I have walked past this naff named restaurant with its less than impressive entrance a few times and uncertain of what would await I hadn't ventured in. However last Saturday I picked up the courage and decided to give it a go purely because I wanted somewhere close to the leisure centre where I had to drop off & pick up our daughter within an hour & a half.
Up the long narrow stairs my wife & I found a clean and freshly decorated restaurant. It is perhaps a little cold with its painted plaster walls and laminate floor and suggest a few soft furnishings wouldn't go amiss. It was early, 6.00pm on a warm evening and I was surprised to see three other tables occupied, a good sign so early.
The staff seemed genuinely pleased to see us, they made us welcome and were eager to please.
Unusually the TS is licensed but you are welcome to take your own although I'm not sure this was meant to incl a 2l bottle of lemonade as I noticed on one table. There's plenty to choose from on the menu, overall the prices are very reasonable but the specials although tempting may be a fraction overpriced
The popadoms and selection of dips were better than average with our starters of onion bhaji & veg pakora arriving almost before we had finished them. Both were very good nicely spiced with a fresh & varied side salad.
The main courses also arrived promptly. The chicken tikka Rajastani to which I added spinach was very good, hot and tasty. My wife enjoyed her chicken tikka tawa, although it wasn't sizzling as often served. In taste it was similar to a mild version of the Rajastani. One criticism is that the chicken tikka in both dishes was on the dry side which bothered my wife more than me.
The garlic fried rice and garlic nan were both very good but the portion of limp frozen chips was a bit meagre.
Surprisingly we found room for a desert and shared a banana fritter with ice cream which was excellent.
In my opinion 3 stars wouldn't have done it justice so I have given it 3.5 which gets rounded up. it would be a genuine 4 stars if they upped the decor, slowed the service slightly and addressed the issues with the chicken & chips.
Don't be put off by the frankly naff name or entrance, it is worth a try. read more