Nawaab, Benidorm (28th September 2013)

Score: 4.667

Price:  €20.00

NOT RECOMMENDED

The 3rd curry had a stuttering start with the first venue of choice having closed down so the helpful taxi drivers took us a couple of streets away to the award winning Nawaab - the boys have visited their sister restaurant in Magaluf and Lee thinks he's eaten at their sister restaurant in Leeds!

Poppadoms were served with just 3 pickles, mint sauce, mango chutney and some spicy red onions - the scores came in low - 5 out of 10 - due to the limited choice.

Starters were a mix of veg samosas, meat samosas and vegetable pakora - the samosas went down very well! Overall starters  scored 7.5 - the boys all agreed it would take something special to get a 10 for a samosa!

For mains, Lee went vegetable madras, Paul chicken curry, Simon chicken rogan josh, tony veg bhuna and Ian chicken madras all accompanied with rices and nans. The mains failed to impress, the vegetable dishes were made with frozen or tinned veg so were really unpleasant, the mushroom rice was made with tinned mushrooms which ended up being left and the chicken rogan lacked flavour. The chicken dishes were well received - scores came in as expected at a very disappointing 3 out of 10

VFM wasn't great either scoring just 2.67 and Service was interesting - one friendly demeanoured waiter and one rather surly waiter, scoring just 3.667!  

The overall score was a very disappointing 4.400 which interestingly was the exact same score as the sister restaurant the Nawaab in Magaluf - so both are consistently bad!

Calle Ibiza
03503 Benidorm
Spain

India Gate, Benidorm (27th September 2013)

Score: 7.375
Price:  €20.00

RECOMMENDED

Tonight's restaurant was the India Gate - the "best Indian restaurant as rated by TripAdvisor  and the "only Indian owned restaurant in Benidorm"

Poppadoms started proceedings and they were a significant improvement on last nights offering - they were crispy not bendy!!

The poppadoms were served with 5 pickles, mango chutney, tamarind chutney, lime pickle, mint sauce and some very fiery onion salad - all were replenished, especially the onions!

Starters included paneer tikka, chicken chat on puri and king prawn pakora - the paneer could have been cooked more and the prawns could have been tailed, but overall the boys enjoyed their starters!

Mains today were, veg balti madras, chicken jalfrezi, chicken korai and chicken bhuna served with Bombay aloo, some rice and different nans. Lee's veg balti disappointed as the sauce tasted a little artificial and not overly curry-ish, he preferred yesterdays.  However, Simon, Tony, Paul and Ian enjoyed there's which was reflected in the scoring

VFM faired less well than the Lal Qila and service was friendly and attentive without being overly obtrusive.

The overall score came in at 7.375 putting the India Gate in the third quartile.

Calle Gerona 2/14
03503 Benidorm
Spain

Lal Qila, Benidorm (26th September 2013)

Score: 6.600
Price:  €15.00

NOT RECOMMENDED

So, the boys decided Benidorm was the venue for this years curry club away trip - the SLT were present, Simon, Lee and Tony accompanied by Paul for first time and Ian as a regular (2nd year in attendance)

The first night restaurant was Lal Qila, just a short walk from the four star hotel.

Customary poppadoms to start - the poppadoms themselves were a little rubbery causing consternation among the group as they went beyond perpendicular before breaking! Lee scored 6, talking up the pickles, however Simon scored 3 and expressed extreme dissatisfaction. whilst Tony agreed with Simon, so an overall scoring a disappointing 4 out of 10

Starters included vegetable pakora, vegetable and meat samosa, onion bhaji and chicken pakora. Like poppadoms Lee enjoyed the food presented as did Ian, both opting for samosas. Tony's onion bhajis exceeded expectations and Simon's pakoras were acceptable but only scored 6 out of 10.

Mains were veg balti madras, chicken jalfezi, chicken shashlik, with a selection of rice and nan. Lee's veg balti madras packed flavour so warranted an 8.5/10 however, it was questionably a balti dish! Simon, Paul and Ian raised concerns about the grease/ oil level of their dishes along with the authenticity of the jalfrezi so the overall score for mains was 7.333

VFM was good at just €75 for 5 people including drinks, so overall scores were 6.600 which puts the Lal Qila in the bottom quartile of all restaurants.

Lal Qila
Avda Doctor Severo
Ochoa 2
Loc 3
Benidorm Spain.