This Bangladeshi place is newly opened in the former restaurant 23 run by Raymond Mc Ardle who tried a few times to build a successful restaurant business but it didn't work out.
We had seen a sign up that it was opening soon and we were just passing by and saw customers seated at the upstairs window, so we went in to find there was a Sunday lunch buffet from 1:30pm to 5:30pm at £12.90 a head.
The starters were very good onion bhajis, wonderful chicken tikka, alright chicken pakora (chicken overcooked), a salad of lettuce, onion and tomato. There's also fresh chopped onions in what seems like a mango chutney style sauce and a yoghurt sauce.
The mains were chicken tikka masala, a chicken korma, and a vegetable curry. The pilau rice was exceptionally good, almost a biryani style rice. The masala and the vegetable curry both had a good flavour but not as deep or complex as I like. The korma too is for western tastes; sugary sweet with some coconut, I'd rather have it the other way around but I'd guess I'm the minority. The nan bread was probably the least well cooked. Not enough searing heat to make it great.
All in all a solid three star with some four star elements. It's worth supporting, especially as we exit lockdown, and we will go back, but honestly I can't figure why these places just don't step up to the plate like the Indian Ocean as the menu prices are similar. read more