Akbar, Leeds (24th April 2012)

Tonight took Lee up to Leeds and a visit to the Akbar restaurant on Eastgates, a chain Lee has visited before, in Newcastle - the local knowledge came in handy, as Lee remembered the vegetable vindaloo last time out was one of the hottest dishes Lee had ever eaten!

Lee was joined with guests Amy and Tim tonight. Lee started with Paneer Pakora which was well presented and very tasty, followed by Balti Mushroom Paneer Madras, which was hot enough and a table Nan - hit the spot. Overall, would have struggled to drop any points as was lovely.

Akbars would rank high in my list and one I'd recommend if in Leeds, but be cautious, it packs some heat.

15 Eastgate

Leeds

LS2 7 LY

Tel: 0113 243 6566

Website: http://www.akbars.co.uk/leeds-eastgate

Noor Jahan, Old Brompton Road, London (24th April 2012)

Simon's addition to the club site followed on from meetings in London.  Arrived at the Noor Jahan after a walk from Earls Court and were greeted by friendly staff, restaurant was busy.

Poppadoms accompanied with four pickles - nothing outstanding but adequate.

 

Decided on Prawn Puri to start - excellent dish - good spicing and heat to the dish, enjoyed the food.  I asked if they could do me a paneer dish, but was told that would not be possible as it was not on the menu, not the response normally received from more accommodating restaurants.  In the end went for Chicken Korahi, which lacked the normal onions, peppers etc, so a little disappointed with this dish.  Also had Matar Paneer as a side.

Service was too rushed, one of my fellow diners was still eating their starter when my plate was cleared, very much a restaurant where they wanted you in and out as quickly as possible.

Food OK, service poor, expensive for what we had.  Not one I will be visiting again or recommending.

2A Bina Gardens

Greater London

SW5 0LA

Tel: 020 7373 6522

Website: http://www.noorjahanrestaurants.co.uk/

Mausams, Cotton End (23rd April 2012)

Score: 8.267
Price: £15-£20

RECOMMENDED

Tonight's impromptu trip came about as Lee's London night out was off the cards due to an extended work meeting, so the boys took advantage and made a trip to Cotton Ends' newly opened Mausams.

Monday nights special offer of starter, main, side, rice or nan and coffee for £7 proved very popular with the locals, so recommended booking if planning a monday evening trip! During the acceptable 20 minute wait, the boys had time to peruse the extensive menu, with a lot of new dishes on offer 

Popodoms started proceedings accompanied by a fresh onion salad, lemony mint sauce, spicy mixed pickle and a smokey mango chutney. All complimented each other which was reflected in high scoring for just 4 pickles at 8.667!

For starter Lee managed to go off the extensive menu with an all time favourite, chilli paneer, Simon choose Lee's second favourite pudina aloo tikka and tony went for paneer nilgiri. The boys were left slightly disappointed as expectations were high, but the food a little bland, scoring was 7.333 overall, a little below par, but still hoigher than average 

Mains, Lee went for another favourite, Veg Balti Vindaloo with a mushroom bhaji and cheese nan, simon went paneer adrakwala with aloo paneer and a special rice and tony, chicken rezalla with aloo paneer and, the usual, mushroom rice - enough food to feed a small nation! 

Scored faired better than starters with overall of 8.333, Lee's main hitting the spot with a fiery 9 out of 10! Tony's main was good albeit the chilli hidden in the dish nearly killed him, the rice could have been better. Simon's main lacked a bit of bite but overall he scored 8. Simon took up the offer of an inclusive cup of tea, at his age he enjoys a cup of tea at the end of a meal!

The vfm scores were a very competitive 9 out of 10 with the fixed menu off of £6.95 proving an excellent deal - limited time only, so take advantage quickly.... Service scored well, with, in the main, very friendly waiters scoring 8 out of 10 Make good use of the Monday night special offer, as other nights, paying full price, could sting the wallet! 

Overall a very good score of 8.267

113-115 High Street
Cotton End
Bedford
MK45 3AX

Tel: 01234 742905

Website: http://www.mausams.co.uk/new/

Indali Lounge, Baker Street, London (13th April 2012)

The latest venture out was to the recommended Indali Lounge on Baker St, London. Reportedly the healthiest curry in the world!

The occasion was Lee's birthday and he was joined with wife Emma, Ian and Emma (Emma 2) and Liz and Richard!

Complimentary popodoms accompanied with mango chutney, onion chutney and mint sauce, then a complementary spicy lentil soup and crispy mushroom followed. A tasty surprise!

Lee struggled to choose a starter as the 8 veggie starters all sounded fantastic! Lee decided on having 2, Paneer 3 ways and chat baked aloo tikki. Both would have scored 10! Emma and Richard went for crispy mushroom masala, Ian and Liz joined lee with Paneer 3 ways and chat baked Aloo tikki respectively. Emma 2 chose lonavala crispy batatawade (lentil balls), which Emma 2 said was a little bland.

Mains, Lee had pander tava jaipurifor, a lovely shredded Paneer and veggies dish with extra spice, Liz had the same with regular spice, sindhi sai bhaji (spinach and veg) for Emma, Richard and Ian going for the old delhi chicken kofta, but reported the dish to be on the bland side lacking flavour and spice, Emma 2 kashmir chicken (v nice at a 9) with some healthy garlic chilli nan and saffron rice. Just the one side of black dal makhni.

Plenty of booze accompanied the meal, including two bottles of wine and the bill came in at £37 a head, so very reasonably priced for a high end London establishment!

Very highly recommended, and one the club will be returning to, to conduct an official review and full scoring.

50 Baker Street
London
W1U 7BT

Tel: 020 7224 2232

Website: http://www.indalilounge.com/

Mother India, Birmingham (7th April 2012)

Score: 8.067
Cost: £15-£20

RECOMMENDED

Saturday night in Birmingham, second day of the Birmingham trip!

The day was spent in the Black Country, Tipton and Wolverhampton, having a few beers. A visit to the Fountain Inn, Mad O'rourkes and the Red Lion then into Wolverhampton to the Wetherspoons and Tap and Spile took most of the day.

In Tipton

The club were joined with Harry, Chainsy and the OAP for the evening Chas (Lee's father-in-law). The 1 oap per evening law threshold was maintained, Lee's dad last night and Lee's father-in-law tonight!!

Back to Boldmere to Mother India an unlicensed establishment. 4 paneer shashlick, veggie samosa and lamb chops to start. Chas's 3 lamb chops made good value, unfortunately Chris's first attempt at the veggie samosa failed being uncooked, second (free of charge) attempt was better!  Scores excelled at 9.5 for Lee, Simon 9 and Tony 8.

Mains, 2 veggie madras, chicken dupiazia, prawn madras, paneer shashlick and, for the second time this week, egg paneer madras for Simon.

Scores came in, good with Simon topping the charts with a top marks 10 out of 10, Lee and Tony scoring 8 each.

Vfm was good, not as cheap as the previous evening, but well under 20 quid a head, which the BYO booze helped achieve.

One last beer afterwards at the Wetherspoons in Boldmere, then home!

So, 12 hour extravaganza over, plenty to drink, some good food, seen parts of the midlands either not seen before or not seen in over 20 years with some good company, all in all a successful day!

60a Boldmere Road

Sutton Coldfield

Birmingham

B73 5TJ

Tel: 0121 354 1923

Taste of Khyber, Alum Rock, Birmingham (6th April 2012)

Score: 8.833
Cost: £10


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Harry and Lee's dad, Dave joined the club for the 4th outing in Birmingham. Harry chose this evening's restaurant.

A treat was in store for the boys this time around with a visit to alum rock. The restaurant was more of a cafe and the boys were thrown as the concept of popodoms, starter and main were loosely followed.....

After making the order, the boys were left wondering what food would actually arrive. And as predicted all the food arrived together.

2 chana massala, 3 mixed Veg curries, 4 side salads, lamb kebab (peshwari chapal kebab) for 3 and a large chicken karahi accompanied with 2 king size table nan breads - see photos!

Food was tasty, well spiced but nothing too hot, everyone enjoyed the mint sauce and Chilli sauce that complimented the food.

1 of our table nans

It turned out that 2 king sized table nans was a bit much for the 5 chaps, so Harry contemplated the remainder for his jam sandwich breakfast in the morning.

The very friendly service kept coming, with the offer of green, sweet or desi tea, and some sweet coated almonds.

Scoring was a little tricky, as a culturally different experience, but Simon scored the food 8.5, Lee 8 and tony 7. 7.887 overall. Service scored 8 from tony and 9 from Lee and Simon, so 8.667.

A bill at £50.25 for food and a cup of tea each hit the financial spot too, making the Taste of Khyber the cheapest venue in club history at 10.05 a head!

20 Alum Rock Road
Birmingham
B8 1JP

Tel: 01213 287733

Gandhi, Sandy (4th April 2012)

The boys made a trip to the local, Gandhi in Sandy (see 1st May 2009) for the official review and scoring), Lee's regular!

Popodoms started proceedings, albeit only 4, lowest count to date! Puree’s were big for the starters with Simon electing for chicken, Tony prawns and Lee veggie saag on purer. Lee's choice seemed to confuse the waiter somewhat... All starters hit the spot.

Mains included Lee's weekly dish of Veg vinda (his third in 24 hours), prawns biriany for Tony (double prawns for Tony) and a surprise choice for Simon of Egg and Paneer Madras, which took Lee and the waiter by surprise as isn't a typical choice for Simon (and I'd go as far to say, probably the first person in the Gandhi's 25 yr history to order this particular dish!!!!).

All dishes delivered to the Gandhi's high and expected standard - clear plates all round.

Tony, as predicted, went for the pineapple ice-cream to finish.

Another good outing, in preparation for the bi-annual trip to Birmingham at the weekend, so further reviews with scoring to follow.

37 High Street
Sandy
Bedfordshire
SG19 1AG