It’s 12.45pm on a Friday and Shimla Cottage in Coatbridge is jumping.
In they pour, some carrying Louis Vuitton and Gucci handbags. There are couples, grandparents with toddlers and a smartly-dressed group of ladies who lunch.
They’re all here for a three-course lunch for £3.50. It is an irresistible bargain.
If anyone was put off by the , in which one disgruntled customer complained about everything from the service to the portion sizes, they were keeping quiet about it.
The Lanarkshire restaurant found itself at the centre of a social media storm when ClareP left a review titled “awful lack of manners”.
She claimed her group was rushed into ordering their food. The starters were small – only three pieces of pakora each. Her three small pieces of chicken tikka arrived on a plate, rather than a hot griddle, with a “small cup full of rice”. The sauce “looked like gravy and tasted like honey”.
Dessert, chocolate fudge cake and ice cream, was “thinner than a slice of bread”. She summed it up: “Absolutely worst Indian restaurant ever.
“You only get what you pay for and even at that price felt like an absolute rip off.”
Shimla Cottage owner Wasem Ahmed was not having this. He explained: “When someone is putting our hard-working staff down, that’s something I will not accept. I felt that was an unfair review.
“We only respond to TripAdvisor reviews that we feel are like a vendetta.”
Ahmed’s reply pulled no punches. He posted: “Judging from the waistline of most of your party, I could have served them a whole cow and they would still have left hungry.”
He also made the point that, if ClareP had wanted her chicken served sizzling on a griddle and a full portion of rice, all she needed to do was order from the main menu.
TripAdvisor has now taken down the controversial review. But since ClareP’s critique went viral on social media, other customers have jumped in to defend Shimla Cottage.
Kevin W, from Airdrie , wrote: “I have been going to Shimla for a number of years now, enjoying their £3.50 lunch. I have taken friends and family from overseas on occasion and never had a complaint about their service and quality of the food.”
Sparkis2019 added: “Can’t believe some of the complaints. Can’t understand how they can do a lunch so cheap – it’s filling, tasty and cheaper than a can of Irn-Bru, crisps and a Mars bar out of any garage. Whatever way you look at it, the value is excellent.”
Others commended the owner for his top patter and refusal to take any snash.
Ahmed’s family has had the Shimla Cottage for 22 years.
He said: “We’ve not lasted that long by being cheeky and rude to customers. I know most of them by name, I’ve known their parents, I grew up with their children.”
There has been a £3.50 lunch deal for the last nine years. Ahmed said: “I don’t make any money from it. It’s advertising, talking to people and then they come at night and bring their family and friends.
“It means that everyone can come in and enjoy themselves in a nice restaurant and have a good time.”
