Bhujon, Mere Green, Birmingham (29th March 2013)

Score: 6.400
Price: £20

NOT RECOMMENDED

After a days drinking in Lichfield, the second Birmingham curry was at the newest Indian restaurant in Mere Green the Bhujon. 

After a 15 minute wait for the booked table poppadoms and pickles started the meal. True to form 3 x paneer tikka's were ordered as a starters, but the food was very disappointing. firstly there was not a lot of it and what there was, was lacking in flavor.

For mains, Lee went for the predictable Veg Balti with the unpredictable side order of chips!! Tony had a mushroom desire, so ordered mushroom Balti with mushroom rice and Simon carried on the egg theme with chicken jaipuri (chicken with egg - begging the question, which came first.....).

Unfortunately the evening came to an abrupt end for Lee who started to feel unwell so had to leave before the mains were served but the boys thoughtfully packed his food up and bought it back as a take away to have the following day.

Mains duly arrived, plenty of it too.  Simon's chicken and egg dish arrived, very tender but lacked a lot of flavour with very little spice so only scored a 7, nothing special.  Tony had lots of mushroom options with his meal and was happy with the food although again found that it needed a bit more flavour, bit better than Simon's but only marginally with and 8.

Summing up this restaurant as more style over substance, very popular but the food did not really score highly.  Not recommended and if you are in Birmingham choose another from our previous trips.

290-292 Lichfield Road
Mere Green
Sutton Coldfield
Birmingham
B74 2UG

Tel: 0121 308 0930
Website: http://www.bhujondining.com/index.php

The Lodge, Shenstone, Birmingham (28th March 2013)

Score: 8.133 or 8.917 (free pickles excluded)

Price: £15-£20

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Tonight was a finale in Birmingham, with Lee's parents likely to be moving from Sutton it was the last weekend for the boys. Harry and Chainsy joined the boys for this momentous occasion.

A couple of liveners started the evening on route to Brum (for Lee and Tony), at Lee's old dears, walking to the pub and at the Old Speckled Hen, then it was on to The Lodge, Shenstone for a welcome curry.

Popodoms and pickles started proceedings then Starters was the house special 5 x Chilli Paneer across the board! As far as scoring was concerned, the boys were unanimously agreed with 9.5 out of 10 - well flavoured and good portion sized! 

Mains, Lee went Veg Balti Madras with plain nan and green chilli, Simon unsurprisingly went Egg Masala with mushroom rice and plain rice and Tony going Veg Balti with egg.  Harry chose Veg Jalfrazi extra hot, Chris doubling up on the paneer with Palak Paneer as a main. As far as scoring went, Simon was a well deserved 10/10, tony enjoyed the meal really a lot scoring 10/10 with a lip tingle! Lee scored 9/10! Chris and Harry agreed with very high marks. 

Overall, a great curry with good value for money - very much recommended.  Two scores here to reflect Lee's thoughts that the pickles score of 5 should be excluded as they were free - you choose! 

Bring on tomorrow night to see if we can top the Lodge!

24 Birmingham Road
Shenstone Woodend
Shenstone
Staffordshire
WS14 0LQ

Tel: 01543 483334

Website: http://www.thelodgerestaurant.co.uk/index.php

 

Swagat, New York City (18th March 2013)

Lee's second curry in New York was a more informal setting at an Indian cafe, Swagat on 29th and 7th Avenue.

Starter was 2 vegetable samosas with a tamarind and a mint chutney, followed by vegetable madras with extra green chilli, rice and a plain nan.

Food was authentic and well spiced. Tremendous value at $11 (£7) including a soft drink.

Swagat Indian Restaurant (W 29th)

205 W 29th Street, (7th Ave. & 29th St.)

Tel: (212) 967-7373

Website: http://swagatindiannyc.com

Tamarind, New York City (17th March 2013)

After travelling half way around the world, Lee was certainly in the mood for a curry. After Singapore, New York City had plenty to live up too!  Andy booked a table at the Michelin starred Tamarind restaurant, so the anticipation of a great meal was high.

Vegetable pastry served with a ginger, garlic and chilli dip was bought to the table whilst Lee, Andy, James and Rajesh reviewed the detailed menu.  Lee started with a favourite, paneer, the dish was pudine wala paneer. Andy and James opted for nawabi shami kabab, rajesh chilli crab. Everyone enjoyed their starters and James summed things up with the comment "the food was served with the perfect amount of heat"

For mains, Lee went for vegetable jalfezi with green chilli on the side and a paneer kulcha, James Duck hari mirch, Andy Rogan josh (with an ensuing debate whether the meat was mutton or goat, but either way, it was very tender) and Rajesh Tandoori mix grill. Portion sizes were very good, bordering on too much. 

As for value for money, not bad for a michelin starred restaurant in Manhattan but was never going to be the cheapest place!

All-in-all a lovely meal, well served, well presented and well spiced.

41-43 East 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010. Tel 212- 674 -7400

&

99 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel 212- 775 -9000

Website: http://www.tamarindrestaurantsnyc.com/

Night Safari, Singapore (14th March 2013)

Lee's second Indian in Singapore was at the Night Safari attraction at a take away food court, from Indian Tandoori!

The meal consisted of poppadoms with yogurt, biriany rice, mutter paneer, daal and aloo chat. Food well flavoured and spiced and tasted very authentic.

Great value for money at SIN $15 (£8).

102 Serangoon Road,

Little India

Singapore
218007

Shahi Maharani, Singapore (13th March 2013)

Todays choice was the Shahi Maharani in the Raffles city mall, Singapore.

Lee, accompanied by the Fizzback team, Andy, Dani and Baji found one of the highest rated Indian restaurants in Singapore. Popodoms were bought on arrival with onion salad and chilli mint chutney and pickled shallots - Lee asking for a second pickles tray from the off.

Starters consisted of a vegetarian sharing platter, veg samosa, veg pakora, stuffed mushrooms and aloo mint tinka (yes tinka) - all were amazing with the stuffed mushrooms winning the show (very closely followed by Aloo MintTinka), Dani commented, “all the starters were brilliant“

For mains, Lee went for the fiery vegetable jaipur, Andy mutton rogan josh, Baji chicken tikka massala (very spicy) and Dani butter chicken Makhanwala served with rice and nan. All the food was delicious with the right level of spice to leave a tingle in the mouth and a light sweat on the brow!

Thanks to Ravi for the recommendation, and if you find yourself in Singapore its well worth a visit.

252, North Bridge Road,

03 – 21B Raffles City Shopping Centre
(Lever 3, Fairmont Singapore)
Singapore 179103

Website: http://www.shahimaharani.com/index.html