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The
Tamarind Indian Restaurant has now been in existence for
approximately 4 years, it is situated on Wellingborough Road, which
has become known as the Curry mile. The premises were formerly the
Asoka Indian Restaurant (a superb restaurant serving very real Indian
food but didn't get its marketing right) and before that home to Le
Pergola an Italian Restaurant of good reputation and many years
standing which has relocated some 800yards away.
The restaurant is owned (or part
owned?) by Chef Tipu Rahman, Tipu won the title "International
Indian Chef of the Year", a competition organised by celebrity
chef, entrepreneur plus restaurant and boutique hotel chain owner
Tommy Miah. After taking this accolade Tipu was then invited to
assist Mr Miah in cooking a meal for 50 influential European Union
diplomats and officials at The Bangladesh Embassy in Brussels.
The Tamarind is of a very modern
and contemporary design which features black and white décor
giving a feeling of spaciousness which is further enhanced by its
glass frontage and mirrored rear wall. Since taking over the premises
Tipu has also introduced a secondary entrance leading in from the
spacious public car park, the layout of the restaurant is well
thought out and is more than inviting.
We visited on a Saturday night
after reserving a table for four people at 8.15 and it was just as
well we did book as almost every table was taken and those that
remained were soon occupied within the next thirty minutes with
others waiting in the small reception area for a table to become
vacant. A warm welcome was given by Tipu himself when we entered the
restaurant, although the main culinary influence in the kitchen Tipu
was tonight taking the position of Matre'D, a role which as the
evening rolled on he evidently had taken to like a duck to water. We
were promptly shown to our table and a waiter was appointed to take
our drinks order and present us with the menu. The menu not only
showed the usual suspects but had the addition of Nepalese dishes and
some interesting Chefs specials, the choice also extended to duck,
swordfish, monkfish and I think venison as well as the usual chicken,
lamb, prawns and king prawns.
We decided against starters but
opted for the less filling popadoms which were served with the usual
array of chutneys plus the Tamarind's own Naga chilli pickle which
had more than a bit of a kick and had a very pleasing unique flavour.
For the main course we had chosen Tawa Monkfish, Chicken and Lamb
Bhutuwa (chosen from the Nepalese section) plus Chicken Jalfrezi. We
also chose three vegetable side dishes, rice and a selection of
breads. The main course arrived a reasonable period of time after the
popadoms and all the dishes were of generous proportion boasting meat
and chicken which were moist and tender presented in gravies which
were vastly different in appearance, texture and taste and were not
over masked by too heavy spicing, the monkfish was fresh and tender.
For the vegetable dishes we had chosen Bombay Aloo, Saag Paneer and
Tarka Dal all of which very tasty and gave a good contrast to each
other, the dal in particular was not the thin watery soup like dish
of red lentils which is so often the case but a mixture of many
different dals including channa dal which gave it an extra
consistency, the breads and rice were as expected.
We declined a sweet course which
could have been a little more adventurous and decided to go for
coffees and masala tea, the meal was concluded with brandies and
Baileys courtesy of Tipu. The price of a very enjoyable night for
four was just under £100; this included various drinks and a
bottle of wine, which added about twenty pounds to the bill but the
total seemed more than reasonable taking into account the high
quality of food and attentive service and we would not hesitate to return.
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