Sardar Palace

Sector: Cemetery Junction Stardate: 20 September 2002 Event: Nothing particular Go back to Naan Trek home page

Our last visit here was less than spectacular, marred particularly by the abysmal service. Has it improved since then?

AMBIANCE

Pleasant

Decor: Navy walls and ceiling, turquoise pillars, unusual copper plant-like light fittings.
Music: Very varied: a squeely woman here, solo pan pipes there, then a fusion of a twanging ukulele and bolywood chanting over a thumping bass. Get down!

Time to get served: 20 minutes.
Favourite menu description: On the palace spring chicken: "A taste surpassing all expectations"; on the the chicken and lamb dishes: "Cooked on charcoal and curried - the taste is self-explanatory".

• Service fairly terse, but not outright rude this time.
• When we arrived it took ages to get the attention of any of the many idle waiters so that we could be seated.

Popadums: Wafer thin with seeds inside.
Chutneys: Only three dips: yoghurt, onion and some strange red stuff - overall rather uninspiring and slightly rancid.
Lime pickle: None!
Onion bagees: Not had.

Chicken Shashlick: "Perfect - better than the Gulab: more and better" (Pizzamei).
Fish Bhuna (£6.10): "Tasty and quite mild - very nice to have a proper fish dish (i.e. not prawns) in Reading" (Hogan).
Fish Massala: "The best fish I've ever tasted!" (Migliorini).
Jaboo? Jahoo? Jakoo? I can't read my own writing, but it was a speciality: Vegetarian - "Alright but no distinctive flavours" (Dixon).
???: "Alright but I can't remember what it was" (Pavelin).

• Sesame Naan: Light and nice, but not enough sesame seeds for the extra price.

Key:

Yes

No

Too drunk to remember

• Sweet Lassi: sugary milkshake, alright but perhaps a bit chalky.
• Aniseed sweets with the bill.

Well, certainly better than last time - some great main dishes (Marco reckons it's the best curry he's had in Reading), but don't expect service with a smile. We award the Sardar Palace 3 Cobras: