After looking forward to eating at a "Masterchef" restaurant I couldn't have been more disappointed! Ambience and service was good, but the food was sub-standard to be kind! I have a penchant for curries and so can never resist trying a butter chicken or rogan josh if on a menu, well ... Deena's so-called "award winning" butter chicken is 2nd worst only to some arbitrary place at The Gateway in Umhlanga (the name of which I have shunned from memory). Tasteless, uninspired and nothing more than a poor attempt at a turmeric loaded chicken curry with zero authenticity!

After a few months of not knowing how to celebrate my boyfriends birthday - decided to go to Aarya on 19 April 2013 for dinner. Like everyone else, we follwed Masterchef from start to end. I'm not usually that good at planning surprises so didnt know how it would turn out. the weather was dreadful and we ended up sitting outside. We were welcomed by amazing staff (the front host was extremely professional and friendly)! There were warm fires going outside which was amazing. Starters - MUSSELS (memorable), Mains - Butter Chicken (stronger than I anticipated but delicious), Desert - Chocolate Mousse cake (best ever)! We got to spend time with Deena and he is such a humble soul and truly made our night special! We cannot wait to visit again! :)

Why doesn't Deena comment on the reviews? We went to the restaurant a few weeks ago and it was empty... and were refused service. We ate elsewhere. After dinner we walked past the restaurant.... and it was still... empty!!! The hostess and waitrons seem to have some sort of celebrity complex!?! Anyhoo... without even eating there, I'm already unimpressed. I am forced to give the 1 star rating... I can't give a star rating cos I haven't eaten there, to be fair.And if I had to give a star based purely on my experience with the staff, it does not even deserve 1 star!

If I could give Aarya minus stars, I would. I was truly disapointed with my food. I had the "award winning butter chicken" @ R135. What a rip off. Truly the worst butter chicken I have ever had. If Deena was the best from Master Chef, then the rest aren't even fit to work in the Drive-Thru of a fast food joint. I would have enjoyed taking my R800 and throwing it into an open fire more.

My friends and i were expecting to have "the time of our lives" combining Dirty Dancing and Deenas cooking. Well alas ..... DD was AMAZING ... Deena not so much!! What an absolute disappointment. I concur with all the previous comments .... decor dismal, food HORRIBLE, priced thru the roof. What more can i add? Not much xcept that if this is SAs Masterchef then the show had better stop - it is not finding gems but embarrassments to the culinary arts!

We had a great time. Food was tasty. Service was pleasant with a fresh approach. I will return any time. Well done - Keep it up and see you soon.

We visited the restaurant between Christmas and New Year. The food was fantastic, the service top notch and we really enjoyed our meals. My son, visiting from the States though it was the best chicken he had ever had, the Lamb Shank was out of this world and my daughter who had pasta, was very sorry that she could not finish it. This was real fresh home style cooking, not like other restaurants that just sells ready made products. We are so sick and tired of restaurants that just sell the same things, but Aarya was different. We had a great time and we have recommended it to many. It was really special for us to eat there!

well said mandy,many more like him

Don't be too hard on Deena, cooking in a kitchen and running a restaurant are two totally different things, and I blame the organisers of Master Chef for throwing him in at the deep end without proper training and obviously there is no back up support being offered. I have lived the nightmare of being a restaurant owner without proper training so this should reflect negatively on the Master Chef people, however Deena needs to be in attendance at his restaurant if he wants to make it a success and to respond to the negative comments. Ignoring your clientelle just makes things sprial out of control.

I watched MasterChef SA, and to this day I believe Deena should have never won. He has no enthusiasm to food he turns every dish into a curry dish and which "chef" orders well done steak? He adds masala and boom, a winner? No. I went to the restaurant a week ago and it was the worst dining experience to date, cold overcooked crunchy food. Disgusting. This place will close down soon, and best it does, the man has no cooking skill. Sorry boet but Manisha should have won, better talent.

Very Disappointed. Had the Night Out For Two special at Montecasino and opted for Aarya.Wife had the famous chicken curry which was really good (4 out of 5). I ordered the medium rare steak on a bed of rocket mash with cherry tomatoes and a pesto drizzle. What I got was a well done steak on a bed of what looked like baked beans with french fries and a pepper sauce. Manager was quick to try and rectify which resulted in a dish that was clearly improvised - cold steak on mash topped with fresh rocket, fresh tomatoes halved and placed on each corner of the plate. Meat drizzled with some strange sweet sauce and plate decorated with pesto sauce (1 out of 5). Dessert was strawberry and rhubarb creme brulee. There was a lot of water that had seperated out from the rhubarb which made the creme brulee look as if it had seperated out (2 out of 5).Manager was good and did provide a complimentary glass of wine but sorry Deena best you go back to the Master Kitchen and try again.

The other dissappointing reviews I have read here were spot on. We recently tried to get a booking and were also told that the restaurant was fully booked and we could not get a booking for three weeks. Nevertheless, we met our overseas visitors at Monte Casino to find another restaurant to go to. All the restaurants were very busy. Except for Aarya so we decided to go there, but we were still made to feel like we were lucky to get in. The food was ok, the service was poor. The staff well outnumbered the guests, so this was surprising. I think that someone needs to slap the people running this restaurant awake, a celebrity status restaurant does not guarantee success, and telling people the restaurant is fully booked only to find it empty by 20:30 while the Mugg & Bean and John Dorys are full will not get cash in the till. A great dissappointment given the pomp around this restaurant. I would not recommend it.

Worst dining experience ever. I'll be really surprised of this restaurant is around at the end of 2013 as no one who eats here will return. Slow service, incomplete and gross presentation of food and horrible decor. I expected better!! When you charge fine dining prices, you better deliver fine dining experience all round. Suggest Deena goes to eat at Pigalle or DW13 to set his benchmark, even spur waiters are more attentive! Wish I could rate it zero!

Disappointing experience. Had to wait 3 weeks for a reservation and totally disappointed with the quality of the food. Most items of the meal was prepared in advance. If you want to charge fine dining prices make sure the quality of the food is of the appopriate standard. First and last visit.

My husband and I went to Aarya last night (25.11.2012), and was pleasantly surprised at how empty it was, even though we were told you were fully booked, and had also made our reservation early, (about a month before the time). (and also made to feel that we were squeezed in, because you forgot to call me to confirm bookings)…………. My must say that our experience wasn’t a very good one. Our waiter was always never to be found, and my husband had to always top up his own glass from the wine bottle, furthermore, I had to wait about 10 minutes at a time to get my drink – I am 9 months pregnant by the way. Furthermore, we were probably served by 4 different people due to the lack of attention from the waiter. We then subsequently breezed through the courses, and when I ordered the deconstructed Milk tart – the waiter promptly returned 10 minutes later to say that –there was no milk tart, I then asked for the crème brulee – only to be told 10 minutes later, that there was no stock. The waiter also then came back with a list of desserts that you only had on stock. A decided a half hour later to go somewhere else for dessert…I shouldn’t have had to do that.. My issue is that I booked this experience for my husband’s birthday a month in advance, our waiter was slack, you didn’t even have desserts on hand – how does this make me want to come back?? I would sincerely like to hear Deena's views on my comments highlighted above.

My husband and I went to the restaurant on Sunday the 18th to celebrate our wedding anniversary and it was a colossal disappointment! Slow service even though the restaurant was almost empty. I had the famous butter chicken - firstly it was cold when it arrived and the jeera rice was probably sitting outside all day cos the rice was hard and actually crunchy. The butter chicken itself was quite bland. And to top it all of, an open view kitchen where you can watch your food being prepared is not such a great idea if the female chef is constantly eating while she is preparing food!Gross!All in all, a very disappointing experience and the hype was all for nothing.

Deena a family memeber of mine, heard lots about his cooking and I cannot wait to taste his food Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!