Spice Up Your Life (Buckhurst Hill Tandoori)

Member Name: huddro

Product:	Buckhurst Hill Tandoori
Date:	04/03/01 (509 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent food, resaonable prices

Disadvantages: unoriginal name

Converted from Midland Bank long before Nat West sold out to All Bar One, The imaginatively named Buckhurst Hill Tandoori is a curry oasis in this small Essex town. Buckhurst Hill, known as the Beverly Hills of Essex due to the amount of extremely large houses and largest number of Ferraris per head of population outside Jersey is not the first place anyone would think for a curry but this restaurant has become a home from home for myself and a certain member of Dooyoo, known for his ubiquitous hat wearing style and his German fan club!!

Not that we frequent this restaurant a lot, but when calling to book a table they no longer need to ask for our names. Arriving through the corner double doors you will be greeted by the Manager or one of the other two waiters on duty, as though you are an old friend.

The restaurant has a warm intimate feel with a number of tables around the outside with bench seating against the wall and individual chairs on the floor side. Four round tables make the center of the room, nestled amongst the original supporting pillars and hanging baskets. While on the subject of flowers each table has its own vase containing a fresh flower, a nice touch I feel. A bar at the rear completes the room. Subtle lighting gives the restaurant a cosy feel.

Why do you mention bench seats I hear you ask, well you may remember me referring to an ex girlfriend in a previous op, and it was said girlfriend who discovered, much to the hilarity of other diners that the bench seats were not continuous. Sliding out she managed to slide right off the seat crashing to the floor in spectacular style taking the tablecloth, the vase and said flower with her!! Full marks to Lordpercy for his chivalry in reaching down to lend a hand.. Picking up the vase and flower and leaving her in a heap.

Even better was the humour the next time we visited when the Manager pulled out her chair and asked if it was big enough for her not to fall of
f!!!! Well we all thought that was funny.

Ok so onto the menu. This restaurant has something for everyone from the spicy chicken chat starter to the meat-eaters delight of the mixed kebab. The main dishes are taken from all regions of India and cover the spectrum from korma through a spectacular Dansak, my own personal recommendation, and onto the madras. The portions served are quite superb; no hunt to find the meat as at least half a chicken goes into each curry.

One thing you will notice in many Indian restaurants is a choice of chicken or meat curry, a description that could cover a multitude of sins. But no reason to lock up your cats here, a choice of chicken or lamb is presented and the lamb is extremely tender. Now I cannot comment on the quality of the prawns used in the curries but having seen several people enjoy the butterfly king prawn I would presume it to be good.

My one complaint on first visiting this restaurant was the lack of spicy heat in the Madras but after a discussion one evening with the owner this has been rectified and the palates of these genteel Essex dwellers are now scoured with the spices of the orient!

Well what about us vegetarians I hear you ask, well those of you that are vegetarian ask anyway. The vegetable dishes are excellent, the vegetable curry melts in the mouth, and the Thali, comprising of seven separate dishes accompanied with a light and fluffy nan bread is wonderful.

To accompany your curry, the pilau rice is like no other, the range of side dishes amazing and if a dish you require is not on the menu just ask and it will be prepared. Try the sag bhaji though, no wonder Popeye liked spinach.

The major difference to this and any other restaurant is the dumb waiter, how rude I hear you say every restaurant has a least one dumb waiter!! But no the kitchens are located in what used to be the bank vaults and are ably run by the proprietors wife with the food bei
ng sent in its own little elevator to the restaurant.

Well now we obviously need a drink to ease us through this taste sensation, the wine list here is very comprehensive from the usual Indian restaurant sophistication of a Mateus Rose through to a rather fine Chateau Neuf Du Pape. For those beers drinkers try the creamy Kingfisher from the pump or a bottle of chilled Cobra to refresh those parts, well lets not go there!!

This is not a restaurant that you visit at pub throwing out time, this is a place to make an evening of a meal, the service is not at all rushed and the whole atmosphere is very relaxed. Expect to take at least a couple of hours from the time you much your first poppadum to the time you get your coffee. A nice touch is the complimentary liquor presented with your bill. A concoction of coffee liquor and fresh cream floated on the top, a rather nice way to end a meal.

Now the cost, totally reasonable; a meal for two, poppadums, starter, main course, side dishes and bread, including a couple of beers each will cost you around £35.00 and you will definitely not need to eat for a couple of days afterwards. Even better value is the Monday night meal for only £10.95 you can pick a starter, a main course, a rice, a side dish, a nan bread, dessert and coffee including a drink from the bar.

So if you ever find yourself at the eastern end of the central line with a hunger for a good meal jump off at Buckhurst Hill and take the short walk up Queens Road. Browse through the windows of the boutiques offering designer children’s wear at prices to make your hair curl, be amazed at the price you can pay for a candlestick or an Italian meal. Then relax in the knowledge that the best meal available won’t require you to sell a kidney.

The Buckhurst Hill Tandoori is open six nights a week (closd sundays). I would definitely advise booking your table in advance, as it is extremely popular with those of us
in the know.
Telephone 0208 505 6200.

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