4550 Miles From Delhi

I have been taken to this place four times over the past three months. Friends and colleagues have been quite enthusiastic about the place, but I have to admit that I do not share their enthusiasm. Yes, the food was OK, but overall I felt a bit underwhelmed. This might have to do with the - in my view - rather sterile atmosphere, which felt a bit like a fancy chain pub rather than an authentic restaurant that puts food first. If I had a choice to eat Indian in west Oxford again, I would probably go to one of the cheaper local alternatives where the food is more interesting. But as I said, that's just my personal preference.

sprouts (DI User), 02/03/12

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I had a meal with my family here last night. Service 10/10. Ambience 8/10 (a bit quiet). Food 7/10 in comparison to others.

Edmund (Unverified), 26/03/11

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I went in for a solo supper recently and although I only had a starter I have to say it really was excellent. I had intended to have a main course but the chicken shashlik starter I was served was ample enough! The large chunks of chicken, peppers and onions were all beautifully seasoned and the dish was quite spicy which I particularly enjoyed. My parents have eaten here before and my mother found that most of the food was too spicy for her tastes (she is slightly pathetic when it comes to heat!) but if the shashlik is anything to go by, I imagine their food is actually quite fiery! Certainly not a problem in my opinion and I thought how nice it was to enjoy Indian food that was fresh, tasty and appropriately seasoned. I shall be going back!

Dr Mukti (DI User), 24/03/11

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I had dinner here a couple of months ago and in one word it was awesome! The menu, service and food were fantastic.

UVI (Unverified), 05/08/10

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Excellent service, and actually real north Indian restaurant (as opposed to british bangla 'Indian' which is the staple of Oxford curry houses).The staff were great: quick and very attentive on a busy Saturday night. The food was delicious, in generous quantities. Had the malai kofta and the baingan (eggplant), which tasted as good as mum's. Our waiter was even actually from Delhi.

As for the critics below, if a standard british indian curry house is what you want, then maybe this isn't the place for you - at this place, the food wasn't greasy, the ingredients were fresh and the flavours authentic. And the other curry houses are cheaper for a reason - the food here is worth the small premium. We'll definitely be coming back.

Asha (Unverified), 05/04/10

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This was my third visit here and each time the standards seem to have slipped. My girlfriend and I were shown to our table which was half made: one napkin, and the cutlery was literally in two heaps. My girlfriend had two main course knives as opposed to a starter and main course.

We ordered popadoms, which came quite promptly; however, about a third of them seemed to be soft. I told the waiter this but he seemed oblivious to my concerns. We had ordered a bottle of white wine which came in an ice bucket, however the wine glasses (along with the water ones) were just out of the washer and still very warm. When we told the waiter this, he did go and get some ice and swirl them round in the glass but failed to dry it out afterwards.

The main course arrived and I thought it was very tasty, so no complaints there. I went to the bathroom and it felt as though I was walking through a half empty bar, so many empty tables still had napkins, glasses and empty bottles of beer on them.

After this experience, and with such a wide choice of curry houses in Oxford, I won't be back - which is a shame, as it had quite a lot of potential. After my first visit I was telling people to go there; now I'm telling them to go elsewhere!

Steve (Unverified), 18/01/10

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A group of friends and I (10 people in total) went to 4550 to celebrate a birthday, while the staff and surroundings were lovely I must say the food wasn't up to scratch.

We had to remind the staff several times for our drinks order, which arrived after 4 attempts. In the end we went directly to the bar to order (and wait for) future drinks. The staff however were lovely, and the restaurant was full the day we went so we could appreciate that they were rushed off their feet.

The food itself was quite pricey, expecially for the small portions served. The mixed grill starter was £15! I agree with RubyW in that the dishes were all far too spicy and the mild dishes were not as described. I tried a couple of other dishes and all the curries tasted pretty much the same, which was disappointing.

If they weren't so busy I think the service would have been better. They did give us a complimentary bithday cake complete with sparklers and candles - so they do get which extra brownie points for that!

30/11/09

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You will not taste anything better this side of India, great food, lovely people & the lunch time buffet at a set price of £7.95 is just giving it away. 5 star Indian restaurant at last in Oxford. It's a must go!

DCG Oxford (Unverified), 28/10/09

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Absolutely superb! Poppadoms were served without delay. Mixed grill starters are fantastic! All mains were very tasty. Slightly pricey, but no more so than other town-centre restaurants.

The only fault was the air-conditioning. We were sat near the kitchen end and it became quite hot once the chefs were turning out the dishes.

Jacko (Unverified), 28/08/09

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I went here about a month ago with a group of friends, rubyw included. She's pretty much nailed it with her review so I won't repeat. All I will add is that the water eventually came because I went to the bar to collect it after ask number three, which shamed the manager into making sure it was brought over straight away.

While the veggie starters were quite tasty, I've had better lamb dansaks from my local takeaway. The "sour" element was wholly missing and it occurred to me at the time that this was Indian food for people who don't know any better. The inclusion of a chilli and cheese naan bread on the menu reinforced this idea, though I would also admit that this was the guilty pleasure of the meal!

As has also been noted in previous reviews, the staff seem indifferent to whether their customers are having a good experience and made no attempt to hide the fact that they found our requests for menus, water, prompt service, etc, extremely tiresome. The fact that we were clearly unhappy with the meal was not acknowledged and they were cheeky enough to try to add our friend's meal to the bill even though he didn't get to eat it. That said, they did adjust the bill when I pointed out that we would not be paying for it!

I would imagine that this place gets enough tourist trade to prevent them worrying about repeat business. Which is fine, because they won't be getting mine.

sandwoman (Unverified), 26/07/09

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I was feeling pretty aprehensive after reading some of the previous comments. However, four friends and I visited 4550 last Wednesday and had, what I would say is, the best curry in Oxford. Having lived in Leicester for four years, I consider myself a professional curryist and well qualified to make this statement.

Poppadoms were good - we had two plates between five people, each with four tasty dips. We then shared two tandoori mixed grills, (from the starter menu), which was absolutely delightful. These were followed by a myriad of marvelous mains, the names of which evade me right now..... except for the goan fish curry, which was exceptional. Some were spicy (as indicated in the menu), some were mild (yes - as indicated in the menu) but all were very good. Each dish may have been slightly smaller than your average curry house, but they were still perfectly adequate.

Service was good, although we had a slight wait between starters & mains (even though the restaurant was fairly empty). I had the feeling that they might struggle on a busier night.

All-in-all, highly recommended.

Cheddar (Unverified), 12/07/09

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I had the worst Indian meal of my life here last night.

Poppadoms, £1.45 per person!? You don't get enough to amount to one regular poppadom. I ordered a vegetarian main, forget the name, which tasted exactly like a tin of refried beans that you get to go with fajitas. I tasted 3 other meals on the table and was similarly unimpressed with those too. Even 'mild' meals were way too hot.

Other than the poor food, the service was pretty bad. First we were delivered 2 out of 7 menus and had to ask for another 5. Then we had to wait ages for the drink order. Then ages again for poppadoms to come, which when they did were not worth coming. Then we waited another age for the waiter to take our order. Starters came and were ok. By the time our mains came (approx 1 hour and 45 minutes after we arrived at the restaurant), I was tired and fed up. Then when it didn't taste very good, I just left it. We asked 3 times for a jug of water, which did eventually come. One of our party had to leave before his main came as he had to get his last bus home!

The other thing that bothered me was that I was so cold being in the direct line of the aircon unit that I had to sit with my coat on.

Pretty dreadful in all respects really, would not go again nor recommend to anyone.

rubyw (Unverified), 22/06/09

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I have been here several times and the food is always very good. It is slightly more expensive than your average curry place but I am never dissapointed.

19/03/09

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I've been there about 4 times and each and every single meal left me very satisfied.The house wine was great,the curry had just the right heat and the pappadums, I couldn't have enough of them. In fact it is my favourite indian restaurant, therefore I will definitely go there again.

cristina (Unverified), 26/12/08

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When I found out my work colleague's leaving meal was to be in this establishment my face dropped as I'd read the previous reviews and was very apprehensive. However our party of 10 had a very good meal here last night with only a slight issue re price.

Now this was a Tuesday evening, not the weekend, and so consequently the place was half empty. The litmus test for me with restaurants is how they do on a busy weekend night. Nonetheless the service was swift & courteous and the popadoms arrived quickly. Very nice they were too, as were the pickles, etc.

I had the lamb kebab for a starter which was excellent as was my Goan Fish Curry. Naan breads were good too. All other members of my party enjoyed the quantity of food and taste. There's no draught beer which is a shame and in my view the prices are about 15-20% higher for most starters and main courses compared to the rest of Oxford.

But on the whole it was a good experience with tasty food and we had a nice time. I'm still twitchy at the idea of going at a weekend but would go back again mid-week.

Ben (Unverified), 14/05/08

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Having read the two reviews, we decided to put our doubts on one side and visit 4550 Miles from Delhi. We really enjoy Indian food and were keen to put another venue through its paces.

We can't complain about the service - within 15 seconds of sitting down we were proffered menus and poppadums (twice!). The drinks were also promptly supplied, and the red wine was at exactly the right temperature.

I had a King Prawn Tawa main course - a reasonable number of King Prawns in a very intense, dry tomatoey sauce which was quite like eating tomato puree. Very gloopy, as the first review here says. I ate the prawns and left all the rest.

My friends had Kaalimurch Methiwala Murgh - chicken grilled in the tandoor with peppery fenugreek masala - and Balti lamb, which was apparently braised in a spicy masala. Both were very intense and dry - no sign of any gravy in the Balti, which is relatively traditional with this dish. The chicken was enjoyed for its tasty blend of spices - although the lack of sauce was a disappointment - and the lamb was pronounced reasonable but not by any means exceptional, and not a true Balti because of the lack of any sauce. We also had a couple of side dishes which again were very dry and we left some of each.

No-one asked if we enjoyed the meal, we were asked with an exasperated look if we could move our elbows from the table so they could clear our dishes - no comment about the volume of food left - and even when we gave a further signal by asking for the bill, with no coffees or desserts, there was no enquiry about whether we liked what we had. We thus felt insulted when we were presented with a bill with £8.95 of service already added.

In summary, the best Indian food tastes fresh and just prepared. This didn't. The best way to describe it was that the sauces had been overdried, and were therefore intense and overpowering.
We deducted the service from the bill, and tried quite hard to point out our disappointment to the Manager who seemed apologetic, but very unmoved. He said he would do better next time without seeing that, sadly for us, there would be no next time.

IgorStrav (DI User), 05/04/08

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Stylish but very disappointing.

4500 is very smart, no doubt about that. But the food...well. The plate of mixed poppadums is very much the in thing, but the chutneys were nowhere near the standard of Rasa which pioneered the approach. And the curries...hmm. The last reviewer said they would be a welcome change from "stuff in sauce" but sadly no. There's nothing that different on the menu. Lamb Saagwala was meat in green gloop, probably frozen spinach as there was no trace of it being made from anything with leaves. Chicken Bamisaal was meat in orange gloop. Tasty gloop, but gloop nonetheless. The choice of veg dishes was dull although the tarka dhal was quite good. For twice the price of other Oxford curry houses it just doesn't deliver what it should.

Uncle Gareth (Unverified), 31/03/08

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It's clear these guys wanted to get a contemporary look going with lots of dark wood and mirrors giving a sense of spaciousness inside, although this might also be because I've never been there when it's been anywhere near capacity. Check out the open kitchen at the back where all the action happens and the funky Oxford/Delhi map as you come in.

The waiting service has not always been prompt ( which seems strange given how many staff seem to be on the floor), but the turnaround from the kitchen has often been very quick.

As for the menu, it's a welcome change from the Oxford curryhouse 'stuff in red or yellow generic sauce' syndrome. In fact everything I've had has tasted fresh and has been well prepared and presented. Useful to some will be the chilli heat symbols for each dish although we have found all the dishes to be pleasantly on the hot side. There are some catastrophes on the menu ( Peshwari naan with Glace cherries anyone?) and the popadoms always seem to come with at least one very odd dip but otherwise the food has been excellent.

However, I still can't make up my mind about this place. It may be that the portions are a little on the titchy side or that the prices seem just a bit high but each time I've come away feeling a tad disappointed. On the other hand it's good to see an Oxford Indian making more of an effort.

Dharmadrama (Unverified), 02/11/07

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