Asha Balti House

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The Asha Balti House on Ocean Road brings an authentic taste of India to South Shields. Here they serve a taste bud tingling menu of curries, sundries and traditionally baked breads that will simply make your mouth water.

the asha does the best balti ever. served in karahi.3 strengths mild medium and hot. my absolute favourite.staff are always very attentive without being intrusive. try it you wont be disappointed.

best balti ever great staff go and see for yourself you will not be disappointed

I have used Asha Balti House for the past 10 years and can say it is well worth a visit. In those 10 years I can honestly say I have never had a bad meal or bad service. It offers great variety in food including English meals for the less adventurous. I only every order the Balti and especially love this as it is served in the traditional iron dish with amazing flavours. I have been to Asha Balti House with many different people who eat different things to me and they have also been very impressed with it. The restaurant is very clean, light and airy plus the meals are very well priced. The side door is also really good for disabled access with downstairs toilets. The staff are fantastic and always make you feel very welcome. There is not many restaurants with staff that will hold the door open for you and take your coats. Overall service is amazing. Just another quick mention for the management team they are all lovely and always make sure they approach your table to greet you and make sure you are happy with your meals. The asha is in my opinion the best Indian on Ocean Road. You will not be disappointed!

Agree...(forgive me i'm lazy)

Superb food, great atmosphere and the added assurance that hygiene is second to none


The only place in South Shields which serves the Balti In a traditional iron dish as it should be served, ok well it may not change the taste but it definitely changes the experience. I’ve been eating out on Ocean Road now for many years now and all the restaurants seem to have a descent quality of food my only real frustration was that the whether you go to the same restaurant or not the food always changes, I haven’t been to any other restaurant for over a year now and it seems that at the Asha you always know what you’re going to get, Superb mouth watering fusion of spices and not just hot chilli powder.
The atmosphere in the Asha is what you want it to be, if you prefer a private meal make sure that you grab one of their seating booths where you will be able to enjoy your food in privacy. When I persuaded the lads from my local rugby club to go down, I knew it wasn’t going to be a quiet night, so we asked to be seated in the function room which seems to be big enough for another restaurant itself. The decor is modern with hints of India to remind that you are in an Indian restaurant after all.

Much to my surprise whilst paying for the bill I noticed that they have an open viewing window to enable customers to see into their kitchen. The negative side is that the window is fairly small, however it serves its purpose by giving the customers confidence that the food is being prepared somewhere hygienic, or at least we know they have nothing to hide, if you do go to the Asha make sure you have a quick walk up to the window to see how things are done.

The staff are extremely pleasant, I’ve noticed that they always seem to be experienced gentlemen who you know you can trust. From the sitting you down and serving you drinks to helping you with your jackets before you leave. The staff do the best they can to make sure you have a pleasant

After visiting the Asha Balti House for lunch I was left rather frustrated, below I've listed the positives and negatives of the experience:

Positives:
-Nice restaurant setting, comfortable seating and a generally good quality feel in terms of furnishings.
-Generally satisfactory food.

Negatives:
-Unpleasant staff, we arrived at 2.10 pm, (unaware last orders are taken at 2.30pm). We were told we could take a table but upon placing our order the waiter was less than pleasant, he informed us we could only have one course because he wanted to close at 2.30pm, in hindsight we should have left at this point.

-The waiters kept passing by, very much giving the impression they wanted us to leave, not once did they stop and ask if we required anything or whether the food was to our satisfaction.

-The waiter came and took my plate away without even asking, whilst my partner was still eating! - Disgusting.

-And WORSE, after having rushed us through our meal and given us a very negative experience, at 2.25pm the waiter seated a further two customers!

Minor Problems:

-We asked for poppadom and pickles, we were given just poppadoms.

-Our drinks order was messed up, Half a pint of Carlsberg was brought to the table rather than a pint of shandy.

Overall:

The restaurant setting/environment was pleasant in terms of furnishings, although lacking music.

The food was adequate however the overall experience was terribly poor. There seem to be many other Indian restaurants on Ocean Road, I would suggest giving this one a miss.

Superb food, great atmosphere and the added assurance that hygiene is second to none


The only place in South Shields which serves the Balti In a traditional iron dish as it should be served, ok well it may not change the taste but it definitely changes the experience. I’ve been eating out on Ocean Road now for many years now and all the restaurants seem to have a descent quality of food my only real frustration was that the whether you go to the same restaurant or not the food always changes, I haven’t been to any other restaurant for over a year now and it seems that at the Asha you always know what you’re going to get, Superb mouth watering fusion of spices and not just hot chilli powder.
The atmosphere in the Asha is what you want it to be, if you prefer a private meal make sure that you grab one of their seating booths where you will be able to enjoy your food in privacy. When I persuaded the lads from my local rugby club to go down, I knew it wasn’t going to be a quiet night, so we asked to be seated in the function room which seems to be big enough for another restaurant itself. The decor is modern with hints of India to remind that you are in an Indian restaurant after all.

Much to my surprise whilst paying for the bill I noticed that they have an open viewing window to enable customers to see into their kitchen. The negative side is that the window is fairly small, however it serves its purpose by giving the customers confidence that the food is being prepared somewhere hygienic, or at least we know they have nothing to hide, if you do go to the Asha make sure you have a quick walk up to the window to see how things are done.

The staff are extremely pleasant, I’ve noticed that they always seem to be experienced gentlemen who you know you can trust. From the sitting you down and serving you drinks to helping you with your jackets before you leave. The staff do the best they can to make sure you have a pleasant experience.

A breathe of fresh air. Modern, stylish and one heck of a good curry.