It could be a fairly alright 3 star on a good day but I opt for 2 stars. First we were crammed cheek by jowl into a window table for 2, so close to other diners that their conversations were audible without our having to work at it. The family to my left were critical of the food but told the waiters it was 'lovely' on the four occasions I heard them being asked. This also annoyed them.
There was also a dispute between them whether to go for a pint to 'Laverys' afterwards. The father clearly wanted to, his wife and daughter were lukewarm & hostile respectively and the son in law or potential in law was too polite to decline. So they unhappily agreed to disagree and went off two by two.
When the male waiters (no female wait staff) attended the tables either side of us their elbows were inches from the side of my head with their movements occasionally forcing me move sideways. One waiters' derrière was 2 inches from my butter chicken a few times. Hardly a romantic setting.
Once wedged in we got 2 'complimentary' pappadams with 3 dips. I asked for a Nepalese beer only to be told they don't have any so I ended up with an over-priced Singha beer, most likely brewed in Carlsberg's Russian plant that distributes to most of Europe. I imagine if these folk really are Nepalese they'd proudly flog their Khukuri beer and Hinwa and Dadaghare wines.
I got the small one at £3.5 which works out at £6 a pint. My wife got a mini bottle of white wine at £4.5 which is £18 a 75 ml bottle. The young waiter who said his only job was serving booze did suggest I'd be able to get some Nepalese beer in London, but I thought it was a tad far to go for a beer at 8pm on a Saturday night in Belfast.
It's a well overpriced place, with my paneer cheese starter at £6 when £4 would be fair. My butter chicken main was £13 when a fair price would be £11. They do that deception where meat is cut into cubes to give the impression of plenty, bulked out by copious cheap sauce.
The menus don't mention that chemical food colouring is used. I'm not a fan of these food colourings, so I'm disappointed when I see vividly red food being served up. I'm also peeved that the use of chemical colourings is not mentioned on the menu either.
My paneer starter had 5 pieces of almost tasteless cheese in a lightish batter, with a smidgen of hot sauce staining the plate, a morsel of lettuce, a sliver of carrot & a cucumber slice.
My butter chicken was near scarlet, packed with sugar, with small chunks of equally bright chemically red chicken. My wife had an overpriced chicken pakora starter (3 battered bits should be £2 cheaper) with a similar smear of hot sauce, morsels of carrot, lettuce & cucumber.
Her overpriced main (£17) was meant to be a sizzling dish but it wasn't. Not that we minded, as sizzling just means that the very hot iron plate on which the food sits is drizzled with cold cooking oil. Again this main was bulked out with lots of fried onions with some shards of green pepper made to look a generous portion, but there wouldn't have been £3 worth of meat on the plate. The boiled basmati rice was perfectly cooked, the small vegetable curry accompaniment was watery and lukewarm.
The nan bread isn't nan bread as it's too thin to be proper nan: so it it's a crisp bread, probably 20p to make the dough turning into a £2 price tag.
The service was effusive, nearly as sugary sweet and artificial as the butter chicken but when I know I'm being ripped off I don't tip. We'd paid handsomely for two 'free' pappadams with dips. We were asked at least three times about our food. I said read my review but I guess I wasn't understood.
We paid near £53 for a two course meal for two with a small drink each, so it was well overpriced once it went above £40. I suspect it's just another Pakistani restaurant which has come up with the wheeze of Nepalese cuisine and the ancient romantic Kathmandu as devices to overcharge and how. If this is dining in times of austerity I'd hate to see their price structure if we ever see good times. Back to M&S butter chicken - wonderful for a factory made meal and without artificial muck too. read more