Craven Kitchen

We booked a table at the Craven Kitchen for a meal this evening before going to see a band playing at the nearby Speakeasy bar in Skipton town center, following a Google search of good Indian restaurants in Skipton. Our favourite go to Indian restaurant in Skipton used to be the Aagrah, which started off life in the same building now occupied by the Craven Kitchen, before moving to a much larger building near the canal and sadly closing a couple of years ago, forcing us to go to their Shipley branch for our favourite curries. Although we arrived on time for our 6:30pm reservation we had to wait for 10 minutes in the small waiting area in front of the small bar for our table and during our wait we weren't offered any drinks from the bar nor menus to look at. After being seated at our table it took 10 mins for our order to be taken and another 45 mins for our starters to be eventually served at 7:35pm after chasing twice - a full 1 hour & 5 mins after we arrived!! The small 44 seat restaurant was full on a very busy Saturday evening and there was a steady stream of customers coming in to collect their takeaway orders, however, it was totally unacceptable to have to wait so long for our food to be served. Our starter of the mixed meat platter to share when it eventually arrived was delicious with plenty of grilled chicken tikka, fish, lamb chops and sheek kebabs with tasty onions on a sizzling platter. There was about a 15 min wait after we finished our starters before we were served our main courses. I had the Chicken Zafrani (firey hot, cooked with bay leaf, cinnamon green chilli, tomato, spring onion, coriander & pepper), my wife had the Nazrang Kamb Nazeez (strips of succulent tender lamb marinated with a hint of chilli, lime juice, then simmered with bay leaf with pepper medium), and we shared a boiled rice and 3 chapattis. The food was very tasty and we enjoyed the meal but not the long wait. My wife had 3 bottles of Tiger beer, I had 1/2 pint of draught Kingfisher beer and the total bill came to a reasonable £52.10. We requested a jug of water when we initially ordered our drinks and had to chase for it 3 times before we finally got it, over 1 hour after ordering it! The restaurant is accessed via some steep steps at the front and there's a small male & a small female toilet but no disabled toilet, so I'm not sure if it's wheelchair accessible. There's a very small number of on street parking spaces outside the restaurant with a large paid car park nearby, next to the town's bus station. Although we enjoyed the food, the very long wait for our meal and poor service made it a very poor dinning experience on our 1st visit to the Craven Kitchen and as my wife quite correctly pointed out we could have driven to the Aagrah Shipley and back in the 65 mins we had to wait for our starters to be served! - we might give them another try again sometime in the future, perhaps during the week when they should hopefully be a lot quieter and can provide a better service.

In Skipton for a few days this week and, unexpectedly (my partner is not big on spicy foods), popped in to the Craven Kitchen for a curry. Quiet night atmosphere wise, but we had a really lovely meal. Food great and service from AJ (or is it Ajay) and his colleagues was first-class - he even "dumbed down" the spice level for my partner and recommended a "typical" Bengali dish for me. Great stuff - would go again and would recommend.

Popped in with a group of 15. The staff were friendly and got us seated without much hassle, which was appreciated. Unfortunately, the food was fairly average — decent enough, but nothing that really stood out. Portion sizes were small for the price, especially the curries, which didn’t stretch far at all. That said, there’s not a huge amount of choice curry-wise in Skipton, so it does the job if you’re in town and craving something spicy. Just don’t go in expecting generous portions or standout flavours.

I was visiting a friend and her partner in Skipton and we decided to collect a curry from Craven Kitchen due to having good reviews. I ordered the chicken jalfrezi and my two friends had the King Prawn Masala. It tasted ok. I went to bed and later that night, I woke up with stomach pains and bile in my mouth. I ran to the toilet and vomited. All of the curry came up. The same night, my friend was vomiting as well as her partner later on. I have had diarrhea for almost 3 days and cannot stand the thought of eating another curry again. My friend emailed them to complain, but was brushed off saying they follow the "strictest of hygiene standards". Clearly not. They accepted no responsibility for all three of us being so ill, after eating their food. Their response has angered me to leave this bad review, which I never do. I will never use Craven Kitchen again.

This is our go to place. Food is great and the staff are fantastic. Our visit today was for my daughter’s birthday and after a tasty meal they brought her a cake with sparkler on top. This was done by the staff without us asking and we thought it was a loverly gesture. We would recommend a visit and we are definitely returning. Thank you to everyone at craven kitchen.