Here it is, finally my first post in...well I don't remember how long...It's not through want of trying mind, I've just been crazy busy with so many things recently that it feels like a lot of other things have taken somewhat of a back seat. However, I'm finally back and here it comes - hope you enjoy.
For a long while now Mr Ellie and I have been discussing the possibility of me using this blog to review restaurants. The thing is that I cannot help myself when I'm out, and especially when there is cake involved, but to provide an almost running commentary of the restaurant and the standard of the food. So Mr Ellie (who I have to add generally joins in with said critique) suggested that we make it a regular feature of the blog. With that in mind we started to discuss how we would rate various places and in order to make it fair, we decided that we would split restaurants up into different categories and then give them a star rating out of 5.
So, to start off this little culinary mini-adventure, here is my review of the Ahad Tandoori in Gosforth...
We were inspired to go to this quiet and unassuming little Indian restaurant after Mr Ellie saw a review in the Chronicle (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/entertainment-in-newcastle/restaurants/2012/02/17/review-ahad-tandoori-restaurant-gosforth-72703-30352467/). I had been to this restaurant a number of years ago with my dad (who is rather partial to the old Indian cuisine) and, whilst I remember the food being really good, I had forgotten about it over the years. So it was decided, that for our (somewhat belated) Valentine's meal and our (slightly early) '2 and a half year anniversary' (yes I'm still celebrating the half years as well, I'm soft like that!) meal, we would go to the Ahad.
Firstly, a little background on me and Mr Ellie - I have always eaten Indian food. As I said, my dad is rather partial, so we have been to a number of Indian restaurants over the years and had home-made curry. I also have a friend who's parents are from Goa and her mam makes the most delicious curries you will ever taste. Her mam used to love me going round for tea because I'd want to try all the different curries (even the extra specially amazingly burn-your-mouth hot curries that she made for my friend's dad). Mr Ellie however, told me when we got together that he didn't like Indian food and he didn't like spice....now what a dilemma to put me in! Anyway, we went to visit my parents for my dad's birthday one year and he wanted (as usual!) to go to an Indian restaurant for his birthday meal. So Mr Ellie was faced with the prospect of having Indian food, like it or not.....
And he loved it!
I think that the problem is (as with many people), that his first exposure to Indian food was a jar of curry sauce from the supermarket - not exactly what you would call authentic! So to now have far better quality food in a good restaurant, he realised the true delights of Indian cuisine and since then, he and I have had a number of meals at various Indian restaurants.
I am a creature of habit...to the point where, until very recently, I would have the same meal in the same restaurant every time I went. However, now, with Mr Ellie wanting to try different things and learn more about Indian cuisine, I found that I too wanted to explore different dishes and I have managed to finally veer away from my 'regular' of biryani and have been trying a range of delightful and different dishes.
So, back to the review...
The Ahad Tandoori is set back from the High Street in Gosforth and is nothing to shout about from the outside, or from the inside if I'm honest. It is decorated in a fairly traditional Anglo-Indian style with fanned white napkins and the obligatory carnation in a vase on each table. The decor is simple and minimal and there is Indian music playing overhead (although I noted that this later morphed into some sort of strange synthesiser music later on in the evening which was a little strange but hey, you're not there for the music are you eh!?!). The restaurant is small and was pretty full when we arrived at 7:30, making us glad that we had reserved a table. We were sat in a fairly quiet corner just next to the kitchen - not usually my favourite place in a restaurant as it can often be noisy and hot - but this was anything but - it was peaceful, a comfortable temperature and we felt like we could really sit back and relax.
Our popadoms arrived fairly quickly after ordering and we dived in with gusto - I had been to boxercise beforehand and was pretty famished having just burnt off about a billion calories!!! - we were not disappointed. The condiments tray was delicious and housed the standard onion relish, mango chutney, lime pickle and raita. The raita was clearly home-made and was delicately spiced, creamy and indulgent. The mango chutney was smooth, sweet and sticky and instantly a firm favourite for me and the onion relish was well balanced with a few herbs mixed through. Needless to say, the popadoms disappeared pretty quickly.
We waited quite some time for our main course (we had decided against having a starter) but we weren't in any hurry so we didn't mind. There was a steady stream of food coming out of the kitchen, both for restaurant diners and also the takeaway customers - it is clearly a favourite amongst the at-home diners as well. The waiters were good - there were plenty of them and they seemed well organised and attentive.
When the main course arrived, we both took a minute to stare at the delicious feast before us...truly a lovely array of colour, smell, texture and (we were sure) taste. I had order the lamb shank nentalia and Mr Ellie the butter chicken. Alongside that, we had a peshwari and a keema naan, channa massalla, bombay aloo, bhindi bhaji and pilau rice. It was truly an enormous feast! We tucked in to everything, both wanting to try all the dishes and taste the different flavours in front of us. And where to start - it was beautiful!
The lamb shank was tender and succulent, falling off the bone in delightful chunks and doused in the most beautifully spiced sauce. The butter chicken was sweet and creamy and decorated with ground pistachio nuts which provided a lovely colour contrast against the red sauce. The pilau rice was fragrant with the perfect balance of cardamon and cloves. Our vegetable dishes were all well balanced with spices and seasoning, full of flavour and, as with the meat dishes, there was more of the main ingredient than sauce (I have a personal hatred of restaurants where you get a bowl full of sauce with a solitary piece of chicken floating around!). And then there were the naans...smoky from the Tandoor, sweet almond in the peshwari and delicate mince in the keema, soft fluffy bread perfect for mopping up the remaining sauce from the lamb and the chicken!
It was one of the best Indian meals I have had for a very long time - it was really really good. If I was being ultra-picky and critical (or it could be argued, giving a balanced opinion!) I'd say that the chunks of onion with the lamb were rather big and hard - not a problem for some but Mr Ellie and I are a bit funny when it comes to onion - so a lot of that got left (albeit we mopped up all the sauce around the onion!). I'd say that the butter chicken was also a little too creamy for me - I am mildly lactose intolerant and so rather sensitive to the amount of cream in dishes. Mr Ellie thought it was delicious so I think that most people would be fine with the butter chicken. Essentially, the few criticisms that I can lay at the door of the Ahad, very much come down to personal taste, and that's something that no restaurant can truly cater towards.
The meal cost us just a few pence under £60 which we felt was quite reasonable for the amount of food that we had ordered. Both of us were drinking diet coke rather than alcohol which would probably have increased the bill slightly.
The Ahad has been in business for many years now and clearly has a loyal following of devotee customers, both in-house diners and takeaway orders. As they don't have a website or appear to do much in the way of advertising, clearly their business is based on repeat customers and word-of-mouth - something which I am happy to continue. I would happily endorse the Ahad as being one of the finest Indian restaurants around. As a comparison, I'd say that Sachins in Newcastle is nice but everything is a little too spicy for my palate, and Akbars (also in Newcastle) is very different and modern but doesn't necessarily live up to it's hype, relying more on the novelty factor of large naans on hangers rather than being the best.
I'd give the Ahad Tandoori a more than respectable 4.8 stars out of 5 and I'd recommend anyone to go for a meal there.
Enjoy!
Miss Ellie xxx
