Indigo Bay Newbury 23.12.16

Service a little erratic, caused a few chuckles Knife and fork laid incorrectly at start and before the main meal. Forgot the drinks so arrived after poppadoms. Pickles  arrived after poppadoms.Then onion  bajis, though very nice, arrived just after the pickles! 

Alan had a vindaloo and I had the usual. Chicken a little slimy. Meal arrived before  the  starter  had been cleared so no room to put anything. 7/10

3.12.16 Lina Tandoori Pangbourne

It was just Alan and myself out this Saturday. Visited Lina Tandoori in Pangbourne. Surrounding not very salubrious but food very pleasing.
Looks like a family business. the teenage lad who took our order was wearing track suit bottoms and t shirt but personable enough as was his two sisters front of house. There was a white tablecloth and low key Christmas decorations. Indian music was playing when we entered but then changed to some Christmas music. Small restaurant, 28 covers
Alan drank the less well known Tusker beer. ( much nicer than teh Blue Moon beer he had at The Elephant pub we visited afterwards.)
Pickles were thick, the mint yogurt could have been a little more tasty. Sheesh kebab not greasy.
Chicken tikka was served on a sizzler with salad and Alan enjoyed his Naga chicken. the chef- presumably the father cam out of the kitchen to ask us if we were enjoying our meal. Unpretentious.
Alan commented that he could actually read the bill which was neatly written.
8/10

25.11.16 Elaichi Grove

Out to Grove near Wantage tonight.   Lovely restaurant but it was very cold. Service good. Food OK but shivering took away some of the

pleasure. 7/10

19.11.16 Nawab Thatcham

After  sausage and skittle at the URC, we still had room for some curry to stayed in Thatcham. Tesni and Shawn came with us, good company. Nothing special about food though popadums were nice 7/10

5.11.16 Pink Olive Andover

Back to the Pink Olive again this week. Took the country roads this time and felt a lot shorter even though took about the same amount of time.
Poppadums lovely. Alan enjoyed his samosas and we both enjoyed the main meals.
Drinks a little slow in appearing and again no mints :( - wh

ich cost it half a mark
8/10

30.10.16 Pink Olive Andover

Pink olive
 Vertured to Andover with John and Chrissie next door.
Nice buzz. Nice white tablecloth. No music. Onion bajis a little greasy and Sheek Keebab a little bland and not on a sizzler. 
Maga chicken very spicy, Chrissie enjoyed the korma and John and I enjoyed the chicken tikka. Bombay potatoes quite spicy. Overall though very enjoyable meal
No mints!! No hot towel.
Waiter found some mints for us when he saw our disappointment.
Stopped in a pub on the way home for a game of pool, then took a few wrong turnings!
8/10

23.10.16 Sheesh mahal LLanelli

Looks like this restaurant has recently been done up and was very nice. It was voted best restaurant of the year in 2015! We wouldn't agree with this.
6/10

16.10.16 Blue Ginger

What a disappointment, back to our favourite restaurant with David and Esther. Welcome and setting all good but the food was not up to scratch!    7/10

25/9/16 Ginger Carmarthen

 Visited Ginger in Carmarthen when droppping Tesni off to start University.
Lovely atmosphere and friendly and helpful  waiters.
 Paper napkins
Prawn Puri  and Sheek kebab starters for the boys. Proper lemon squeezers.
 Alan had  Cafreal  and Elton had Goan curry.
Tesni and I had Chicken Tikka served on a sizzler with salad.
Proper towels at end of meal

but not warm enough. 7 1/2 

1/10/16 Tandoori Connosseur Sonning Common

Tandoori Connoisseur in Sonning Common on a very wet evening. Prettily folded napkins. Gold coloured tablecloth. Indian music. Nice enough atmosphere would have been even better if restaurant was fuller. 

Poppodums crispy but not warm. Alan had Sheek Keebab and Chicken Korai  and I had my usual.
Kebab and chicken tikka came on a sizzler. Tikka served with salad. Service good. Really hot towels8/10

28.8.16 the Palm

Seven of us celebrated the bank holiday with a visit to the Palm. The food was very nice but the experience was marred by the quality of the service! The company was good so it was a very pleasant evening overall.

The booking was for 7:45 and drinks  order was taken in the foyer at 7:50. The men were served and we were seated. The men had finished their beers before the girls' drinks had even arrived.
The table was laid for 6 not seven but we had to keep asking for and extra place settings.... a plate.... some cutlery... no serviette appeared. We asked fro water twice... but we didn't have any glasses to drink it from.

Poppadums were served at 8:15 and some starters arrived at 8:50, again some had finished before others were served.Starters includes chicken lollipop, Goan seafood platter and a peshwari naan.

Mixed chicken tikka (K),  karakai (E), murgh Jaipuri (A), Reshmi tikka (T), Butter chicken (C), Chicken Korma (Z) were the main meals ordered and enjoyed. John however struggled with his "spicy" Dansak! The menu had said 2 chillies- fairly hot but warning hadn't been strong enough. He lost his taste buds.

To top it all, the towels weren't opened for us and there were only 6  not 7 After Eights!

We will not be rushing back!!
Very difficult to mark as the food was good but the constant looking out for waiters to come and attend to us had an impact.
6 1/2

17.9.16 The Nawab Newbury

Following a cinema visit to see Blair Witch, less said about the film the better we decided to try the Nawab in Newbury. We last visited about two years ago before we started the blog and weren't impressed! 

We were downstairs rather than upstairs this time so the atmosphere /decoration was better
Started with the poppadums, a little stale. The pickles were nothing special,  Alan missed the lime pickle, There wasn't a spicy option.

I had the usual and Alan samosas for starters, which could have been crispier, followed by Korai chicken. The service was quick and I had a salad with my sizzling chicken tikka.

Alan said it was very average and lacked spice and gave it a five. I liked the atmosphere and gave it 6. So I guess overall a 5 1/2. From memory I would say a lot better than last time but still a way to

go.

28.8.16 The Palm Hungerford

Seven of us got together to enjoy the bank holiday. Decided to visit The palm again. we will not be returning agin soon!
The food was as expected but th service was atrocious!
The table was booked for 7:45. Drinks orders were taken in teh foyer at 7:50. The men were served thier beers. We were then taken to our table and teh men fiinishe dtheir beers befor ethe ladies had had their firts drink. the table was laid fro 6 instead of seven and we had to ask severla time for an extra setting. We were given a plat.... after asking agin.... some citlery, the serviette never appeared.
The poppadums arrived at 8:15.
Some starters arrived at 8:50. Again some finished before others were served.
Starters included ... chicken lollipop, Goan seafood platter, peshwari naan.
WE aske dfor water which eventually came, but no glasses.
 Main course arrived at 9:45!!!!
Mixed chicken tikka, no accompanying salad ( K),  Karakai  (E) Murgh jaipuri (A)   Reshmi tikka (T), Butter chicken (C) Korma (Z) and John's tastebud were lost in the Dansak. he ordered this 2 chilli dish despite the information in teh menu saying that is was failry hot.
 John commentated how small the toilets were compared to the size of the restaurant and Chrissie mentioned how slippery the toilet floors were. However there was plenty of time to visit them.
The evening was a pleasant evening due to the company but the overall experience was marred by the very poor service.... and no apology. well they didn't get a tip.
To top it all, there were only 6 After Eights.

6 1/2

20.8.16 River Spice Reading

All four of us out tonight to celebrate  Tesni' s university acceptance.
Lovely setting, had a table near the window looking out at the Thames. The weather wasn't as nice as last time which had an impact on the view.

Poppadums nice and crispy though the pickles dished didn't quite fit on the plate/tray
Alan's starters was an kebab and was "nice and spicy"
The others had naan bread as a starter.



 For mains, Alan had chicken korai, Trystan had chicken tikka masala and Tesni and I had chicken tikka.
 No salad:(
We made a mess with the rice.
Quick friendly service. Two birthdays celebrate din the restaurant. 
Food maybe not as good as last time .
 Cloth wipes, opened by waiter and I love having a rose with the after eights 
7 1/2.