Shimlas in Bradford

I attended Shimlas on the Wednesday 23/03/22 arrived around 17:25 we are from the Greater Manchester Area took us around 53 minutes luckily we managed to find parking just up the road (I guess when it's busy parking can be a pain).One of the main reason I choose this establishment over others such Anams/Mumtaz due to the google reviews.We ordered:Chicken PakoraSeekh Kebabs (Lamb)Chicken Jalfrezi2 x Garlic Naan2 x ChipsSaladMango Paradise (Mocktail)Was told that we were unable to get the Mango Paradise due to use ordering before 6pm (not an detailed reason but I didn't want to get into debate over it).The tables are slightly too close to others so privacy can be an issue for some (but I guess they want to maximise dining it so not a big issue).They have a few staff also and they are very nice and helpful and they clean toilet facilities.Bill came around £30.70 for 2 people so not mega expensive.Now the food Alhamdulilah to food was amazing my Mrs loved it (she is a very picky eater), I honesty can't saying anything bad about the food, everything was on point.One thing I did note is that lady who across us did complain about her food being late and other people getting food before them even though they arrived after them (I guess this could be due to some food taking longer to cook).I would recommend visiting this establishment to my family and friends.

Good food, served at speed. Many staff, wasn’t left waiting at any point. The chapatti could have been a bit softer, and barely any salad given on plate. But I got half a cucumber 🥒 slice so can’t complain!

Heard alot of good reviews about this place. It didn't live up to the expectation. I was looking forward to the starters but they weren't doing it for me. Food tasted bland the glasses were dirty. The mains were cold and the popadums were pretty much the only good thing. Didn't have the pickle tray, so we had to get mango chutney which was satisfactory/ okay. Not worth the hype.

Always a delicious experience at shimlas; an iconic apna food landmark of Bradford. Specialising in kebabs, doners and a variety of grilled meats for as long as I can remember, over the years they have refined their trademark sauces and naans which are known far and wide the breadth of the country. Chicken doners and kebabs are the staple here so if you go don't forget to order them!

Sameen and Nimra were very nice.. lovely service. Mutton handi was very tasty .. my favourite was the daiquiri .. food very nice and amazing 👏 service would come again 😃

Fish starter was one of the best I've ever had. Food takes a little while to come out but atleast you know its being freshly made to order, very reasonable portions for the prices aswell

I picked up a mixed Donner from Shimla. I've not been here for a while and decided to give it a break, lol. Even after months of not visiting shimla, the taste and food quality has not changed. Price has though :-)

Top class service and hosting by zeashan at the front desk. That was just the start ….. then boy the food was next level, all the way from london and not disappointed at all . 10/10 service and food loved it and would come back daily (if I didn’t have a job ) hahahaha .

Review based on takeout and home delivery. I love Shimlas for one reason and have highly recommended it as having the best lamb chops in the country to all my foodie friends and family. Unfortunately due to the pandemic I've had to order at home a lot and it's never been worth even 3/5. Food is often cold which is somewhat expected but what I don't expect is to have missing items or ignored instructions. Twice I've had a missing lamb chop, which to their credit was once replaced by a full portion the next time I went to collect (but only after I complained and stated what any good business would have done after the first error).On this occasion I was craving a late night portion of chops which set me back almost £10 delivered. I'm fine with the cost due to delivery. I've attached a photo of the chops. It's not an isolated incident either. It feels like every delivery order is treated with less care than eating in. The chops were dryer than the Sahara and equally burnt too. The quality has taken a skydive which is disappointing because I truely loved their chops and some other choice dishes. Maybe it'll be different when I eat in again but for now I won't be ordering takeout or delivery anymore. It'd be a 0 star but they get 2 for the speedy delivery which was mostly down to the Uber driver if we're being honest.

Disappointing would be an understatement. Let me outline my reasoning below:The atmosphere seems like any other restaurant until you begin speaking to the waiter upstairs. I thought that it was strange that she was wearing two facemasks whilst the other waiters were wearing none and they were not socially distancing, and there was no hand sanitiser available. COVID guidance was not being properly followed. I would have thought that they would have evenly distributed the masks but this didn't seem the case.The female waiter with glasses on the upstairs section seemed very confused – whilst she took our order, she brought a second waiter (who was equally as confused) to take our order. I felt physical stress trying to explain that I would like just one additional naan and not a roti, or that I just wanted three poppadoms.As we began eating our poppadoms, our starters arrived. We had ordered shaami kebabs but were given chaapli kebabs. According to Google and various aunties that I have consulted on this very important matter, a shaami kebab is defined as being made with lentils and a chaapli kebab is made from ground beef or meat. (Images of our kebabs are attached to this review, what do you think they were?)The waiter and head chef were adamant that the meaty, fried kebabs we had been given were made of lentils. Once my Mum had raised this with them, they explained that everyone has "different styles of cooking", that my Mum was wrong, and that the kebab was made of lentils. My family were annoyed by the tone of voice that the waiter had used with them. It confused us how a kebab supposedly made of lentils could have been fried without disintegrating quicker than our enthusiasm for this meal out. We left it and moved on.After we had finished our very profitable starters for their business, we moved onto our mains. We had ordered a chicken karahi and a lamb karahi. The chicken karahi was a strange one – the temperature of the chicken was cold but the karahi was lukewarm which we weren't pleased with. If it was me, they should have warmed the chicken up for longer, however this didn't seem the case. Additionally, the lamb karahi wasn't actually lamb, it was a mixture of two meats (but definitely not lamb).The other thing that hit us was the spice. I believed that my spice tolerance was very high, but it was unbelievably hot for us to eat. I did wonder whether the chef added extra spice to compensate for the cold chicken, but I think this would have been unlikely. It was so unbearable that we asked to pack the food up and we asked for the bill straight away.My Mum tried to raise concerns politely with the manager upstairs, but she was told that she can't cook, that everyone has different recipes, and that she was wrong. It isn't all about debating the technical aspects of a kebab, it's about showing a level of respect to a customer when they want to discuss the meal. If you want customers to come back, you need to listen to what they have to say and empathise with them.Overall, the food was overpriced, overspiced and overestimated. Shimlas has lost its touch of elegance. COVID guidelines weren't being followed which is a risk to the visitors and local community. There's plenty more places to go to in Bradford or the surrounding areas so I would HIGHLY recommend that you scroll through Google to find somewhere else, but we were very disappointed on our visit here and won't be coming back again.