Sardar Palace

Sector: Cemetery Junction Stardate: 22 April 2005 (Fourth Encounter) Event: Sappo Club (sans Sappo) Go back to Naan Trek home page

A new crew were eager to resample the renovated Sardar Palace following the recent successful mission.

AMBIANCE

Expansive

Decor: Polystyrene arch motif (fire hazzard?), curvaceous stained glass windows, Persian lanterns, very pleasant. "Doctor Who set, Blue Peter style; thanks to the mirrors it's a bit like the Tardis - feels bigger on the inside than you expect."
Music: Barely audible - at first thought it was from the Upin Arms next door, but later found realised that it was actually "local".

Time to get served: 20 minutes.
Menu: Brilliant: "Passage through India" has 5 buffet options based on different routes through India. The menu has great photos of food and of India. There is also a wide choice, with lots of paneer dishes!

Popadums: "Crispy"; "Good seeds"; "Excellent"; "Good flavour, good texture, good on their own". We had 3 too many - do we get charged?
Chutneys: Three: Onions "sitting in the sun too long; not very fresh", red stuff "marginally spicy" and yoghurt "OK but too watery".
Lime Pickle: None.
Onion Bagees: "Big crispy balls, delicious!" (Hogan).

Chicken Biriani: "V v good, I'm quite impressed: enough for two (4/5)" (Brown).
Haryali Chicken "The Green Thing": "Very nice, more appetising than it looks - it looks like a massive pile of mint sauce".
Mutter Paneer Sag: "Pees a bit misplaced, did exactly what it said on the tin - cheesy bits, gingery bits and buttery bits" (Keeley).
Chicken Tikka Rogan: "Kicks as much ass as an unborn tadpole - hardly the `Daring Route', 1/5" (Challinor).
Lamb Madras: "Someone just dropped napalm down my throat, but at least 3/5 - good napalm" (Rumbold).
Lamb Balti: "The best I could expect from here" (Peubey). [That was a good comment - Ed.]
Lamb Sag Hohost: "I'm normally a bit of a wuss (above a Korma) but for me this is really mild - more like a sunday roast than a curry" (Warneford).
Chicken Bhuna: "Fine, nice and not spicy, middle of the road - a wussy curry for a wussy person" (Davies).
Chilli Paneer: "Toptastic, 5/5" (Hogan).

• Boiled rice: "I can do better at home" (Keeley).

Key:

Yes

No

Too drunk to remember

• Extensive buffet options, but not to everyones approval - see comment on the "Daring Route" above.

We are still happy to recommend the Sardar System, but visitors should probably be selective about the dishes they chose (based on the comments of our highly objective crewmen during this mission and the last). Although the service has improved over recent missions, the dips never fail to disappoint. We therefore award the Sardar 3 Cobras: