Review Spice Hut Indian Cuisine. - Ladysmith

Absolutely wonderful food and amazing service. Ample parking and great views. Ocean views across through the seating area and ocean view patio. Very friendly service and good atmosphere. Tried yellow lentils and Palak paneer dish with Naan. Will definitely visit again.

Their curries are awesome, especially if you get it a bit more hot. The service however is really lacking, the manager (I think) really seems like she doesn’t want to be there and is always miserable. We get take out now. Win win ;)

Used to come here all the time, but I won’t be anymore. This place treats their staff terribly and it is very unfortunate. They fired my favourite server who has worked there for 6+ years for contracting COVID-19 and needing time off, and they didn’t give her any explanation. She worked very hard in making Spice hut a great experience for all customers and was loyal to providing great service. They do not care about their staff; please reconsider supporting this business.

Best Indian Restaurant on Vancouver Island. Must try lamb masala & karahi paneer. They also have good spice hut combo specials.

I am super impressed! To begin with Lisa and Shivam went out of there way to serve us chai tea. They did not receive the delivery so were out of milk but they offered to go and buy some special milk only for us. I could not believe that someone could went so up and beyond to accommodate clients. Not to mention the food was great. Every bite was full of flavour. The Manager should definitely recognize these people and morning chefs♥️

Great food, iffy staff, get take out. The person at the front who we paid an who gave us our take out was nasty!! Yikes!! She was in her 50s and I'm guessing she might have been an owner as I can't imagine anyone keeping such an unpleasant person on staff. So grab your food and run!

Very friendly staff and nice atmosphere. Food portions were reasonable and they have real tandoor cooked naan. While the food was tasty, the flavour was sub-par compared to what I'm used to in Victoria and Brampton. Also it kills me when the staff of an Indian food restaurant call their naan "nan" (it's pronounced "nawn").

For years I've bragged that this was the best Indian food on the island to anyone that would ask. It's been a year since I've been but last night we happened to be driving through so I ordered takeout. Very disappointing. The biryani was very dry, which it's suppose to be somewhat, but was unusually dry. In the entire dish there was 4 little cubes of beef. No exaggeration...when I order from Heritage in Nanaimo or even Manvirros it's loaded. The pakoras used to be really good here but this is the first time we've ever had 1 each and stopped. So incredibly dry and stuffed with way to much batter. Wifes butter chicken was good. Prices are still reasonable, but...I hope that was somehow an off night cause I can't recommend this place anymore if that's now the norm.

I love it!!<br/><br/>Vegan Option: Yes<br/><br/>I am incredibly picky about indian food but I visited Spice Hut recently with my family and I was not let down.I do not like mild curries! I was dying for a more authentic Indian cuisine experience on Vancouver Island and I found it. We ordered all the vegetarian dishes and each one was spiced differently. The spices used were fresh and fragrant and you could really tell there was a distinct difference between the spices used in each dish. I've been to many great (and terrible) Indian restaurants when I lived in Vancouver and this definitely compares to some of the best. It is spicy and delicious! Best Indian food I have had on Vancouver Island for sure. I'll be back again next week!

UP - Butter chicken, rice and naan was spot on. Fresh and boasting with flavor.<br/><br/>DOWN - Prices aren't too bad, but I feel the portions are on the small side.<br/><br/>OUT - We phoned in and got our food to go. I wouldn't mind sampling some starters next time as I wasn't completely full after my meal, but the quality was great.

EDIT: This is the last time I'll be dining in. What a shambles!!! The service was SO bad!!! Also I noticed that the ladies washrooms don't have sanitary bins. Our server was rude, disinterested, barely looked up from the iPad to actually engage us, she was confused and just overall not friendly. Not impressed, I'll stick to take out.<br/><br/><br/>Being from the UK I know my Indian food quite well and have tried tons of Indian restaurants in different countries and cities... When I heard of the spice hut I was unsure because it's a chain. I was pleasantly surprised.<br/>We ordered two chicken korma, one mild for my kids and one medium for me as well as chicken tikka masala for my husband. We decided on these basics curries as they are pretty hard to mess up so we went with these first. <br/>We also ordered papadums and naans. <br/><br/>There was only one choice of rice on the menu which is really disappointing and some of it was clumpy and slightly dry. Not a good start. The meat and sauces though were very good, especially the korma. I've struggled to find one similar tasting to the Indian food in England (which is incredible) but this came close. The papadums were a joke, small and very expensive and any chutneys and sauces were extra. I've never seen this and it ended up making for a really expensive meal. The naan breads though were great! We tried the garlic and coconut honey. Both were big and delicious, definitely worth it. You get plenty of food so you could easily share one meal between 2 people or at least have lots of leftovers for lunch the next day.<br/><br/>The service was also very good, we weren't rushed and the server was helpful, courteous and just generally very nice and welcoming. Will definitely come back and try some different dishes.

Food was very good, service was fine, VERY pricy for what you get have never had to pay for naan bread and rice anywhere else it usually comes with the meal and you pay extra if you want more. Chai tea was tasteless tasted like regular tea with milk.

We will be back.. We went to the Spice Hut with my in laws for dinner. We all love Indian food and have even to several good restaurants in Surrey and Vancouver for Indian food. <br/>We where not disappointed. The lamb masala was the highlight of our meal. Moist, tender, with just a hint of heat. The lamb curry and the beef kabobs where also very good. The plain and garlic naan where delicious.<br/>I found portion size to be typical of Indian restaurants and was more than enough for the 4 and 1/2 that where eating. We all left ver full and satisfied.<br/>Our waitress was attentive and helpful. She brought my 4 yr old a colouring book and crayons as soon as we sat down. When I spilled chicken curry on my shirt, right at the end of our meal, she brought me a clean cloth and a bowl of soda water to prevent any stains.<br/>We will definitely be eating here again.<br/>As to people previous comments about the rice and naan needing to be order on top of the main dishes. That's how Indian food I usually done. It's family style. You order your mains, the type of rice and or bread you like.<br/>They do have a few combos for those eating on their own.

Ok food, pathetic service!. We went to the Spice hut for a family dinner, and while the prices were ok, the food was no more than acceptable - Very lacking in the depth of flavor that you will find at other Indian restaurants on the Island. The service however, was absolutely the worst I have experience for quite a while! We were coolly welcomed at the door by the host when we arrived, and our waitress was just plain miserable. She hardly spoke a word, just looking at us when it was our turn to state our order. After our food arrived, she never came back to check in on how it was, check our drinks or anything! <br/>Other than the bad, bad, bad service, the barely ok food, the décor was very stark. Definitely needs some character/art and noise/echo damping treatments to help make the dining experience more pleasant.<br/>At least the salvaged, old wood floors were nice!

I love Spice Hut!. I travel up and down the island regularly, from Victoria to the tip of the island and usually eat at Spice Hut in Campbell River. Yesterday, I tried the Ladysmith location for take out on my way back down island and was not surprised. The food is as great there as it is in Campbell River. *hint* - a "tip jar" for take out orders couldn't hurt. I wish there were more locations. I would likely be a weekly customer if there were a location in Victoria or Duncan.

Food is good. The food is good, but like others, I wonder why Naan and rice do not come with the dishes? An Indian type salad would also be a bonus. The Italian dressing is also a mystery?? Twice I have been and it is okay.<br/>It is pricey, so I ordered a Keema Naan $6.99 (stuffed Naan) which was good and filling for lunch. <br/><br/>The decor is lacking. Surely it would be easy to hang sarongs over the brick at the unused bar. <br/>The wine is too warm as it is not kept at the correct temperature.

Went for lunch.... The service was nice, the food was very good, but the prices very high in comparison to other places and for what is recieved....the portions were not generous. Naan and rice is not included (thus, 16.99 for fish curry needs rice ordered). We had to order a second rice as the rice portion was small. That's the first time I've ever had to order extra rice at an Indian meal. It was the second most expensive lunch I've ever had and there was one bite left, so not much to take out. They need an authentic katchumber salad on the menu as there are no fresh or fermented items on the menu.

Have been there a couple of times for lunch. Always great food. Huge portion sizes and great staff. Have never had a complaint. I recommend this restaurant to everyone.

Confused. We recently went into the Spice Hut in Ladysmith on a very busy Friday night with a couple of our friends. As always, the food was absolutely amazing and the servers were too, well.. all except for ours. The tables around us seemed to have two of the young waitresses, while we were stuck with an older lady. We were sat in the centre, right next to the bar and the amazingly authentic East Indian music.The hostess, sat us with a smile, and then our waitress came over, frown on her face, and took our drink orders, although she was very quick, there was something slightly off. Every time she came by she looked confused and disconnected. This was the first time we had this this lady as our server, but not the first for our friends. They were right, we should have requested another section. We had never noticed this before, but our friends told us that every time they come in they see her scolding the other young ladies, who seemed to be doing a good job.<br/>I would like to say though, that in the end we will ALWAYS come back. The waitress are generally tentative, happy, and ready to answer our questions. The food, as always is amazing. I always get the butter chicken, and the chicken is always tender and surrounded by the creamiest butter sauce I have ever had. I will always recommend the Ladysmith Spice Hut.

Dissappointed!. First time ordering and the food was excellent. Authentic Tandoori chicken dinner with rice and salad. Second time ordering the same dinner and it was pieces of grilled chicken (sauce as a side) with cheap white rice and soggy salad. I never had tandoori chicken served this way. The meal was something I could of made at home much cheaper and with better ingredients. Sorry Spice Hut but I won't be back.

Some improvements needed. The dining experience started poorly. I had reserved a table for a friend and myself earlier in the day; when we arrived at the restaurant, the welcome was unenthusiastic, and we were led to a poorly-lit table in a dark corner. I asked the waitress to find us another table, and she disappeared for a sufficiently long time that my companion and I decided to leave and go to Timberlands Pub, which provides an excellent curry at an economical price. When we left the building we were followed out by the manager, who promised to get us a table with better lighting, and we agreed to be seated in a better location. The Spice Hut menu is extensive, and food is offered in various levels of spiciness. The dishes served were tasty, but the portions were small, and I have never before been required to pay extra for rice and naan in an Indian restaurant. On a positive note, our server was excellent—pleasant and attentive. Would we return to The Spice Hut? Probably not. Timberlands offers a better curry (and other foods) in more plentiful and more attractive servings, at a better price, with the additional bonus that there are no screaming babies in the pub. My rating: 2 out of 5.

Food was tasty.....not amazing....have had much better in Victoria, but it did the trick. Service left something to be desired.

I was very impressed with this restaurant. The food was EXCELLENT!! The portions were generous. The service, however, was very slow!!! In their defense, the restaurant was packed at the time we went and none of the servers seemed to be slacking off. They all appeared to be going full speed. So perhaps they needed to add an extra server? Either way, it won't stop me from going back. And prices were definitely reasonable and comparable to most other Indian restaurants.

Great prices, incredible food. The meat was literally falling apart on my fork and the sauces were rich and diverse. Highly recommended!

The food is pretty good but I found it rather pricey.. $13.99 for butter chicken is fine but that's just sauce and meat you have to buy rice separate and naan separate which I think is silly, also what's with the clothes hanging on a rack at the entrance and I don't like walking in and being able to see the cook with a foul look on his face and see the dirty dishes it was just weird