Reviews for Tulsi Contemporary Indian Cuisine

by Pvte B.
5th March 2012

Went last Thursday night, they were open and seemed happy to offer dining after 10pm.
Service perfunctory but food arrived in good order and time. Tasty enough curries, breads good flavour and texture, 3 of us had different curries and they arrived close together and the order was all correct.
When we went to pay and leave at the end of the night though, the waiter/maitre’d that had served us tried to prevent my friend from taking away his own unfinished byo wine in screw-top cap, and repeated in an arrogant manner ‘No, no, you are not listening to me’ as all 3 of us politely and calmly informed him he was wrong in trying to prevent us from taking away our own byo wine – much nicer restaurants than Tulsi have even retrieved the cap to do so on wine purchases FROM the restaurant.
He wouldn’t accept that, saying it was ‘illegal’ and insisted he had to check with someone. So two of us stayed while he proceeded on ringing presumably the owner to check whether or not we could take unfinished byo wine away from the restaurant. When he got off the phone he simply said ‘you may go’. I firmly told him the whole thing was unnecessary and he was lucky we bothered waiting to hear something we already know.
Totally unacceptable and with no provocation whatsoever, will never set foot in any Tulsi restaurant or buy their products again. They need to learn to respect their customers and treat them well.
Food un-exceptional, plenty other places to try in Wellington.

by Wallace T.
11th February 2012

Went last week with a one-day deal voucher. I had used one the week prior so assumed that it was all good to use. We walked in to an empty restaurant (We were the only customers the whole time). I show the duty manager the voucher and he said yes it was fine to use. We sat down and ordered. The manager went away and came back and said that a condition of using the voucher was we had to purchase drinks. I said that condition was not on the voucher and that I had used on the previous week without that condition. He was adamant and went back to get the voucher. He pointed out the clause on the voucher which said “any drinks purchased must be purchased with food”. We pointed that out to him that that was not what that meant but his English wasn’t good and he didn’t understand the semantics of the statement. He kicked up a bit of a scene until we told him he was wrong. He then demanded that we had to make a prior booking before coming even though the restaurant was completely empty.I laughed. He stormed off saying “whatever”. He then came back with our plates and I asked him to get another because it was dirty.
Meal was marginal. Don’t think I will be returning.

by vincent g.
28th December 2011

Too watered down and not much in the way of meat.

It may be cheap, but it’s cheap for a reason

by Emmm
5th December 2011

Never again totally agree pathetic portions small servings of rice to share between 2- 3 people. Mixed up orders and started shouting out the orders not professional at all, not worth spending your money you’ll be still hungry.

by Tim H.
11th October 2011

This is just about the worst restaurant I’ve ever been to. Where do I begin? Firstly, the service was abysmal – the waiter basically forced us into ordering on what seemed to be a fairly quiet night. When he came out with our food he spilled it on one of my friends and did nothing about it. Then there is the food, which, I’ll be honest, wasn’t bad (although, it certainly wasn’t good)… it was grossly over priced for what you get in quality and quantity. The majority of people at my table went to a kebab store up the road straight after the meal because of the pathetic portions. I want to make this perfectly clear – Do not go to this restaurant.

by joe s.
26th September 2011

Service was friendly.Environment was great. Our three enjoyed our meal ,and we will be back.

by cafe c.
14th July 2011

I had had diffrent expiriences with this restaurent
Went for lunch and liked theier food…Pakoras and kebabs for starters and daal and lamb madraas and naan for mains. the daal was average and lamb was acceptable

I returned for dinner and tried the chicken biryani– the chef added to much spice I couldnt eat more then a spoonful without eyes watering… the rice used were very sticky for some reason
We also ordered bhola balti (LAmb plus chicken main) sheekh kebab and mater paneer

ALL the main dishes were soo spicy! We informed the waiter who was serving us but he just shrugged…
We paid and reyurned home without eating much
Also we got serevd tandoori roti instead of the naan we had ordered
May be a one time thing but I will go to Great India next time I want to eat Indian in the City

by Kara I.
27th June 2011

Went to Tulsi for lunch on Sunday.

First of all don’t bother with the softdrinks – postmix, flat and syrupy.

My husband’s butter chicken was great, however my tikka masala was possibly the worst I’ve ever had. Chewy chicken with a bland mass produced tasting sauce. I could have made better from out of a jar at home.

Garlic naan fluffy and delicious. Service efficient but abrupt.

If you want great Indian in Wellington you can’t beat Planet Spice in Newtown. In central city there are a number of places (Great India, Little India) that I would go before I would return here.

by Greg M.
31st May 2011

Went here on Friday night, and it was busy. There was a voucher available on the Internet that day which may have contributed. While it’s good Kiwi nature to “shoot down” someone who is doing well (Tulsi is a big brand in Wellington) and I had heard the comment that Tulsi is a commercial Indian restaurant and is average, I enjoyed the experience. I ordered a dish with both Lamb, chicken and vegetables to differ from my norm (sacrilege to most curry eaters, I love the taste of Butter Chicken, but now-a-days order Vindaloo). When asked how the meal was, I passed comment that I felt there was not enough meat. Promptly the waiter (Manager?) asked what curry I had, with which I couldn’t’ remember and said “No problem, I’ll get you some more.” He appeared moments later with more lamb, but a different curry. It was Rogan Josh, which I had not tried before and was delicious. The service was great and the result to the “suggestion” there was not enough meat in my dish was sorted very well. As per the 3 stars I give Tulsi – it was A-Ok.

by lins
9th January 2011

I love the food at tulsi. I will recommend Tulsi at Miramar than the one in Cuba St. Bcz its always quiet there. Especially when we have kids with us. I celebrated my lil one’s bday party at Tulsi and food was good. We got great service. We didn’t pay for the party hall. It comes free. Only thing i didnt like in the party was that i expected that they ll arrange food in a buffet style. But it came out in small small portions. But it was okkk…

by Mark R.
5th December 2010

Went there with workmates at lunch.

Got a massive plate of naan – yes! Could have been given a bigger dish of rice. My butter chicken was great. Drink service was average.

The service was slow. I thought with it being a lunchtime they’d understand the importance of getting people out fast. They didn’t.

The most uncomfortable chairs I’ve ever sat in in a restaurant.

All in all a very average meal and not somewhere I’d return to. There are many good Indian restaurants in town where the service is better.

by DeathRiderDoom
20th September 2010

One of the most overrated and underservingly popular Indian joints in Welling-town. I haven’t been here in ages since my first and only Tulsi experience. Upon arrival with a small group of friends (one of whom is Malaysian Indian), we were given the condescending greeting “Hello boys, 4 buttered chickens?” and seated. My korma came garnished with curly black hairs, and when i mentioned this to the waiter he made no apology, and when i asked him to take it back, he reluctantly did so, and mostl likely brought the same plate out, this time, the plate had another hair on it. Again, the waiter/Maitre D wasn’t apologetic, and brought back a replacement (likely just the same plate again), finally with no hair. The food was average, certainly not the bouquet of bursting flavour one can experience at Masala or Great India, and i wasn’t offered a refund.

A lame restuarant, which frankly doesn’t deserve all the attention it gets – granted, most of the patrons are likely out-of-towners, or those with no idea about a good eating out experience – it’s an Indian eatery for idiots. Hit one of the competing Indian places instead, particularly Masala and thank yourself lucky they value their customers a bit more.

by Jessie S.
6th April 2010

As far as take-out goes, this place is terrible. The staff are rude, cannot understand what I am ordering and make the whole experience quite unpleasant. In saying that, the food is alright.

by Katie A.
3rd April 2010

I have been to Tulsi a few times now. I must say it is not extraordinary but good enough to keep visiting. I enjoy my lunch at Tulsi – Cuba Street once in a while. Definitely great price and food is simple and flavorsome. The staff are very polite and attentive. And I will be back again for lunch next week… Thanks guys!

by Sian
28th February 2010

Good prices, and polite service. I had the tikka masala, which I recommend, and my friends ordered a top notch butter chicken and a flavoursom saag panneer.

by Lucy
29th December 2009

I love this place.
The people there are really friendly and have a tendency to remember faces so you can just walk in and have them already know what you’ll be ordering.
The garlic naan bread is delicious and worth paying an extra dollar for.

by Charlotte
7th October 2008

Tulsi is fantastic. The food is great, the service is friendly, and I have enjoyed myself every time I have eaten there. Whether in a big or small group Tulsi is awesome!

by Chris
6th October 2008

I enjoyed the tasty food.
It was reasonably priced.
The authentic Indians who run the show are kind and generous, and never once asked our group to settle. As a result, we had a whale of a time!
I like the BYO wine factor too, I think that’s good.

by Liz
6th October 2008

Great food, friendly staff and a fun atmosphere.
Thanks Monty and V.J.!

by Ellie Stewart
5th October 2008

Tulsi is a fantastic place to have a meal and a few drinks with any number of people. The staff are relaxed and friendly and the service is consistently prompt. The wide variety of tasyy vegetarian dishes was fantastic. Excellent if you want to take a large group and bring your own wine.

by Pierce
4th October 2008

Tulsi really is a great environment for an enjoyable meal.

The service we received was superb and well catered to the needs of our group.

The atmosphere of the restaurant provided ideal for a group setting, and proved reasonably priced for a group of students.

Will most definitely be returning

by Diner
14th June 2008

Pretty average curries – plenty of sauce not much meat. Were asked if we wanted a entree platter for the table which we got, when we went to pay we were charged for 3 platters (we thought it was 1 platter split as we were at long table) and charged for a serve of poppadoms per person which we also thought was part of the platter. Wont be going back.

by star
26th May 2008

Tulsi is absolutley breath taking, the restaurant is perfect for any occassion, large groups (which you can hire the downstairs room) or just ask for a large table. it’s great for casual dinners, and then a great place to catch up with mates.

The food is without a doubt the best indian in wellington, i recommend eveyone to it.
Monty and the guys there are really friendly and always make sure you’re 110% satisfied.

by Dave
6th April 2008

I noticed that the restaurant won an award for the best Butter Chicken in Wellington. It was well deserved as it was excellent.
However…our waiter asked if we would like poppadoms, free at most Indian restaurants, and we naively assumed this would true here. We were somewhat shocked to find that 4 podpadoms cost $19, with unasked for accompaniments. To make matters worse they had increased the portion size, again unasked for, of a Tandoori Combo and increased the bill by a further $9.
We came away with mixed emotions, an excellent meal, but spoilt with a feeling of being totally ripped off.

Write Review