chicken tikka were particularly good.

Very friendly and professional. Excellent food

Amazing, found it by chance and by chance it was wonderful. Cake, card, and sparkler for my birthday. Fantastic food and service.

We chose to dine it, relaxed atmosphere.

We were staying in Matlock Bath and this had been booked for my birthday. I know that all Indian restaurants are different but we had Mackhen Chicken and we were informed that it was a "mild dish", but it was like eating a tomato soup with chicken in it, not one of the better choices and a very rich dish. Starters were lovely. Service and friendliness of the staff were great.

Great restaurant. Amazing food. Brilliant service & friendly staff. Looking forward to our next visit.

Absolutely fabulous meal and a nice atmosphere. The service is secondly to none….. I haven’t experienced the like in ANY other Indian restaurant. I would absolutely recommend visiting The Shalimar.

The most amazing food that I have ever had. Servers were absolutely amazing and so friendly. Food was hot and served so quickly. All four people enjoyed it and cannot recommend enough. We had this on a trip around 3 hours away from home and would happily drive back just for the amazing service and food

Brilliant once again Thanks for exalent food and friendly service

We have been many times and each and everyone of them has been exceptional. The staff are wonderful with children. The food is of the highest quality every time. I particularly like the fact that the staff bend over backwards whilst taking the order to ensure it will exceed your your expectations. It’s really worth asking them to give you a recommendation. They will listen to then you are only a few questions away form an hidden delight. Once again thank you to all the wonderful attentive staff for what is always the most wonderful dining experience

Excellent food at a reasonable price, friendly speedy service, great atmosphere. Highly recommended

Absolutely my favourite, and well worth the miles to get here. The food is nothing short of beautiful, and the team could not do more to make you feel welcome. A really great experience and I can’t wait to come back :)

This is the best Indian restaurant around the food is delicious and of great quality and the service is five stars a must visit restaurant xxxxx

Amazing meal. Beautiful food and lovely service. We will be back. Thanks so much

Wonderfull staff and owner. Best quality of food.

Amazing food services 5 star all friendly nothing too much trouble

First time visiting Shalimar, service was excellent, the staff were very attentive personalising the curries to our taste. Always asking if we needed drinks or a top up. Would certainly recommend coming here. Overall food was excellent.

Great service and equally great food, would definitely recommend.

Amazing food and amazing service

Wow, absolutely lovely restaurant, we have passed this many times and only wish we had been in sooner. What an absolute gem! We arrived before they opened and haapily waiting in the car, a waiter came over to us and said we could come in (this was 20 minutes early) and was so lovely. Welcome was lovely and warm, relaxed atmosphere and friendly and polite staff. Very attentive but not overpowering or annoying. Service brilliant and guided us on some choices. Food amazing and super delicious, good sized portions I couldn't eat all mine and got the remaining boxed up to take home. Great prices 👏 absolutley cannot fault this place at all. We will definitely be back at some point. Thank you and see you soon x

Bloody brilliant. I normally get Deli belly after a ruby.....not this time. Forgot to go to the toilet though, which has upset me a tad.

Visited whilst on Holliday in Darwin forest, beautiful food, brilliant service and lovely atmosphere

wonderful service and excellent food would definitely visit again!!!

The only good thing about this place is ambience, the food here was below average. It was the worse Indian food I have had in UK. We had chicken handi, paneer shashlik, chicken achari, for main course - both the chicken curries, had no difference in taste. Chicken tikka (starter), malai chicken tikka (starter) was like boiled chicken with color, there was no flavor at all, and portion size was despicable. On top of that the waiter was really rude, when I asked if the restaurant is halal or not, he took it personally and started explaining he is Muslim and eats here at the restaurant ( which no one cares about ) and also asked for halal certificate - which he finally never showed. Will never recommend this restaurant.

Always love coming here.. perfect welcome and service

Lovely food and service. Would 100% recommend

The servers here are incredibly polite and cater to all you needs! They go above and beyond to make the experience super enjoyable! We will definitely be attending again! Also great value for money! From the girls on table 2🫶🏻

We have had such a fantastic evening, we received a warm welcome and have been looked after from start to finish, I would highly recommend this place.

Absolutely top notch food and service once again. We visit quite often:)

Always friendly staff. Always attentive. Always amazing food. We have eaten here many times. Will always be back for delicious food and varied menu. We always bring our friends here for a special evening.

Impeccable food, friendly service, convenient location, what more could you ask for?

Came in on the off chance. Now want this place to be our local. Shame we're 250 miles apart. Charming service and just a lovely experience. Thanks guys!

Fantastic food and service! Can’t wait to go back!

Fantastic meal out, food great, staff really friendly, we will be back. It is a favourite with our family. Thank you so much.

Fantastic meal , served by the amazing attentive Shak. Highly recommend that you come try the Shalimar, Darley Dale.

Staff go above and beyond - so friendly and helpful .Food is absolutely amazing. Definitely would recommend.

Excellent meal, really attentive staff and lovely food. Would recommend.

Fabulous little spot. Delipcus curry, fantastic service and a lovely atmosphere to enjoy some great food. Would highly recommend to anyone and everyone.

Fantastic restaurant, beautiful food. Staff are so friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend and will definitely be revisiting soon

Absolutely fabulous, as always. Staff are so friendly and service is excellent.

Great service and food. Thank you

Fab service, attentive waiter team. Patient with selection (Brother wanted a bhuna as that’s his dish of choice and has been for 25 years!!!!) we had poppdom and pickle tray - chicken tikka then I had wine masala whilst James had a Handi with chickpea topping. Highly recommend!!!

Great food, extremely friendly staff, nice location. The quality of the food is as good now as it was 25 years ago when I first started eating here. I’m a creature of habit and have never deviated from my usual choices, today, I was recommended another dish, and wow, it was delicious! The staff understood what I like and chose the perfect dish for me. This is a must visit Indian restaurant!

Brother birthday great experience amazing customer service x

Always 10/10 - great service, great food, great staff

Impeccable service and food. Will be back.

Great food, friendly staff and a lovely atmosphere.

Could not fault. Highly recommended.

This was a spur of the moment decision to go to the Shalimar. Was not disappointed. Great friendly staff and excellent food.

Best indian restaurant that I have been to. Even better it is local to me which is great. I would highly recommend the cheese naans they are incredible. The service is the best in the business would highly recommend.

Fantastic meal and really friendly staff

this must be the best indian restaurant in derbyshire the food and staff are superb it is well worth the journey from Chesterfield. if you like curries then this is the place to go

The food is lovely as always and the staff are friendly and attentive.

Excellent food with good quality ingredients. Good quantities.

The standard of service was outstanding and the food was excellent. Staff are so friendly. Absolutely amazing. Will definitely be back.

Wide choice of dishes. All our choices were spiced nicely and well described in terms of the hotness. Meat moist, lamb tender (not mutton)!. Clean linen table cloths and napkins (not paper). Very comfortable chairs. Nice, clean, surroundings and pleasant (non intrusive) background music. Friendly service. Made to feel valued. Excellent quality of food and very good value. Will definitely go again. It was clear from talking to the manager that the restaurant was his passion, not just a job. Will definitely go again.

Food and staff were lovely. Great service. Sean, Faye & Lottie

Very nice. Even gave my dad a cake for his birthday🎉

great and fast service, food is amazing and tastes really fresh

Came for my dad’s 80th. Fantastic from start to finish :) highly recommended thanks a million

Thank you for a wonderful meal. The customer service was amazing. We arrived without a booking but were served very promptly and all of our food and drink arrived very quickly. They were even prepared to cook dishes that weren’t on the menu and consulted with us on preferred style. Very good with small children/toddlers. Cannot thank them enough

Great evening, fantastic food and lovely staff, highly recommend.

Food was amazing; service was impeccable and the waitress was flawless.

Wonderful meal with friends while on holiday. We came in early with a toddler and a baby. The food was delicious and we were very well looked after.

Fantastic birthday meal Always good food and friendly staff

Great night for birthday celebration. As always food was great and staff couldn’t be more welcoming and helpful. We had a great time.

We have enjoyed many meals at the Shalimar over the years! the service is exceptional and each and every time we visit we are all impressed. We have a good relationship with staff and local or holiday maker the Shalimar staff will make you feel welcome and the food is second to none.

Lovely family Meal could not have been more helpful. Great food great service

Nice place, tasty food, welcoming staff!

Visiting the area and had one of the best Tandoori meals in a long time last night. The atmosphere was welcoming. The owner and staff an absolute delight and the food just fabulous. Made me wish we were local and could visit more often.

Wonderful food and brilliant atmosphere, the staff were 10/10 especially Shak who went above and beyond. We were out to celebrate a birthday and they made it extra special and memorable for us.

Incredible food, the staff were so lovely and the service was so quick too. Will definitely be returning.

Fantastic service and incredibly tasty food.

Service couldn’t have been better, very attentive but not intrusive . A cake arrived for the birthday guest even though they were not aware that we were celebrating