Two Indians in one week: Gaylord Restaurant and Chutney's

Lovely setting and Sherwin is already hungry

So the form of this review will be a talk about the pros and cons of both and where improvements need to be made. 
Tuesday was a curry club meeting with the usuals and this time at Gaylord off Oxford Street. We had decided to go here based on a recommendation i had received the week before, based on it being described as "Authentic Indian Food." 
Friday was a catch up with good friends too and as Atul lived close by he recommended we go to Chutneys near New Barnet station. There was no description or warning about the food here, we just new that is was close by and that Atul had been once before.

Dan striking a pose. Oh, don't forget Monir too

Having a curry near Oxford street or one in New Barnet. Which one is better, which one has better service? Read on to find out.

It sounds like a lot in one week, but to me it sounds like a great week. Two very different restaurants but there are some similarities. Friends, starters, mains and drinks, what more do I need.

Pros: At Gaylord, we ordered a Set menu, the Maharasa. We thought this would work out cheaper and boy were we wrong. Anyhow, at times you get what you pay for and with the starters it definitely felt this way. The picture is below and the lamb chop and chicken tandoori were really nice. Full of flavour and rich spices, i was happy.
Onto Chutneys and the stand out for me were the main courses, we each ordered separate dishes, which is rare at an Indian but we seemed to be happy with our choices. My butter chicken was a good portion and had a nice creamy and 'buttery' flavour which i was craving for at the time.

Cons: The service at both had a lot to be desired. Gaylord at the cost at which we paid just seemed like the didn't care about us. Almost £6 for a pint and a huge delay between courses and even getting drinks was not good.
Unfortunately the similarity Chutneys had with Gaylord was annoying in this respect. Chutneys is probably a takeaway venue primarily but it didn't excuse waiting over half an hour for the main courses. Maybe this was becoming personal; twice in one week and no apology from either wasn't nice. On both occasions i felt like walking out and we almost did at one point.

The food at both was okay for the respective price we paid. But at over £45 a head at Gaylord i was probably more disappointed with this than Chutneys. When going to pay, the staff decided we were that important and midway through paying they took the card machine to another table just so that we could wait somewhere. I felt that this was disrespectful. Good food but not outstanding to make me think i would go back in a hurry and speech so much money.
Chutney, cheap and decent and my advice here would be to get them to deliver instead. That way you expect to wait in the comfort of your home, or your friends.


I can't always be nice. Comments below from the guys who joined would be great.