Namaste India, Costa Teguise, Lanzarote (1st October 2016)

RECOMMENDED

3rd night and 3rd curry. Today was a little more subdued due to the 6am finish from the previous evening - DJ Daz taking the biggest hit struggling with his beer.....(note: he was the youngest in the group by some distance - the youth today!!)

Tonight's choice was the highly rated Namaste Indian, scoring 5 stars on TripAdvisor.

Poppadums' with a fiery red onions, mint sauce and mango chutney kicked off the food followed by starters including a very tasty Chana chat, Paneer Pakora, Onion Bhaji, Veg Samosa and Chicken Samosa.

Mains tonight were Saag Paneer Vindaloo, Veg Balti, a hot Chicken Jalfrezi, Malahi Kofta, Chicken Biryani and Chicken Tikka Chat with a selection of rices and nan breads - all curries were good, full of flavour, plenty of it and well deserved the 5-star review on TripAdvisor (DJ Daz almost managed 2 mouthfuls!

Calle Las Olas Numero 1

Costa Teguise

35508

Tel: 928346093

Tandoori Palace, Costa Teguise, Lanzarote (30th September 2016)

NOT RECOMMENDED

2nd day in Lanzarote with the boys watching some Ryder Cup in the afternoon and some beers, pool and Lee's diving show in the hotel pool moved to tequila sunrises and other cocktails in the hotel bar before a stroll to the Tandoori Palace for tea.

Paneer pakora was the popular choice with 67% choosing that option as starter along with a Sheesh Kebab and Chicken Pakora. The paneer was a little dry but some of the chutneys moistened the batter.

Mains included Veg Balti Madras, Mushroom Vindaloo, Chicken Curry, Chicken Jalfrezi, Chicken Madras, Chicken and Mushroom Balti. Mixed feedback with the Mushroom Vinda being a bit bland, the Veg Balti being flavoursome packed with plenty of fresh veg. Simon seemed to struggle with his Chicken Madras but I think that was more down to Simon than the madras.

Overall an entertaining evening of spicy food followed by some more drinks!





Avda Isla Canarias 5
Costa Teguise
35509

Tel: 928827088

Masala Lounge, Costa Teguise, Lanzarote (29th September 2016)

The 2016 boys holiday to Lanzarote started with the disappointing news that Mr Codd would have to drop out due to severe back pain! The rest of the group pushed on, this including the usual of Simon, Lee, Ian and Paul with the addition of the returning Harry and the virgin DJ Daz.

The first day was the usual, beer at 6am at the airport, hotel, pool, more beer, cards, beer and a couple of mali p's and tequila sunrises then off for a curry.

So, day 1 curry was at the Masala Lounge. Starters included Chili Paneer, Onion Bhaji, Chicken Samosa, Veg Samosa and Chicken Pakora! Very enjoyable, moist bhajis, spicy panner, all seemed to be enjoyed.

Mains included Veg Madras, Chicken Madras, Chili Paneer, Chicken Karahi, Chicken Saag and Chicken Neeligri with a selection of breads with a high degree of garlic; luckily Ian and Paul both went garlic cheese nan so they won't suffer at each others expense in their shared room.

A minor hiccup with Simon's accompaniments was soon rectified and the mains were demolished with satisfying results.

Overall a good curry, nice atmosphere and friendly staff.

Avenida Jablillo 13

Opp../ Frente a Hotel Teguise Playa

Costa Teguise

35508

Tel: +34 928 346 497

Cafe India, Watford (9th May 2016)

Today's review is from Lee. Lee found himself in Watford with a few hours to spare so decided to pop into the Cafe India for dinner, with his choice being influenced by the 4.5/5 on tripadvisor (and due to the fact is was 400 yards from where he parked his car!).

Lee started with a couple of popodoms with 6 accompanying chutneys, mint sauce, Chilli chutney, lime pickle, onion salad, mango chutney and coconut. For starter Lee went for one of his favourites, paneer tikka served with a good sized salad followed by veg balti madras and a plain nan - the balti was well spiced!

If you find yourself near the Watford Colosseum then the Cafe India would be a good place to visit for your India food fix.

159 The Parade

High Street

Watford

Hertfordshire

WD17 1NJ

Tel: 01923 212 888

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

Grand Indian, Bedford (30th March 2016)

Price: £20-25
Score: 7.500

NOT RECOMMENDED

Tonights trip for the curry club was to Bedford to try the gourmet night at the Grand Indian restaurant on Tavistock Street, the oldest running restaurant in Bedford opening in 1980.  A five course meal for £10 sounded like a good deal.

The meal started off traditionally with the poppadoms (7) in total as Tony was feeling rather hungry.  The poppadoms were accompanied with two onion salads, mango chutney, mint sauce, coconut and lime pickle.  A very good selection with plenty of it too.

Starters for Simon and Lee were Paneer Tikka with Tony going for a mixed grill to give him the protein hit.  The paneer was a little dry and needed the mint sauce, Simon scoring it a 6 and Lee going 2 points better.  Tony enjoyed the mixed grill and scored it a 9.  Overall the starters got a 7.667.

Mains followed with Simon going for the Chicken Rezalla, a medium curry with keema meatballs in the sauce with a generous amount of tender chicken, topped with an omelette.  Simon went for Pilau rice and a side of Sag Paneer.  Good food and reasonable portion size scored a good 8.

Lee decided on the Vegetable Jalfrezi, a Naan and Chana Massala.  Lee was disappointed with the vegetables, felt that it was all frozen and lacked some fresh vegetables, bit of a let down and not one of the best dishes Lee has had, therefore only scored a 6.5

Tony continued his meat fest with an Imperial Masala from the Chefs special selection.  A dish packed with all sorts of meat.  A little too mild for Tony which slightly spoiled the dish but the amount of meat made up for that.  Tony had a mushroom rice, as normal, and also had a Mushroom Bhaji.  Overall Tony gave a 9, giving an average score for mains of 7.834.

Service was good and attentive which earned a 7.5.  There was some debate about the VFM, the prices of the drinks really upping the overall price quite considerably, which meant that the final bill came to £20+ per head which meant a 7 for VFM.

Overall score - 7.500.

39 Tavistock Street

Bedford
MK40 2RB

Tel: 01234 359566
Website: http://www.grandrestaurant.co.uk/index.html

Cafe Spice Namaste, London (15th March 2016)

Today Lee was trying a new London venue, Café Spice Namaste.


This Indian restaurant is owned by celebrity chef Cyrus Todiwala. Lee was with 2 meat eating work colleagues and one of the dishes he had never seen on a menu before!


To start Lee had the Vegetarian platter, consisting of a 5 different starters including paneer tikka, veg samosa, lentil pancakes and potato poori and turned out to be a fantastic choice! His work colleagues ordered the meat platter for 2, again, came with a selection of meat and non-meat starters including chicken tikka, lamb, shish kebab and samosas.


For main, Lee went for the veg Thali so he could sample a selection of curries. The curries included Bindi Bhaji, Aubergine bhaji and a sweeter curry with a dumpling along with a daal, rice, raita, a roti and some potato crisps. One colleague ordered the salmon tikka along with a palak paneer and the other went for a surprise choice of Ostrich Boona – not something Lee had seen before in any Indian restaurant around the world!


The food was of a high standard and the price was sensible, given this is a celebrity chef restaurant in London!


16 Prescot Street

London
E1 8AZ


Tel: 0207 488 9242
Website: http://www.cafespice.co.uk/#!homepage/mainPage