"The Raba Indian restaurant. 26 Commercial Road, Lerwick Shetland. Tel:01595 695585. Date of visit, 19th September 2023. A recent fishing trip to the Shetland isles and the very interesting town of Lerwick, I discovered the 40 or so seater, comfortable clean, Raba Indian Restaurant. On Commercial Road. Lerwick is not overrun with Indian restaurants, it has three that I know of. The Raba, the Excellent Gurkha Kitchen, and the Cinnamon. All within a five-minute walk of each other. I had been to the Island of Yell and stayed at the rather bleak area of Cullivoe where both the fishing and the Weather had been less than kind. And I was in a real need of my curry fix. So, after rushing back to Lerwick in order to sample the only Indian that is SUPPOSED to open from 12 noon until 1400 hours! Two of us arrived at twenty minutes past 1.00 pm only to be told that they were in fact closed, “Close at two” the chap said, “we close at two”! I replied, “Yes, but it is only twenty minutes past one pm!” Yes, but closed, closed at two!” take out only! I argued that I had come a long way to sample this establishment and as I could see that there was in fact two other people sat in the restaurant, I was getting a bit annoyed to say the least! So eventually the waiter, who told me his name was Abdul, relented a little and said, “Main meal only” So, with a sigh of relief we entered the restaurant. And a menu was presented from which we chose two main dishes, a Chicken Tika Masala and a Chicken Madras, Pilau rice and a peshwari Naan. The waiter hurried off at breakneck speed to return a few minutes later enquiring if we wanted a drink. So, a pint of draft Cobra was ordered and arrived pretty quickly. I then proceeded to ask about a couple of popadom’s which seemed to hit a nerve with Abdul, but reluctantly agreed to bring some to the table but insisted that they arrive at the same time as the main meal! So, almost all at the same time, arrived the order, and to be fair, the chicken madras was one of the best that I have had for a very long time, almost going back to the early days in the old Taj Mahal, perfectly spiced, piping red hot, The Chicken Tika was sweet and perfectly put together, soft succulent chicken and a perfect Pilau rice. The Naan arrived a fraction later, a perfect soft layered flaky naan with a nice, sweet filling. Within a minute or so of receiving the meal, the bill was presented on the table!!! The time was ten minutes to two! So, what could have been a good memorable meal was totally ruined by the rather strange anticks of the staff! The food was really good, the establishment clean and comfortable. I then had to argue for a receipt which I was told to photograph! I don’t want a photograph; I want a hard copy! My advice to the staff of the Raba, if you don’t want to serve people at lunch time, don’t bother opening, and again to be fair Abdul was a well-mannered chap, and had spent most of the time glued to his mobile phone, but either, very poorly trained or being bullied from the kitchen. What should have been a really good end to our visit to Lerwick was totally spoiled! OK, Parking was easy and free, Price was £31.65 for the two meals and a pint of Cobra, so, excellent value . The food was 1st class, but that’s where it ends. Rating 4/10"
