Cookson Spice - County Durham

First visit here for a work do. Not particularly busy for a Saturday night, but we were well looked after by the staff here. The food was excellent, generous portion sizes and all 10 if us were served at pretty much the same time despite many different choices from a plentiful menu, and good value for money, approx £25 a head for starter, main, rice and naan. There is currently no Alcohol licence here, but you are welcome to bring your own. Sadly the card machine was out of order when we visited, it may be worth carrying cash. Would eat here again

Absolutely love this place, you'll find meals that you don't see in a lot of other places, and they're beautiful. Full of flavour and the right spices. The service is second to none, especially from the owner who makes a point of going around to every table. They don't serve alcohol but you can take your own in, which I think is a plus, especially if you want to keep the cost of the meal down. Best curry I've had.

Food is amazing! Genuinely cannot recommend highly enough, the food is unreal. The staff are very welcoming and very helpful if you have any questions. Food comes out as soon as it's ready so it is very fresh and often sizzling. And it's more than just the standard Indian fare, there are dozens house specialities which are varied and all I've tried have been excellent. There's also a wide selection of fish based food for those who fancy that. Phenomenal food, legitimately the best Indian meal I've ever had was from this restaurant.

Had a table booked tonight for my partner's birthday, we were really excited to try Cookson Spice! Booked on the website beforehand and sent two Facebook messages asking what the drinks situation was as they now offer bring your drinks in according to the website. Both of these messages were responded to really poorly and my questions weren't answered. Turned up tonight for dinner and the business is closed. Google shows it as open. Booking never progressed past pending, nobody on Facebook messenger questioned that I had a booking this evening when I mentioned it. Website well out of date by the looks of it. Completely gutted. Went to Le Raaj instead which was 5/5. Don't turn up here, it's probably closed. No sign on door, no answer on phone. Devastating as heard great things from friends in the past.

Fantastic food but had to wait 40 minutes longer than the advised pick up time with no apology or explanation from staff! Clearly took too many orders than they were able to cope with! Happy to help out businesses like this during the pandemic but you can't treat customers like this! Really could not fault the food but will not be returning due to very poor service! Need to improve!!