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It has
now been approximately three years since I visited the Voujon; I was
not overly impressed the first time I visited but was persuaded to
try it again. The persuasion came from my Asian colleague who had
enjoyed two recent meals at the establishment and was of the opinion
that I must have caught them on a bad night or that they now have a
new chef who is a vast improvement on the original chef who was there
a on the opening of the Voujon in December 2004.
The design and the décor
of the restaurant is a credit to the owners who have two other
branches in the county of Northamptonshire, the Northampton Voujon
boasts warm spicy co-ordinating colours with the walls adorned with
modern Indian wall art, which are especially painted to order. A lot
of thought has gone into the design with the flooring being of wood,
marble and carpeting defining the slightly different levels and
areas. The restaurant is probably the best designed in
Northamptonshire and certainly the most opulent - but would the food
and service match up with the owners grand efforts to present a fine
dine establishment?
It was Sunday night, we arrived
at the restaurant at approximately 7.30 pm and we must have been the
first arrivals of the evening. We were greeted indifferently and
shown to a table which was attractively set with starched napkins and
an attractive bamboo growing plant. The menus were presented and the
drinks order taken, the waiter returned with the drinks within a very
reasonable time, although a lager was returned due to flat lemonade
being used.
As we were all not having a
starter we ordered popadoms, these were presented with the usual
lacklustre choice of chutneys, mainly out of a jar, and the main
course was served approximately ten minutes after the popadoms were
cleared. Between the four of us we had ordered Meat and a Chicken
Jalfrezi, Lamb Mirchi Masala and Lamb Tawa, for vegetable side dishes
we had chosen Chilli Paneer, Sag Aloo and Sambhar (I quote their
description of "a favourite South Indian dish with
lentils"), in addition to this we had 2 portions of rice, a Naan
Bread and three Chapatti's between the four of us. The meat dishes
were cooked well with all variations having a different appearance,
flavour and texture, the Lamb Tawa was exceptionally good being of
earthy and robust flavour and I can honestly say a vast improvement
from my previous visit, plus the chapattis were some of the best I
have eaten for along time. The whole meal unfortunately was let down
by the unimaginative vegetable dishes, India is renowned for cooking
some of the most interesting and varied vegetable dishes in the world
but the knowledge had not filtered through to this chef, they were
little more than pre-cooked vegetables with the one-sauce-does-all
ladled over them, which, in fairness, is the case in 90 per cent of
most High Street Indian Restaurants. The Sambhar defied description,
it had no resemblance whatsoever to the South Indian dish it
promised, it was merely a few lentils mixed with a curry masala gravy
topped with slices of lemon if you please, this is nothing like
Sambhar which is an earthy lentil dish using toor dal and a very
South Indian Masala of spices topped with curry leaves and mustard
seeds and various other seasonings.
The meal could have been good but
was spoiled by the points mentioned above. On the conclusion of the
meal we paid the bill and at that point the unenthusiastic waiter
enquired if everything was satisfactory with our meal (I think with
the rush of four other customers being in the restaurant he had
forgotten to ask this question at the customary time, which is
usually within five minutes of serving the main course). I at this
time commented on the Sambhar which had a strange effect on the
waiter, it caused temporary deafness and compelled him to stare into
the heavens.
In conclusion the meal was of a
slightly better standard than other Indian Restaurants in the town,
the presentation of the premises is superb and second to none in the
town but very much let down by unenthusiastic staff. The website and
the menu states that "A place where sharp and cotemporary design
and style is complimented by exceptional levels of comfort and
personnel service, where you are treated not as a customer but as a
GUEST". They also state that their master chefs have selected
dishes from every region of India and Bangladesh for their main menu
which will enable their customers to sample the rich varied cuisine
of India to the full and above all would like you to enjoy your visit
to the Voujon and assure us that our comfort and culinary
satisfaction are of the utmost importance to them and their staff. A
very imaginative and romantic description which gives full marks for
marketing but from my experience on both my visits they have
OVERPROMISED and UNDERDELIVERED. The Voujon have taken the concept of
the Indian Restaurant up a few bars by the tremendous design of your
restaurant but have fallen down on the service which is not a fault
of your staff but is the fault of the owners who have given
insufficient training which results in the dining experience being
under par. A little more effort could be made with your sundry dishes
as they do claim to employ master chefs who incidentally should not
even try to present regional dishes that they have no knowledge of
whatsoever, it loses them any credibility they may have.
Incidentally, if an establishment encourages their staff to ask a
question of the customer in relation to their dining experience it is
courteous for them to listen to the answer and respond accordingly
and professionally. Yes I would return to the Voujon again but with
lower expectations on certain aspects, but I must stress we all
enjoyed the non-veg dishes which were superbly cooked. |