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“Worst service I have encountered in Boston/Cambridge”
Review of The Helmand

The Helmand
Reserve a table
2
Tue, 3/19
20:00
OR
Get food delivered
Ranked #13 of 560 Restaurants in Cambridge
Price range: £16 - £24
Cuisines: Middle Eastern
More restaurant details
Restaurant details
Good for: Business meetings, Groups, Special Occasion Dining, Romantic
Dining options: Dinner, Reservations
Reviewed 10 October 2016

My colleagues took me to Helmand as they had heard great reviews about the food - and the reviews were not wrong, the vegetarian food was delicious. My meat lover friends were pretty disappointed with their entrees though. The orders were incorrect for the most part - the meat was either undercooked over overcooked and not as requested by the guest.

Then why the 1 star you wonder? Good food needs to be accompanied by good service otherwise the entire experience is dampened! The minute you walk in, they treat you like shoplifters and ask you to check in your bags with the hostess - it isn't even an offer - it is mandatory!

It was a weekday, and we were a large party - 14 people. We had 2 guests RSVP at the last minute (a given with large parties). When we requested the host to add another small table as our assigned table was already too small for 14 and would not fit 16,we were told that the boss would not allow it. Furthermore,we were told that he was already upset that 3 large parties had been booked for the evening. (since when do small business owners not welcome more business?!) Then the boss came and talked to us and said that it would be a fire hazard to add another table - thats the first time I have heard of that excuse. And let me tell you, we don't buy it! Restaurants are always able to accommodate 1 or 2 extra guests for large parties - especially when there were many empty tables through the course of our meal. Not just that, when we requested some bread (they usually serve free bread in the beginning), we received a rather curt response - they told us that they did not serve bread unless the guests had ordered food....?? Why would we make a reservation for 14 people if we just wanted to come sit and enjoy their 'cold' hospitality.

Of course the servers were consistent with the awful service as well - when our server came to take our order, we were discussing what we wanted and he stood there letting out exasperated sighs and curtly said that he would come back later.
We may sound like a n unforgiving party at first, but a series of bad experiences in the same night warrants for a no-go the next time on! Never going there again - unless I hear that they are under new management and have hired well trained, courteous staff!

Date of visit: September 2016
    • Value
    • Service
    • Food
Thank Kimaya A
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviews (475)
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115 - 119 of 475 reviews

Reviewed 7 September 2016

Vegetarian with a strong pallet! Yes, not easy to please my family. But our experience was excellent from start to finish. Lots of vegetarian options in Appetizers and Entree. Kaddo was outstanding as an appetizer. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of that. Had ordered 4 entrees and all were outstanding. This was for a group of 8 hungry folks. Desserts...writing about it makes me hungry. Loved each of them (Our Cake,Bucklawa and Feereney)

Date of visit: August 2016
    • Value
    • Service
    • Food
Thank travelerck
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 23 August 2016 via mobile

If you are in Boston visiting or live around, this is a must try. Great authentic food specially their lamb dishes. On the favorite list.

Date of visit: August 2016
Thank Lahir9999
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 23 August 2016

Three of us went here for dinner. Two among us vegetarians. There are some good vegetarian options and all were tasty. I ordered chicken kebabs and were disappointed. Typical middle eastern kebabs are small pieces grilled over charcoal or gas to create a crispy outside with a moist inside. The way they made it here was large pieces with grill marks but no grill flavor and pink inside. If I go here again, I would stick to the vegetarian options and not the chicken. Wines are reasonably priced.

Date of visit: August 2016
Thank Mina50952
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 21 August 2016 via mobile

Our son-in-law introduced us to this restaurant several years ago and we went back in a smaller group. The Aushak comes with only a little of the spicy mint sauce, and the pumpkin kallow is so sweet it seems more like a dessert-- no balancing spicy bite. But it is friendly, cozy, and the bread is made right before you--!i'm hoping that in August they were not on the top of their game on a weeknight--we'll still go back.

Date of visit: August 2016
Thank Cynthiared
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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