Review Lovely India Tandoori Restaurant - Rotorua

Went here for lunch, and had the $20 lunch special. I had lamb korma with the garlic Naan. It was very tasty and I was satisfied with the size. Good value for lunch, just near Eat Street. The restaurant was nicely set out and clean.

On a weekend trip from auckland, Lovely India was a warm and delicious meal after exploring Rotorua. Really good price and big portions. The staff were super nice and friendly. Would 100% recommend!! I would come again.

What can I say, excellent food, friendly staff, nice chill environment and not too pricey eaither. Went in for dinner as well as take out. Will be recommending you to my clients.

Best Indian food I've ever had. The service was incredible. I highly recommend the vindaloo lamb. I went with medium spice level and it was more mild, but very flavorful. They do dial back the spice level, so if you want it hotter, say higher than you're used to.

I went to last Monday in Rotorua for visit Super impressed by the quality of service and food here! Impeccable attention to detail, product recommendations etc. heat the curries were still exceptionally tasty with a great balance of flavours. Would definitely go again and again😋

Excellent food and service. I left my wallet in the restaurant and went back to get it after the restaurant closing time. The very kind manager travelled back to the restaurant to open up and let me get my wallet. Totally saved the day and showed the generous spirit of both India and NZ. Thank you so much!

Lovely India Restaurant in Rotorua claim to have the best Butter Chicken in town and my kids and I thoroughly enjoyed ours. The kids menu was perfect, with just the right amount of food to satisfy my tweenies. I really liked the surroundings also, it was quite relaxing. The staff were friendly and professional. The prices were also very reasonable. I would definitely go there again and would recommend.

Best Indian food I ever had in NZ. We wanted to go back the next day to have some more. Also, super friendly staff.

Very Tasty and Authentic Indian Food. It's a Family Owned and run business by a very humble couple. Excellent customer service. I would strongly recommend this restaurant for individuals as well as parties.

Great food and exceptional service. The waiter was great as he was always checking in on us and when even kept the jacket for us when we left it behind. The portion sizes were not very large however and for what we paid I would have expected rice or naan to come by default with every curry. The dish in the picture shown is actually about the size of a large apple.

Tasty food and delivered quite fast. Courteous staff and very friendly place to eat. Like the taste of gravy and the garlic naan.

Spent $100 .. one day in Rotorua for visit and such dirty , not even disgusting, was dirty food!! Tasteless, bland and weird food!! Can’t wait 45 mins for such shit! Waste of time and money!! <br/>

Food was below average at best. We ate vegetarian food. The dal tasted like sambar. And the paneer was v v oily.<br/><br/>The only redeeming thing about the meal was the bread. Which was great. Had masala kulcha and garlic naan.<br/><br/>Service was v slow too. Do not recommend visiting. Many options in the area. Preksha Binaykia

I love the food from this restaurant. Me and my partner always come here when we are in Rotorua.<br/>Lovely staff, really good Indian food, best naan bread ever ( we love the garlic with olive naan they made, with any curry)! I honestly recommend this restaurant!

Plz dont go to this Restaurant...waste of money. Taste less curry...we spend nearly $100 . Waste of money.WORST FOOD EVER...WORST SERVICE EVER.PLEASE AVOID GOING TO THIS RESTAURANT.

Great Indian food. Enjoyed a variety of breads- garlic, garlic cheese and lachcha with vegetarian curries. Was busy on a Saturday eve, awesome hospitality and quick service. Great for north Indian food lovers.

Rubbish food. Daal makhni was off. Naan were too sourish taste. Very poor quality as well as the taste. We ordered take away to eat later at night but end up going to mc Donald after 11 pm. Highly NOT recommend.

Thank you Lovely India for being our savior when we were literally thriving to get a good Indian meal. Located just opposite to eat street this place is a heaven for Indian food. The aroma of the food is so good that it literally attracts you from outside. We had chicken Tikka masala and it tasted so yummy. The staff is courteous and the service was awesome.

Great Service and such delicious food! Best Butter Chicken I've ever had. Really reasonably priced too. Rotorua has many indian restaurants to choose from so I'm so glad we happened to walk in here. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Lunch service was great inspite of the staff shortage<br/>Notably the lady called Kaur at the counter who gave us an Unbeatable Service.<br/>Great food and very budget friendly<br/>Recommended as a must visit 👍<br/>

We 13 people went for dinner and we experienced horrible service and food. In my 12 years in New Zealand i never had that kind of bad experience ever. The staff was very very rude including the owner . They dnt know how to talk to customer. Every1 who was there in restaurant was not happy with their food and service. And the owner of the restaurant was shamless guy. I want to tell every1 please dont go there. If posible i wl give them -10 rating. Everything was such a horrible there. I never never go there. If this restaurant is the last restaurant on the earth then i prefered to die without food but i wl never go to this restaurant.

very nyce nd frndly restaurant...<br/>nd very supportive as v wer no getting jain food nywer nd instead of too much crowd this hotel staff requestd us to wait fr 20 min so tht they can provide us jain food nd mst i food ws just aweum<br/>here....<br/>ty lovely india for such a support nd providing us jain food...

Absolutely delicious!!! We loved everything about our dining experience at lovely india during our stay in Rotorua. We arrived very late (9:45pm) just before the kitchen was closing, and we were welcomed warmly by staff. Fantastic service, all curries were cooked to perfection, and the naan was amazing. The navrattan korma and butter chicken were particularly amazing. Thank you lovely india Rotorua. Highly recommend for delicious Indian food.

Staff were really friendly and attentive, food came out quite fast and was delicious and exactly what we ordered. Good for the price we paid. Happy with everything and no complaints.

I must admit it is now one of my favorite Indian cuisine place in NZ I've been to so far. All ordered meals were absolutely great, especially my chef's special one.

Ladies and gents,<br/><br/>Please don't be fooled by the overall rating which is not impressive anyway. I really regret not reading earlier reviews a lot which lead me and my wife entering this restaurant. While we were sitting at the table, no waiters nor waitresses came to take our order until I called for three times. Pricing is moderately high, and rice is not free with curry, isn't one bowl of rice supposed to be free with any curry ordered!? The food was just OK, it tasted like pre-heated one but the naan was better than the curries I guess it's freshly made. <br/>I don't recommend this Indian restaurant at all, don't waste your time and money here guys. The food is not matched with the price and the customer service is really bad. I saw customers sitting at the table calling for staff to take order and receiving no response then left. By the way, the prices don't match on their receipt and menu, don't be fooled again.

So literally the worst place you can go to in your life.<br/>Specially if you are Indian DO NOT EVEN TRY TO ENTER.<br/>The worst people and the worst treatment ever.<br/>THEY REFUSED TO SEAT US SAYING IT WAS FULL WHEN HALF THE RESTAURANT WAS EMPTY AND RIGHT BEHIND US THERE WAS A WHITE COUPLE (who was a walk in as well) to whom the restaurant asked just to wait and once we exited the Restaurant, they seated the white couple.<br/>CAN YOU BELIEVE AN INDIAN RESTAURANT BEING RACIST TOWARDS INDIANS!!! LIKE SERIOUSLY WTF!!<br/><br/>I request all Indians and all people who are anti Racism not to go there.<br/><br/>When I confronted the manager he said, no they had a reservation and I created a scene in restaurant and the white couple also openly confirmed they were walk-ins.<br/><br/>I don't think I have anything else to say. Just that whoever visits Rotorua please don't come here.<br/><br/>Please read the other reviews of this place that says the same as well.<br/><br/><br/>

I wish I had read the reviews earlier....instead we read a different one where they had a 4.0rating..... Why did I believe it....  We ended up paying 80+ dollars for 3 ordinary tasting (and likely reheated) dishes with small servings... including their supposedly vegetarian curry which barely had vegetables---- why skimp on veggies, and the veggies were overcooked and nearly melting into the curry.... The butter chicken which my daughter requested was alright, just too sweet and had more gravy than chicken. The lamb curry we ordered had more meat, but tasted so-so. I am rating it 2 because, hey, at least we did not get food poisoning...

One of the worst customer experiences ever had. Had ordered starters and Full course. Starters came 30 mins after. Mixed platter had non veg on sizzler n samosa n veg pakoda. Nothing was upto the mark.Full course was like never coming. People came after us are served much before. Being indians he took us for granted may be. Afyer an hour +15 mins i was pissed off. Went tonl the counter and paid for starters and told him order taking for ever. He didnt apologize nor convincing whats the reason being late. I just paid and glad I left from there. Horrific and terrible customer experience

Most horrible experience ever!! Food quality was horrible the naan bread was not fully cooked. The curries were not seasoned and service was a disaster. The waiter was scratching his head and face and never bothered washing his hands before serving customers. People please never go there ever..

We ended up at this place on Saturday night and that was the worst mistake I could ever make!! They forgot to put our order through and when I checked after 45 mins about our order there were no apologies and asked us if we still wanted to place our order. Well we did placed the order again and they stuffed up the order this time, I ordered MILD curry and hoping its not spicy had a spoon full which had smoke coming out of my ears. Well I called the staff from behind the bar who was playing on his laptop and other feeding his face I MIGHT ADD!! <br/>No apologies again and I cancelled my curry but they insisted the new one is ready and I have to pay for it. Never mind giving some compensation for making us wait for almost an hour.<br/>Note to the owner- learn how to run a business and don't be a money hungry freak!!!!

Decided to have some nice curry on a very cold night and ended up here. Restaurant wasn't very busy and we were attended to straight away. Food was average. Staff here has a very casual approach to service.

Would not go again, <br/><br/>Prices were displayed outside just like every restaurant. Went in to dive and found dine in prices are higher, Still ordered chicken tikka ( which felt like frozen chicken microwaved) and chilly chicken ( sweet and spicy. nowhere near to authentic indo Chinese food), left halfway without finishing food and staff never bothered to inquire what was wrong. Felt ripped off, Would never go again. Heaps of better indian places around for better value.

I don't like to speak ill of people in business, but this restaurant needs to be approached with significant caution. My wife and I ordered a mixed platter entree. It had chicken on it and was presented on a sizzling hot plate. However when we bit into the chicken ( there were four pieces) it was raw ! I told the waiter, but nothing happened except the plates were removed. We were then served the mains, Goat Korma and the Chefs special (again a chicken dish). Astonishingly the chicken was again raw ! You could pry the flesh apart and see the pinkness of it. The goat was okay if not bland. We left after that and will not return. We caution other diners. The restaurant could not only damage your pocket and your night but also your health. Raw chicken is utterly unacceptable.

Let me start with saying that I come from India and I am a foodie so I know the tase really well. The food quality here is just pathetic and the curry is nothing more than the red coloured mixture of red chilli powder. It was just tasteless and bland. I dined here with my parents last year and we told them specifically what sort of hotness level we need. When we got the food it looked all the same - all red curries with no difference in taste. As soon as we tasted we complained that this curry is extremely hot and we have ordered a mild one. The guy started explaining us that the mild here is this taste and didn't apologise for the goof up. Frankly we left half the food as it was impossible to eat it. Please don't even try this place. The service is just bad, food is worst. The location of the place is good but they really have to improve their service quality to be in business.

Dined here on Chrismas day, very much loved it and, for sure will be back every time we are in Rotorua!!! Awesome Indian Food!!! Great Service!!! Very friendly and well mannered staff!!! Very Clean!!!

We got takeaways from here complete with a 25% discount from our hotel. We are seasoned curry eaters and Lovely India did not disappoint. The garlic naan's were massive, the rice was included, the chicken jalfrezi was very delicious, plenty of<br/>Spice tender meat and generous amounts of gravy. The lamb do piazza was delish too. As above and very tasty indeed. The service was fairly lax (borderline slow) and the cashier was busy on the phone for quite some time while waiting for<br/>Pick up. All in all very tasty and enjoyable meal, perhaps better for us not dining in?!

Very disappointing.... we have eaten at many Indian restaurants around NZ and Lovely India is definitely the worst.....the prices are over inflated and we were even going to be charged for the rice with the main meals...I have never been to a Indian restaurant and been asked to pay for the rice to accompany the main meal.....when we challenged this the waiter then wanted to make a deal and not charge us for the rice!!!!!!! you make deals on buying cars not your dinner ......hence to say we cancelled our order and left...... there are better Indian restaurants in Rotorua I would suggest that you bypass this one.

They say they do the best butter chicken and well i would definately agree!<br/>Prawn Malabara yum! Garlic Naan Yum.<br/>Lovely &amp; clean. Staff are well presented, prefessional and friendly.<br/>Great that they do takeaways &amp; deliveries too. Definately the best Indian in town.

best butter chicken i ever had,<br/>service was superb had a great dinner

No complaints here.<br/><br/>Ordered takeaway with free delivery (they provide this service with all hotels in Rotorua)<br/><br/>Delivery was exactly on time and the food was beautiful.<br/><br/>Definitely would order from here again