Spice Trader 9 Philpot Lane, London EC3M 8AA

"Booked and received confirmation. On arrival it was shut and locked up. Not impressed and obviously wouldn't recommend. Given 1 star as won't allow you to give none!"

"Wow what an underrated spot ! This is Indian food but at a much lighter level (if that’s the kind of Indian food you’re looking for). It’s like eating homemade fresh Indian cuisine and the prices are pretty good considering its location. Definitely try the butter chicken and dhal. Service was fantastic ! Very kind and attentive even when they were busy"

"I generally don’t like to review worst places but sometimes it is a good idea to warn others. Me, my wife, daughter and my parents ( age 70 + ) went to sky garden but there was quite a rush there so shifted to this hotel as it was practically in front of sky garden and my father would have loved Indian food. Welcome was okay but upon starting to order, all of a sudden , the waiter halted me and informed - quite rudely - to check note in menu where certain amount of bill was mandatory. We all were surprised to see this attitude as I haven’t even completed ordering. They may have their own rules about minimum bill requirement and it might be prudent to inform customer as well but to abruptly stop customer while ordering and informing rudely was a no go for us. If it would have been only me and my wife, we would have left such place but for sake of parents, we decided to order and eat as they were hungry. While lunch was ongoing, I needed to check nearby place and inquired the waiter if WiFi was available and if it was free of cost or carry some charge as there was no sign of free WiFi or open password. He said immediately to me that the charge for WiFi was 1 pound per minute. I was astonished and then he said, he was making fun and we would get WiFi. That was no fun but an insult. His body language and manners while stating rate were far away from rhetoric of friendly banter that we enjoyed a lot in rest of London. He showed me a handwritten password. Number 7 and 1 were confusing due to handwriting. And when I asked about it, he suddenly started quarrel with irritation. That was too much but we all decided to eat and leave and not ruin day over it. On positive side, food was okay - not great but passable. Service although mediocre, food was served fast. Toilets were unclean. Don’t go there. And Indian friends, give this a pass. We were later told that this was owned by Asian neighbours of India and the scorn we received was probably a result of that enmity as well. Who knows the truth. But fact is this is a mediocre place full of arrogant staff. Don’t ruin your lovely London day."

"This restaurant was AMAZING. From the customer service to the food. They are extremely hospitable and served the plates quickly and very well plated. The bathroom is also extremely clean. The quality of the food was exceptional. The best Indian restaurant I have ever been to. Don’t listen to the rest of these reviews please. I am an Indian myself so I know how good Indian food tastes and this is proper authentic. The prices are also extremely good for the quality and quantity of food. All around amazing"