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/

Zayka, Gran Canaria (27th September 2015)

Price: €20
Score: 8.833

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The final curry of the tour was just a few minutes from the second curry house, a leisurely wander from the hotel after a day of drinking and relaxing around the pool playing cards. The Zayka is a quiet restaurant which had a homely feel.

 

The third curry of the tour and the usual poppadoms to start the meal. This time a different hot chutney, made from chili and yoghurt which certainly packed a punch, setting Ian off with hiccups and others taking large sips of water, beer or sangria, whatever was nearest quench the burning in the mouth. 

 

Starters consisted of Paneer Tikka for Simon and Lee, Tony opting for his favoured Prawn Puree.  The Paneer Tikka came on a sizzler with what looked like the same sauce as the chutney from the pickles tray. Luckily it was milder and very flavoursome.  Tony enjoyed his starter and all scored a very good 9. 

 

Mains followed, Murgh Dhania for Simon,  chicken in a very dark coloured sauce which had some heat but not too much. The dish was ok but nothing special and scored an 8.   Lee went for a Vegetable and Paneer Jalfrezi with another Tarka Dhall, which although tasty did not outscore the previous mains for Lee, 8 scored. Tony decided on a Mixed Vegetable Curry with mushroom rice, thoroughly enjoyed and scored a 9. Overall an average score of 8.334. 

 

Service was of an acceptable standard and scored a 7.5.  The VFM was better tonight, bill coming to less than €20 per head so scored an 8.

 

Overall score a very creditable 8.210.

Avenida de Gran Canaria 32
C.C. Gran Chaparral
Commercial Center Gran Chapparal
35100 Playa del Ingles
Gran Canaria

Tel: Spain 928769531
 

Taj Mahal, Sandy. (1st April 2015)

Price: £10-£15
Score: 8.833

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The boys decided to keep their next choice of restaurant local and decided on the newly refurbished and newly managed Taj Mahal (previously The Akbar).  Wednesday is banquet night, starter, main, side, naan or rice and coffee for £9.95 which sounded superb value.  

 

Bring your own alcohol to the restaurant means that you don't pay the normally expensive prices for beer.

 

Poppadoms first, with four pickles, plenty of them too, included a chilli sauce with the usual mint sauce, mango chutney and onion salad.

Starters included three portions of Paneer Tikka for Simon, Lee and Tony, Paul decided on the Chicken Chat with a puree which on reflection was probably not needed.  The Paneer scored 9 from all, a very good start to the meal. 

 

Continuing the banqueting night Simon went for Chicken Sagwala, a medium spiced curry with spinach and a boiled egg.  Paul followed Simon's lead and had the same.  Lee and Tony opted for the Veg Balti, one vindaloo hot and one not!  Tony went for mushroom rice, Paul a special rice whilst Simon and Lee went for a chilli naan and cheese naan respectively.  A plethora of side dishes included a lot of spinach combined with other ingredients to give six in total.

 

• Sag Paneer
• Sag Aloo
• Sag Chana
• Sag Chandra (scrambled egg with spinach)
• Mutter Panner
• Mushroom and Potato Bhaji

Not unsurprisingly there was a lot left over, due to the over ordering rather than the quality of the food.  Mains scored a solid 8.5 from Lee and Tony, Simon scored his at 8 as it lacked a bit of spice.

 

An excellent standard of service and exceptional value for money, worked out that the banquet night saves approximately £5 per meal.  Far better than the old Akbar and well worth a visit to enjoy the good standard of food - in the top 10 of our restaurants visited.

 

144 London Road

Sandy

Bedfordshire

SG19 1DN

 

Tel:

Web: http://tajmahalsandy.co.uk/

 

Raj Mahal, Torremolinos, Spain (26th September 2014)

Score: 7.125

Price: £20

NOT RECOMMENDED

Tonight's restaurant was the first restaurant on the boys latest overseas trip, this year to Torremolinos. The restaurant is the Raj Mahal and was a conveniently located a 100 yards from the hotel!

Although only their second night away, the evening started a little subdued, probably accounted for because the boys were battered on their first night with beers, cocktails and gin, plenty of gin!

Ian and Lee decided some Faustino VII Rioja would be a good accompaniment to their spicy food, whilst Simon and Paul stuck to the large beers and Mr Codd wimping out with a diet coke!

Poppadoms started and were quickly followed by the starters, Tony selected the vegetable platter, including pakora, bhaji's and a samosa - a little dry! Lee, Simon and Ian chose Paneer Tikka, paneer served in a flavoursome yogurt sauce, extremely tasty and scored a 10 from Lee and Paul having the large portion of chicken pakora.

Mains followed, Lee and Tony going for mixed veg curry with nan, Lee's being very spicy, chicken bhuna for Paul, Ian chicken jalfrezi and simon selecting chicken balti with a cheese nan

Most enjoyed there food although commenting that the mains were nothing special. Tony struggled with his food....not a statement regularly made about Mr Codd, but he said he didn't like it, but I feel the previous evenings drinking played a part in his lack of appetite.   

Overall a pleasant evening!

C Jesus
Santos Rein
Torremolinos
Spain

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

Star of Bengal, Tenerife (29th September 2012)

Score: 7.266

Price: €20-25

NOT RECOMMENDED

Night 3 meant curry 3, precipitated with a day in the pub watching football, seeing Arsenal lose and Tottenham win; Ian thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon being a Spurs fan and consuming 10 pints!  This evening was a little more laid back and chilled out than the previous two.

The usual popodoms with 4 pickles started the evening, onion salad, mint sauce, mango chutney and mixed pickle, which was on the fiery side.

Starters was nearly a clean sweep of paneer tikka again, but Tony mixed it up with a prawn puree. The paneer was served sizzling with peppers and onions. Lee and Ian preferred the more flavoursome version served at the Gandhi the previous evening but Simon really enjoyed tonights version scoring a 9. Starters scored an overall of 8.334.

For mains, egg stole the show, with Simon and Ian going for egg and paneer madras, however a poached egg failed to match up to the more usual boiled egg, Lee going for veg curry with egg and Tony mixing it up again going for chicken korahi.  The curries left a tingle, but were not overly hot this evening. An adequate curry which was reflected with a combined score of 7.334.

Overall the Star of Bengal scored 7.266, so a little below average this evening

C/Juan Reveron Sierra
Edificio Bahia
Los Cristianos
Tenerife
Spain 

Tel: 922 796 975