The Shalbon, Sutton Coldfield (18th March 2011)

Overall Score: 8.583
Cost: £15-20

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The Shalbon is a very accommodating restaurant, a light and bright feel to it but still holds that Indian style. They are also willing to go off menu if asked which is not uncommon now for the members of the club, but when the food comes back and tastes as good as you want it to, it just goes to show how good this Indian really is, especially with a number of other restaurants near by in competition.

With just a little longer to wait in between dishes, which is not a bad thing, this restaurant gave time to truly enjoy the food in your own time - no rushing at all.

As you will see in the scoring this is a must if in the area when looking for that special Indian.

65 Birmingham Road
Sutton Coldfield
B72 1QF

Tel: 0121 355 5836

Asian Grill, Sutton Coldfield (27th March 2010)

Overall Score: 6.560
Cost: £20-£25

NOT RECOMMENDED

The second curry evening for the club members was locally in Sutton Coldfield. Following a few drinks in town and meeting up with two of Lee's friends we wandered to the Asian Grill.

PICKLES
A limited choice of pickles, only four to choose from was a slight disappointment to the curry club members. This was reflected in the scores given, a top score of 5 given.

STARTERS
Tony decided on a new starter, Chuza Pakora, which he thought was very tasty and awarded a very sound 8; Simon decided on his usual Prawn Puri and was disappointed with the lack of a salad garnish, not traditional in the Midlands apparently. Traditional or not, Simon scored it a 6, lacked a bit of spice as well which affected the score. Lee decided on the Vegetable Puri and was pleased with the spices and taste and awarded a 7.

MAIN MEALS
All members decided that as we were in Balti country we should all have our own choice of the famous dish. Tony went for the Chefs Special Balti which he thoroughly enjoyed, awarding it an 8.5. Simon went for the Chicken Balti and again enjoyed it, awarding an 8. Lee decided to have a Vegetable Balti Madras with Paneer, not the usual Vindaloo as the spices in Brum are a lot hotter than down south in the Home Counties. Lee awarded an 8.5. An overall impression of the main meals was that they were good, not exceptional, portion size very generous.

DESERTS
A poor choice for deserts so we all passed on those, decided to finish off our beer and move back into the town centre for more beers.

In summary, although the food was at an acceptable level we were disappointed with the style of service; the waiter we had was a little bit too overpowering and did not make us feel that comfortable, also had to wait for the starters. Value for money was OK but this is not one we would be returning back too, after all there are so many more to try in the Balti Triangle.

91 Park Road
Sutton Coldfield
B73 6BT
Click here for a map

Telephone: 0121 354 7491