Don't let look deceive you, this is easily one of the best Indian Restaurants I have been to…read more Located on Bangor's High Street, next to ASDA, from the outside it looks like any other takeaway, the facade is unassuming and it looks on the small side. But inside it stretches way back and is a sizable restaurant (seating at least 100). We booked a table for 8pm on a busy Saturday night and despite us turning up bang on time we had to wait at least 30 minutes to be seated. Once seated we were presented with poppadoms and the service rapidly improved. After browsing the vast menu I opted for Chili Chicken Tikka Massala, the others had a range of dishes including Pathia, Baltis and Rogan. They all looked excellent when served up. The Balti in particular was served in a lantern shaped bowl adding a real touch of authenticity. All the dishes came at the same time which was a real plus (nothing worse than waiting to eat) and everyone seemed happy with what they ordered. I was really impressed with the food and meal service, especially on such a busy Saturday night. It was also BYO but they had bottles and soft drinks available to purchase.

The best in town! Taking over from Bangor's Ganges which has fallen from grace. I never look beyond…read moreBangla for an Indian. There are many others about and they will be much cheaper and taste alright. But if you want the best then save yourself the hit or miss Indian and go for the sure thing worth paying for.

Despite being from Bangor and being in my late 30s as well as an Indian food lover for well over a…read moredecade, I had never been in here before. Luckily, that changed on Saturday. We got to go for an hour on a rare break with the kid dropped off at the grand parents. We went early so that we would be back in time to collect our daughter and be home for bedtime. So we missed peak Saturday evening diner time. It was just starting to get busier at the end before we left. It meant we were able to book with only 45 minutes notice and head down. We arrived and were welcomed Warmly and shown to our seats quickly after being given a few choices of where we would prefer to sit. The menu was very good and varied and should appeal to curry lovers and those not quite so much as well with a few Asian-European blend dishes available. We ordered mains and starters and both courses were brought promptly when required. The poppadom appetisers were on the table moments after we sat down which was great. The food itself was excellent. I had the jalfreizi and although the flavours maybe weren't quite as complex as my favourite place, it was certainly up there and served up in a decent portions size. I look forward to visiting here again

Brilliant stuff. In my humble opinion, the best Indian in town and well worth heading to. I have…read moreworked with people who have went here every week, my friends have organised nights out and fundraising dinners here, I have went here for dinner for two and dinners for 5 and my girlfriend, who lived in India for 6 months even liked it, and she is very picky about Indian food. The food is brilliant, always tasty filling and I've never heard a complaint about it. The restaurant is lovely, nice and big with plenty of room without being gawdy, the seats are comfortable and the toilets are always clean and tidy. The best thing about it however is the staff, they're always friendly, polite and helpful. Top class stuff from start to finish.

I'm no stranger to Indian food and I would literally eat it for every meal, every day...it's…read moreawesome. So I'm always really excited to discover, and test, different restaurants that I come across. The restaurant is really well kept and clean, which is always a good start. The staff were really friendly and accommodating and throughout the meal they really took care of all five of us. We were a hungry bunch and proceeded to order two chicken vindaloos, one lamb vindaloo, one chicken jalfreze and one chicken tikka massala. Along with bombay aloo, sag aloo and lots of bhajis and naan bread...all to arrive together! It's the best way to eat Indian food! The food came in a timely fashion and it all looked really great...and tasted just as good! The vindaloos I'm told, were hot and had runny noses on the go after a few bites, my jalfreze was perfect and I wasn't long behind on the runny nose and my sister, the least adventurous, loved her massala! All in all, I will be back here! Perfect! Oh, I also noticed that if you order take away and it costs over £25, mine does-always, then they give you a free bottle of wine! Nice!

I am definitely a fan of this place, it is a great wee indian restaurant that has been going for…read morequite a while and, again, I've never heard any complaints about this well ran wee restaurant. In particular, I really enjoy the vegetarian dishes and the staff are always willing to cook things to your own specifications and have a bit of craic throughout the evening. It is BYOB which is great because you can keep the costs down on a night out and it allows you to have whatever booze you want with yur meal. Also, they're great for large groups. I went here for NYE a few years ago and they gave us an entire bottle of Sambuca when were were leaving, which was lovely of them.

At first Bilal doesn't look that appealing. It's got a flat pack feel to it. Located in a petrol…read morestation forecourt with no real Indian authenticity. But don't let that put you off. Once you taste the food you'll forget that plastic feel and focus on the excellent Indian flavour. I had chicken Pathia, it was Beaut. Just the right amount of heat without being unbearable. Also plenty of chunks of chicken and sauce left over, perfect for dipping naan. Price wise it wasn't too bad either, around £25 for 3 mains, 3 sides and 3 extra poppadoms. We actually ordered in the shop and they had 3 meals sorted and served to us within 20 minutes! The garage forecourt location actually means there's plenty of parking so even if you're picking up an order placed on the phone you'll find somewhere to throw the car.

Haven't had a bad meal yet. Big portions and lots to share if you want to. I'm very picky about…read morechicken and what it looks like. I don't like veins or other weird things that are in chicken but I haven't looked at the chicken since the first time I bought it. I always get the king kebab which is the doner and chicken with chips it's enough for 2/3 people to share. Reasonably priced too. In a handy area too with the garage and offlicence so all you need is in one place

It's been five years since I reviewed Passage to India and a lot has changed, well actually to be…read more honest, not much has changed - the carpet in the restaurant definitely hasn't changed and the whole oak feel to the place that was probably installed in the 70's remains! But forget about the interior, this review is really for the takeaway I picked up this evening. This part of North Down is littered with takeaways but Passage to India always seems to be busy. When you call there's always a 30 minute wait but that's a good thing. This evening we actually waited over that but it was worth it. We ordered a meal for four and it came to £24ish pounds. This was including a 2 x Naans and 2 x Sides along with 3 main dishes. The quality of the food is second to none. Our chicken Patia came with huge chunks of chicken breast and was easily enough to feed 2 people. The Naans were extremely tasty and fresh as they were still warm! I really enjoyed Passage To India this evening - I would suggest they update the decor in their restaurant and they might get a few more bookings but keep the food exactly the same!

Passage to India is taking its local customers for granted with poor service and little respect. An…read moreorder placed tonight is currently 1.5 hours and counting. On a call placed after 1 hour we were promised that it was ready to be packed up and sent out. A call at 1.5 hours and it still hadn't left. We requested to speak to the manager but he wasn't available. If it's not here in 10 mins it can go back to the kitchen. Disgraceful service for a local customer trying to keep our business local.

Really is as good as it gets!…read more Family meals here always go down well and we have visited at least twice in the last two months. The selection is amazing and my favourites include the Sizzling Seafood Balti and the Chicken Madras but I'm intent on working my way through the menu. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and the servers are extremely polite and helpful. One of our party has special dietary requirements and they couldn't do enough to help us and make sure our needs were catered to. Worth booking at weekends as it does get very busy, especially as it's near the cinema but you'd probably be fine walking in during the week.

I had a business lunch here with a couple of colleagues today. Their brief was to take them to the…read moremost authentic Indian restaurant. There was a very select few to choose from but the winner hands down was Tale Of Spice in Dundonald!! It won hands down on a number of scores. First it has ample free car parking. Second it is owned and run by a fantastic all Indian team from kitchen (Chef Gautam) to Front of House (Abhishek and Sunil). Third the food is as authentic as if one was sitting and eating it in any Northern Indian restaurant. The decour is modern contemporary with a subtle Indian touch. The staff are very helpful and knowledgable and chef himself a real expert. I asked him to make three dishes (two chicken and one lamb). He duly obliged but not before we tucked into fresh crispy popadoms with tasty dips-so many restaurants fall foul of serving oily soggy popadoms- a real turn off! Our three mains came out with two pilau rice, a nan and garlic nan. The butter chicken was creamy and tomatoey with no artificial colouring-and not overtly sweet. The Karahi gosht was divine with the lamb being tender, juicy and succulent. The chicken tikka saag was excellent-all three dishes garnished well with ginger juliennes and parsley and coriander.....just like one gets in Punjab. Alas the portions beat us quantity wise. This really is as authentic North Indian as you will get. A must visit place.

A really excellent place to get some top quality indian food, which is shown by it winning an award…read morefor the best curry in North Down in 2009. It has a really professional and well presented restaurant which is full licenced and air conditioned which means an excellent dining experience which is enhanced by the staff who are helpful and friendly every time you go in. With good opening hours and a really good selection of tasty and filling indian dishes you should be able to find something for you if you call in here for the take away or the restaurant. I'm not the biggest fans of currys but I really enjoyed the vegetable korma and pashwari nann.

This is a regular favorite of mine as a sit in restaurant and as a take-away. The menu is massive…read moreand varied with very reasonable prices. All dishes come with sides. TOP QUALITY. The restaurant is upstairs, small but not cramped. People wait for take-away downstairs so the ambiance is not disrupted if you are having a meal. Easy to park outside the restaurant or in a small car park opposite. The staff are extremely friendly and they often give you little treats like a glass of flaming sambuka after your meal. If you have not tried Indian food I recommend the Star of Bengal because they will help you pick a dish you like and I'm sure I'll read a nice review from you here!

It could be a fairly alright 3 star on a good day but I opt for 2 stars. First we were crammed…read morecheek by jowl into a window table for 2, so close to other diners that their conversations were audible without our having to work at it. The family to my left were critical of the food but told the waiters it was 'lovely' on the four occasions I heard them being asked. This also annoyed them. There was also a dispute between them whether to go for a pint to 'Laverys' afterwards. The father clearly wanted to, his wife and daughter were lukewarm & hostile respectively and the son in law or potential in law was too polite to decline. So they unhappily agreed to disagree and went off two by two. When the male waiters (no female wait staff) attended the tables either side of us their elbows were inches from the side of my head with their movements occasionally forcing me move sideways. One waiters' derrière was 2 inches from my butter chicken a few times. Hardly a romantic setting. Once wedged in we got 2 'complimentary' pappadams with 3 dips. I asked for a Nepalese beer only to be told they don't have any so I ended up with an over-priced Singha beer, most likely brewed in Carlsberg's Russian plant that distributes to most of Europe. I imagine if these folk really are Nepalese they'd proudly flog their Khukuri beer and Hinwa and Dadaghare wines. I got the small one at £3.5 which works out at £6 a pint. My wife got a mini bottle of white wine at £4.5 which is £18 a 75 ml bottle. The young waiter who said his only job was serving booze did suggest I'd be able to get some Nepalese beer in London, but I thought it was a tad far to go for a beer at 8pm on a Saturday night in Belfast. It's a well overpriced place, with my paneer cheese starter at £6 when £4 would be fair. My butter chicken main was £13 when a fair price would be £11. They do that deception where meat is cut into cubes to give the impression of plenty, bulked out by copious cheap sauce. The menus don't mention that chemical food colouring is used. I'm not a fan of these food colourings, so I'm disappointed when I see vividly red food being served up. I'm also peeved that the use of chemical colourings is not mentioned on the menu either. My paneer starter had 5 pieces of almost tasteless cheese in a lightish batter, with a smidgen of hot sauce staining the plate, a morsel of lettuce, a sliver of carrot & a cucumber slice. My butter chicken was near scarlet, packed with sugar, with small chunks of equally bright chemically red chicken. My wife had an overpriced chicken pakora starter (3 battered bits should be £2 cheaper) with a similar smear of hot sauce, morsels of carrot, lettuce & cucumber. Her overpriced main (£17) was meant to be a sizzling dish but it wasn't. Not that we minded, as sizzling just means that the very hot iron plate on which the food sits is drizzled with cold cooking oil. Again this main was bulked out with lots of fried onions with some shards of green pepper made to look a generous portion, but there wouldn't have been £3 worth of meat on the plate. The boiled basmati rice was perfectly cooked, the small vegetable curry accompaniment was watery and lukewarm. The nan bread isn't nan bread as it's too thin to be proper nan: so it it's a crisp bread, probably 20p to make the dough turning into a £2 price tag. The service was effusive, nearly as sugary sweet and artificial as the butter chicken but when I know I'm being ripped off I don't tip. We'd paid handsomely for two 'free' pappadams with dips. We were asked at least three times about our food. I said read my review but I guess I wasn't understood. We paid near £53 for a two course meal for two with a small drink each, so it was well overpriced once it went above £40. I suspect it's just another Pakistani restaurant which has come up with the wheeze of Nepalese cuisine and the ancient romantic Kathmandu as devices to overcharge and how. If this is dining in times of austerity I'd hate to see their price structure if we ever see good times. Back to M&S butter chicken - wonderful for a factory made meal and without artificial muck too.

Have eaten in Kathmandu Kitchen twice now and it is nice. Visually this is a dated restaurant and…read morewas chilly on my first visit but much warmer second time round. I found the food pleasant, but spice levels too high for my taste. Having tried mains of Chana Masala (chickpeas) and Vegetable Bhuna I found them much spicier than I would have preferred. These usually are mild to medium dishes and indeed were marked as medium spiced on the Kathmandu Kitchen menu - but they were fiery hot. Also, be careful when ordering, as the vegetarian dishes sometimes seem to contain paneer - so if you are vegan you will have to be aware of this and specify no paneer cheese. Complimentary poppadoms were a nice touch.