It's not often that I feel so compelled to tell people to avoid a restaurant like the plague, but last week one indian restaurant in Bern won the NDSpittal worst restaurant EVER award!!

So here goes...

Last Thursday I arrived back in Bern after a long day in the office and I was starving. I met my other half in town and he was starving too. We were standing at the Bärenplatz bus/tram stop, so decided to take the easy option of eating out rather than cook. Recently opened Chilli's Way to India was accross the road (am I allowed to name and shame? I'm not sure. If not, please let me know. Located where Bim Grosi used to be) so we said we'd give it a try.

We went in, and it was quiet. We took a seat and were offered drinks - so far so good. Menu looked good, with a more extensive selection than other Indian restaurants that I have been to in Switzerland. We ordered 1 starter to share (and to try and curb the hunger), and for main course - 2 curries, 2 basmati rice, and 1 garlic naan.

The restaurant started to fill up rapidly. Our starter arrived along with the garlic naan ordered with our curries . The portion was a but on the small side, so we polished it off quickly and were waiting for our main course to arrive. There was only one waitress and one barman downstairs, neither of which were capable of clearing our empty plate away. After 20 minutes waiting we called over the waitresss and asked was our main couse on its way (and also told her she could take away our plate). It's on it's way she replied.

So another 20 minutes passed, and our waitress had disappeared. The bar man was now doing rounds, and clearing tables. On his way to the table beside us he asked were we waiting for anything else. By this time we were a little p!ssed to say the least , explained we'd been waiting for 40 minutes for our main course. The guy was young, and didn't care in the sligtest. We were even told it is normal to wait so long. I might add at this point that the table beside us had come in, ordered, eaten and paid during our wait. We said we'd wait another 5 mins max.

5 mins passed, and we got up and left. We informed the barman that we were going and he told us there was no bill to settle - just as well.

All in all aTERRIBLE experience. Shockingly bad, non-attentive staff, no food, and no apology. It's the first time I have ever left a restaurant without being fed.

My advice, NEVER go to this restuarant.

you cannot/should not judge a restaurant by a one time visit.
Could be that they had someone call in sick, something went wrong in the kitchen etc etc

Go back one more time and see what happens....like you said the table next to you seemed to have had a good experience?

Anthony, you go to a restaurant, leave hungry and disappointed, the barman tells you this is normal business, and you would go back?!!

I would understand if someone came over to our table, explained they were short staffed etc. That's a different story.

Bottom line is that we were ignored, the staff were useless, we didn't receive an apology or an explanation as to why we had not received our food, and no estimated time for it arriving.

True I get your point. BUt the sad fact is that today the profession of waiter or Barman is filled by the person who is willing to take the lowest wage....and costumer service (as far as it exists in CH) is gone out the door.

In all honesty I would go back if the menu and prices were right. maybe for a lunch or something...up to you

I agree. If the service was the only problem then give it one more try. Imagine if the next time everything would be great. And if they are still useless then dont go there again

i would also go once more, just to have the chance to try the food!

i have been back to restaurants i was not so happy with the service, provided that i was happy with the food. in any case, bern is small and the offer on ethnic cuisine is even smaller...so it might be inevitalble to go back! :P

Well, to be honest and I'm really not exagerating, but I have that experience probably every other time I go out to eat. Not sure if you should go back..if the service is crap the 2nd time around, you've wasted money on the disappointment and aggravation again.

I guess you are too generous. There are so many restaurants out there, most of which I've never been inside yet. So I really wouldn't see the need to give a second chance to one that didn't make it the first time round, unless maybe there was something very special about it.

maybe that's only because the customer puts up with it. There are still places (though geting fewer year by year) where you still get decent service provided by waiters who know their trade rather than being some schoolkid or jack of all trades topping up their pocket money. If I get good service I make a point of not just reflecting that in the tip but also informing the manager that I was pleased with the service. As long as managers think people don't care they're going to continue to hire the cheapest they can get.

haha, I hope you're kidding!

Free garlic naan and starter! Everyone will want to go now.

If I have a bad experience in a place (and by this I mean either the food is bad and/or the service is lousy) I don't tend to go back, as I prefer to spend my hard-earned money elsewhere. If a friend absolutely wants to go there, I might tag along and give it a second chance for the company's sake, but I would not voluntarily go back.

I made an exception a few years ago, I went back to my at-the-time favorite restaurant because the food was outstanding although the service was cr*p, but eventually I stopped going even if the food was still amazing. I just can't stand bad service, sorry, no excuse.

P.S. And since eating out in CH is not particularly cheap, I don't want to support establishments that offer poor service.

I'm glad to see I am not the only one who wouldn't waste money by going back a second time.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me (George Bush suddenly popped in to my head )

Would you please check the tag below "Way to India" as clicking on it might bring the wrong impression.

Do you mean "Way to India" in the Markthalle Bubenbergplatz?

Or is there another restaurant "Chilli's Way to India" near Bärenplatz?

I changed the tags to avoid confusion, thanks.

No, I am not referring to the restaurant in Markthalle, it's a recently opened restaurant on the corner of Bärenplatz and Marktgasse. I couldn't find a webpage, and google maps still lists Bim Grosi as the restaurant in that location.

My husband and I had the same experience as the OP about two months ago - except the place was almost empty and the naan was burnt. We won't be going back - there are other much better Indian restaurants in Bern, for example the one on the ground floor in the Markthalle and the Maharaja's Palace. The place in Langasse is meant to be good but we haven't been yet. Will be leaving the place at Bärenplatz to the tourists.

Maha Maya is amazing! My favourite Indian restaurant here you've got to give it a try.

Yeah we tried Chillis Way to India in Bärenplatz in mid December. It was OK, but nothing to rave about. The service was adequate, food was ok, but portions were small for the price. Sounds like Maha Maya will be the next one we try when we need a curry fix....

I believe the two indian restaurants at Markthalle and the one at Barenplatz are under the same management.

I would only go to Maharaja's Palace, if it's the last place I could have a meal during apolocalypse. I'll give Maha Maya a try.

Sounds like they might have the same chef too - who runs between the two while you are waiting