Ryde Tandoori

 

Ryde Tandoori review

In a philosophical moment, we wondered how the Indian restaurants of Twickenham compare with those in the rest of the country.  So we caught the ferry over to the Isle of Wight, to cast a critical eye over the Ryde Tandoori. 

This establishment is located at number 45 in Union Street, which climbs steeply up from the seafront.  It was apparently the very first Indian restaurant on the island, being established in 1962: although it moved in 1992 from another location in Ryde and changed its name from the Taj Mahal, it has stayed in the ownership of the same family.

The April evening we visited belonged to winter rather than spring, and a cold wind was blowing.  Unsurprisingly, the good folk of Ryde were not packing the restaurants, and we were the only customers there.  We received a warm welcome however, and were soon nibbling on the traditional papadoms.  A large bottle of Cobra is priced at £4.50, while draft Carlsberg is a reasonable £3 a pint.  When one of these turned out to be somewhat flat, it was readily replaced.  

The decor was pleasant, with pictures of the coast of the Bay of Bengal on the wall.  The lighting was in the happy medium between garishly bright and annoyingly dim, but the music was a somewhat strange mixture of traditional Indian and western pop.  

The food came in generous portions, served freshly cooked and piping hot, and not over-salted.  There was a clear difference between the types of chicken in the Chicken Pathia and the Chicken Tikka Pathia, with substantial chunks of meat, and the degree of spiciness you would expect from a dish described on the menu as medium hot.   

One area of complaint would be the small size of the tables.  It is always a bit of a juggling act to fit in all the various main and side dishes and the drinks, and we had to overflow onto the neighbouring table.  The service was attentive without being overbearing, and we were served fresh orange portions after the meal, and chocolate mints with the bill.

In all, a good standard of restaurant, which should keep the Twickenham establishments on their toes to surpass.

We scored the Ryde Tandoori out of 10 as follows:

Service:            6.625 

Quality:              7.125

Price:                7.5     

Ambiance:        6.25    

23^rd April 2012

http://www.rydetandoori.co.uk/

Atithi

Atithi review

So, did it live up to the hype? You may have noticed that the Atithi has advertised heavily recently, mentioning the acclaim on Tripadvisor. Well, yes and it has now shot to number one on our leaders board.

The newly opened Atithi is located in the premises of the former Sagar vegetarian Indian restaurant in York Street. The decor is largely unchanged and the hard surfaces, wood on the walls and wooden floors magnifies sound with the consequence that the party of 15 on a nearby table dominated the restaurant. The menu is short and uncomplicated with most dishes recognizable, although there was a chilli cheesy naan which is a new one on me. Complimentary pappadoms were served and large bottled Cobra at £4.95 was perhaps on the pricey side. The food was of good quality with perhaps smallish portions in the vegetable side dishes; for those wanting to top up their 5 a day, we suggest that they choose main course versions of their veggie choice. Prawn molee and various chicken and lamb dishes including Gilafi Handi, which resembles a meat pie and was tasty too, were very good but some of us remarked on the liberal use of salt.

The owner said that Atithi means guest in his native tongue and the service was suitably attentive without being fussy. A 20% discount currently being offered by the restaurant is certainly good value for money and Atithi has deservedly moved to the top of our leaders board by a narrow margin.

We scored the Atithi out of 10 as follows:

Service:  8.5

Quality:  8.3 

Price:  8.5

Ambience:  7.4

29th March 2012 

http://www.atithi-indiancuisine.com/